I stretched and let the unusually hot water flow over my body. I had just finished a shift and was having a shower before I went to bed.

The PA system crackled, at this hour it could only mean one thing, I turned off the water and rubbed myself with a towel. As I threw on my nightdress I heard the familiar voice announce.

"Get your dancing shoes on folks, it’s a big one!" I ran out and halfway across the compound, Nurse Kellye met me.

"Here, I thought you’d need these." She put some clothes and my boots into my hands, "Thankyou." I replied, heading for the Swamp. Frank barreled out, and as I paused to don, what I discovered later was Hawkeye’s Hawaiian shirt, left in my tent after a brief encounter that afternoon, a nurse, one of Trapper’s favourites caught up with me.

"Annie, you take Hawkeye." I nodded and we entered the swamp. Hawkeye and Trapper were there, burying their head in their blankets after a big day drinking. With a nod, we ripped their blankets off, the night was cold and both men sat up immediately. Before they could complain, we kissed them.

Hawkeye rolled so I was under him, "I’m awake now," he murmured, kissing me.

"Let’s go, wounded." I pushed him off me. The PA system crackled again.

"Doctors Pierce and MacIntyre, Colonel Blake kindly requests that you get your butts to triage and relieve Major Burns!" The feedback had us all wincing painfully.

"Oh, now I’m awake." Muttered Trapper, rubbing his ear Hawkeye dressed quickly, as I put on another Nurse’s pants, which were ridiculously long and my boots.

"I like Kellye’s sense of fashion." Commented Hawkeye as Trapper beat us out the door by a split second.

We met everyone in the compound where Henry was issuing orders.

"Annie, Hawkeye, I want you to go up to the Officer’s Club, there’s an ambulance stuck there, they’re fully loaded, there are already nurses and corpsmen heading that way. Trapper, go up to the chopper pad with Able, Baker and Leslie, Frank you and I can take this bus." I headed for a jeep with Hawkeye and we drove up to the OC.

As Henry promised the ambulance had got a flat, a sniper had shot the tyre and the ambulance had continued on three wheels as fast as it could.

I climbed in, "God, he’s not even twenty," I murmured, thinking of my brothers who were fighting somewhere in Korea.

"He can wait," I told Hawkeye, who nodded approvingly, he, Henry and Trapper had learned to trust my decisions in triage. We categorized the patients and began heading down.

"Annabelle, I'm going to need help, he’s full of shrapnel," Henry stuck his head into the nurse’s change

"Cool," I called back, as a group of us stood in a circle lacing each other’s gowns. I scrubbed up, after hastily arranging a change of shifts with Caitlin, a shy new nurse who wasn’t really accustomed to the OR, and the horrors therein.

"Nurse Dawson, where are you going, you’re on triage!" Frank demanded as I walked through the OR.

"Colonel wanted me," I replied simply and politely joining Henry at the table.

"Nurse Dawson!" Frank snapped.

"Shove it," I ever so elegantly replied and received a small round of applause.

"Nertz!" he muttered.

"Lyssie-Jane?" Trapper called about five patients later.

"Yeah bro?"

"You’ve got small hands, can I get your help here?" I looked and Henry, who nodded.

"Cover her Major." Margaret stepped in and I went down to Trapper.

"Yeah, Lyssie, see if you can get it, tweezers aren’t working." There was a piece of shrapnel firmly embedded in the shoulder. It was large, but quite a tight fit, hence the need for small hands.

"Clamp that," I said and once the artery was clamped, began removing the shrapnel. I let go, "Trapp, there’s more bleeding underneath and from the looks I’d say it’s another artery."

Trapper called, "Hawk!" Hawkeye appeared.

"Make it quick, I’ve got a whole lots of kids waiting for my touch." Trapper nodded.

"There’s bleeding under there, ruptured artery, Annie just spotted it. We’ll need you help to stop the bleeding." Hawkeye nodded.

"There’s nerve damage here," he observed.

"I’d say that hurt," I commented as the shrapnel was dropped into the tray with a satisfying clatter.

"Henry, there’s some serious nerve damage here and about a million kids waiting," Hawkeye said.

"I’ll take the nerves, you and MacIntyre keep going. Gown and gloves!"

