Finding The 4077th

Learning

It was late at night and Hawkeye is sitting at the bar while looking at his very tasteless pretzel.

He had taken a couple of nibbles from that thing, but he wasn't sure it even was a pretzel, it at least didn't taste like one. Tapping it against the bar sounded like a hammer hitting a nail. How that was possible he didn't know, but army food was a mystery at best.

Francis was playing a happy tune on the piano while Radar and Kellye danced together. Klinger was wearing a sparkly nightgown and smoked a big cigar. He poured Hawkeye his drink.

“Ah! This mad gay nightlife.”

Hawkeye said before taking a sip and sighing. He was so bored right now, but no wounded is a good thing.

So at least things were going well, even Chris calmed down. The child didn't have that many nightmares this week, a couple of days ago the child woke up screaming, it was the first time in almost two weeks, besides several smaller bad dreams. But he was improving.

He was doing great with his schoolwork as well, even with his math. After Hawkeye had to punish the boy for not doing his work, he checked every day if Chris indeed did his schoolwork. And after a couple of weeks, he started to check only weekly. 

Which had a rough start as Chris started lying again about his math on the third day. Hawkeye found out that he needed to make eye contact with the boy, when he wanted a straight answer, he could read Chris like a book, and it was pretty clear if he was lying. But if Chris looked away he could sound very sincere, and if you looked him in the eye he got so nervous he started stuttering.

Klinger cleared his throat, pulling Hawkeye's attention to him. He motions with his head towards the door, where Hawkeye saw Chris standing, the child wiped his cheeks with his sleeve and looked frightened. Radar said something to the boy, looking worried, but Chris just shook his head as he searched for Hawkeye.

Hawkeye stood up a little and Chris instantly saw him. The boy ran over and collided with the man as he grabbed his dad's waist and sobbed. Making Hawkeye almost fall backward over the bar stool, but he held on just in time. Making Klinger snicker.

Hawkeye pulled his son closer to his chest. He rubbed his back and held him tightly. "I'm right here," Hawkeye said softly and kissed his son's head. “Bad dream?”

Chris just nodded silently, tears running down his face. He hated those dreams! They were so scary, and he always woke up feeling like everyone died and he was all alone.

The child let out a miserable sob, which broke Hawkeye's heart. “Come on then, we'll get you back to bed, I will tell you a story.”

Hawkeye guided Chris out of the bar, passing a worried Radar.

The doctor quickly gave the clerk a thumbs up before they left, it was going to be alright, Chris just needed some comfort and reassurance.

The child was sweaty and still trembling as he held on to his dad, making walking difficult.

“You wanna shower first?” Chris shook his head. “Something to drink?“ Chris just sobbed. ”Okay, back to bed it is.” Hawkeye said gently. It was about time for him to go to bed anyway.

They entered the Swamp and Hawkeye sat down to remove his shoes, but Chris grabbed the man around the neck and sniffled.

“Really? I have to become an acrobat to remove my shoes this way.”Hawkeye said laughing. He placed a hand on top of his son’s head and caressed it softly.

Chris let out a sad sob but took a step back to give his dad some room.

With his shoes off, Hawkeye got up, and climbed into bed, Chris was waiting for this moment as he quickly climbed in and snuggled close next to him.