margo's Guestbook

Frank sat there staring at the floor deep in thought. The noise around him didn't bother him as he ignored everything. But it was Margo's voice that brought him back to reality and as she began to speak to him, Frank lifted his head and turned his head so that he was looking at her with his undivided attention. And as he listened, he started to understand that maybe she was like him in more ways than he knew, though he would never say anything to her about it. Frank continued to listen to everything that Margo had to say and as he did so, he began to not only process everything but think deeply about everything she was telling him. And deep down, Frank knew that she was right. Then there was a pause, which gave Frank the opportunity to say something and it looked as though he might, but Frank just continued to sit there listening as he finally turned away from her to look back at the floor. Finally, after a few minutes of neither one saying anything, Margo continued with her thoughts, which once again caused Frank to turn and look at her once more. Frank listened to everything nice that Margo had to say, which did mean a lot to him, but it was when he was a terrible flirt that actually brough a small smile to his face. While let out a laugh as the tension began to ease a bit, Frank started to feel comfortable enough to at least say something about his terrible flirting. "Yea, I know I am not that great of a flirt," Frank told her. "BJ doesn't let me forget how bad I was when I first tried to get him to notice me," Frank said with a chuckle and then went quiet again so that he could let Margo finish her thoughts, though he wasn't expecting her to say something that caused him to look away, not because he was embarrassed but because the only other person who saw what she saw was BJ. Frank didn't look back at Margo right away as he took a couple deep breaths and finally, after a few minutes, turned to look back at her.

As Frank listened to everything that Margo had to say, which was also what BJ was always reminding him, he couldn't help but blush a little bit until she brought up the fact that him being gay didn't even make the list, which finally took Frank's soft chuckle and turned it into a small laugh. Frank was starting to feel better, though years of hurt and gay bashing wasn't going to just melt away all at once, but at least sitting there talking to Margo seemed to help lift some of that hurt off, though he knew he still have to tell BJ about his family, which that was a whole new situation, which he would deal with another time. When Margo said that Frank was a brilliant surgeon with movie-star looks, Frank couldn't help but moan, chuckle and then hide his face so she didn't see his face turning red. Once Margo took a pause, Frank couldn't help but slip one of his thoughts in between everything that Margo had to say. "I think you have seen too many movies," Frank said with a chuckle as he was talking through his hands. He could hear Margo chuckle and then went on speaking to him, which he couldn't help but let out an "oh brother" sigh as he listened. Then Margo started to laugh as Frank was looking through his fingers to see if he could see if what Margo was saying was true. But instead of seeing what he was looking for, Frank found himself laughing along with her. After a few minutes of keeping his face hidden, Frank finally moved his hands from his face and then looked at Margo. Once the laughter died down, Frank began to speak, serious and yet with a calmness to his voice. "Thank you for listening to me," Frank told her. "I don't have many friends around here and I haven't really shared any of this with BJ yet," he told Margo. Frank took a couple of deep sighs and then laid another shocking news on Margo. "I forgot to tell you, I have a son who works for the army in Tokyo," Frank said. "He's trying to help bring North and South Korea back together," he added. "And before you ask, yes I'm hiding something from him as well and it's more than just me being gay," he added and then went silent.

Frank listened to Margo's reply as if he was trying to put a puzzle together. Though Frank did have a brief relationship with Margaret, he still wanted to at least get to know her a little bit more so that maybe they could possibly start over and build a strong friendship. And in the back of his mind, he knew one way to do this was to build a strong friendship with her sister, which Frank was doing as they continued to work on the young soldier. Frank didn't say anything for the moment as he was pulling the last bit of shrapnel out of the soldier, which let him stitch up the areas that was torn by the shrapnel. Finally, while Margo was clearing the last of the blood, she went silent, which gave Frank time to speak to her as he was putting the last few stitches into the wound. "So, basically, she became the son he, and I'm just assuming this, never had, while you remained more of the girly type," Frank told her. "Am I right?" he asked as he stopped what he was doing for a few minutes and turned to look at her and began to speak to Margo, not harshly, but more like someone who knew what he was talking about. And maybe he did a little bit, though not with having daughters but for other reasons. "Well, he could have found a way to connect with you through something that you both would have enjoyed, like movies or music or something like that," Frank said as he then got serious and started talking about what they were currently doing. "Thanks. I just have to get these few stitches in and then I'll be ready to close," he added as he went on stitching the few holes that was left behind. There was a silence that fell over them as Frank worked quickly and yet professionally. Once he had all the holes stitched up, Margo said that he could close when he was ready, Frank smiled and nodded.


