With shaking fingers unbecoming a surgeon, he held the dogtags up to the fading light. He looked like he was going to cry. �These aren�t mine!�
�I don�t understand. Why have someone else�s tags?�
�We must have grabbed the wrong ones after we took them off.� He didn�t want to state the reason behind taking them off and was glad she didn�t ask.
�Then what is your name?� she asked when he lapsed into a long silence.
�Hawkeye.�
�Hawk eye,� she said the name slowly.
BJ couldn�t be dead�
�You slept through supper.� She again distracted him from his thoughts. �I keep soup warm. You want?�
Stomach growled in response and he reluctantly put BJ from his thoughts and nodded. The fact that he couldn�t believe that BJ was gone�refused to�helped. Once he got away and back to the mash, BJ would be there waiting for him�
Jo�an brought him a bowl of watered down soup. Then she sat down a short distance away, her rifle by her side, more to please her brother rather than for safety. �Is now your memory back?�
He nodded, waiting for the soup to cool. �I�m a doctor, a surgeon, at a Mash unit. We were heading back from an aid station when we heard bombs behind us. We figured, correctly, that the group of soldiers we had passed had been hit. We went back to try and help and,� he shrugged. �Now this.� He took a slow sip of the soup. It didn�t have much taste, but there were some rice and small vegetables floating around in it. �Why�s your brother so bitter towards us? Not that I can blame him much.�
�Like most of us, he has lost someone close to him.� She shook her head violently frowning. �We should have moved from here long ago��
�The war would still be here.�
�But not for me. Can�t pretend it doesn�t exist from here.�
He had just finished the soup and passed the bowl to her when a loud noise at the door made them both jump. Ian had returned and collapsed just inside the doorway.
�Ian!� Jo�an screeched and dropped the rifle, rushing to his side.
�What�s wrong?� the confused captive asked. He tried to join Jo�an by Ian�s side, but the taut rope painfully reminded him of it�s existence.
�He�s been shot!� Jo�an was almost in hysterics.
�Jo�an..Jo!� he had to shot to get her to look at him. �Get my bag from the corner. We need to stop the bleeding.�
�No!� Ian�s yell startled both of them. �It�s a trick! Don�t listen to him!�
Jo�an froze, her hands on the bag.
�He�ll bleed to death. Hurry!�
Ian drew a knife from his belt and pointed it at the surgeon. �Keep away.� His eyes were having trouble focussing and the sweat on his face further blurred his vision. He shook his head to clear it. �It was one of you who shot me,� he continued, and scooted towards the bound man.
He moved away from the Korean, no doubt in his mind that it would be his end if the knife wielder got to him.
Ian was now mumbling in Korean and still trying to advance. He was pleased when the American�s back reached the wall�only a few more feet before he could finally seek his revenge�.he got 1 foot closer, then no more.
He looked at the body in front of him, afraid that it might be some trick to kill him. Slowly he reached out his hands and felt for a pulse, then shook his head after finding none. He looked to Jo�an.
She was still by the corner, the bag gripped loosely in one hand. It fell from her numbed fingers. Feeling sick, she ran from the building.
The American felt sick, too. He sat back on his heels and stared at the lifeless body belonging to the stubborn Korean. He wondered if he could have been saved�
Jo�an finally returned, her eyes red, but her head held high. Then she noticed something alarming. It turned to horror when the American followed her gaze�The rifle was close enough to him that he could tap it with his foot.
He did tap it with his foot, but hard enough to send it sliding far away from him.
Jo�an was so surprised that she could not move. Why would he throw away a chance at escape? Her brother had tried to kill him! He wasn�t looking at her now, he was staring at the body. He still didn�t look up when she waked across the room to retrieve her rifle. Were both men dead?
Footsteps made him look at her feet briefly. Again he looked at Ian, but he didn�t see the Korean. Instead he saw BJ. Ian was dead�was his friend, too? The thought had finally struck him�worse than any knife could. He heard his name, echoing as if from a long hollow tunnel. Was BJ calling him?
�Hawk eye?� Jo�an knelt by his side and turned his face to look at her. Once she had his attention, finally, she removed the bayonet from the rifle.
He didn�t know why, but he expected her cool exterior to shatter and her to take revenge for the death of her brother, for her to slit his wrists as she reached for his hands