Athena Project [ M*A*S*H ]

T*H*I*R*T*Y T*W*O

April 20, 1952

"Suction." 

Nellie's feet felt like concrete. They'd gone numb an hour previous, a welcome respite from the sharp pain she'd been experiencing for the seven hours before. They had passed hour twelve of surgery not long ago. Not for the first time in the week since Steve's breakdown did Nellie find herself beyond grateful that Charles and Colonel Potter had come back to work.

The boy under her care had taken a few fragments in his left leg, nothing too serious. He'd keep it, and he'd be going home. Sometimes she wished that sending the boys home didn't make her as nervous as sending them back to the front.

"Close for me, Margaret," Nellie said. Then she looked up, looking at the other four doctors down the line. Hawkeye looked as exhausted as she felt, BJ not much better. Potter had just come back from a break, so at least he looked a bit refreshed. "I'm taking five, unless anyone needs me?"

No one complained, so she stripped off her gloves and dragged her feet towards the Pre-Op holding area. When she backed through the swing door and left the busy operating room behind, she closed her eyes. The days had started to blur together. Long stints of boredom broken up by hectic, messy OR sessions dominated life.

Hawk had recently gotten back from a two day stint at Battalion Aid and slept for almost a full day. Shelley Lacey and Bigelow had both received packages from home and Nellie spent quite a bit of time with the nurses enjoying the food and domestic items. But standing there in the Pre-Op holding area, all she could think about was how badly she wanted to take a cold shower.

"Major, we're all out of wounded."

Nellie looked right, opening her eyes at Lacey's entrance. "Anyone in there need help?"

"Hawkeye said you're in the clear."

"Thanks." 

Nellie smiled. With a yawn, she pushed out into the compound. Despite knowing it was nearly midnight, the darkness caught her off guard. Truly they had no concept of time in the 4077th. The thirty feet between Pre-Op and the Scrub room passed in a blur. Before she knew it, she was standing in the Nurses' changing room stripping off the bloodstained scrubs she'd been in for half a day.

It didn't take long before Margaret slipped past the curtain and joined her. Over on the other side, Nellie could hear the guys muttering and mumbling about something or other.

"One of these days, Margaret, I'm going to need your secret to how you don't look dead after these sessions," Nellie muttered. She sat down onto the small bench beneath the now mostly empty hooks. 

Margaret smiled and shook her head. "You know, if you went to bed at a more reasonable hour, you might not be so tired."

Opening her eyes slowly, Nellie turned her head to the other woman and smiled. "Now where's the fun in that?"

"Those two rats are a bad influence on you." She sighed. "The way you let Pierce drool over you."

Nellie started downright giggling. She scolded herself for it, but in her tired, starved, delirious state, she just kept laughing. "Aw, Margaret. Don't worry about me. I can handle myself. Don't forget, I attended medical school."

"I know, I know." Margaret shifted into her shorts. She sounded a bit resigned, but still flashed Nellie a smile. "I just don't want to see you get hurt. Pierce is physically incapable of controlling himself, and Hunnicutt just eggs him on."

"Don't worry-"

"I also don't want you to end up with your name dragged through the dirt for fraternization," Margaret warned.