"Didn’t think you were a fool either, Rosie." Karen winked. "Either way, our Doc’s in good hands with Danni." The older nurse pried herself out of the front seat and closed the door of the car. She waved as Rosie pulled out into the flow of traffic. ‘God, Danni, I hope you get the answer you’re looking for.’

The nurse couldn’t believe what she had felt. ‘Was that Garrett who just squeezed my hand or was I just imagining it?’ Either way, it sure felt nice.

"Okay young lady, I’m coming up to check on you." Danni announced as she started up the staircase. "You better be in bed and fast…" By this time Danni was standing at Garrett’s wide open door. The woman was stretched out across her bed still completely dressed, but deep in slumber. "Asleep," she whispered. Walking into the bedroom, Danni took the ends of the comforter and covered her tall friend. Bending over, she lightly kissed the tension-lined forehead and whispered, "Sleep well, Gar." ‘I love you.’

Danni walked back to the doorway and leaned up against its framework. ‘How could anyone think you to be a monster of any sort? Why, if he was here right now…’ The nurse thought about what she would do to the weasel of a man who thought himself to be some god-brandishing hypocrite. She’d seen his type before. They do anything to get their clients off, no matter whose reputation they destroyed.

"Doctor, before that unruly outburst, you stated that you don’t have a problem with men, is that correct?"

Garrett glared at the attorney for his jab at her friend’s behavior. "Yes." Her voice was strong and vibrant now. The glass of water that she had found during the chaos helped her immensely.

"Doctor, if you don’t have an issue with men, then are you currently in a relationship with a man?"

"Objection, Your Honor!" The District Attorney stated.

The Defense Attorney smiled at the Judge. "Your Honor, it is my intention to show a pattern that will indicate that the witness does have a problem with men."

"The objection is over-ruled." The Jurist turned a wary eye to the Defense Attorney. "But, Mr. Hanington, don’t stray too far."

"That won’t be an issue, Your Honor." The attorney replied smiling cockily at the jurors. Turning back to the witness, the well-manicured man asked. "Do you have somebody that you date occasionally, say a boyfriend, Dr. Trivoli?"

"I don’t really have much free time for relationships." Garrett glared at him wondering what right he had to pry into her life. She wasn’t the one on trial.

"NO?" He looked puzzled for a moment, and then a look of revelation came over his face. "Are you married?"

"I object, Your Honor, relevance?" The quick voice of the District Attorney could be heard.

"The objection is again over-ruled. We have to give the Defense the opportunity to prove the point he stated that was his purpose for questioning the witness."

The Defense Attorney was getting smug. "Doctor, please answer the question. Are you married?"

"No."

"Doctor, is there ANYONE in your life now? Are you perhaps living with someone?"

The look on Garrett’s face indicated that she was taken aback by the question. She eyed the blonde in the back row. "Yes, I currently share a house with a friend."

"Have you slept with your ‘FRIEND’?"

The surgeon paled at the question, it was as if she was struggling to answer the question. "Yes, we have shared a bed if that is what you mean."

"So, Doctor," he strolled over to the jury box, "is your FRIEND a man,"
he adjusted his tie, "or a woman?"

"A woman, but it’s not the way you are implying." Garrett gazed at Danni while she was answering the question.

The blonde woman thought about the look she’d seen on Garrett’s face when their eyes had met for that brief second or two, it was almost apologetic for some reason. ‘No use in speculating, Danni, it’s her past and you weren’t part of it.’ Her mind drifted back to the courtroom.

"Doctor, what is it exactly that you think I am implying?" He looked, at her wide-eyed and innocently.

"It appears, sir, that you are implying that we were intimate, which isn’t the case. We were stranded at a ski lodge due to the weather. There was only one room left, and it had only one bed."

"Thank you Doctor, but it appears that you are rather defensive on this issue. Have you ever been in intimate contact with one of your ‘FRIENDS’?"

"Only as far as giving one a massage after a particularly hard day at work."

"Let’s be honest here, shall we? Isn’t it true that the real reason you aren’t in a relationship with a man is because you don’t WANT to be with a man?"

"No!" Garrett let her eyes dart between the two attorneys. "As I stated before I don’t have time for ANY relationship right now with my career."

"Career, yes, your career…" he thought out loud as he planned his next attack. "Doctor, do you think that the so-called ‘Glass Ceiling’ actually exists?" He smiled coyly at the jury stand. "You do know what I’m talking about don’t you?"

"Yes, that women only rise to the point of the ‘Glass ceiling’ in the workplace while men continue to rise above it."

"Why is that?" The Defense Attorney slowed his step and looked directly at her.

"It seems that there continues to be the ‘Good Ol’ Boys Network’ in play for all areas of the workforce."

"Does that bother you, Dr. Trivoli?"

"Of course it bothers me."

"Isn’t it because you feel that men are held in higher esteem than women?"

"To a certain extent, yes."

