The next few weeks were fairly routine. The only change was the news that Elias Emory and The Addiction were coming to perform for the base. The show also meant that soldiers would be attending the show from units that were further afield, so the base was buzzing with activity.

Merrick was his usual annoyed self. However, as the staff received word that the other units would be visiting over the next few days, he got downright grouchy. It took all Agatha had to run interference.

"What are we going to do when you leave in two weeks?" Sherry whispered as they cleaned a bay together. "He's getting worse!"

Agatha only shrugged because there was nothing she could say to make the situation better. Another nurse would have to step up and protect the team from his harsh tongue. Agatha felt her stomach clench at the idea of someone else taking her place with Merrick. She hoped it would be someone she had never met because that might make it a little easier to bear. Why she felt she had to bear it was something about which she didn't worry.

"Thank you for taking the shift so that a few of us could go to the concert tonight," Sherry changed the subject at Agatha's lack of interest in the previous one.

"You're welcome." Agatha smiled. If Eli were there to see her, he would find her, and she had seen him in concert a dozen times.

The day sped by as the staff followed the usual routine with an undertone of excitement due to the upcoming concert. The anticipation in the air made Agatha happy. When they had news that the plane had landed with the band on board, the positive energy grew.

"You appear to be much calmer than the rest of the staff about the arrival of Elias Emory," Merrick said as he joined her at the table that held some supplies that she was checking in.

"I've seen the band in concert a few times before," she admitted as she loaded up the items in their designated bins.

"A few times?" Merrick arched an eyebrow.

"Yes, my father is a bit of an Elias Emory groupie." Agatha grinned as she imagined what her father would say in response to her explanation. The fact that the two men were best friends and had been for almost forty years was something she didn't want to explain, so saying he was a groupie was easier.

"Your father used to take you to rock concerts?" Merrick asked in disbelief.

"My mother too. It was a family bonding experience. We even have a special lighter we take for the slow songs." Agatha was getting into her story. "Generally, one of us gets called on stage for a singalong too."

Merrick gave her a stern look before he turned and walked away. He obviously didn't believe her story, even though most of it was true.

The evening was quiet. Agatha and Merrick did a round, checking on the few patients that had beds. They all had common ailments, food poising from treats sent from home, minor sprains, and other assorted injuries. All of the seriously injured patients were sent to larger hospitals as soon as they could be moved.

Agatha was updating the necessary charts, and Merrick was making a few notes when they heard the gunfire. They froze and looked at each other, both holding their breath as they waited. They heard it again, and Merrick cursed.

"I knew it was too many of us in one place not to be a temptation."

He quickly headed for the exit while Agatha and the other nurse on duty moved the men who could be safely removed from their beds into chairs before stripping the beds they had used. If it were as bad as Agatha feared, they would need every bed they had, and probably the floor.

The gunfire kept coming in spurts, and now she could hear yelling as people were approaching the hospital.

She had a brief thought of worry for Eli before she had no more time to think as the injured started arriving. Merrick returned, helping another person carry in an injured soldier that she quickly assessed before moving on to the next one.  Merrick was keeping an eye on Agatha and noting which ones she signaled to for his attention.

When Agatha came across Jenny, clutching her abdomen and moaning, she held back tears.

"Jenny, tell me where it hurts?" she insisted as she started to cut off her clothes to see her injuries.

Jenny could only moan. It was the most severe injury Agatha had seen all evening, and she lifted her head, looking for Merrick. It only took him a minute to join her after their eyes connected.

"What happened, Cook!" he demanded, calling Jenny by her last name. "Cook!" he demanded again when she refused to answer.

"It hurts!" she moaned as she did her best to roll on her back.

Merrick took less than a minute to look at her before he started to wheel her gurney towards the operating room. "Find me Jessup and a nurse to assist!" he demanded.

It took Agatha less than a minute to find him the help he requested, then she was right back in the fray, triaging as quickly as she could. Every able hospital staff was helping, but it was still overwhelming.

More than just Jenny needed immediate surgery, and Agatha had her work cut out for her, keeping patients as stable as she could until it was their turn with Jessup and Merrick.

It was a living nightmare.

As soon as she was able, she joined Merrick in the operating room and spent the next ten hours on her feet as they saved as many lives as possible.

There was one young man who had a smile for them all as he was wheeled into the operating room despite desperately fighting for his life.

"Agatha," he greeted in a rough voice as he smiled up at her.

Agatha took her time to look at him, trying to place him as she started to prep him for surgery.

"You don't remember me, do you?" He looked a little sad at the thought, and it made Agatha search her memory bank a little harder. When she noticed his arm tattoo, it came to her. She had treated him a year previous for a minor accident.

"Lydia, oh! Lydia, say have you met Lydia. Oh! Lydia, the tattooed lady," she sang as she smiled back at him.

"You remembered!" he laughed.

