It all started in the middle of a cold dark night, when a couple of nurses entered the Swamp. They woke up Hawkeye telling him their stove in their tent was down again and they needed him to fix it. The doctor invited them to stay warm in his bed but they didn't seem very interested, so he slowly got up.
Chris stirred and woke up, but Hawkeye told the boy to go back to sleep, quickly giving him a kiss on his forehead. Chris didn't want to stay, but he was tired and was slowly falling back to sleep before a loud bang awoke him for a second time.
Hawkeye's panicky screaming followed. Chris felt his inside freeze and panic skyrocketing at the loud screaming from his dad, he quickly jumped out of bed, followed by a very alarmed BJ.
The boy rushed outside and saw his dad surrounded by nurses and doctors alike. Hawkeye held his red burned face in his hands and was screaming in pain, it was a very scary sight. People were screaming and talking loudly over each other, so the boy couldn't understand a lot of what was going on and it made him terrified. His dad was badly hurt, and it was too crowded for him to even see his dad clearly.
Nobody was paying him any attention as the crying boy stood in the middle of all the screaming people. Chris wanted nothing more than to get closer but his dad was completely surrounded and got quickly herded towards Post-op. He didn't know what to do so he just followed them, waiting for a chance to get close. He needed to know his dad was okay.
Inside the post op, Hawkeye was guided to a chair and sat down. The other doctors inspected his face and eyes, the ophthalmologist was already called by Radar and was on his way.
The second Chris saw an opening between the people huddling around his dad so he quickly grabbed Hawkeye and attached himself around the man's arm. He buried his face close and sighed a ragged breath against the fabric of his dad's bathrobe. He was so scared that he couldn't stop crying or trembling. His dad got hurt when he only left Hawkeye for a second, and that was only because the man wanted that. And this was what happened, he should never leave the man alone again.
Hawkeye flinched a bit as his kid flew himself on him, not being able to see anything, he wasn't prepared for the boy. He was very glad his son was close and he didn't blame Chris, but he didn't know how to make this better. He was very scared himself, his face was burned and painful and he couldn't see anything and there was a good chance of him losing his eyesight permanently. Which would mean he couldn't continue with his doctors career, and that scared him more than he would like to admit.
He hugged the boy tight, which went a little awkward as Chris refused to let go of one of his arms. But he managed. It took almost over an hour for the boy to stop crying, even with Hawkeye telling him, he was fine.
The ophthalmologist arrived that morning, which was pretty fast by Army standards, thanks to Radar. The man quickly started checking out Hawkeye's eyes.
"How do you feel?" The man asked.
"Blind." Hawkeye replied, he felt Chris squeeze a little tighter around his arm. The child stopped crying but was still trembling like a leaf. He tried to talk to the boy, help him calm down but Chris simply refused to let go, refused talking, even Radar couldn't seem to distract him, the boy even refused to hold his bunny after Radar retrieved it from under the child pillow. Nothing seemed to calm him down, which worried Hawkeye even more.
Hawkeye's eyes were covered in bandages as he asked the ophthalmologist if he could keep his nickname but the man said he didn't know for sure and that only time will tell. For now he needed to keep the bandage on and give his eyes a couple of days of rest.
Hawkeye is furiated by the lack of certainty. He sighed and sadly said "Just wondering if I should rent or buy a seeing eye dog or buy one. "
The man clapped him on the shoulder telling him he will be back Friday.
That first day was proving very difficult. Hawkeye needed rest and time to recover but he felt that he was needed as a doctor, so he started blindly helping patients, driving Frank insane. Chris refused to let go, so instead of just being blind he was also less mobile because his son was clinging to his waist.
After a while Frank had enough of Hawkeye interference and started complaining to the Colonel. So Hawkeye was moved into the Swamp to rest. He had to admit this was better than being cooped up with Frank for company, especially since it was so early in the day. Hawkeye made himself comfortable in bed, his son still plastered against him, clinging around his waist. It wasn't long before he fell asleep. When he woke it was nearly two, he hadn't even had time to eat yet and now he had a major headache.
Chris refused to talk or let go, so getting to the mess hall was a challenge, he needed help from BJ and Klinger to get there and to get to a table with two food trays for him and his kid. Chris didn't want to let go of his dad and ignored the food tray completely.