"Isn’t that the reason you got the position of Flight Surgeon on your deployments to sea? They thought that by the sound of your name that you were a male."

"I didn’t make that decision."

"But you did make the decision to ask for the Rape Kit, because you felt that this was a way to get back at a man, for all the injustice that happens to women. Didn’t you?"

"No!" The surgeon was distraught, her hand playing nervously with the contents of her pocket.

"Your Honor, I object to this line of questioning. The Defense has yet to get to his point."

"The objection is sustained. You have had plenty of time to make your point, Mr. Hanington, that’s enough. Either move on or dismiss the witness."

"Your Honor, I will only be questioning this witness for a short time longer."

"Mr. Hanington, this is your final warning." The Judge settled back into his chair, his eyes stern and full of admonition.

"Yes, Your Honor." The Defense Attorney turned to the witness. "Isn’t the real reason you left the Navy because you couldn’t stand the fact that it was predominantly men?"

Garrett smiled slowly. "I never left the service, sir. I’m still an active member of the U.S. Navy for the next two years." The twinkle in her eyes danced in delight as she leaned her elbows on the railing of the witness stand and rested her chin in her hand waiting for his reaction.

The Defense Attorney looked like a deer in front of headlights. He was in shock. Defeated by his own line of questioning, he swallowed hard. "No more questions for this witness."

The Judge smiled at the witness. "You are excused."

Sighing, Danni shook her head. "If looks could have killed, I think both of us would be up for murder right now, Gar." She thought aloud in a hushed tone, not wanting to disturb the sleeping woman. ‘How does he know what you are like. I do. I’d trust my life in those hands of yours a million times over.’

There was silence on Brie’s part as she thought of what few extra pounds her sister might be talking about. ‘The baby or certain parts of Garrett’s anatomy?’

Letting her fingers sweep over her body she realized that she was still fully dress, sans her shoes. "Damn! I must have been so tired that I didn’t even get changed." She rolled over and pushed herself up off the bed, scanning the nightstand for her beeper. "I wonder if…" fumbling with the beeper she found that it was still turned off. ‘I guess that wasn’t what woke me then. I wonder if Danni told them we were available for flights? Guess not!’ The surgeon flopped back on the bed. "I’m up now. Guess I’ll go call us back in service." She sat up and let her legs slide over the edge, then down onto the floor. The carpet felt good under her stocking feet as she made her way into the hall.

‘Looks like Danni is still awake, the light’s on in her room.’ Garrett touched the door lightly with the back of her knuckles and it opened slightly. Shrugging at the door, she pushed it more fully open and stuck her head in. "Danni?" She spoke softly. "Danni, did you…" She stopped and peered in at the sleeping woman who was sprawled under the covers, her fingers tightly clenching onto her journal. "I guess you didn’t."

It was a beautiful sight, the petite woman looking more like a child than anything, lost in the confines of the queen size bed. ‘It didn’t seem that big the other night when I slept in it with her.’ Garrett thought about how good it felt to wake up beside this woman the next morning. It was almost like she had done it hundreds of times before. It was such a natural thing to do.

‘Mom, is this what you were laughing about when you told me all those pot o’gold stories when I was a kid?’ Garrett wished she could turn back the hands of time and have her mother here to guide her. Just this one time she wished for someone else’s wisdom to guide her life. It was so easy when she was a child. You just did what you were told. But now, as an adult, no one told you how to live, you had to do that for yourself. And contrary to her beliefs as a child, those decisions didn’t get any easier with age. In fact, they just got more complex and compounded by the reaction that they would have on the world around you.

Then her mind began to wonder. ‘Could I still be friends with her if she didn’t want to pursue that type of relationship?’ She thought of David and the gnawing pain that she felt each time that she pictured the two of them together. No, to Garrett Trivoli, the names of Danni and David did not belong in the same sentence let alone the same lifetime together.

The surgeon entered the room and crossed the floor to the side of Danni’s bed. She stared down at the woman sound asleep, gauging the space left in the bed. ‘There’s enough room. I could just lie down beside her and…’ Garrett shook her head and let a lung full of air escape out of her mouth. ‘What are you thinking, Trivoli. Don’t be stupid.’

The two bodies seemed to morph from one into two and then back again. Each time, a little more of one became part of the other until after a while they could no longer be seen as two distinct people but rather only as one soul, housed in two bodies.

Garrett set the book down, but the words kept running through her head. Her blue eyes drank their fill of the woman in the bed. The surgeon started taking stock of herself and how much she had changed in the last eight months since meeting Danni. It seemed to be funny, as she was changing, so was the nurse who now took chances that she would have walked away from before. The surgeon looked back to the journal and the words came to haunt her again. ‘No longer be seen as two distinct people but rather only as one soul…’

The young woman sat back down on the bed, her heart sinking with the pain that her friend must be in. "Please, keep her safe and help her to weather this storm," she prayed to any deity that would listen. "Let her eyes be opened to what is in my heart. But most of all, let her find what is true and right in her own."

