"Love, Nellie O'Hara," Nellie finished.

With a small smile, she folded the papers up and stuck them in an envelope. She gave a quick lick of the flap and sealed it. Then she took her pen and addressed it to Jackson O'Hara at 2614 E Baltimore Street in Maryland, USA. Nellie placed the finished envelope in the corner of her desk.

She stood and stretched. Dinner had started ten minutes previous. For the first time since the whirlwind of being assigned to Korea, she felt truly alone. In Baltimore she'd lived with her brother and worked with men and women she considered good friends. Then in Honolulu and Tokyo she'd had the other four women surgeons. That had offered some camaraderie even if they hadn't all gotten along. Here she was starting over. On her way out, she grabbed her copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

When she opened the door of her tent, Nellie took a few moments to just look around and breathe. She stood at her door, leaning against it. A little brown and white dog ran past the basketball hoop. Nellie smiled. Small groups of nurses and corpsmen made their unhurried way across the compound to the Mess Tent. None paid any attention to her. She certainly didn't mind.

Nellie made her way towards the Mess Tent alone. She enjoyed the opportunity to observe the workings of the 4077th without the distraction of a guide. One thing she noticed immediately. The nurses stuck together. This didn't surprise Nellie in the least, knowing full well how hard it could be to be a woman in a male-oriented world. Finding a good female friendship could mean a world of difference. But then, making friendships with the men in her field had provided her unique opportunities to advance her career. By the end of her time at Johns Hopkins University, she had felt equally comfortable being "one of the boys" as "one of the girls."

As she entered the Mess Tent, she scooted into line. A few corpsmen she hadn't seen yet flanked her to either side. As she picked up her tray, she felt the stares of many of the occupants on her. She didn't know if her fears were real or imagined. As always, she kept her head high regardless.

She heard the men in front of her addressing the server as Igor. He wore private's stripes on his fatigues. She flashed him a strained smile.

"I'll just have toast," Nellie said. As he plopped two slices of relatively pleasant looking toast onto her tray, she moved down the line. A cup of coffee and toast would be fine.

An unoccupied table sat diagonal from the serving station. Nellie headed there. The Mess wasn't very full yet, and she didn't see anyone she recognized. As she sat sipping her coffee and chewing on toast, she started reading her book. Molly had gifted it to her, insisting she read it. Molly knew how much Nellie loved C.S. Lewis's book The Screwtape Letters, and suggested she try his new fantasy series.

A few minutes later and the sound of two trays slamming on her table jolted her focus away from the book. She glanced up. Hawkeye had sat across from her, BJ next to him. Moments later, Klinger took up Hawkeye's other side.

"I see you've discovered how delicious our food is here," BJ joked. He gestured to her remaining piece of toast with his fork.

Nellie cracked a smile. She closed her book and put it on the seat beside her. "I've had better."

"I'd hope so," Hawkeye said. "I've had better even in college. I've had better in garbage dumps! This is a crime!" He sniffed a fork full of coleslaw. "This is... this is disgraceful. It gets worse every day!"

"Ready to revolt again, sir?" mocked Klinger.

"We could win the war by catering to North Korea," Hawkeye continued. "Just send them our food! They'd surrender by morning."

Nellie didn't miss BJ's eye roll. She did her best not to smirk at the ranting surgeon. She watched as Klinger just pretended to be listening, instead inspecting his own food.

"Don't forget there's some of Peg's rum cookies waiting in the Swamp if you eat your vegetables," said BJ as Hawkeye quieted down and picked at his food.

"We should just eat her cookies for dinner," Hawkeye argued.

"Ah ah ah!" He shook his head. "Peg specifically told me in her letter that I have to share them during poker tonight."

"When is the game?" asked Nellie.

Klinger looked at his watch. "Once we're all here and ready."

Hawkeye stopped his food inspection long enough to look at Nellie. He shrugged. "You should come back to the Swamp after dinner. I'm sure Peg wouldn't mind it if we break open the cookies early." Then he glanced at her coffee cup. "Besides, we have stronger stuff than that abomination in our tent."

"Oh?"

"They have a distillery," Klinger explained.

Hawkeye straightened up. "Not just any distillery. The Still. The greatest creation since Peg's rum cookies."

With a laugh, BJ nodded. "I think the Still passes the rum cookies easily."