"Chris, you have to eat something." Hawkeye tried gently. The boy just shook his head no. He felt sick all over again and he wasn't sure why and the room kept spinning and everything was fuzzy around the edges.
"I know you are scared but this isn't healthy." Hawkeye tried again but got no reaction from his son.
Finally BJ decided to try. "Eat this. I promise it won't make you feel better if we start feeding you as a baby. " BJ said quietly, watching as Christopher shook his head no, not even looking up at the man he considered a friend.
"I give up, I never had any problems feeding Erin but she just loves the silly faces I make. Doesn't really work if your not even looking at me." BJ tried to joke, but only got ignored.
Chris didn't look that good, and BJ was slightly glad Hawkeye couldn't see it. They boy was pale and looked terrified.
During his meal Hawkeye kept trying to get Chris to eat, but it didn't work. He had to threaten the boy with a spanking before Chris finally eat two slices of apple.
Hawkeye sighed, this was getting ridiculous, but he didn't know how to help his son feel any better. At least Chris eat something, even though he hated threatening the child. It seemed to be the only thing working at the moment.
The first night of sleep went difficult, Hawkeye didn't manage to get his kid in bed on time, as Chris didn't want to leave the man alone and was almost having a meltdown at the thought. He knew there were plenty of nights where his kid didn't go to sleep on time, and apparently tonight was one of those times. So he settled for going to bed early for both of them.
He got into bed and he had to pry Chris away from him to get the boy into his own bed. Chris refused of course and started sobbing so Hawkeye who was losing his patience was forced to deliver a hard smack on the child's backside.
Chris whimpered a little from the impact and started sobbing a bit louder but other than that remained quiet.
It was a bit awkward as Hawkeye had to feel around to find his target and it didn't help with calming the boy down, but it did get the boy into his own bed. Hawkeye could hear his child crying softly, making him feel sick to his stomach. Chris was hugging his arm like a lifeline and Hawkeye knew he wouldn't get it back tonight. It was obvious that his son was scared to leave him alone, not only because he literally didn't want to let go, but Chris also hasn't said a word to anyone after the incident. His body kept trembling like crazy, and not only eating but drinking was also something the child refused.
Hawkeye tried to get him calmed down enough to sleep,but it still took longer than he thought and it worried the doctor. He was close to freaking out himself and even though he couldn't see his son, he felt Chris's fear as the child kept a constant tremble. Maybe he should call Sidney, just to talk with Chris and maybe talk with him as well.
The next morning wasn't a lot better, this whole mess had scared the boy more than he wanted to let on. Not only did Chris refuse to let the man go, which made his situation a lot worse than it should be.
Chris also wanted to help a lot, which was very sweet of him. Hawkeye was relieved Chris was interacting with them more but the boy was way too nervous so he kept bumping into things while leading his blind father through camp. Which resulted in Hawkeye bumping into things as well. Thankfully there were a lot of adults who wanted to help, but with Chris being so clingy, it was a bit problematic.
During breakfast Hawkeye told Chris he needed to talk to order his food, he didn't see the annoyed look the boy gave him, but he did feel the child's body stiffen at that request, before he huffed and started trembling again.
Igor asked Chris what he wanted but the boy refused to speak. Hawkeye had to nudge the boy a couple of times before he got a reaction. Chris stomped his foot with a soft huff and said "Not hungry,"
The small voice was barely even a whisper but Hawkeye heard it clearly. He felt relieved his kid spoke again but also angry about the child's attitude.
"Well too bad for you, but you are eating." Hawkeye snapped sternly, he knew Chris hadn't eaten a lot yesterday and he was not going to let it happen today.
Hawkeye almost felt the stubbornness radiating from his son as Chris didn't answer and just grabbed his dad's arm tighter.
" Christopher I'm not joking, tell Igor what you want. Or I will pick for you."
Chris huffed and buried his face against the man. Hawkeye sighed long and deep. He was losing his patience fast and he didn't want to make things worse for Chris, he was just a scared kid after all.
" Okay, Igor. Give him a small portion of everything. " Hawkeye said. He felt Chris gasp softly against his arm but he ignored it.
With BJ and Radar's help they managed to get to their table safely. They sat down, Chris still holding on to his dad's arm, face buried deep. He didn't want to eat, He wasn't dizzy anymore now that some of the panic left but he wasn't hungry and he even felt nauseous.