*************

She turned the key in the ignition and put it into gear as she charted her course for home. ‘I’ll call command when I get home and tell them to put us back on as of 0700. Danni needs the rest.’ It amazed her, how many times she thought about the nurse lately. It seemed to be the one thing that she honestly could say was a constant in her life.

With the warm weather moving into the area sooner than usually anticipated, the Flight Crew was being utilized more and more. The gentle rains of April had moved into the picture making the roadways hazardous to drivers of all skill levels. There was hardly a day that the helicopters didn’t fly and the number of their call outs was increasing drastically.

Danni found herself pressed for time to even take care of the mandatory things in life like shopping for groceries, house chores, and keeping up with her nursing journals let alone the things that she thought she needed to do. It was playing on her mind, ever since the court case in March that she needed to talk to David. She’d finally made her mind up and wanted to take care of some things before she would feel comfortable to move on in the direction that she had chosen. The several attempts to get in touch with David never seemed to pan out. She’d call him and leave messages at his apartment and the hospital but in like manner, his replies ended up the same way. Talk about playing phone tag with someone, but this was getting down right ridiculous.

With all of the technology present in the year 2001, you’d think that it would be easier. The life style that each party had was a major contributor to their own unavailability. The nurse had often thought of using the computer and sending him E-mail, but never liked the idea of using it for something as delicate an issue as this. Besides, it just wasn’t her style. She was more a "look-you-in-the-eye" kind of person when things of this importance needed to be discussed. It had always been her trademark. Danni would just have to wait for the next time she could get a day off and drive herself down to West Virginia. Once there, she’d let David know exactly where he stood in her life and in her heart. There would be no more time for misconceptions if she were to try to do what her heart was telling her to do. June would be here soon enough and she still wasn’t sure what Garrett was thinking of doing come the first of July when her year of Fellowship would be over.

Danni thought about her tall, raven-haired friend. She seemed more contemplative now than before. It was as if she was weighing a great choice in her mind. Perhaps it was what to do with the next year, or where to go with her career. The only thing that the nurse prayed for was that somehow, someway, she would be a part of it. Most of the Residents and Fellows at the hospital were talking about where they would be working come the first of July, but Garrett hadn’t said a word. She’d never even mentioned it in any way. It was as if she only existed for that day, that Flight, and the rest would take care of itself when it got there.

The nurse looked at the stack of envelopes with Garrett’s name on them. What had started as only one or two in February was now adding up to a large handful. She could only speculate what they were about, since the surgeon had chosen not to even open them and read what they were offering her. Danni fanned through the handful of sealed letters letting the return addresses flash before her eyes. It amazed her that so many large institutions wanted a shot at Dr. Garrett Trivoli.

Now what would it take to entice her to stay? Danni knew what she was willing to throw into the pot, but would that make the surgeon stay on here in Pittsburgh or run like hell to get as far away as possible? The surgeon could name her price anywhere she wanted to go, but could she possibly find what she really needed away from Danni? These were all questions that the nurse knew were soon to be answered, whether she liked it or not.

Putting the stack of envelopes back where they belonged, she climbed the stairs to bed, wondering if they’d even get to sleep until morning before they would once again be summoned with a call for help.

****************

The clock read 0202 when the sound of the beeper woke the surgeon. Throwing back the covers, she sat up and scrubbed her face trying to get the sleep from her eyes. She picked up the pager and read the alphanumeric read-out on the display screen. The cryptic wording only added to the puzzle. "MVA – Man in Tree." "What the hell?" She pushed off the bed and started getting her Flight Suit on. "Danni!" The surgeon opened her door and yelled out into the hall as she rounded the corner to the bathroom. "Danni, we’ve got a flight. Time to get up."

Garrett closed the door in what seemed like seconds later. Then, the sound of a flush could be heard, followed by running water. She came out of the bathroom zipping up her suit as the sleepy-eyed blonde opened her door.

"I’m coming, I’m coming. I don’t know why we just don’t sleep in these suits anymore." She grumbled as she crossed the hall to the bathroom.

"Because they’re too hard to get off to go to the bathroom." Garrett yelled back as she picked up the phone to call into the command center.

"Oh, yeah, right!" Danni picked up the pace as she went about her abbreviated ritual that she had begun calling the "splash and dash routine." She had it worked out to a precise method. While seated on the commode, she would splash the water on her face from the sink and dry it with a towel helping to wake her up. Stepping into her Flight Suit she would pull it on, zipping it up and then wash her hands. Stepping into her boots at the bottom of the stairs, she would quickly tie the laces and dash to the already warmed Blazer with Garrett ready at the wheel.

The drive at this time of night was a quick one and within ten minutes they were standing at the helipad waiting to be met. The wash of debris-filled air picked up the closer the helicopter hovered to the pad. Protecting their eyes, the Flight Team waited patiently for the craft’s skids to touch down.

