| From Crossfire to Crossing Paths |
| Sometimes a weird series of events cause the most unlikely of situations to occur in some of the best places........ |
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| A tall, fairly good-looking man walked out of his office in the hospital and down the hallway. His curly light brown hair was was in bad need of a trimming and his feet were killing him from the five hours of surgery he had just endured. It made him think of Korea and how he had done surgery for days on end. He smiled to himself as he thought of all the good times he had had there. "Doctor McIntyre, you have a patient in room eighteen that needs evaluating," said one of the nurses who handed him the chart. He grabbed the chart and walked casually down the hall to room eighteen. Doctor McIntyre opened the door just about passed out. "Trapper!" exclaimed the man in the bed,"I thought we would never see eachother again!" "Hawk, what brings you to my neck of the woods?" asked Trapper. "Well, I was in Boston for a medical conference and on my way to the first meeting some idiot of a driver smashed into my car. Now I have this sexy gash on my head and charming little cuts up and down my legs. I told the nurse I wanted to work on myself but then she put me out," said Hawkeye. "I can't believe you're here. It's been seven long years since I last saw you. I wanted to say goodbye so bad, but I just couldn't. Nothing I wrote sounded right. I'm lousy at goodbyes. I waited for you to come back, but they dragged me on to the chopper. Man, it's been so long. No martini has ever tasted the same," said Trapper. "No martini has ever tasted the same because you were a terrible martini maker and you could never match the likes of Hawkeye the master of the driest of the driest martinis," said Hawkeye. They laughed a bit. Laughing made Trapper feel like he was back in Korea again minus the long work hours and cramped living space. "So Hawkeye, how's life been since Korea?" asked Trapper. "Well, Everything has been pretty great. I mean being in jail would be much better than the war, but life has actually had some inspiring perks. You should probably sit down right now 'cuz you're going to faint when I tell you some of this stuff," said Hawkeye. "I don't think anything will suprise me more than seeing you show up at my hospital," said Trapper. "Don't say I didn't warn you. After you left and Henry was killed we got a new surgeon named B.J. Hunnicut. He's a great guy, you really need to meet him, you'll love him. Anyways, we also got a new Comanding Officer named Colonel Potter who was pretty cool. That was good because already we were about to kill Frank. Later that year Frank went awol and got transferred which was great for the time being, but then we got this new surgeon who was annoying. Margaret also got married, but divorced the bimbo not too long afterward. After all this, I finally got to go home to my beloved Crabapple Cove. The problem was that I was in love and well, frankly, I couldn't find the girl I was in love with because I was in love with... Margaret," said Hawkeye. Trapper's jaw just about touched the ground. "Wait a minute, hold on, you fell for Hot Lips!" exclaimed Trapper. "I sure did, I know it sounds like ludacris, but just keep listening. I called up B.J. and we talked about my problem. The problem was that I had no clue where to find her. After the war she had stayed in Korea to do some post-war help and I never got any contacts from her. I threw away my sick heart and convinced myself I would never see her again. I went back to my regular lifestyle. A few months later I got a strange note at the hosital from a mysterious person who wanted to have lunch with me that day at a little restaurant called Windy's. Having nothing better to do, I took my lunch break and accepted the invitation. When I appearred at the restaurant my mysterious courter was Margaret! We talked for hours on end and agreed to meet again sometimes. You know how the old story goes, six months later we were married and now we have two kids," said Hawkeye. "That's amazing. I still can't believe it, Margaret and Hawkeye what a pair up and you, a father, I knew you would always be good with kids," said Trapper. "Yeah, I love Lauren and little Benji to pieces," said Hawkeye. "I don't really have any extraordinary post-war stories like you. I'm just the same Trapper though I've decided to actually stay faithful to