Desert Island
Hawkeye and Margaret looked at each other in alarm as the plane began to swerve violently. Margaret reached for Hawkeye’s hand and gripped it tightly as the pilot shouted “There’s some boats down there firing at us. Hold tight folks.” Margaret shut her eyes as the fear threatened to overwhelm her, trying to block out everything, to remain strong, but Hawkeye knew her too well. He lifted her out of his seat and on to his lap, holding onto her tight all the while. He whispered in her ear:
“Margaret, we will be fine. I promise you. I won’t let anything happen. I’ve never lied to you, Margaret, and I’m not starting now. Just hold tight to me, hold very tight and we’ll be ok.” Margaret buried her face in his chest as a huge explosion rocked the small plane, causing it to plunge towards the sea below. The noise was overwhelming, the screaming of the plane, the shouts of the pilot, but over it all she heard Hawkeye saying:
“I love you Margaret. Hold tight and don’t let go….”
The next thing Margaret knew was when she slowly blinked her eyes open to find - to her astonishment - that she wasn’t, in fact dead, but lying on a beautiful beach with the sun glaring in her eyes. She sat up, to see what she could see. The first thing she noticed was that Hawkeye was lying with his arm flung over her stomach. He had a wound on his head, which caused Margaret to panic. What if he had had a concussion? She shook Hawkeye until he stirred, slowly opening his eyes, assessing the view in front of him. He smiled slowly.
“I’ve died and gone to heaven.” Margaret shook her head, still worried.
“No Hawkeye, but you may have a concussion. Sit up for me……that’s it. And follow my finger with your eyes.” Hawkeye was touched at her concern, and did as she asked. When Margaret was fully satisfied that Hawkeye was ok, she turned her attention to the scene around them. About 500 meters away she could see the wreckage of the plane tangled in the trees, all exotic species that she didn’t recognise. Turning to Hawkeye she asked:
“What happened to the pilot?” Hawkeye shook his head.
“I don’t know. I only just managed to pull you and I free when I collapsed. And I have no idea how long ago that was though. Not that long I don’t think.” Margaret frowned.
“I think we should go and investigate. The pilot might be hurt, dying. We should also try to rescue anything we can. We’ll need food, and water. We might be trapped here for days.” Hawkeye pulled himself to his feet, and extended his hand to help Margaret. When they reached the aeroplane the first thing they saw was the pilot half hanging out of the window. Hawkeye ran to him and did a quick check on his vital signs. “He’s still breathing, but only just. Pulse is erratic and breathing very shallow. Let’s try and get him out.” The chief surgeon and head nurse pulled and heaved until the man was lying on the ground in front of them.
Margaret, noticing some large wounds, tore strips of her skirt off to become bandages for the injured man, but it pretty soon became clear that there was no hope. Despite their best efforts the man died 10 minutes later. Margaret closed his eyes sadly, feeling again the sense of waste that she had felt every time a soldier had died at their unit in Korea. When she had heard that the war was ending she had been happy, of course, but also very sad that so many live were wasted for seemingly nothing. She had become very bitter against the army, and had been glad to resign her commission. She had also been pleased to travel back to the USA with Hawkeye. She had been worried at losing touch with him. Recently he had become very important to her. The war had caused him to grow up, and mature fast, and many of the qualities that had annoyed Margaret at first had gone, to be replaced by maturity, tenderness and a thousand other good things. Margaret was fairly sure that she felt more for him than just friendship, but was cautious of admitting this, even to herself.
Whilst these thought were running through her head, Hawkeye had gone round to the back of the plane to try and retrieve some of their belongings. He reappeared bearing their 2 suitcases, a crate of food and some supplies of water, although these last two items were both fairly small. Margaret sighed. They would have to try and find a supply of water soon. Also, Margaret needed to wash. She had already spent 2 days travelling without an opportunity to wash, now she felt grubby, and needed to wash the feeling of yet another futile death off herself. She suddenly realised that Hawkeye was talking to her.
“……and a good wash would be nice. I don’t think there’s any danger of the plane blowing up, as far as I can see. There’s no fuel in the tank at all. Dry as a bone. But we need to give this guy a decent burial as well.” Margaret had an idea.
“Why don’t we send him out to sea? Like a naval burial?” Hawkeye liked the idea. He didn’t want the body on the island. He had had enough of death in the last 3 years. He didn’t want a constant reminder of it on the otherwise blissful island.
“Good idea Margaret. I’ll find a flat piece of plane to send him out on.”
As they stood watching the body of their pilot float out to sea upon a piece of wing that Hawkeye had removed, a single flower clasped in his hands, both Hawkeye and Margaret shivered, and instinctively drew closer to each other. Once the man was out of sight they turned to each other. “Let’s find somewhere to wash. We should have some clean clothes in our cases.”
A little exploration found a small pool about 10 meters inland from the shore. When Margaret saw it, she drew in her breath. It was beautiful. The water was clear and sparkling, and overhung with palm trees. A small waterfall gushed at one end, creating a natural shower. Hawkeye’s eyes twinkled. In a second he had stripped off all his clothes and jumped, fully naked, into the pool.