With the go-ahead signal from the pilot, Danni and Garrett scurried under the whirling blades of the helicopter toward the door. The surgeon quickly released the handle, opening it and the nurse entered and took her seat. Once Garrett was onboard with the door shut, Danni was alerting the pilot that they were preparing for take-off. The ease with which the surgeon maneuvered her tall body in the tight quarters of the ship always amazed the nurse. Her friend could be in the ship, and buckled in her seat within seconds.

"One of these days, you’re going to have to show me how you do that."

"Do what?" The surgeon looked surprised.

Danni shook her head, "Nothing, don’t worry about it." The nurse held her thumb up and the surgeon copied it for the pilot to see. They were lifting off.

Cowboy had made the quick ascent that was his usual approach to any of the trips when he rode with the Flight Team. He had already charted out the trip and was ready to convey any information that he had to the women in the back. "Morning, ladies. We’ve got to quit meeting like this or some people are going to think that the three of us have a thing going." He laughed casting a wayward eye over his shoulder to catch their reaction.

But there was none, the women were busy doing the preflight checklist of drugs and equipment. They could do it in their sleep that’s how often they were being called out. As a matter of fact, they had only been off of the ship for three hours this last time. They were beginning to have the look of drones as they went through the motions.

"We’ll be there in about twelve minutes." Cowboy warned them, then turned his attention to the sky ahead.

Any minute that could be, was used for sleep and if it was going to take twelve minutes to get to the scene, then that meant at least 10 minutes of snooze time. Garrett was used to the sporadic segments of sleep. It was a part of her training with long hours on call and surgeries to all hours of the morning. It was just like an old shoe that felt comfortable when you slipped it on. She folded her arms over her chest and set her head to a comfortable tilt, ready for sleep.

The nurse just watched, amused at how quickly the snores would come from the body of the surgeon. It amazed her to no end that anyone could just decide to go to sleep that fast. Danni sighed, looking out the window at the darkness of the night. She was one, that unless her petite body was exhausted, the comforts of bed would be the only place for her to sleep. Randomly the nurse let her eyes stray, finding herself gazing on the restful form in the seat opposite her.

"Rise and shine, ladies! Looks like every darn emergency vehicle in the county is parked down there." Cowboy shook his head. "Looks like a bad one, Doc."

That was all she needed. The simple sound of a voice stirred her out of her state of sleep. The surgeon rolled her head and stretched, trying to work out the kinks before they touched down. Having done all that she could to limber her tired and sore body, she waited for the craft to land.

"Have a good nap?" Danni smiled.

"You get used to it after a while. You know, you should really try it sometime."

"Not my style," the nurse giggled, "bed, covers, something warm, soft and plush to cuddle up to, that’s what I need."

Garrett looked at her kind of strangely, then slightly shook her head. "I don’t remember seeing you with any stuffed animals in bed."

Danni just smirked, thinking to herself. ‘I guess not when you’re the something warm, soft and plush to cuddle up to.’ "I guess you will just have to look a little harder the next time you see me in bed."

"Hmmm…I just might have to." Garrett let the corners of her mouth turn up as she allowed her eyes to gaze into Danni’s.

"Whoa, doggies, look at that!" The pilot was amazed at what he was viewing. "Doc, Danni, look out your window back there. You ain’t going to believe this one."

Garrett craned her neck trying to see out the window to the scene below. "I can’t see anything but a red glow."

"Gar, that glow is coming from all the vehicles down there. Where’s the…" Danni moved trying to find the best view of the unfolding rescue below. "Jeez, I hope they don’t expect us to get to him there."

"What?" The surgeon stretched trying to see.

"I don’t think I’m up for this one." The nurse mumbled in amazement.

"I’m starting decent." Cowboy informed his crew. "We’ll be on the ground in less than a minute."

"Where? What?" The surgeon was puzzled at her friend’s mumbled thought. "Danni, give me some idea of what we’re going into here."

"You’ve got to see this one for yourself."

The helicopter landed outside the ring of emergency vehicles. Cowboy had done his job well positioning the craft in such a way as to have the doors for the patient compartment in direct line with the scene. Garrett was pleased with his timesaving effort for the loading and liftoff but slightly miffed that she still had no idea of what they were walking into once she threw open the doors of the crew compartment.

Loaded with gear, Danni got up from her seat and waited patiently for the strong arm of the surgeon to open the door. Throwing the handle to release the locking mechanism, Garrett slid the door open and emerged to her first sight of the precarious rescue.

There, perched halfway up a huge tree, was the small compact vehicle. From the looks of the scene, the car had gone off the road at the top of the hill were it curved to the left and by some unknown force, became airborne, thus landing in the tree. By the looks of it, the only thing keeping the car in place was the long branch that had skewed it through the front and back windows. The car teetered like a hanger hooked on to someone’s finger.

Garrett took in a deep breath and let it out. "Well, standing here ain’t getting our job done. Let’s go find the Scene Commander."

Danni nodded and they trooped off together in the direction of the man in charge.