my wife," said Trapper. "No more Big John, huh," said Hawkeye with a snicker. Trapper pelted him with one of his pillows. "It's so strange you came to Boston and you ended up this particular hospital. It's almost like fate or something," said Trapper. "Oh jeez, let's not get into that crap," said Hawkeye. "Let's just talk about everything else." That's what they did for close to two hours straight. Trapper had to be dragged out of the room so he could attend his other patients. Trapper had a big smile on his face all day, he had fianlly found the best friend he had been missing for so long. That night Trapper drove home as fast as he could to tell his wife, Louise, the news. "Sweetheart you'll never believe this," said Trapper."Guess who was one of my patients today?" "The President," said Louise dryly. "No, no, no not the president, Hawkeye Pierce!" said Trapper "Is he the Vice President?" asked Louise with a smirk. "You know, Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce?" said Trapper. "I know who he is," said Louise."So what brings him to Boston?" "He got a car accident and got a nice gash on his head and a bunch of small ones up and down his legs. I spent most of my afternoon talking to him and you'll never believe this either. You know that fiery blonde Margaret I told you about. The one that was in love with that ferret face Frank and the one we played a lot of pranks on? Hawkeye ended up falling for and marrying her. They have two kids, a son and a daughter, and their son is four so he's around Henry's age. This time we promised to never lose touch again," said Trapper. "Well, if he gets released soon you should invite him over for dinner before he has to go back to Maine. I'd love to meet this character," said Louise as she took the potato soup off of the stove and set it on the table. "Becky, Kathy, Henry it's time for supper," yelled Trapper. "Oh John, it's been so cute. Henry has been marching around in one of your white shirts and pretending he's a doctor. He carries around a box of band-aids and goes around saying he's going to be a great doctor like his father. He really adores you," said Louise. "Daddy, Daddy, let me fix you," said Henry as he came running down the hall. He pulled out a band-aid and stuck it to Trapper's nose. "I gonna be the bestest doctor in the whole world just like you." "You sure are, Dr. Henry," said Trapper as he lifted Henry onto his lap. He ruffled the boy's curly light brown hair. His family meant the world to him. "Dad, look, I got all A's on my report card," said Becky as she prouldy held up her report card. "You must get your smarts from your mother," said Trapper."I was never a good student." "But you sure are a good husband," said Louise as she strolled over to Trapper and they engaged in a lengthy kiss. "Ewww," said Henry,"That's yucky." "Yeah Mom and Dad, do you always have to be doing that?" asked Becky. "That means you probably won't like this either," said Trapper. He scooped up Louise and gave her a dipping passionate kiss. Henry and Becky turned their heads away in disgust. "Hey, where's Kathy?" asked Becky. "I don't know," Louise,"I saw her a few minutes ago." "I'm right here," said Kathy as she appeared behind Trapper. Her long dark brown hair was tied back in a braid and she looked a lot like her mother. There was a sad expression painted across her face. "What's wrong, sweetie?" asked Trapper as he put his hand on her head. "My best friend is moving away," said Kathy,"to Maine." "Oh Kathy, it's okay," said Louise."You'll get to see her sometimes and you can write to her." "No, I'll never see her again ," said Kathy." Just like Daddy did with all of his war friends." "That's not true, in fact, one of them is coming to dinner this week," said Louise. "Really?" all the kids said in unison. "Yeah and he's a great storyteller," said Trapper. The dinner went smoothly from then on and the whole familt anticipated the night the amazing Hawkeye was to come over. Trapper just prayed that he could come and that he would be released in time. His injuries weren't that bad and he knew that Hawkeye couldn't stay in that place that long. He would probably be released the next day. The next day at work did a tricky reconstruction of someone's leg and a couple of casts. On his lunch break he released Hawkeye and asked him if he would be willing to come to dinner that night. "I would love to come and I'm dying to meet the great Trapper John