"I don't know. Real food is hard to top."

Nellie listened as the two surgeons continued to chat through dinner. They had a remarkable ability to play of each other's comments with incredible wit. It amazed her. Even she and Molly had never had that quick of a repartee. In the end, Hawkeye and BJ told both Nellie and Klinger to head with them to the Swamp.

"Klinger go get the table," Hawkeye instructed.

As the company clerk rushed off to do as instructed, Hawkeye and BJ walked with Nellie to the door of the Swamp. The hum of classical music sounded through the mesh sides. Hawkeye rolled his eyes as they walked in. "Charles! It's poker night!"

The man turned in his chair as they walked in. He looked at his watch. "Not for another twenty one minutes. That's when the big hand is on the twelve, and the little hand is on the six!"

"If I give you a rum cookie from Peg, will you go somewhere else?" asked BJ.

Charles raised an eyebrow. He looked from BJ to Nellie, and sighed dramatically. "I will accept your offer only, and I mean only, because I do not wish to expose your childish behavior in front of our new surgeon, which would doubtless boil over if I refused."

"How thoughtful," Hawkeye mocked.

Charles took the offered rum cookie. He didn't dignify Hawkeye's quip with a response, instead leaving after nodding to Nellie. Right after he left, Klinger reentered with the large poker table. Hawkeye helped him set it up before the clerk left them.

"Here, try one." BJ stepped over to where Nellie stood out of the way.

She took one from his tin. "Peg's your wife? Where's home?"

BJ nodded. "Peg and our little daughter Erin are in San Francisco. She's two now. Sometimes when I close my eyes I can hear her cries. She's speaking now." After a brief moment, he gestured to the Still. "Want some?"

"Please!"

As he filled a martini glasses, he turned the question on her. "Where's home for you?"

"Baltimore. My brother and I share an apartment near Patterson Park, not too far from the hospital." She took the glass he offered. She downed a quick sip. Her eyes widened. "Wow." A cough escaped her. "That's quite strong."

Hawkeye and BJ both laughed.

"Jack works in the State Department. That's my brother." Smiling, she looked down at her drink. Her thoughts were a million miles away. She took a sip and turned back to them. "What about you, Hawkeye?"

"Crabapple Cove, Maine." He smiled. Sitting down on his cot, he shook his head. "It's the most beautiful little town you can imagine. In the spring, there are... a million flowers in the fields. And lobster is in every house at least twice a week. My dad runs a family medical practice there."

"Sounds nice. I've always lived in cities. In fact I grew up in New York City." Nellie sat down in one of the chairs at the poker table. "An urban jungle, I suppose. Back when Jack and I were kids, our parents sometimes took us upstate. The Adirondack Park was our favorite summer vacation."

Suddenly the sound of a Jeep pulling up distracted her. Hawkeye and BJ looked over and the former waved at someone through the mesh. Nellie couldn't see who it was. Not until he walked through the door.

"Hey Sidney! Meet our new surgeon," Hawkeye started.

Nellie choked on her drink, causing Hawkeye, BJ, and Sidney to stare at her. She simultaneously coughed and laughed. Words failed her.

"Nellie O'Hara," Sidney said. He flashed a big smile her way and made his way over. He dropped his overnight bag on the extra cot. "My, my. What are the odds?"

She finally managed to speak. "Sidney!" After placing her martini glass on the poker table, she stood up and grabbed him in a quick hug. "You look great for being stuck over here for two years!"

"Apparently civilian life didn't satisfy you," replied Sidney with a laugh. "What are you doing over here? Does the army know?"

With a laugh, she nodded. "It's a classified project."

"So you two know each other," BJ interrupted.

Hawkeye scoffed. "Clearly."

Sidney nodded, sitting down on the poker seat next to Nellie and across from Hawkeye's cot. He didn't explain though. Instead he turned to Nellie.

"We were coworkers at Johns Hopkins during my first few years of residency," she explained. "He also taught a seminar I took while doing med school."

"Small world," said BJ.

Nellie and Sidney both nodded. Not long after, the rest of the players showed up. Father Mulcahy and Klinger both sat out the beginning as they all took their seats. Colonel Potter ended up sitting to Nellie's right while Sidney stayed on her left. Hawkeye, BJ, and Margaret took the other chairs.

Hawkeye shuffled the cards. "Five card stud. Ante up."