**************

It was only a matter of ten or fifteen minutes before the bloodstained body of the small vehicle’s driver was lowered out of the tree. The use of an aerial ladder raised to the side and above the treed vehicle afforded them the vantagepoint that they needed. They rigged their rope and pulley assembly there to lower the victim secured to the backboard down to the ground and into the waiting hands of the medical personnel. Surprisingly, the victim was alert and oriented to his plight. His anxious cries for help tore at the young nurse’s heart. It was her nature to care and comfort, not stand around, waiting for the patient to come into your reach.

"He’s going to be full of glass, Danni. You’d better make sure to have your heavier gauge gloves on." Garrett thought out loud as they stood there watching.

"Yeah, got them right here in my pocket." The petite nurse touched first her right then her left side leg pockets. "Never leave home without them." Then she began to pull them from her zippered pockets. In the process a small vial of solution started to emerge with them. ‘What the…oh, forgot I had that in there from yesterday in the E.R.’ She pushed it back into her pocket, pulled the zipper shut and stood ready for the patient as she pulled the gloves onto her hands.

Within minutes the lowered form was disconnected from the rope system and carried across the rough terrain. The group of litter bearers never stopped until they were well out of the danger zone, and the patient placed on the framework of the helicopter’s stretcher.

The rescue worker in the lead looked directly at the Flight Surgeon, his eyes pleading for help. "He’s bleeding from somewhere on his face and we just can’t get it to stop."

Garrett glanced quickly at the blood soaked clothing of the rescue personnel then to the patient himself. If something weren’t done to stop that bleeding soon, there would be little blood left to keep him alive on the inside. She caught a glance of the lone I.V. site in his left arm. The fluid chamber of the regulating gauge was dripping so fast that it was almost a steady stream.

"Danni, get another I.V. line established and hang Ringer’s Lactate wide open." The surgeon muscled her way into the group of concerned E.M.S. personnel. "Shine those lights on his face. Let’s get a look at this wound." She reached into the pile of gauze and absorbent dressings, carefully lifting them from his face.

Garrett grabbed the offered gauze from the Medic’s hand and used it to try to wipe some of the blood from the patient’s face. As fast as she blotted the area, more blood appeared. It seemed to be gushing out of his very pores, all concentrating in the area around the right eye. After a few more handfuls of fresh gauze, it appeared that she was making a little headway. The long jelly-like masses of coagulated blood clung to the gauze like a baby to its mother’s nipple. Now, the injury could be seen much clearer.

Danni noticed the quietness at once as the voices around her halted. She looked up from her ministrations with the I.V. tubing to see several shocked faces on the rescuers. "What’s wrong?"

Her question was meet only briefly by the blue eyes of the Flight Surgeon as Garrett looked up from the brutalized flesh, then, continued examining the right side of the patient’s face.

The nurse looked directly at the traumatized patient’s face. Even from where she stood an arm length away, the injury was horrendous. The right eye was protruding from its socket and grossly misshapen. There wouldn’t be much that they could do for that eye now. Stopping the bleeding was their major concern. Knowing that head wounds have a tendency to bleed more due to the vascular nature of the body, Danni was not appalled by the site like many of the rescuers were. She just kept moving along about her job.

"Artery?"

Garrett shook her head. "No, the blood just keeps coming from that whole area." She blotted the raw flesh again trying to see it better. "Danni, we don’t carry Lidocaine with Epinephrine in our drug bag, do we?"

The nurse handed the bag of I.V. solution for a rescuer to hold. "I.V.’s in and running wide open. Lidocaine with Epi, not likely. They only use that in Plastic Surgery." She moved out of her position and joined Garrett at the head of the patient. "We don’t carry that in our bag," she smiled as she remembered the vial in her leg pocket, "but I know where we can get some."

Danni quickly produced the vial from her pocket. "Would 20cc be enough?"

She held the bottle up with the label facing the surgeon.

The lopsided grin spread like a bolt of lightning across Garrett’s face. "Yes, that just might be enough." Her eyes twinkling with delight at the sight of the drug she needed. "Get me a syringe and a few needles, 25 gauge if you have them. Were going to use an old plastic surgery trick to stop this blood loss."

With needles and syringes procured, the Flight Team worked to arrest the bleeding by injecting small amounts of the drug under the skin. It was a way of keeping the very vascular regions of the face that were filled with multitudes of capillaries, small veins and arterioles from bleeding while the plastic surgeon would do the tedious job of stitching up any lacerations through the layers of nerve sensitive tissue. It would allow plastic surgeons a lengthier time to work at the tiny hair-fine stitches that were necessary. Garrett finished the last of the injections, using up the last of the drug. "There, that should give us a chance to get him to the Trauma Center and replace some of his blood." She straightened up and rolled her shoulders trying to release the kink that was forming already. "What’s his pressure now?"

The medic took another reading while the surgeon studied the exposed globe and placed moist gauze then the domed plastic shield over it for the protection of the once sighted organ.