McIntyre's family, but Margaret and the kids are coming here this afternoon," said Hawkeye with a disappointed look. "That's no problem. You can bring the whole gang along. I doubt Louise and the kids will mind. They all can't wait to meet you," said Trapper. "Hmmm, I'll come under one condition,"said Hawkeye,"If you make the martinis extra dry." "With olives?" joked Trapper. "Nice round plump ones," said Hawkeye with a grin. "I'll be waiting for ya," said Trapper as he turned to leave. "Wait, Trap, I need to know how to get to your house," said Hawkeye. "Oh, jeez, I completely forgot," Trapper as he started to scribble down some directions on a notepad. "Remember to watch out for those Boston drivers, I don't want to be fixing you up again" "Oh, gee, thanks," said Hawkeye. That afternoon Trapper got off work early and went to the grocery store to get some stuff for dinner that night. He picked up some martini mix, olives, and some basil for something Louise was whipping up. While he was in the check-out line the man behind him noticed his selections. "Martinis, huh?" said the man. He was rather tall and slightly bulky. He had a partially bald head and curly brown hair encircled the the bald spot. He had a thick Bostonian accent. "I once had two bunkmates during the Korean War who simply adored martinis. They even had a wretched distillery in their tent." "Really?" asked Trapper. Something inside of his head tweaked a thought and he asked," Did one of those bunkmates happen to be named Benjamin Pierce?" "Why, yes he was one annoying little rat. He was also a fairly good surgeon, though his talents came nothing near the superiority of mine. How do you happen to know of Captain Pierce?" asked the man. "I helped him build that distiller. I was his bunkmate before that other guy," said Trapper."The name's John McIntyre." "Nice to meet you, John. My name is Charles Emerson Winchester the third," said the man as he extended his hand to shake Trapper's. "Nice to meet you too, Charles," said Trapper."If you would like to, you can come to dinner tonight at my place. Hawkeye and Margaret are going to be there," said Trapper. "Sounds delightful," said Charles. "Just tell me the place and I'll be there with a choice jar of cavier." "Great," said Trapper. He was starting to regret inviting the guy. He sounded kind of like an incredible snob. Trapper gave Charles extremely confusing directions and hoped he got lost. Trapper speeded all the way home to make sure he got there in time to help Louise. He informed Louise of the extra mouths they would have to feed. Trapper set the table and mixed the driest martinis on this side of the Mississippi. He kept the kids entertained by telling them stories about Hawkeye and his war days. Finally at a quarter to six the doorbell rang. Everyone rushed to the door to greet the new arrivals. "Wow, look at all those spectators," said Hawkeye,"soemthing big must've happened." Trapper gave Hawkeye a big hug. Following Hawkeye was a boy a little younger than Henry with jet black hair and green eyes like his father. Behind them came Margaret who was carrying a little girl with long blonde hair and those same green eyes. The little girl looked like she was about three. "Hello Louise," said Hawkeye,"I heard a great deal about you in Korea. I've been looking forward to meeting the woman behind the Trapper." He gave her a hug."You sure are gorgeous. I can see why Trapper fell for you." Margaret shot Hawkeye a mean scowl. "Benjamin Franklin!" yelled Margaret. "Okay Margaret, you're gorgeous too," said Hawkeye. Everyone burst out laughing. "Hiya Hawkeye," said Henry."Are you gonna tell us any stories?" "Who might this be?" asked Margaret. "The name's Henry John Francis McIntyre," said Henry."I'm gonna be the bestest doctor just like my dad." "Trapper, I didn't know you had a son," said Hawkeye. "Well, you wouldn't because he's only five and was born after I came home. He's named after the late Henry Blake," said Trapper. Trapper got closer to Hawkeye and whispered in his ear,"We made him the night the war ended." They both chuckled a bit and both Louise and Margaret shot them disgusted looks. "It just amazes me, Trapper, that you can actually be a civilized and caring person," Margaret."It's such an improvement on the Trapper I knew in Korea." "Well, I'm not much different, I just stopped messing around," said Trapper."My joking behavior hasn't changed a bit. It seems like you