When Love Prevails: A M*A*S*H fanficiton

Calamity

Back in post-op, BJ was trying to reason with the patient.

"No one here is going to hurt you or Amy. We all just want to help you. You've had a major operation and we don't want you re-opening your wound because of an accident. So why don't you get back into bed and we can sort this matter out rationally." Hunnicut thought he was getting through to him. He had even used 'Amy' instead of 'Shayla', playing along with his illusion.

Jeremy lowered his head temporarily, he raised up a second later, anger full in his eyes.

"I don't believe you. I can't trust you, you're the enemy, back off!" Jeremy balled his hand into a fist and shook it in front of BJ.

Disheartened BJ stepped back as the Colonel and Radar entered the ward. Jeremy's face immediately changed to panic when he spotted Radar.

"George! Come here, out of the way of those men. Come here, get behind Daddy." Jeremy called to Radar.

The poor clerk was confused. He couldn't mean him, could he? He wasn't George. Glancing around at the scene, Radar noticed Shayla was behind the patient and Hawkeye was sitting on the bed a wet compress pressed on the side of his face. BJ was standing in front of the patient, attempting to confront him. He wondered how he fitted into this scene.

"Do as he says, Radar. He's under some illusion that you're his son, just go with it." Hawkeye suggested.

Radar frowned. "But I'm not..."

"Radar, come over here, please, it will be easier. Trust me." Shayla spoke up. She had been frightened to say much in case Jeremy should turn on her, proceed to hurt her brother further or lash out on BJ. After seeing the care and concern Jeremy seem to show to 'George', Shayla thought it would be safe to address Radar.

Radar shuffled awkwardly over to Shayla. As soon as he was in touching distance, Jeremy yanked him closer and pushed him behind him.

"Are you ok?" Radar asked Shayla. Now that he was up close, he could see that her hand looked red and swollen.

"I'm fine, it's just throbs a little. Ben was going to x-ray it, but this happened." Shayla looked at Radar and gave him an unenthusiastic, unbelievable smile.

"Ok, I want the low down on this, Hunnicut make it snappy." Potter said.

"The Private here thinks we're all trying to hurt Shayla, who he thinks is someone call Amy. He's trying to protect her, but managed to hurt her arm when he wouldn't let her go. We had to pull him off and it wasn't easy. He's hit Hawk, just for touching Shayla to see if her arm was alright. We've tried reasoning but it's getting us nowhere."

"Right, ok, first things first. We need to get him back into bed. Hunnicut can you fix up a sedative?" The Colonel was beginning to formulate a plan of sorts.

BJ nodded and quickly moved out of the room to find the equipment he needed to complete the task.

As BJ left, Father Mulchahy and Nurse Kelley entered.

"Padre, glad you could make it. We have a little situation here..."

The Father cut the Colonel off. He had already heard the story from Kelley as they walked over.

"Just tell me what I can do to assist."

"If you could convince the Private here that we're not out to hurt Shay or him, or Radar for that matter that would be great." Hawkeye interjected.

"I'll do my best, Hawkeye." The Padre promised. Moving towards Jeremy, Father Mulchahy approached with caution, wary of the violent outburst he had already exercised on Hawkeye.

"Jeremy..." Father Mulchahy began slowly.

"Father, they haven't captured you as well have they? They're all evil-minded..."

"Er, no, Jeremy. I'm here because, well, God put me here, if you will. I am here to help you, spiritually or in any other way I can. As are the rest of the people here." The Father cut Jeremy off before he was subjected to an unsuitable word.

"I don't need help, Father, I can cope on my own. Save yourself, get yourself outta here!"

Father Mulchahy sighed, he could see the problem. Nothing was convincing this man he was safe.

BJ returned into the post-op ward. He had a sedative in a syringe, prepared and ready for use.

"Keep talking Father." BJ encouraged. Keeping the syringe behind his back, BJ moved towards the troublesome patient's bed. He was eyeing up the situation and trying to determine which the best angle to approach the scene was.

"You know, Jeremy, it's really my job to save souls. It would be selfish of me to leave you here, if I were to get out of this place." Father Mulchahy continued, hoping he was distracting the patient enough so that he didn't notice BJ's intention.

Radar linked his fingers with Shayla's. From their position they could clearly watch the scene unfold, Radar could see what BJ was trying to achieve and only hoped it would work.

Alerted by the touch, Shayla looked at Radar next to her, his face crinkled with worry for all involved. He had every right to be concerned and she was feeling exactly the same. It was nice to have a reassuring touch there holding them together.

"Let me help you, Jeremy, it will make me feel as though I have done my duty even if you don't think the same. You don't need to be afraid, I can help you find safety." The Father was trying a different tactic. It meant playing him at his own game and bending the truth, something he was not all too comfortable with, but he figured it was a worthwhile cause.

BJ made a quick decision, he calmly moved to the other side of Jeremy's bed, quietly he climbed onto it. Catching Hawkeye's eye, he waited as Hawkeye edged along the opposite bed. Silently they counted to three.

As BJ and Hawkeye descended upon Jeremy, the shock sent him flying backwards, creating a domino effect behind him. Shayla was pushed into Radar, who was sent crashing into the next bed.

The action shunted the bed an inch and Radar slid smoothly to the floor. Shayla landed less gracefully on top of Radar. He was able in this moment to catch her head and save it from hitting the stall.

Losing balance in the struggle, Jeremy was falling. In a panicked second Shayla stuck out her injured arm to shield herself. Jeremy was a well-built man, twice the size of either her or Radar, so it was no wondered she feared what would happen if he fell on them.

Radar winced at the sound of bone crunching. The Private had poured his weight into Shayla's arm before using BJ to recover himself to standing. Shayla screamed, deafening Radar.

"Amy?" Jeremy turned to see what had happened and in that moment BJ stuck the syringe in his uncovered arm. It only took seconds to kick in.