Blessed in Life and Death: A M*A*S*H Fanfiction

Chapter 9

In OR, Hunnicut and Winchester were hard at work. Hunnicut had removed the offending piece of metal and they were working together to start to patch up the damage. Shayla had lost a lot of blood and it was now they had discovered why, a main artery had been impaired resulting in less blood reaching the heart. It was agreed quickly that it would need to be fixed together in order for the heart to continue working, Hunnicut reached in; he had everything ready to patch up the artery.

"We're losing her, Hunnicut."Winchester told him anxiously.

"No, we can't." Hunnicut replied quicken his pace of work, he had to finish, he had to let her live. He owed it to Hawkeye for not keeping his word to the full extent.

Winchester kept checking everything as Hunnicut worked. He understood the panic and urgency in his colleagues' minds and how much this patient meant to them. As much as both Pierce and Hunnicut irritated him at times, his professional instinct and his sentimental heart could not decline to give this operation less than the fullest of his effort and attentiveness.

"Her breathing is rapidly decreasing. Oxygen mask!" Charles ordered the nurse who had been diligently handing the instruments to Hunnicut. Snapping into action the nurse brought the oxygen mask over and fixed it on, leaving Winchester to see to the rest she returned to her station.

"It's not working, her pulse is decreasing, Hunnicut, if this doesn't improve in the next few seconds it could be fatal."

"I know, I know!" Hunnicut dismissed hurriedly not wanting to hear the words; they didn't exist as far as he was concerned. There was only one outcome that he would allow of this operation.

Winchester checked her pulse again. He double checked it to make sure. Gravely he took a step away from the operating table.

"We've lost her." He said sadly.

"Don't say that, try it again, CPR, we have to save her." Hunnicut exclaimed desperate to cling on to a possibility.

"You know as well as I do CPR cannot be properly performed on her while she has an open wound, it could cause more damage and we'd be back to square one. I have double checked her pulse; there is nothing more we can do."

Hunnicut looked at his patient, he had finished patching up the artery and he had been about to close up the wound. But it had all been too late. He hadn't been quick enough to save her. His eyes welled with tears as he doted on how responsible he felt for everything: her death, the cause, the inability to correct that and the fact that he had broken a promise to his best friend.

Charles drew a white sheet over Shayla's body as Hunnicut stood motionless, staring blankly at the table. Observing him for a while Charles then decided it was time to bring his colleague out of his motionless state and face the facts.

"Hunnicut. She is gone. Nothing you do can alter that fact. Now one of us has to break the dreadful news to Pierce. Who is it going to be?"

Hunnicut raised his head and met Winchester's gaze, neither wanted to be the bearer of such abysmal news, yet someone had to tell Pierce.