straightened Hawkeye out a bit too." "I wouldn't have married the man if he didn't clean up his act," said Margaret. "It was the least he could do. I mean, gosh, I settled for someone who was a lower rank than me." "Whoa Margaret, when did you get funny?" asked Trapper jokingly. "When she married me," chimed in Hawkeye. "I'm such a good influence on people." "More of a bad influence," said Margaret. "Well everyone, the food is gettin' cold so let's go chow," said Trapper. He led the group imto the dining room and everyone grabbed their seats. "Hey, why is there an extra plate?" asked Hawkeye. "Oh, I mistakingly invited some guy named, uh, something Winchester who knew you, Hawkeye," said Trapper. "I met him at the grocery store. Now I'm regretting inviting him. I gave him confusing directions, so maybe he'll get lost. I also drugged his drink and filled the driveway with nails. I parked all of the cars on the side of the road." "Yeah, that guy is a pompous, rich snob," said Hawkeye,"but he's fun to play jokes on." "John Francis Xavier!" yelled Louise,"I don't want you pulling pranks on the guy. You're being a bad influence on the kids." "Come on, Louise, it's just a little innocent fun," said Trapper. "Oh, all right," said Louise. "I feel like I'm dealing with a little child." "All right everyone, before we dig into this wonderful food I would like to make a toast," said Trapper as he held up his martini glass. "Ding, Ding, Ding," rang the doorbell. "Who's dat?" asked Lauren as she tugged on Hawkeye's sleeve. "This Winchester guy has terrific timing," said Trapper. He left the table of guests and went to the front door. Trapper opened the door and there stood a tall, thin man with rather large feet. He definitely wasn't Winchester. Next to the man stood a little girl with long light brown hair and bright blue eyes. She clung tightly to the man's hand and appearred to be seven or eight. "Hi, could you please help me?" asked the man in a worried tone. "Sure, what do you need?" asked Trapper. Something was very familiar about this guy. "I need to know where your hospital is. It's my wife," said the man. "Hey Trapper," yelled Hawkeye,"I'm going to see what's going on over there." Hawkeye walked to the front door and his eyes bugged out. "Beej!" yelled Hawkeye. "Hawk!" yelled B.J. as he gave Hawkeye a big hug. "Guys, I can't talk though, Peg is really sick. I know I'm a doctor and all, but she needs medical help at a hospital. She's eight months pregnant and has been having problems. I need to get her to a hospital quick." "Consider done," said Hawkeye,"we'll come along to help you. Trapper can drive 'cuz he works at the hospital and I'll help you." "Trapper? Why does that name sound familiar?" asked B.J. "I'll explain later, but right now we have to go," said Trapper. Trapper, Hawkeye, B.J. and the little girl ran down to the car and hopped in. Trapper started the car and down the road they buzzed. "So are you the same Trapper that I heard about endlessly in Korea?" asked B.J. "I think so, unless Hawkeye ditched me for some other Trapper," said Trapper. "I could never love another Trapper as much as you," kidded Hawkeye. "Nor could I love another Hawkeye," said Trapper. "So are you the world famous B.J. I've heard about?' "That's me, B.J. Hunnicut, the one and only," said B.J. "I hear that you were the one who replaced me in Korea," said Trapper. "Yup, man those were some hard shoes to fill," replied B.J. "Erin is Ben sleeping?" "Yeah, do you want me to wake him up, Daddy?" asked the little girl with long light brown hair. "No, you can leave him be for now," said B.J. "Wow, Beej you have a son too? Jeez, both of my best friends have kids and they don't even tell me," said Hawkeye. He peered into the backseat and saw a young boy asleep against the car door next to him was Peg and on the other side of Peg was B.J. Hawkeye turned to Erin who was seated between him and Trapper. "Wow, Erin," said Hawkeye,"the last time I saw you you could barely talk." "I don't even remember you," said Erin. "Yeah you were probably too little," said Hawkeye. "So Hawk, how's you and Margaret doing?" asked B.J. "Pretty good, in fact we too have two kids now. Ben, we call him BJ too, is about four and a half and Lauren is around three," said Hawkeye. "That's funny, we both named one our kids after each other and didn't even know it," said B.J. "Trapper here has three kids too. He started in the kid business much