Hawkeye felt around a bit with his free arm till he found what he was looking for and that was the face of his child. He took a gentle hold of the child's chin and faced it toward him.
"I don't know if I'm facing you right, and I know you don't see my eyes, but I'm giving you a very stern look right now." Hawkeye said soft but firm.
He felt Chris shrink a little, so he thought his kid knew he was being serious.
"You are eating at least one bite of everything, understand me?" Hawkeye said. He felt the small jaw clenched for a second but Chris remained quiet.
Hawkeye sighed and with a soft but stern voice he said.
"Christopher, I may be blind, but I can still put you over my knee if you need it. Now you need to eat, and I expect you to listen, understand?"
Chris nodded shortly before a small sob escaped. He wasn't hungry and he really didn't want to eat, but he didn't want to get in trouble.
Hawkeye felt a tear roll over the child's cheek, and gently wiped it off. " Come on Kiddo. Don't be sad, you need to eat at least a little bit."
Chris buried his face close again while he softly cried. He sat like that for a minute while his dad held him close, hugging him. Hawkeye felt sad for his kid. He didn't want to punish his child but he didn't have a choice, Chris needed to eat and he didn't know anything else that would convince the boy to listen. The boy didn't stop his trembling, but his crying subsided a little and he picked up his fork.
Hawkeye could almost cheer as he felt the movement of his kid eating, and he gently gave a kiss on top of the boy's head.
Normal conversation started again, and Hawkeye felt Chris taking a couple bites, one of the advantages of a clingy child while being blind. He reached for his drink but he miscalculated it and tipped his mug spilling coffee everywhere. People jumped up to help including his son, who in his nervous state sent his food tray and several other drinks flying as he jumped up to grab the fallen mug.
It was chaos! Food and drinks everywhere. Radar jumped to fetch the child's tray, which landed several feet away from them, while BJ quickly grabbed the mug from the boy as he didn't want Chris hurt by coffee burns. It took a minute or so before everything was cleaned up.
Hawkeye sighed, this was a disaster. " BJ, how much did Chris eat?"
"Ehh…" The man said." A little bit of everything?"
Hawkeye moved his face more to the direction of the sound of BJ's voice. "I know you don't see it, but I'm giving you my: I don't believe you look." Hawkeye said, making the other doctor laugh. He wasn't all that happy about his son's eating habits these days but at least Chris had eaten something. He knew BJ would keep an eye on Chris and Hawkeye was glad he could trust the man's judgment.
After a hectic morning like that, Hawkeye suggested they call Sidney to talk with him, but Chris didn't want that at all. He said he was fine, but still kept a hold on his dad. Hawkeye knew Chris wasn't fine but the boy was talking again and eating a little so he was improving.
Now he just needed to convince Chris to let go of him, him holding onto his arm wasn't helping anyone. He needed to create some distance between them, for both their mental health.
Hawkeye didn't mind walking to the latrine for Chris and he tried to be patient but after the boy wanted to hold his hand while he was going to the latrine, he had enough.
"If you are fine as you claim, you can easily let go of me and go to the latrine." Hawkeye said, slightly irritated.
"Papa, Come on! " Christopher whined softly.
"No, I mean it, you're ten years old, and I will not hold your hand. I will however stay here, I'm blind, not dying. It's going to be okay. " Hawkeye had to pry the small fingers loose from his arm, he heard a soft sniffle, and imagined his kid with teary eyes. Even without his eyesight, the kid knew how to pull on his heartstrings.
"But dad…" Chris tried again. The boy was speaking softly but Hawkeye still heard the small voice shaking. He felt around until he found the top of the child's head, and affectionately brushed his hair. "It's Okay, Kiddo! I'm fine and you're fine."
It took some convincing, but Hawkeye found out he was more stubborn than his son. Chris sighed deeply and finally admitted defeat, partly because he really needed to pee, and partly because his dad was right. He knew he could do it, but he simply didn't want to.
"Okay, but you stay here right?" Chris asked nervously.
"Yes, now go." Hawkeye replied a bit impatiently. Chris entered the latrine while his dad stood guard.
Hawkeye kept talking, because every time he felt quiet, Chris asked if he was still there. Panic and fear were clear in his voice.