“Come on in Margaret. There’s room enough for two!”
She hesitated for a moment, and then shrugged. He had seen her naked before. What the hell! She stripped and jumped into the pool. The water was bliss. And it wasn’t salty. Margaret swam around for a while, and then dipped her head under the water. When she came back up to the surface she found Hawkeye right in front of her. She would have been ashamed to admit that he was stirring up her emotions like never before. She was about to make a sarcastic comment when she noticed the intense look in his eyes. They continued staring, reading the others expressions, until Hawkeye bowed his head, but not in time to stop Margaret noticing the tears welling up in his eyes. She laid a gentle hand on his bare shoulder. “Hawkeye? What’s wrong?” Hawkeye shook he head and dashed away the tears.
“Nothing.” Margaret frowned.
“Hawkeye, don’t lie to me. You were never very good at it.” Hawkeye looked up at her again.
“We could have died. You could have died. Margaret, you’re my life. If you’d died, I.., I..,” he broke down into tears again, but Margaret could just distinguish the words “I love you, Margaret.”
Margaret smiled. She knew now what she wanted. Just to be with Hawkeye, to give herself up completely to him. To belong to him. She put her hands either side of his face, forcing him to look at her. “Hawkeye, I love you too. Of all the people I have ever met, loved, even married….” she let the words sink in ”you are the only one I have really truly loved.”
Hawkeye stared at her for a moment, lost in astonishment, and then crushed her to him in a passionate embrace. The kiss lengthened and deepened, and Margaret felt herself becoming aroused by the feel of his strong arms around her, and the way his chest pressed against her breasts. He ran one hand down her back gently pushing her hips against his, and she could feel that he was just as aroused as she was. She sighed with pleasure and contentment as Hawkeye began placing small kisses on her neck and shoulders, and she gave herself up to him completely.
Much later, the two new lovers lay by the fire that Hawkeye had built. The sun had set, and the fire was dying, but this didn’t matter to Hawkeye and Margaret, who lay curled together, talking as they had never talked before. Margaret opened her heart to Hawkeye, telling of her fears and hopes, her wishes and dreams. Some of what she said touched Hawkeye deeply. He had never realised that Margaret felt so much. Whenever she talked about being hurt, he felt anger well up inside him. Eventually the pair tired, and they fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.
The next morning, Hawkeye awoke to find that Margaret was up and dressed, and was preparing breakfast. She had also managed to find clean clothes for the both of them, presumably from their cases. She was wearing short shorts, and a shirt tied at the waist. Hawkeye couldn’t tear his eyes off her. It was like he was seeing her in a whole new light. And strangely, although they were stranded here on a desert island, presumably with limited food, he couldn’t have been happier. He knew that Margaret loved him, and that he loved her. What else did he need? Hawkeye thought back to the moment he had set eyes on her. He had thought she was irritating, strict, superficial and arrogant. During the intervening 3 years she had gradually become the single most important thing in his life. As she had gradually shown him the many sides to her unique personality he had fallen in love with each and everyone of them. He had kept his feelings a closely guarded secret, only BJ had ever guessed. Hawkeye smiled as he thought of his best friend, now safely back in the USA with his wife and daughter. Suddenly he was jerked out of his thoughts by Margaret offering him something to eat. He laughed when he saw what it was. Spam.
They spent the day exploring the area around their little camp. As far as they could see, they were the only people on the island. In the evening they lit the fire again, and sat in the warm light, drinking gin from the martini glasses that Hawkeye had managed to salvage from the wreckage of the plane. He had also found 2 bottles of gin left over from the still. As they sat, drinking and talking animals scurried around them.
“Margaret?”
“Hmmm?”
“When we get back to the States…” Hawkeye leant down and kissed the love of his life tenderly. “will you marry me?” Margaret gasped. “Before you say anything, just hear me out. I love you. I have for a very long time, and I would be happier than I could ever express if you would be my wife. But I am not pressuring you into anything. And you don’t have to decide now. Just please think about it. “
Margaret laughed. “How could you even think that my answer would be anything but yes?! I love you Benjamin Franklin Pierce, my Hawkeye. Of course I will marry you!”
Tears began to form in Hawkeye’s eyes. “I love you Margaret.” he repeated, over and over, punctuating each sentence with increasingly passionate kisses. As the sun set and the moon rose, they made love again, unaware of the group of men slowly making their way across the island.
*******
BJ was worried. He had made Hawkeye and Margaret both promise to call him when they got back to the USA, and a week had now passed since he should have heard from them. He phoned Potter, but the former CO had heard nothing from either of them, so BJ called Daniel Pierce. He was surprised when the phone was snatched up after half a ring.
“Hawkeye?”
“No, Dr Pierce, my name is BJ Hunnicutt -”
Daniel interrupted him. “Oh yes, BJ. Listen, have you heard from Hawkeye at all?”