We worked on and I stretched, Frank yelped as I nearly clocked him. "Lieutenant! Watch what you’re doing!" I apologized, it was easier than starting a verbal punching match.

"I’m sorry Major, I’ll be more careful." Trapper took my hand and put it where he wanted it.

"Hold that right there, say Bella how do you do it?"

I shrugged, "What?"

"Four-oh silk Baker… one more stitch, let that go Annie, it should hold… god I’m good! How do you stay so civil when you talk to Ferret-Face?" I smiled as Trapper began sewing the chest wound back together.

"I’m of a well brought-up family." I replied, feigning modesty. Henry laughed.

"No argument there Belle my girl. Okay bring in the next one!"

"Thanks" I smiled as Hawkeye too, called for a new patient. He began talking to the soldier, lisping and slurping occasionally.

"Hello my pretty, and welcome to Hawkeye and Hyde’s House of Horror." He stopped to receive a new gown, "Now, we’ll get along just fine, won’t we? Now was it three legs, two heads or an extra arm?"

His patient smiled weakly, "Two heads doc, will I be okay?"

"Yes, you’ll be fine. Now just breathe deeply my pretty and you’ll soon be in the land of dreams." I giggled at my lover, if you could call someone who I was yet to have sex with a lover, and then yelped as Trapper tried to mash my finger.

"Annie are you okay love?" I shook my throbbing hand.

"Yes, no thanks to you!" The sides of his mask turned up and I knew he was smiling.

"Can we have a little quiet in here?" Frank’s whine pierced the generally friendly atmosphere.

"Nurse, god dammit, I don’t want to have to wait till next month for it, suction!" Henry snapped while Frank muttered crossly.

Hawkeye gave a sarcastic sigh, "Sorry if we’re operating too loud for you Frank. I vote it’s time for a song…"

Henry spoke up then, "Can it Pierce, we can’t have steam coming out of Frank’s ears just yet."

Trapper laughed. "Or any other bodily orifice!" I laughed as Kellye came to replace me and I went to help sterilize some instruments.

Little to my surprise when I returned to the OR fifteen minutes later, Hawkeye had most of the room singing "My Blue Heaven."

It was about 24 hours after we’d first started in the OR, fatigue was starting to set in, the casualties were lighter but with the sound of gunfire and shelling, louder and closer than ever, it was clear we’d be working into the early hours of the morning.

"I’ve got you… under my skin." Hawkeye murmured as he paced up and down the narrow space, trying to stretch. He went to his new patient.

"Annie," he called in a low voice, "We’ve got a Korean, can’t be more than sixteen, but she’s panicking something awful, she’s refusing the mask." I stood up as someone took my place.

I went to her, and used the jerky Korean I had tried to learn in the six months that I had been in Korea. She slowly calmed at the sound of her native tongue and we proceeded fixing her up. Finally we were able to close her.

Several hours later I stretched. "Take a break AJ." Hawkeye said, it was 1500 hours and we’d been going solid for 41 hours. I left and went to get some coffee, Trapper following.

"That was some great work on that shrapnel Anne," he smiled.

"Thanks," I sipped my coffee and grimaced.

"Last week’s gravy?" Trapper laughed.

"No, it’s the week before last!" I responded quickly. He took a cup and we headed back to the OR, an ambulance drove up and he pushed the half-finished cup into my hands. I drained my coffee and followed Trapper into the ambulance as the panicked voice of a soldier called from inside.

"Henry," I called across the OR.

"Yo?" He replied tiredly, it had been 2 ½ days, 60 hours or more.

"Do you want me to go get Hawkeye, it’s been an hour and Trapper’s nearly dead on his feet?"

"Yep, and take 15 for yourself okay?" I went to the Swamp; Hawkeye was crashed on his bunk.

I shook him gently and he jumped, "Are you an angel?" He kissed me tiredly.

"You’ve gotta go back Hawk, Trapper’s dying for a nap."

He rubbed his eyes, "Annabelle Felicity Amy Jane Dawson, you are so horribly cruel and yet I love you terribly." He slurred as I dragged him to his feet. I led him to the mess tent, where after some coffee, he perked up a little.

"Come on, we’ve been ten minutes already." I hauled him up and we went back to the OR, where I sat at the patient’s head and checked his stats.

"Will I be okay doc?" He asked, "Of course," Hawkeye responded sincerely.