"BP is 100 over 76, Heart Rate is 108, and Respirations are 24."

"Okay, let’s get him loaded for transport, there’s nothing more that we can do here."

The Flight Surgeon’s words were like gold taken at face value. The group of rescuers hastily carried the helicopter litter into the receiving door as Danni slipped inside the craft to direct the stretcher into place and lock it down. The surgeon brought up the rear, as she gathered the equipment bags, bringing them with her. Once the bags were stowed inside, Garrett slid the compartment’s door closed, locking it in place. She promptly took her seat and buckled herself in for the ride. A quick visual check assured her that Danni was in place and ready for flight. Garrett gave the thumbs up sign to the pilot and they were on their way.

The sound of the whirring blades picking up both speed and power for lift off were a welcome noise. It would mean that they were at best, only twelve to fifteen minutes from the hospital and an awaiting ophthalmologist to whisk him into surgery. That was, if there was any hope to save the eye.

The surgeon continued on with her secondary assessment of as much of the patient as she could reach while Danni monitored his vital signs. With the abbreviated survey giving her no additional speculations of injury, the surgeon called in her report. With that out of the way, the Flight Team settled into their seats and waited for the familiar sights of the City of Pittsburgh to come into view.

"Danni," the soft voice of the surgeon could be heard over the helmet radio, "that was a nice assist back there. Where did you come up with that Lidocaine with Epi?"

The nurse shrugged her shoulders rather tiredly. "Sometimes it pays to help out in the E.R. when we’re waiting to be called out. I was assisting the Maxillo-Facial Surgical Resident yesterday and just happened to pick up an extra vial." She let the smile spread across her face, content in the thought that she had everything that Garrett could possibly want.

**********

With their patient turned over to the Trauma Team at the hospital, Garrett and Danni waited to see what the ophthalmologist could report after his close scrutiny of the traumatized globe. It wasn’t looking good in respects to being able to save the eye even cosmetically. The lens was ripped out of its place and the cornea, what little there was left to it, was trashed. Even though the loss of the eyesight would be a permanent thing, the patient still had his life, which was lucky considering the nature of his accident. It could have been so different an outcome if the car had propelled itself a little more to the right.

Wearily, Danni and Garrett replaced their supplies and bid Cowboy farewell and safe flying, as they themselves headed back to their home. It was almost morning now and sleep was still nothing more than an allusion to them.

***********

The ringing clamored so close to her, that Danni initially thought it was coming from inside her head. The blonde woke to the sound of the phone. There it was again. Her single eyelid opened as the tired green orb tried to find the source of the racket to stop it from ringing another time. Her jumbled mind fought from dominance over sleep. ‘What’s the phone doing in my room anyway?’ There it was, starting all over again. She reached out her hand and swiped it from the table next to where she lay.

"H...Hel…lo," she croaked, her voice husky from sleep. The nurse tried to push herself up from her warm pillow but the effort was too much as she sank back into it.

"Danni? It’s nearly 1 in the afternoon. I thought you didn’t work the night shift anymore."

"Don’t…" she mumbled into the receiver. "I’m with Garrett now."

"You’re still in bed?" Brie was shocked by the openness of her sister. She hadn’t even tried to hide the fact. "Are you feeling alright, I mean, you’re not sick are you?"

"No, Brie, no queasy stomach today. I haven’t had one since the last time we spoke." Danni laughed softly, as she grew more awake with each exchange of conversation. "Gar and I were up and down so many times last night, I never thought I would get to sleep."

"Danni, is that good right now?" The concern was coming across loud and clear from her sister.

"Yeah, they said that the call to action would grow steadily before it would level off and then slow down later in the season. Everybody tells us to enjoy it while we can."

Brie thought of her own family and the limited times that were available for sex once her son was born. "I got to admit it, Danni, they’re right. Is that snoring I hear in the background?"

Danni pulled her head up off the pillow and tried focusing her eyes on her surroundings. Much to her surprise, she was on the couch in the living room and her pillow was none other than one very worn-out surgeon still dressed in her Flight Suit. The nurse looked down to her own body stretched out along the length of the couch. She, too, was dressed in a very similar fashion. "Yeah, Brie, that’s Gar snoring."

Images ran through Brie’s head of her sister in bed with a man and she fought hard not to go there. "Are you happy with this, Danni?"

"I’m finding that I’m liking it more and more. You might even say that I just can’t seem to get enough of it." The nurse turned a loving eye to the woman sleeping next to her. "It’s really wearing Garrett out, which is surprising because that surgeon can usually go all night long without a problem. I guess it’s a little too much right now."

"You know, sis, you could just kick back a little and skip a time or two."

"Are you kidding me?" Danni laughed joyously. "That little signal goes off and I know that Gar will be coming in any minute, banging on my door trying to get me up and ready for action. Hmmm…I guess we’re getting more physical than Gar is used to, just standing around in that Operating Room all day." She thought about her friend and how peaceful she looked at rest.