BJ was surprised. “I thought he was due back to the USA a week ago. Have you not heard from him?”
“Not a word. I’m worried BJ. It isn’t like Hawkeye to loose contact. And surely if he had been kept in Korea, he would have phoned to let me know.“
BJ frowned. Daniel was right, it wasn’t like Hawkeye to loose touch with his father. He made a quick decision. “Daniel, I’m going to phone the guys who arrange the transportation in the army. I’ll get back to you as soon as I know anything.”
BJ could hear the relief in the other man’s voice. “Thank you BJ. I just hope nothing’s happened.”
“What do you mean you don’t know where they are?” BJ was incandescent with rage. “You’re paid to know.”
“I’m sorry Captain. The plane left Tokyo as per schedule, but got shot down half way to Hawaii. Chance are no-one survived. I’m sorry.”
BJ couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There was no way this could happen, Hawkeye surviving the whole war and then get shot down on his way home.
“Well is someone out looking? There is a chance he did survive!”
“Sir, the chances that either he or Major Houlihan survived the crash are extremely low. However we do have scouts searching the islands in the area where the plane was shot down.”
“Did you say Major Houlihan? As in Major Margaret Houlihan of the 4077th M*A*S*H?”
“That is correct Sir. She and Captain Pierce were travelling together.”
Oh God, thought BJ. Not Margaret too, please not Margaret too.
******
The two people in question were in fact at that moment hiding underneath a bush on their tropical paradise, trying to avoid the people they could hear coming towards them until they could find out who it was.
“Hawkeye?” whispered Margaret. He turned slightly to look at her.
“Yes?”
“I’m scared”
Hawkeye pulled her closer. “Don’t be, Margaret. We are going to be fine.” Although Hawkeye spoke quietly, their pursuers obviously heard something, as the footsteps changed direction towards them. Margaret and Hawkeye shrunk closer, and recoiled in fright as a head poked through the bushes.
******
“Sergeant, have you found them or not?” BJ yelled. Peg had heard a report on the radio that two members of the US army had been found stranded on an island in the pacific. BJ had immediately snatched up the phone and phoned I-Corps. He was now talking to the same inept pubescent army official as he had every few hours for the last 3 days. As far as the Sergeant was concerned, BJ was a pain in the proverbials. He privately thought that Captain Pierce and Major Houlihan were dead, but couldn’t say that to this man who was so concerned for his friends.
“Look Captain, why don’t you give me your number, and then as soon as I get some info, I’ll phone you.” BJ considered this for a moment, and decided this was probably the best solution.
“Ok Sergeant, have you got a pen handy?”
******
“Captain Pierce? Major Houlihan?” Hawkeye and Margaret started in disbelief as a head bearing a jaunty blue cap stared back at them. “Sir, are you Captain Pierce?”
Hawkeye found his voice. “I am. Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Able-Seaman Jenkins, Sir. I’m with the US Navy, aboard the USS Maine.” Hawkeye threw back his head and roared with laughter. “Classic. Here I am on a desert island, and I get rescued by a ship called Maine!” Margaret was staring at the man, as if afraid he would disappear if she let him out of her sight. Then she too began to laugh hysterically, causing the sailor to look at them in astonishment. “Oh, thank the Lord you’re here!”
******
The phone in BJ’s living room shrilled loudly. BJ ran in from the kitchen where he had been feeding Erin and snatched the receiver off it’s cradle. “Hunnicutt”
“Captain, we’ve found your friends!” BJ let out his breath in a long sigh of relief.
“Thank you God” he muttered, and then said to the Sergeant “Where were they?”
“On an unnamed island 100 miles east of Japan. They had been there for only a day when we found them. They are arriving tomorrow in San Francisco at 0900 hours.”
“Thank you Sergeant, for all your help.”
“Not a problem, Captain Hunnicutt. I’m just glad they were found alive.”
BJ replaced the receiver and ran back into the kitchen, where he grabbed Peg round the waist and danced her round the room. “Peggy honey, we’re going to San Francisco tomorrow!”
******
Hawkeye and Margaret stood on the deck of the USS Maine, watching the shores of California come over the horizon. They didn’t speak to each other, everything that needed to be said, had been said. As the ship pulled into dock, they both noticed a tall man standing on the quay who looked very familiar.
“BJ!” shouted Hawkeye. “Beej!” The tall man looked up and seeing his friends began waving frantically, and then stooped to pick up the tiny girl standing beside him. He pointed, and she waved her hands too, although she clearly had no idea what she was meant to be waving at. As Hawkeye and Margaret came down the gangplank BJ rushed over, and as their feet touched the ground they were swept into a bear hug.
“Don’t you ever do that again, I was so worried!” As he pulled away the both noticed tears in their friend’s eyes, but neither of them commented, they were just touched that BJ cared so much. Hawkeye winked at Margaret, snaked his arm around his waist and turned to his best friend. “Beej, we have something to tell you!”
The End
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