before us," said Hawkeye. "Really?" asked B.J. "Yeah, I have two daughters and a son. Becky is twelve, Kathy is about ten, and Henry is around five," said Trapper."Me and Louise sure love kids, but we set our limit at three." "So did Peg and I," said B.J."At first we only wanted one, but then Ben came along. Then we decided we wanted just one more." "Sounds like Ben was end of the war present like Henry was," said Trapper. "Yup, he sure was," said B.J. "How is Peg doing?" asked Hawkeye. "She's getting worse," said B.J. "Is the hospital getting closer?" "Yeah, we only have two more blocks to go and I'll be sure to get her in fast. I'll take her on as my patient," said Trapper as he pushed harder on the gas pedal. "Thanks," said B.J. The hospital was approahing fast on the left and Trapper made a wild turn into the emergency vehicle area. He snuck her in through the emergency doorway. Trapper immediatley took her on as his own patient and quickly took her in for an ultrasound. "What's wrong?" asked B.J when he saw Trapper appear out of the room. "Well, well it seems that your kid has gotten tangled in his umbilical cord and it is cutting his oxygen source off. We're going to have to do a c-section fast before your kid suffocates to death. I know it's early and all, but it's all we can do to save your kid. It's a good thing we got her here when we did," said Trapper. "Hey, what happened to Hawkeye?" "Okay I want to help you," said B.J. "Oh, and Hawkeye went to call your house like you asked him to." "You can't help, I'm sorry, it's hospital regulations. Though, you can sit in and supervise if you sterilize yourself and don't mention it to anyone," said Trapper. Meanwhile..... "Everyone, that was Hawkeye on the phone," said Margaret. "B.J. Hunnicut's wife, Peg, is in surgery right now, she might have her baby, and Trapper is performing it. We should go see how everything is going." "Who is B.J. Hunnicut?" asked Louise. "He is one of Hawkeye's war buddies," said Margaret. "He took Trapper's place." "All right, let's go," said Louise. "Well leave Winchester a snotty note telling him that we uninvited him." "Sounds devilish," said Margaret with a snicker. "Mommy, where are we going?" asked B.J. "To see one of your Daddy's friends at the hospital," repied Margaret as she scooped the boy up. "Yeah, we get to see my Dad fix up persons," said Henry with pride. "You know what, Louise, that boy is the spitting image of Trapper," said Margaret. "I know, he even acts like him sometimes, it's scary," said Louise. "It's so amazing with how wild John can be that he can be such a terrific father." "The same with Hawkeye," said Magaret. "John was so excited to hear that Hawkeye had kids. He had always told me that Hawkeye would be a great dad," said Louise. The troop of people loaded in to Louise's car and they sped down the road. "How does it look?" asked B.J. as he paced in the room impatiently. "It looks fine, everything is going fine. You sure are a jittery person. At least when my kids were born I just passed out and didn't cause a ruckus," said Trapper. "Hey, I delivered one of my kids," said Hawkeye."It wasn't planned or anything, but when Margaret went into labor with B.J. our car broke down and well I was forced to deliver him. I wouldn't suggest ever trying to deliver a kid in a car." "I'm not very comfortable in these kinds of situations," said B.J. as he leaned up against one of the walls and took a deep breath. "Who is? I mean this is an important occasion and there's always a chance of something going wrong. Wait, here comes the kid," said Trapper as he made one last cut. "Oh, the suspense," said Hawkeye. In the car speeding to the hospital.... "Are we there yet?" begged Henry. "Almost sweetie, it's just a few more minutes," said Louise. "Mom, don't call me sweetie. Call me Dr. Henry," said Henry. "All right, Dr. Henry," said Louise. "I hope everthing is all right," said Margaret. "Trapper should have let us help." "He probably couldn't because of some hospital regulation," said Louise. "Hmm, I wonder if its a boy a girl." "I'm guessing it's a boy because boys always have to have bad timing," said Margaret. "Ben was delivered by Hawkeye himself because he decided he wanted to come out so fast." "Yeah, Henry was early too," said Louise. "Mommy, I'm tired," said Lauren as she curled up in Margaret's lap. The hospital came into view and the loaded car parked in the parking lot. Louise led the way into