"Klinger, why don't you show the Major to her tent." Colonel Potter shot her a big smile. "Once you're settled and this rain has stopped, someone can show you 'round the place." He stood from his desk chair and offered a hand.

Nellie shook it. With a smile and a nod, she glanced briefly around at the staff. Then she turned back. "Thank you, Colonel."

Klinger moved to show her out. He led the way, grabbing her bags from his office. On his way out he pushed a baseball cap over his hair. Nellie followed close behind him. As they stepped outside into the rain, her heels began to sink into the muddy ground. She hurried herself forward.

The tent that Klinger showed her wasn't far from the large building. He took her to a long row of square tents. A few signs identified the various occupants. The one marked 'Major O'Hara' stood with 'Major Houlihan' on her left and 'VIP Tent' to the right. Klinger opened the door, went inside, and held it for her.

"Here's your tent, Major. Major Houlihan's next door if you need anything." He placed her suitcases on the ground. With a nod and a quick smile, he went to leave. He turned and said, "Oh! Your mail might take a week or two to show up. But find me if you need to send a telegram stateside to let your family know you settled in!"

"Thanks Corporal!" She smiled and nodded. "I'll let you know."

As Klinger left her tent, she placed the lock across the door. More than anything, she wanted to get out of the dress uniform and into fatigues. Nellie hoisted one of her suitcases onto her bed and unzipped it. Slowly she pulled out her clothes. Mostly fatigues, she took one set and put it to the side before hanging up the rest in the stand up closet. Next went her boots. These she placed on the floor at the foot of her bed.

A few civilian pieces followed. One, a Hawaiian shirt, light aqua blue with pink, white, and green flowers and leaves, had been a parting gift from her older brother Jack. He had spent some time in the military stationed in Honolulu. It had been his favorite shirt. Nellie took it gladly as a reminder of her best friend. As she unpacked it, she hung it on her wall from a nail and smiled.

Besides the Hawaiian shirt, she took out some khaki shorts, a set of cropped capris, and a few simple blouses. One pair of black flats soon sat at the bottom of the standing closet. With her clothing unpacked and put away, she moved the empty suitcase under her bed.

Soon fatigues replaced her brown and tan dress uniform, and boots traded places with her heels. Nellie used a small towel to ring out her hair, but it still cascaded messily down her upper body. Relieved to be out of her heels, she decided it time to unpack her other items.

From her second suitcase she took out her toiletries, a small desk mirror, a crocheted blanket, and a few reminders of home. Her framed diploma from med school went to lean against her tent wall from her desk. Nellie set a locked wooden box on her side table under the lamp. Inside was her crystal rosary, her Miraculous Medal, and a prayer card for the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As a practicing Catholic, Nellie had been glad to see a priest in the outfit. Next, a few beloved books became stacked on her bedside table and desk.

At last she took out an engraved shot glass. Nellie smiled down at the inscriptions. On one side it said 'Ad Infinitum, Ad Meliora,' meaning 'to infinity, towards better things.' On the opposite side, the inscription read, 'Alis Volat Propriis.'

"She flies with her own wings," murmured Nellie aloud, translating the Latin text. With a smile, she ran her finger over the engraving. As she stood there in her tent, staring down at the shot glass, a knock sounded on her door. Nellie shook herself and unlocked the door. When she opened it, she was pleasantly surprised to find the rain had stopped. At her door stood BJ and Hawkeye. She nodded. "Captains."

"Please, don't call him Captain. It'll go to his head," BJ said.

Hawkeye rolled his eyes and laughed. But he nodded. "Hawkeye's fine. And he's just BJ."

"We don't stand on protocol here," BJ added.

"What does BJ stand for?"

"Anything you like."

Nellie didn't miss the smirks on both the men's faces. She stood away from the door and let them inside. Having spent nearly her entire schooling surrounded by men, she felt entirely comfortable around them. She moved her second suitcase under her bed, placing the shot glass on her desk.

"You drink?" Hawkeye asked. He grinned, trying to make out the inscription.

She turned from the bed and looked at him in confusion. She followed his pointing. "Oh the shot glass." Nellie smiled. "I went to med school. Of course I drink. How else would I have gotten through residency?" Walking over to the desk, she picked up the glass. "When my friend Molly Monahan and I finished up at Johns Hopkins with our degrees, we got matching glasses with our favorite Latin phrases. They were our battle cries."

BJ looked at the glass as she passes it over. "To infinity, towards better things." Then he turned it over. "She flies with her own wings. Catchy."

Nellie laughed. "We thought so. I don't go anywhere without it now."