Brie was no prude, but she never expected these kind of explicit details from her older, unmarried sister. ‘I wonder if knowing that Mother is listening in on this conversation would make a difference?’ Casting a watchful eye to her mother across the table, one daughter wondered about the other.

"Hey, Brie, I’m like really tired. If you just called to chat, can we do it later? I’d like to get some more rest before we’re up and at ‘em again."

"Okay, I’d better say goodbye. Talk to you later."

"Bye!" The blonde turned off the phone, laying it back where she had found it. Likewise, Danni did the same with her head.

Brie disconnected the line and stuffed her digital phone back into her purse. Mother’s face was becoming more stern and tight-lipped then ever. Her narrowed eyes resembled black holes that would suck you right in and lose you in her wrath forever.

"Now, do you believe me, Mother?" Brie sat with a smug look on her face. "I told you they were living together. Now I’m sure of it. Danni’s pregnant. First the morning sickness at Christmas time and now the unbridled sex urges. Why, by my pregnancy book, she’s right in step with her second trimester."

Mother looked shocked. ‘Where did I go wrong? She knows my wishes…find a doctor, get married and raise children.’ "Get the check for lunch, Brie. We’re going to Pittsburgh. I’ll see for myself."

"Ah…Mother I’m not sure that would be a prudent idea right now. I mean, they didn’t sound like they were receiving company any time soon." Brie motioned for the waitress. "Besides, Mother, if Danni is pregnant you don’t really want to go getting her all upset do you?"

Mrs. Bossard had anger building up inside of her that equaled the power of the atomic bomb. "You’re right, Brie, Danni would never be the one responsible for this. I’ll take my anger out on the real culprit, Dr. Garrett Trivoli." Her eyes glowed with the fire of hell and brimstone. "Who does he think he is to turn my eldest daughter into a little trollop? I’ll not accept any bastards in this family. He’ll marry her alive or posthumously. It doesn’t matter to me."

The matriarch breathed deeply, trying to calm her outraged emotions. "I have a meeting in Pittsburgh next week. I’ll just stop in at that hospital of theirs and talk to him without Danni being around. We’ll see who’ll have the last laugh here." She pushed herself up from the table. "Come, daughter, we have things to take care of."

The young woman watched her mother turn and walk away. ‘Yeah, Danni, you can have fun with your surgeon, but I’m the matriarch-in-training now.’ She doled out several bills from her purse to pay for lunch and followed in her mother’s footsteps as she gently rubbed her own ever-expanding with new life stomach.

*************

Shades of evening were drifting in the windows as the sun slowly sank in the west, when Garrett first started to stir. Her long frame draped over the comfortable couch had received more sleep in the last eight hours than she had in the last five days. It was a miracle that they got any sleep at all. For once, in a string of days, the beeper remained quiet. She dreaded moving for fear the tired and aching muscles of her body would scream in protest to the punishment that she was causing them to endure.

What was supposed to be a year spent in learning the techniques of Trauma Surgery was becoming a year of learning more and more about herself than she ever realized existed. The once cut-and-dried approach that she had meant for her life was now crumbling around her. She was feeling things that made no sense to her and for the first time in her life, she felt like she was losing all control. Control, wasn’t that what had ruled her life before? She thought about how she was the controlling party in the orchestra of her life’s work. It was she who had put in the long tedious hours of mastering her surgical skills. No one else had made her practice the fine motor skill movements that her hands and fingers could perform now without her even giving them a second thought. Now, when all of her hard work was about to be paying off, she felt her life spiraling out of control with a petite blonde at the center of it all.

The surgeon slowly rolled her head from side to side, easing out the stiffness in her muscles. She let her body take its time in waking up. Yawning, she opened her eyes and saw where she was, the living room. She’d never even made it up the stairs. Now that was tired. ‘Good gosh, if I was this tired, I can only imagine what Danni must be feeling like.’

It was then that she felt the strange sensation of movement, as something stirred against her body. The tiniest of sighs came dancing on her ears and the surgeon knew that Danni was not far away. Lifting her weary head, Garrett could make out the blonde hair that fell so haphazardly in her lap. The woman’s body warmth had melted her heart. Garrett rested her head down on the back of the couch and moved her arm so that her hand was laying gently upon Danni’s head, the blonde tresses weaving themselves in between the long sinewy fingers of the surgeon.

****************

Danni had awakened, surprised to still be in her Flight Suit. But the bigger surprise was being on the couch with her head on Garrett’s lap and the surgeon’s hand playing with her hair. Wow, was that a surprise! The blonde felt her heart racing and her mind clouded with thoughts. ‘By the gods, if it could only be like this forever.’ The nurse nestled in enjoying the closeness of the woman she loved and letting all of her senses drink in their fill of information to keep the moment fresh in her memory. Now, this, this was something to write about in her journal. Danni made a mental note to do just that the minute the large, soft hand was no longer holding her.

