Finding The 4077th

These past couple of days the atmosphere changed. It went from being heavy, where everyone felt a weight on their shoulders, to a tense situation where you could practically cut the air with a knife. Everyone seems to be on edge, reacting to the stress of a big change around camp.

Aside from all the strong emotions around camp, Klinger was also making a big mess out of things so if people weren't yelling and complaining about Klinger they were sad and missed Radar. Radar had been a steady presence, someone everyone could rely on, and without him, it's like there's a missing piece in the camp.

The lack of sleep around camp didn't help as well. Chris, in particular, had several nightmares these past days that woke up a big part of the camp in the middle of the night. It happened almost every night so far and it was just another stark reminder that they were in the middle of a war. Far away from home.

The boy still hadn't said a word and this was the longest the child had been silent after he first started talking, causing Hawkeye to become increasingly frustrated. On top of that, probably a combination of lack of sleep and being hurt by his friend leaving Chris developed an angry attitude.

The anger was bubbling just beneath the surface, and it was hard to ignore but also was a bit impressive how the boy managed to drive him up a wall while keeping his mouth shut. His child wore a constant scowl, slamming doors like they had personally offended him and even ignored him from time to time. This kind of behavior wasn't something Hawkeye was used to, especially not from Chris, who usually was mild-mannered and didn't like conflict.

It was still early in the morning. The sun had barely begun to rise, casting a soft glow across the compound. Hours before breakfast Hawkeye with concern on his face dragged the boy over to the phone to talk with Sidney. They had been waiting since yesterday before Klinger finally got a call through but Chris was anything besides happy to be talking to the psychiatrist.

Hopefully, Sidney could do something to help, Hawkeye thought hopefully. It seemed like every trick and tactic he had tried to help Chris had failed. No matter what he did, the nightmares continued tearing the small boy from sleep in a cold sweat. Hawkeye was out of ideas and really needed help. He tried everything he could think of to make the boy feel safe but nothing seemed to work.

Hawkeye took over the phone and flashed a quick smile of thanks at his friend before turning his focus to the psychiatrist on the other end of the line. He greeted the psychiatrist and started explaining the problem. Meanwhile, Chris stood next to him, looking worn out and annoyed. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest, and his lips twisted into a scowl. Hawkeye sensed Chris's frustration growing with each passing moment.

Sidney was at the front, talking to one of his patients so he couldn't visit. He managed to give some advice and the man offered to talk with Chris over the phone, but that was all he could offer.

The main piece of advice he got, was to try to talk with the boy, but as Chris was refusing it wasn't really helpful. Keeping a steady routine was also supposed to help, but the main problem was the talking. He needed to convince Chris to talk to make this right. He knew the child was angry with him and losing a friend was difficult, but this was bordering on insanity.

When he gave the phone to Chris, the boy snatched it out of his hands and held his gaze with an angry scowl.

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow but the boy didn't move, just kept his glare.

"Chris, Sidney would have to yell real loud for you to hear him like this. That piece goes to your ear." Hawkeye said as he pointed to the receiver of the phone.

Chris's scowl deepened as he let out an angry huff.

Hawkeye leaned against the desk as he crossed his arms—time to find out which of them would be more stubborn. Chris had been angry these days but he never crossed the line into disobedience. He did however test this patience by getting very close to that line and stepping on it several times. And by the looks of it was clear that today was going to be one of those moments unless Hawkeye acted quickly to put an end to it.