"Hey, listen, why don't we, uh, show you around the place," Hawkeye suggested. "I'm a good guide. Very thorough."

"I don't doubt."

Nellie had seen plenty of young doctors like this Hawkeye back in Baltimore. During her residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, she'd worked with one Dr. Matthew Douglass. He had tried everything to get with the nurses at the hospital. Nellie had just watched him work in amusement. Hawkeye striked her as a similar type.

"So is it a yes?" he asked with a smirk.

When she nodded in agreement, BJ opened the door for them. Hawkeye went first. Nellie followed after him. With BJ to her left and Hawkeye to her right, she made her way across the compound back towards the main building.

"You said you went to Johns Hopkins?" asked BJ.

She nodded. "Yes. And then I did my residency at the Hospital there."

"That's a prestigious school."

With a small smile, she nodded. As they entered Klinger's office, Hawkeye told her about the building. Besides the Colonel's office, it also housed all the main hospital areas: Op, Post Op, Pre Op, X-Ray, and Scrub Rooms.

"This is our wonderful pre-op. After triage outside, the cases get moved in here. The worst off go first."

Nellie watched as he grew serious when talking about their job. She appreciated that. Pre Op was small compared to their next stop. But it got the job done, she supposed.

"Onto the main operation," said Hawkeye. When she chuckled at his pun, he grinned. They walked into the Operating Room. "It's strictly meatball surgery. Nothing fancy."

"Anyone have a specific table they love," she asked curiously.

BJ laughed. "No time. You'll be moving between them too frequently to form attachments."

"Good. Then I won't be treading on anyone."

"What BJ said. Free hands switch to the next patient." Hawkeye led them through the Operating Room. On the other side he showed her the scrub and changing rooms all divided by hanging curtains. "Typically one surgeon will be on triage while the rest of us scrub up."

Nellie nodded. She looked around the women's changing area. Someone had already put up a little sign with her name on it over a new nail. Margaret had a space next to her, and five nurse hooks followed that.

"On to Post Op," BJ prompted.

They left the building and traipsed outside. Nellie looked around and saw a few nurses chatting on their way to the Mess Tent. She sent them a smile which they returned with some whispering. She turned back to the doctors. "How many do you, uh do we, typically have in Post Op at a time?"

"Anywhere from one to eighteen, depending on the severity of cases and available Evac," BJ told her. "We try to ship out the least concerning cases after we fix them. The 121st takes most of our cases that don't stay here."

Hawkeye opened the door to Post Op. Charles and Margaret stood chatting about a patient near the desk. They turned to look at the intrusion.

Nellie looked around the room. Only five beds were occupied. One held a Turkish soldier, and the other four were American. She smiled at them.

"Ah, Major." Charles stood from the desk. Both he and Margaret joined them at the center of Post Op. "Hopefully these two immature ingrates haven't been too terrible of guides."

Nellie shook her head. "They've both been very helpful." She went to gesture to Hawkeye only to find him chatting quietly with a dark haired nurse near the door they'd just entered. She slightly rolled her eyes as she heard something about a supply room and a date.

Margaret saw her expression and shook her head. "How about we grab lunch together, Major?"

"Please, Nellie is fine. I've only been in the Army for a few months at this point." She nodded. "I'd love to grab lunch with you, Major."

"Call me Margaret." Margaret smiled. "Then if these three can spare us, I'll show you the Mess Tent."

"Have fun," BJ said with a smirk.

Nellie and Margaret left the three other surgeons in Post Op quickly. The head nurse showed her to the doors again and they walked across the compound. Now that the rain had stopped, a gentle warmth seemed to rise from the ground. Nellie could even see the steam.

"Hopefully Pierce wasn't too..."

"Direct?" finished Nellie with a small smile. "I'm familiar with his type. I think he'll find I'm used to people like him."

Margaret chuckled. She opened the door to the Mess Tent for Nellie and together they got in line. "He won't give up, you know. He never does. You can be ankle deep in used sponges and blood during surgery and he'll still manage to make a pass at you."

"Determined, isn't he?" Nellie just laughed. She picked up her metal tray and stood behind Margaret. The smell of the food already had her stomach doing somersaults. "This is certainly one part of going to a MASH unit that I wasn't looking forward to. The food in Tokyo was pretty good."

"Yes. The food there is leagues better than here. Here you're lucky if the food doesn't poison you."

Nellie looked at her in alarm. "Really?"

Margaret just shrugged. As they had food piled onto their trays, they moved down the line. Coffee was the one item Nellie looked forward to. Once they had their food together, they took up a spot at an empty table to eat.