A constant ache settled in the back of Nellie's head when she woke up the next morning. The alarm clock on her side table woke her at seven. She grabbed her towel and toiletries. Nothing like a shower to start the day. Nellie slipped on her olive drab undershirt and underwear before covering herself with her lilac bathrobe.

As she walked across the compound the brown and white dog she heard was named Irving trotted down the road. Nellie cracked a smile. Thankfully the showers were unoccupied. She relished the touch of the warm water. After a good ten minutes and a much needed hair wash, she dried off and made her way back across camp.

She tried to wring her hair out as much as she could. Once she had clean fatigues on, she went to breakfast. Powdered eggs, toast, and coffee were plopped onto her tray. She ate quickly. Then she went to find Klinger.

Nellie slipped into the clerical office. Klinger sat at his desk on the phone, sweet talking someone into getting them a hundred extra specimen bottles. Glancing up at her, he nodded.

"You get me those specimen bottles, and I'll see that you get fifty rolls of the best toilet paper." He grinned. "Yeah. Yeah. Right. Talk to you later." The phone call ended. Klinger turned to Nellie. "What can I do for you Major?"

Nellie smirked. Folding her arms, she walked over to his desk and leaned against the side. "I need a favor. And it has to stay just between us."

"Speak and it shall be yours."

"Yesterday I was reminded that April first is rapidly approaching." She saw his face light up. With a glance around them, she lowered her voice. "I have an idea. But I need some soap."

"Soap?" Klinger looked at her in concern. "If the joke is making Hawkeye bathe, you'd need more than just soap."

Nellie laughed. She shook her head. "No. All I need from you is three bars of the soap we all use around here. The rest is up to me."

"Three bars of soap? Consider them yours. I thought you were going to have a real challenge for me!"

"Thanks, Klinger. You can leave them in my tent. But don't tell anyone!"

With a quick smile, Nellie left the office and made her way into Post Op. Ten of the beds were occupied. Most of the men lay quietly, staring up at the ceiling. A few of the less serious cases sat eating breakfast. One young man lay reading a Superman comic.

Kellye sat at the nurse's desk. Yawning, she glanced up at Nellie. "Good morning, doctor!"

"Morning," said Nellie. She moved some damp strands of hair out of her face. Leaning against the wall, she looked around. "It's peaceful in here."

"Only until Hawkeye shows up."

Nellie laughed. She shook her head. Before she could respond, however, the man in question entered Post Op from the other door.

"Good morning, gents and germs," he sing-songed. "Lie at attention. Be ready for inspection!" When Hawkeye caught sight of Nellie, he made his way over. He became more serious. "Anything of note, Kellye?"

"No, doctor. Everyone's been normal. Private Greene is still unconscious, but his pulse and pressure are regular." Kellye moved over to the first bed near the desk.

Private Charlie Greene. Nellie looked at him. His freckled face was framed by sandy blonde hair. A set of bandages had been wrapped around his chest. He'd been Hawkeye's first patient.

"Right. Good." He picked up Greene's chart and looked at it. Then he showed it to Nellie. "The charts are pretty simple. It's the kind of thing you'd see in a trauma ward back home. Keep them updated during your shifts." Then he turned to Kellye. "Kellye you can go. Get some sleep. Margaret's busy doing something for the Colonel. We'll bring her up to speed."

"Right. Good luck, Major."

As Kellye left Post Op, Hawkeye told Nellie to check the less serious patients while he took some vitals from Greene. The first patient she went to was Corporal Jonathan Stanislas. He had a broken arm. A white sling supported his left arm and he sat up eating eggs and toast. Nellie stopped at the foot of his bed.

"Here, nurse." He handed her his tray. "It was great! Thanks!"

Nellie smiled. She took the tray and set it on a foot locker beside him. "I'm Doctor O'Hara. Not a nurse, but close." She moved to his side. "How's the arm feeling?"

"Doctor?" He laughed for a moment. "Since when do they let girls be doctors in the army?"

"Since about two weeks ago, Corporal."

He frowned. After a moment when she didn't leave, he finally responded. "Not much pain."

Nellie nodded. "Good. Let someone know if it worsens." When he agreed, she moved on to the man next to him. He was older, maybe in his thirties. Captain's bars sat pinned to his blue recovery shirt.

"Captain Morrison." She picked up his chart. He'd taken sharpnel to his left leg and side. The wounds had been moderately serious, but it hadn't been anything she couldn't handle.

