At a Saigon O Club gathering with the Seawolves, Frankie asked about their commanding officer, Rye Walsh, learning he was tough, private, and engaged to an admiral’s daughter. Despite dancing with Coyote, Frankie’s attention kept drifting to Rye, recalling how his long-ago encouragement had helped send her to Vietnam. When Barb drunkenly fell, Rye helped get Barb and Frankie to an MP jeep and back to their hotel.

Unable to sleep, Frankie answered a late-night call to the rooftop bar, expecting Coyote. Instead she met Rye. Over drinks, they remembered Finley and Rye acknowledged Frankie’s unexpected path as a combat nurse. They danced, and the attraction was intense, but when Frankie reminded Rye of his engagement and her own recent heartbreak, he stepped back, apologized, and they parted formally, each urging the other to stay safe.

The next morning at breakfast, Frankie told Barb about Rye being Finley’s best friend and her old crush; Barb teased her about lust versus love and noted Frankie’s good-girl line in the sand. The narrative shifted back to the 71st Evac, where December heat and exhaustion pressed on the staff. Frankie treated an amiable “butt shot” for Private Albert Brown, easing his fear with banter and posing for a Polaroid for his mother.

Several helicopters then arrived, triggering a rapid triage and push to the OR. Frankie prioritized a gravely wounded man and, with new arrival Sharlene, confronted the novice’s panic with calm instructions. When a Marine corporal awoke and saw his mangled leg, Frankie medicated him, tried to distract him with small talk, and urgently called for a surgeon as she stabilized him.

After a long shift on her birthday, Frankie attended a small, weary party at the Park. Coyote, newly clean-shaven and earnest, asked her to dance and pressed for a chance at a relationship. Recognizing their mutual loneliness but firm in her boundaries, Frankie declined gently. Coyote admitted he was a short-timer heading home soon, masking heartbreak with bravado, and they continued dancing in bittersweet companionship.