After the latrine break they were sitting in the Swamp, Radar was helping by reading some of Hawkeye's letters out loud with the help of Chris. Hawkeye tried to put some physical distance between them. And even though Chris was putting on a fight he managed to get the boy to give him his arm back. Which he was thankful for.
"San… Sandy Falcon, I think…" Radar read out loud. Chris was looking over the clerk's shoulder helping him with reading while he still held on to a piece of Hawkeye sleeve.
"Asked about you, she still sweats… No, No that's…" The clerk stammered.
"Sweet" Chris mumbled softly.
"Oh, she's still… she's still sweet on you. " Radar read. He turned towards Hawkeye, "Who is Sandy Falcon?"
"A girl who used to dip my pigtails in the inkwell. So obnoxious, she was voted most likely to marry out of her species. "
Radar looked a bit confused by that but continued the letter. "Take care, son. We're connecting the dogs…"
"That's counting the days," Hawkeye said.
"Ohh, right." Radar said, looking closely at the letter. " We're counting the days, all my love. Major Burns. "
"What?" Hawkeye asked, confused.
"Major Burns is coming this way." The clerk explained.
"Quick! Give me your glasses, " Hawkeye said.
Burns walked in and saw Hawkeye sitting in his chair, glasses on his nose and over the bandages while he pretended to read the letters. The major stood there perplexed for a second before he snapped. "Pierce, you disgust me."
Hawkeye got a big grin as he replied. "That's right, Frank I discussed you with everyone I know. They all think you're disgusting."
He felt his son make a sort of small giggle movement. And even though the boy remained silent, he counted it as a win to cheer the boy up.
"Handicapped people usually know how to act properly." The other doctor snapped back.
That moment Klinger entered the Swamp wearing a blue and white dress. Hawkeye felt Chris jolt a little.
"I wore this with you just in mind,'' Klinger said to Major Burns who was just planning to leave and looked at the enlisted man with disgust.
" You make me want to throw up. "
" See? It pays to dress" Klinger replied happily as Burn left the tent.
"It's me… Corporal Klinger. " The man explained to Hawkeye.
"I heard the hair on your legs rustling." Hawkeye replied. He nudged Chris gently as he asked "What is he wearing today?"
"He's wearing a blue and white dress,'' The boy replied softly," "with a beautiful fur shawl."
Hawkeye felt Chris tremble a bit more, he seemed a bit excited. Which would mean the child liked the clothes. After the nail polish talk a few weeks ago Chris stopped saying that he wanted to wear those bright clothes and became a bit more careful showing that he liked them. But Hawkeye knew his son and normally he would see his kids face light up if Klinger wore a nice outfit, and now he felt the excitement from the child.
"You like this, kid?" Klinger said very happy to show off his dressing skills.
Chris nodded softly.
"I'm glad you like it, I thought the earrings were a bit much. "
Chris shook his head and said softly "No, the earrings are beautiful, but I think the tiara is a bit too much."
Hawkeye laughed out loud, "Really Klinger? A tiara?"
"What?! I was going for chic. Sue me." The man replied, he still sounded happy so Hawkeye wasn't worried.
Klinger offered his help to the man, and Hawkeye gladly accepted the help to be escorted to the latrines. Chris still wanted to help but was a nervous wreck and kept making things more difficult. So Hawkeye was glad with the adult assistance.
This time Chris let his dad go to the latrines alone without too much trouble, Hawkeye knew it wasn't easy for the child and felt oddly proud of him, for something so simple.
The moment he was done and stepped out of the latrine he felt Chris grab his arm again and found Margaret on the other arm.
"Oh Margaret." He said, noticing the lack of arm hair on this clearly female arm.
"That's very good." She replied surprised.
"It's your perfume: Moon Over Fort Dix. " the grinning doctor said.
"It's Forbidden Furlough. Where do you want to go?" the woman replied not interested in stupid jokes from the man.
"Mess tent, and after that we can go over to your place and play blind man's bluff. "
"Savage! " Margaret snapped back, but she did guide him over to the mess tent. Always the professional.
Inside she quickly handed the doctor to BJ who helped him with his food tray.
This time Chris told Igor what he wanted without Hawkeye forcing him to do so. It wasn't a lot but Hawkeye was very proud of his son so he let it pass. Chris loved his vegetables and always chose that over other types of food. So at least he was eating healthy food.