He glared at her. "A woman surgeon? I don't like it. I don't like it at all. Get that other doctor over here." He pointed to where Hawkeye had his back to them. "I'm not about to let a woman check my wounds."

Nellie straightened up. His words cut deep, but it wasn't anything she hadn't come to expect. Still, they hurt. "I assure you, Captain, I'm as qualified as the next man." She went to look under his bandaged side.

"I said don't touch me!"

"Alright. Have it your way." She turned away. "Hawkeye."

He made his way over, pushing a pen into his jacket pocket. With a quick glance between the patient and Nellie, he turned in confusion. "What's up?"

"The Captain would like a man to check his wounds."

Hawkeye's eyebrows shot up. He looked back at Captain Morrison. "So, how long have you been afraid of women?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well I don't see any other reason why Major O'Hara shouldn't check your wounds. You're alive because of her." He gestured to Nellie. "She did your operation."

Morrison sneered. "You let a woman operate on an officer?"

"Look, Captain. We don't have time for this. As doctors, we're both very busy." Gesturing to Nellie, he continued. "She may be a woman, but that doesn't mean she hasn't put in the same grueling hours of training that I have. So keep your mouth shut and let her do her job." Hawkeye turned to Nellie. "If he gives you any more trouble, let me know. I'll call Sidney down to check out his fear of women."

She forced herself not to smirk as he walked away. To her relief, Morrison kept his mouth shut as she checked his dressings. She left him with a parting smile before moving three beds down to another one of her patients. Private Sam Brixton.

"I think the fact that you're a woman and a doctor is great!" He forced himself to sit up, laying his comic aside. "My little sister wants to be one."

Nellie grinned and sat down next to his bed. Brixton had a minor head wound and had taken two bullets to the stomach. "What's her name?"

"Julia. She's sixteen."

"I hope she pursues it. You can tell her you met one of us here in Korea!"

Sam Brixton nodded. He grinned. "My sister doesn't know any woman doctors. She'll be excited to hear about you."

"I tell you what. When you go home, tell her to write me if she needs advice on becoming a doctor. I'd be glad to talk to her."

"Thanks, doc! I will!"

Nellie pulled the stool over closer to the bed. She moved his button down out of the way. The bandages were nice and clean, with only the expected amount of bloody discharge. "You look excellent, Private. Some of my best work is on your stomach."

He grinned. "Glad I got someone skilled like you working on me."

"You're lucky it wasn't me!" Hawkeye smiled from where he now stood behind Nellie. With a quick glance at his chart, he continued. "I can't even read. The Major here has to translate these funny symbols for me."

"Yes, it's a wonder he survived before I showed up," said Nellie with a wink.

"She even had to teach me my left from right."

Sam laughed. He shook his head. "You're all great as far as I'm concerned."

Smiling, Nellie told him to rest up. She left his bedside and followed Hawkeye back to the nurse's desk. The angry gaze of Captain Morrison followed her.

"They all check out okay," Hawkeye commented. He glanced over at Morrison and saw him glaring at Nellie's back. "Morrison's manners need some work though." When he caught the man's gaze, he wiggled his fingers in a wave causing him to look away.

Nellie shrugged. She frowned and looked everywhere but at Hawkeye. "Nothing I'm not used to. I expected it."

Though she sounded tough, every belittling comment she experienced made her feel worse about herself. It made her question her decision to go to Korea. At least in Baltimore the staff and patients were used to Nellie's presence. It was well known that a woman surgeon worked at Johns Hopkins. Here she had to go through the breaking in period all over again.

Margaret entered Post Op through the nearby door to Klinger's office. She apologized for being late. "The Colonel and I were discussing a new nurse rotation."

"We're all finished up here." Hawkeye gestured to Private Greene. "Keep an eye on him. Take his pulse and pressure every hour, and get me if it drops."

"Right."

Nellie followed Hawkeye out of Post Op. She folded her arms. The sun had risen in the sky and people trailed about the compound. The tail end of breakfast was still going on. A few nurses left the Mess Tent but Nellie didn't recognize any of them. As Hawkeye went back to the Swamp, she decided to go get her journal and find a place to sit.

She ended up settling down on the table at the top of the chopper pad. There it was quiet. And yet when she sat at the table, she could look down into the compound and watch the goings on. Writing in her journal, she spilled out her anger and frustration at the attitude of Captain Morrison in OR. She permitted herself to shed a few tears while she sat alone. Nellie never let herself cry in public, but at the top of the hill by herself she allowed the emotional release.