Reading time on MSC1211 (8051)

Hello there!

I'm trying to read the value of a timer on the MSC1211, but I'm getting something estrange for me.
Look what I did:

//# for starting Timer0 as a 16-bit timer:
TMOD = 0x01;
TR0 = 1;

//#for reading it:
//#First I've defined and declared an union variable like this:
union {
unsigned char t[2];
unsigned int temp;
} time;

//#Then,
time.t[0] = TH0;
time.t[1] = TL0;

To press, in hex, the value of both TH0 and TL0 and the proper time (TH0TL0), I'm doing something like this:

printf ("TH0 = 0x%x,  TL0 = 0x%x and time = 0x%x", time.t[0], time.t[0], time.temp);

Because each register is an 8-bit , I waited something like: TH0 = 0xHH, TL0 = 0xLL and time = 0xHHLL

But, I'm obtaining something like: TH0 = 0xHHHH, TL0 = 0xLLLL and time = 0xHHHH

LL and HH are hex numbers.

It suggested me it's been read a 16-bit register, even I've declared it as a char. And the value in time.temp is just TH0.

Anyone could tell me what is happening? And what I'm doing wrong?

Later I will exchange this value in sec, msec and usec. Has anyone some function or just a code for this?

Thanks in advance.
Eliasibe Luis