"How is Lydia?" Agatha asked. Remembering that his girl back home was Lydia, and she was a tattoo artist.

"She's fine. I told her all about you, and she said she would like to meet you one day." The boy, whose name she remembered was Scott, said.

"Hopefully, we will get the chance. Scott, I'm going to give you something that will make you sleep now, alright?" Agatha quickly administered the drug that would relax him before the anesthetic.

"Sing to me, Hen!" he demanded. His words made Agatha freeze. It was what her mother called her, and her great-grandmother had called her mother. Outside the family, the only person she had told was Merrick.

Her eyes jumped to Merrick's, but he was focused on what he was doing and wasn't listening.

Agatha swallowed hard before she looked back down at Scott. "What would you like me to sing, Scott?" she asked.

"My favorite, Hen. You know what it is." His voice was fading.

"If I sing it, you have to be here when we're done, Scott," she insisted.

"I'll make sure of it," his voice was a whisper.

Agatha wasn't usually the superstitious type, but what had just happened was too weird not to honor it, especially if it meant saving a life.

"I feel I have to sing. Does anyone mind?" Agatha asked as she focused on Scott.

"Go for it," Jessup said. "It might make this current hell a little easier to endure."

Agatha looked at Merrick, who frowned but nodded, and Sherry, who was also in the room, smiled her agreement.

Agatha hadn't sung since she had left home. Licking her lips, she took a deep breath, then launched into 'Smile' and sang it as she thought of her mother, who told her it was her grandmother's favorite. Agatha had never met her great-grandmother, but she knew enough stories about her to be able to picture her as well.

When she finished singing, a hush fell over the room, and Scott stabilized as Merrick began to wrap up the short procedure.

"You can sing anytime you like, Stevens," Jessup said with a smile as he looked at her with a new interest.

"Thanks," she said as she continued to help Merrick close.

"He'll do," Merrick said as she stood up straight. "What's next?"

They continued, and the odd moment passed as if it never happened.

It was mid-morning the next day when they finally stepped out of the hospital for some fresh air and sunshine. Merrick, Jessup, and Sherry were with her as they squinted at the bright light.

They had managed to clean themselves up as they worked, but they still looked worse for wear.

The events of the evening before were still unclear, but whatever had happened had been severe. Who knew if they would ever really learn all the facts?

Agatha turned her head toward two Humvees that were being loaded with musical equipment, and there across the empty, dusty space, she saw Eli. She felt relief wash over her as a few tears started to escape.

Eli must have sensed her gaze on him because he turned in her direction. Agatha didn't care about maintaining appearances or the possible future explanations her actions would require. All she saw was her godfather, who was like a second father to her, so she ran to him, jumping into his arms.

He held her close, telling her how much he had missed her and loved her in hushed tones while she cried on his shoulder a little.

"Oh, Aggie, I'm so proud of you!" he said as he sat her away from him and wiped a tear. "I saw you in action in the hospital, and you were amazing. I don't think any of us got it, but now I do."

"Are you hurt?" she asked, stepping back and looking him over. Why had he been in the hospital?

Eli read her mind. "No, they felt it was the safest place for us to wait it out." He took her face in his hands. "I wish we had more time, but they want us to leave before it gets bad again."

Agatha nodded as she looked over to the other band members, all of whom she had known growing up. She moved toward them and gave them hugs as well.

"Maybe we'll get to sing next time, Aggie," Eli said as he hugged her once more.

Eli loved her voice and had always nurtured it when she was growing up. He and her mother had wanted her to have a singing career, but it was never anything that interested her. She had always wanted to be a nurse.

"Give my love to Mom and Dad," she said as she pulled away.

"You're home in a few weeks. You'll probably see them before I will," Eli reminded her.

Agatha smiled at the thought.

Eli looked over at the other three, who were watching their little interaction.

"Who is the one that glowers all the time?" Eli asked as he looked back down at her.

Agatha smiled. She didn't have to turn around to know who he was talking about.

"That's Roark Merrick. He's a surgeon. I told him that Mom and Dad used to take me to your concerts all the time because Dad was a groupie. I even told him about the special lighter."

Eli smiled and shook his head. He might have laughed under different circumstances, but laughing was not something anyone currently felt like doing.

"Why do you want to know about him specifically?" Agatha asked with a frown.

The driver told them it was time to load up or they would miss the flight.

"I'll tell you one day, maybe. Be careful, Aggie. I love you." He pulled her close again.

"I love you too," she gave him a brave smile.

He squeezed her hand before he followed the others into the waiting vehicles, then she watched as they drove away.

When she turned around, Sherry and Jessup had lost interest and left, but Merrick was still watching her.

"I told you, my Dad was a groupie." Agatha shrugged as she walked past him.

His eyes narrowed in response, but he didn't say anything as he followed her to get something to eat.