After that they went to post op. Hawkeye was always trying to be busy, helping the patient and the nurses. He was just in a conversation with BJ over the amazing view he now has on the world as a blind man. His other senses are extra strong and he loved the sound that the rain made the night before, he listened to it for over an hour. It sounded a lot like steak on a grill and it was fascinating. He was also amazed by how many little movements people used as body language, it felt like a whole new world opened up to him.
Of course Burns interrupted trying to force Hawkeye out of post op. Frank looked at his watch and said, "you got one minute."
"Frank" BJ tried.
"Fifty-five seconds and counting. " Frank continued.
"Frank, do us a favor and defect." Hawkeye snapped.
"That's it, mister, no more changes. Orderly!" Frank screamed, calling for the guards to take the doctor away.
"Alright Frank, here we go." Hawkeye snapped as he threw his walking stick on the ground and stood up. Chris gasped and tried to hold on to the man's arm but Hawkeye pried his hands away before he neared Major Burns. He was blind but he was not letting Frank boss him around, he lifted his fist in a fighting stance. Judging on the rapid breathing from the other doctor Hawkeye knew he stood right in front of him and said. "This is your one change on a fair fight, "
"Oh, you asked for it, Pierce." Frank replied, lifting his fist ready to fight.
Chris's breath sped up, he hated this, he hated angry people. Aggression scared him a lot, and some old memories started to emerge already. He learned that blocking those memories made them worse so he just accepted them, letting them glide through his vision, experiencing every emotion that that memory brought. This resulted in crying softly, but kept the panic attack away. And without that panic Hawkeye didn't change into the Evil men he once knew.
"I can take you with two eyes tied behind my back." Hawkeye snapped, following the sound of the other man's movements. Thankfully BJ jumped between the two doctors.
"Easy, easy, easy!" BJ tried blocking a hit from Hawkeye while blocking Frank through standing in front of him. They wrestled for a bit before Hawkeye reached over BJ's shoulder to grab Frank.
"Nurse Able!" BJ called out as he wrestled the blind man away from Frank.
He told the nurse to guide Hawkeye back to the Swamp.
"Say something, Frank so I'll know where to spit!" Hawkeye yelled at the other doctor, but he let himself be guided away.
"He's lucky you stepped in." Frank said.
"You're lucky I didn't let him kill you." BJ replied dead serious.
Chris quickly followed his dad carrying the walking stick, he was crying and upset but he wasn't as panicky as he would have thought. And he was grateful for that.
His son flew around his waist as Hawkeye took the stick from the boy. He was amazed earlier that his son wasn't in a complete panic after he almost hit Frank, but he wasn't going to question it. He was just comforting his kid, very glad the boy still needed his affection. He knew he had lost his temper and he felt bad for it.
Hawkeye convinced nurse Able to guide them to the nurses tent, but his fun was short-lived. He sat there for almost two minutes before he heard incoming choppers and wondered if this was the way Radar felt being the first to hear them.
That night Hawkeye finally managed to sleep in his own bed alone without Chris holding on to him. It took a while and a clear warning for punishment, before the boy listened but he managed and that made him feel very relieved. He still hadn't called Sidney as Chris kept saying he was fine. And now for the first time in days he felt like his kid was getting better, maybe he didn't need Sidney after all.
The couple days after that slowly went better and by the time it was Friday, Chris had recovered quite a bit. Hawkeye was relieved it worked, he was scared for a while that Chris would never recover, but the distance seemed to help.
That Friday, Hawkeye was extremely nervous. Today he would find out if he should indeed buy a seeing eye dog.
The cutting of the bandages took way too long for his liking, the suspension was killing him. Chris held on to his arm, while the rest stood around them.
Hawkeye shielded his eyes on advice of the ophthalmologist, while the man removed the cotton from his eyes.
"Now open them slowly." The ophthalmologist said.
Hawkeye did, blinked a few times. And felt immensely relieved to SEE his very blurry fingers.
"Five right?" He said as a big smile appeared on his face, slowly his blurry vision became more clear.
"They work. " He said with excitement, he heard, felt and saw his kid sigh with relief. And it warmed him with joy.
People cheered and clapped, but Hawkeye just held his relieved son close. They got through this, everything was fine, and recovery was in sight.