"Then let's close," Frank said professionally as he went back to what they were talking about earlier. "I agree with you," Frank finally said as he began to close the wound. "There is a big price to pay when you are trying to be someone you aren't," he added as he was thinking about his own situations with different people and things. "I just hope that she doesn't forget that she's more than just what her father wanted her to be," he added as he glanced over at Margo and then back down at the wound that he was stitching up. "And I hope you know that too," Frank added as he began to smile underneath his mask. Then Frank chuckled as he went on speaking to her while finishing up the last few stitches. "I know I'm not and you aren't the first person to tell me that either," Frank told her as another nurse came over to finish up dressing the wound before moving the soldier to post-op. It was then that Margo brought up some of his past, though it was a good thing that he was finished operating and that they were now heading to the take off their bloody gowns. Frank didn't say anything as they had just got out of their gowns, masks and scrub hats. Frank was still in his scrubs when he sat down, though he still hadn't said anything. But finally, after taking a few deep breaths, Frank finally began to speak on why he decided to become a doctor. "There were many things that made me want to be a doctor, the money, the fame, wanting a big house," Frank said with a nervous chuckle as he looked at the ground for a few minutes before sitting back and looking up at Margo. "But the real reason why I wanted to become a doctor is because I thought it might make me normal enough for my family," he told her and then paused for a few minutes before finally going on. "You see, I'm gay and my family, well, they have very strong feelings to homosexuality," he told Margo as he looked into her eyes. "So, I figured that if I became a doctor, they would look past the whole gay thing, but they didn't," he added as he let the thoughts of his troubled past come flooding back to him. "It was my last attempt to be normal," he whispered to her before falling silent.

Frank listened contently as he continued working on the wounded soldier. He looked up at the soldier's vitals and smiled under his mask as he continued to work. He was pleased that the soldier was doing as well as he was. He glanced over at Margo and gave her a smile, even though she probably couldn't see it because of the mask. Then he went on saying what was on his mind to her. "He's going to make it, thanks to you nurse Houlihan," Frank said, which was one of his rare compliments that he hardly ever gave. Then Frank cleared his throat as he began to speak about everything that Margo had told him about her father. He was finishing up with the last two bleeders as he made his comments. "Well, I think your father was wrong to try to discourage you," he said. "I think if he saw you here and how hard you work, not only in the OR but in post-op and everywhere else in camp that you are needed, he would be extremely proud of you," Frank said with a smile as he finally had one more bleeder to go before he would be able to close the soldier and send him to post-op.

"There's still one thing that I don't get," Frank said as he glanced over at Margo and then back down at what he was doing. "Suction again," he said as the last bleeder was being a bit difficult to fix and started to spring just enough blood to block his view of the wound so he couldn't sew up the bleeder. "Anyway, what I still don't get is did your father feel the same way with your sister or did he just not care that she joined too?" he asked as he threw a bloody towel on the floor and reached over to grab another one to help stop the bleeding so that the suction could work better. "I mean you did say that Margaret went through a lot before she got here," he said. He had hoped that he hadn't crossed any lines into dangerous territory. Finally, Frank shook his head as he continued to hold to towel in place while Margo suctioned around the wound, cleaning out all of the blood so that he could finish stitching up the bleeder. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to pry into something that was none of my business," he said. Then Frank went silent for a few minutes before speaking again. "Got any questions for me?" he asked as he was trying to change the subject so that she didn't have to speak about her what seemed to him, painful life at home.

"Punctual, I like that in a woman," Ryan said playfully when Margo returned. He stood up and then slowly they walked to the mess tent for dinner, talking about this and that and laughing along the way. Then Ryan went onto answer her question, with a smile on his face. "And yeah, I'm okay," Ryan said as they continued walking slowly and in no big hurry to get to the chow line. "I was thinking about how beautiful you are compared to the moon and stars," he told her. "You outshine them all," he added and then went quiet for a few minutes. Then he went on speaking. "I know that sounds crazy saying that to someone I just met, but it's true," he said as they finally got to the mess tent.

Ryan opened the door for her and after she walked, he followed her. The line wasn't too long, but they went on chatting as they were making their way up to the food. "I'm not like other men who try to be something they aren't," she told him. "And I really don't have any heroic stories I can tell you, although I can make one up if you like," he said chuckling as they got up to the trays, which he picked up one for her and then grabbed his own. "And as for impressing you," he started to say. "I am trying to impress you, but in a way that you probably aren't used to," he told her as the cook was now starting to put green beans and potatoes on both of their trays. Then Ryan looked at the green beans and couldn't help but make a joke. "Green beans or WW2 bullets?" he asked her jokingly.

Frank didn't say anything for a few minutes, though he did smile under his mask. Frank and Margaret did have a brief romance, but they both decided to keep it civil, which was a good thing since Frank found himself more attracted to BJ than Margaret. Finally, Frank snapped back into reality and turned to face Margo. "Yes, clamp please," he said with a smile and yet a little shock to his face. He never knew anyone to pay so close attention to what was going on. "Also, I will need a little more suction as well," he told her as she handed him a second clamp so that he could clamp off a bleeder that wasn't too bad, but he wanted to get it stopped before it did become too bad.

Frank knew this guy had gotten a double dose of shrapnel along with a couple of bullets, which probably would have killed anyone, but his patient was still hold strong.As Frank was pulling out shrapnel and then a couple of bullets, he couldn't help but continue talking to Margo, as if they were old friends. "I know why Margaret joined the army," Frank started as he continued to work on his patient. "She wanted to try to impress your father," he told Margo honestly. "Did you join for the same reason or just happen to get drafted?" he asked. "For me, I felt it was my patriotic duty to join up, so the moment I became of age, I went down to my local office and signed up," Frank said as he looked away from the patient for a moment. The look on his face was one of someone doing heroic and noble, though to everyone else, he was just looking nerdy and a little bit stupid.