the hospital and went up to the front desk. "Oh, Louise, what brings you here?" asked the woman at the desk. "Is John acting up again?" "No (giggled a bit), actually a friend of ours was just in surgery here and we were wondering how she was doing," said Luoise. "Okay, what's their name," asked the woman. "Peg Hunnicut," butted in Margaret. "Hunnicut...Hunnicut, ahh, Peg Hunnicut," said the woman. "She's in room twenty-six on the second floor. You can visit her, but she's only bee out of surgery for ten minutes and probably won't be awake. Do you want me to find someone to watch the kids?" "Please, thanks so much, Lisa," said Louise. "Oh Louise, can you please tell John to stop with the bad jokes? I can't stand it any more," said Lisa. "I will," said Louise. "I can't wait to see B.J. again," said Margaret."It'll be like our old M.A.S.H. days." "Yeah," said Louise. "These boys sure were a tight group." Louise and Margaret made their way up to the second floor and turned corners at a maddening pace. "Let's see," said Louise," the room should be just around this corner." Trapper appearred right in front of them. "John, how did everything go?" "Everything went just fine," said Trapper."Here, come in here and see for yourself. Also, do you know if Jeannine has B.J's kids?" "Umm, I dunno. You'll have to ask Lisa, she took care of the rest of the kids," said Louise. "Oh John, I promised Lisa that you would stop with the bad jokes in her presence." "What about good jokes?" joked Trapper. "John Francis!" yelled Louise. Trapper smiled and led the three of them into the room. Peg was still asleep and B.J. held onto a bundle of blankets. "Jeez, you guys missed all of the fun," said Hawkeye. "Hi Everyone," said B.J. "I would like you to meet my new son, John B.J. Hunnicut. He's named after the one man to whom he owes his and his mother's life. Thanks, Trapper McIntyre," said B.J. as he gave him a hug. Trapper blushed a bit. He didn't like all of the attention. "Now I have two sons named after the two greatest men I have ever knwon." "I..I'm honored," stuttered Trapper. "Hawkeye was right, you are a great guy. When I first heard about you I felt a snip of jealousy because you kind of replaced me and I wanted to be Hawkeye's only best friend. Now I've discovered that I have two best friends and they truly are great men," said Trapper. "Finest kind," said Hawkeye as they three guys all smiled. "Wait, I've been wondering, what does B.J. stand for?" asked Trapper. "Whatever you want it to," said B.J. Hawkeye, B.J., and Margaret all started laughing. Trapper was quite confused, but laughed anyways. It was like old times with a twist. Back at the McIntyre's at around 8'oclock.... "Hawkeye Pierce, John McIntyre you incredible cretins! I should have never trusted a friend of Hawkeye Pierce's. You are going to pay for this! You shall never get away with this prank," yelled Charles as he read the note on the door in haste. Three days later...... "Well, I guess Charles finally did get the last laugh," said B.J. "How long did it take you guys to get that door pried open?" "Oh about two hours," said Hawkeye. "We had to climb through the window and take a crowbar to it. "Yeah, and he just about killed me from snakebite because he stuck those snakes in our bed," said Trapper. "He pulled that trick again?" said B.J. "Yeah, he got me with that in Korea," said Hawkeye. "Wait, Charles didn't get the last laugh," said Trapper. "What?" asked B.J. "What about those nails in my driveway?" said Trapper. "I bet you anything right now he's discovering that his tires are full of holes and he's probably cursing us." "I can hear him now... those incredible cretins! You can pull these childish pranks on me, but you can't break the spirit of a Winchester," said B.J. in his most Winchester-like voice. "Yeah, look who gets the last laugh now," said Hawkeye. Trapper slung his arms over Hawkeye and B.J.'s shoulders and the three best friends started to walk back towards Trapper's house. One friend Trapper had lost a long time ago, the other he has only known for three days, but he knew they would be best of friends. Three doctors, three jokesters, three best friends forvever. |
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| Thank you for reading my story. This is the first fan fiction I have ever written. Please give me feedback about it. I'd love to hear what you think. Thanks, *Trapp Send Feedback to: trapp_kling@yahoo.com |