As another patient went under, I noticed out of the corner of my eye Henry receiving a new patient.

"He’s the last one," Henry sighed, "Amen," I heard Henry check the dog tags and then swear.

"Annie, take a break,"

I looked up, "Colonel I’m on the last patient, everyone else is starting to clean up."

"Annabelle!" His tone was sharp and I looked up at him in surprise, and in doing so saw the patient’s face. I remember a scream, mine I think, as I fainted, but that’s all.

"Annie, Annie, wakey, wakey love." Hawkeye’s eyes stared into mine. I sat up dizzily,

"Annie," I heard a voice from beside me, Henry helped me to my feet.

"Jack," I whispered and went to his head. It was my twin brother Jack, his blue eyes flickered open.

"Annie," He said again. I was barely aware of the nurses, Trapper and Henry who were desperately trying to stop the bleeding. I touched his cheek.

"Annabelle, please don’t cry, I’ll be okay, you wrote me letters about these doctors, they’re the best, remember?" He choked, a little blood coming to his lips. I took Jack’s hand.

("Nurse, come on, clamp it, we can’t loose him!")

Weakly, he lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed it, leaving a red stain on my knuckles.

"Annabelle, I love you so much, it’s going to be okay." People were drawn like a magnet to the heart-wrenching goodbye scene in progress.

("Doctor! His BP’s dropping.")

Tears rolled down my cheeks, "No!" I cried as I saw the light in his eyes leave. "Jack," The light flickered back in.

"Annabelle, Bella, you’re my sister, my twin, my best friend, I love you. I know I’m dying." Father Mulcahy came up, and began to perform the last rights.

"No you’re not Jack! They’ll save you!" His hand came up to touch my cheek.

("Pulse is getting fainter, BP even lower…")

He pulled my face to his. He kissed my forehead with bloodstained lips. "Annie, goodbye." Tears streamed even harder down my face.

"No Jack, I love you, don’t go." But he was gone, dead, life had left his body.

("Colonel, he’s gone, you tried your hardest.")

"Colonel, Henry, save him, oh god, you’ve got to save him." My head went onto the table and lay beside Jack’s. I sobbed inconsolably, hysterically almost; unaware of the entire camp watching, and none of them had a dry eye either.

"No!" Someone tried to lift me from behind, but I yanked myself free, "Jack, you’re my best friend, you’re my twin, we promised each other we’d die on the same day, don’t you remember?" I reached across for his left hand. There was a scar running the length of his palm, I had one identical to it.

"Jack, look, don’t you remember?" I sobbed, and before anyone could stop me, grabbed a scalpel.

"Annie!" Hawkeye had pulled everyone back to give me some time with my brother but now as I cut down my palm, he ran forward.

"My blood," I winced as the blood flowed from my hand, "Your blood," I cut Jack’s hand, "Our blood," I clasped the two palms together feeling as the blood flowed and mingled.

Hawkeye pulled me away from him. I turned to Hawkeye and buried my head in his chest, not wanting to see the sheet laid over him.

"Colonel why didn’t you save him?" I asked.

"Oh Belle, my girl Bella," Henry’s voice was soft, and told of the tears that flowed down his face. His hand softly rubbed my back.

"If we put him under, he would have gone, his blood pressure was so low. We’d given him a local and we were trying so hard to stop the bleeding. You missed that while you said goodbye. It was amazing he was even conscious to talk to you, I guess… I guess he held on just for you." I lay my head on Hawkeye’s chest and listened to his heartbeat, so alive, and so steady and reassuring. I felt his hand on my cheek; moist and unnatural in the rubber glove. I was a mess, tears ran down my cheeks torrentially and there was blood on my face, Jack’s and mine.

"Let’s go Annie," Hawkeye took a slow step backwards. I shook my head

"Jack!" Two corpsmen were carrying him out, I turned – and ran straight into Trapper’s chest. His strong arms encircled me.

"Annie, you’ve still got me, your big brother, remember that," He whispered. I felt Hawkeye’s arms close over me too, and I stood there, held tightly between the two men. I heard Colonel Blake’s voice as he dictated the death certificate to Radar.

"Date of death, March 19 1952. Time of death 2230 hours." We’d been in the OR for 72 hours exactly when my twin brother left me.