************

The warming days of April had settled in and now the rain descended down upon them. The medic crews that came into the E.R. this night were dressed in their slickers and dripping with the elements from outside. Rain was always depressing but even more so to the hospital staffs, especially the nurses in the E.R. With rain came slippery road conditions and with the darkness falling, that meant more accidents than normal.

The trauma beeper had been going off on what seemed to be a regular basis.

At least that’s what Karen thought it to be. She looked up to see the doors open, allowing another group of medics to wheel in their patient. "It’s going to be another one of those nights." She shook her head. "Okay, Medic 4 we got your report. Knee injury, right?"

The young, skinny medic nodded his head. "Yep, minor fender bender and no seat belt. His knee hit the dashboard. Nothing else hurts and his vitals are fine."

"Okay, let’s see," the Charge Nurse looked at the board, "Take him into room 10. I’ll have the Doctor see him in a minute or two." She turned and looked around for an available nurse, "Rosie, can you take this one?"

"Not really, Mom, we just got a report of two more coming in from an MVA, a Level One and the other one is a rescuer."

The older nurse nodded to the patient and medic combo, "Come on, I’ll take you myself." Leading them to the room, she prepared the patient to be seen.

Rosie stepped out of the way of the medics as they wheeled in past her. Within seconds, the perky nurse was headed for the back hallway and the Trauma Rooms. Passing the assignment board, the auburn-haired nurse looked at the names, longing to see that of her friend’s up there once more. She missed Danni like she missed a sister. The two women had worked side by side since the blonde had come to the E.R. and now, with being on the Flight Team, Rosie seldom, if ever, got to see her. ‘What I wouldn’t give to be working with her tonight.’ The nurse hastened her pace to assure that the room would be ready and she in it when the patient arrived.

The tired team assembled and took their places ready for the next trauma to roll in the doors. As each one prepared themselves, they thought of things ranging from home and family to what to do and where to stand. The evening was a long one and with each new trauma coming in, it became even longer still.

Dr. Rene Chabot rounded the corner into the Trauma Room as the loudspeaker announced the arrival of his patient. "Traumas in the department, Traumas in the department."

"Okay, everybody ready, eh?" The French Canadian was in a chipper mood even though the day had been busy. He looked from face to face as he grabbed the lead apron and put it on. "Dr. Kreger, you’ve got the second patient. I understand that it’s one of the rescuers. I’ll take the Level One."

The Chief Resident nodded his head and moved out into the hallway. "I wonder what happened?"

"Don’t know…they never said what the injuries where, just that they were both coming in the same ambulance." Rosie was hoping that it wasn’t too bad, it was never a pleasure to work on someone that you knew.

Just then the first sight of the ambulance crew came into view and all eyes were on them, eagerly anticipating the report. The Medics wheeled the stretcher into the room but instead of a deep male voice giving the report, a familiar female one was heard instead. Rosie looked up, surprised to see Danni dressed in casual clothing consisting of jeans and a pullover top.

"Fifty-two year old male unrestrained driver of a single car into a utility pole accident. We initially found him unresponsive on our arrival at the scene." Danni watched as they transferred the man from one stretcher to another. "Heart rate was Sinus Brady at 56, showing some PVC’s with occasional runs of bigeminy lasting for a minute or so. His BP was 110 over 82 and Respiration was at a rate of 12."

"Okay, thank you Nurse Bossard." Rene looked questioningly at her. "New uniform?" he teased.

"This?" Danni looked down at her clothing, "No, just out shopping when we saw this accident happen in front of us."

"Us?" Rene looked behind the blonde woman. "Where is the rest of the ‘us’ at?" He knew that Garrett would not be far away.

Danni tried to hide a knowing grin. "She’ll be here in a min…"

"I told you that I don’t need this!" The sound of Dr. Trivoli’s commanding voice traveled down the hall to the Trauma Room. "I can walk perfectly fine."

Danni wrinkled her nose in response to the voice. "There she is now." Then turned to see the hallway filled with the presence of the Flight Surgeon.

"Sure you can Doc." The medic pushing the wheelchair just rolled his eyes and laughed. "Just humor me, okay?"

"Humor you! You want me to humor you? How about you humoring me and let me out of this thing." The surgeon was twisting and turning in the chair as she ranted and raved.

Danni just sheepishly grinned, "They always say that doctors make the worst patients." Then shrugged her shoulders and left the patient from the car accident in the hands of the Trauma Team. "Looks like I’m needed elsewhere."

Rosie shook her head. "I’m glad that I’m not the nurse to get her out of those clothes." There was a subdued chuckle coming from the members of the team with that comment.

"Okay, everyone! Let’s get to our jobs, eh?" Rene urged them on as he thought. ‘And I’m glad that I’m not the physician to treat her. Ah…But Danni will keep her from killing anyone…I hope.’ The Trauma Fellow turned his attention back to the MVA patient before him. "Let’s get a 12 lead EKG and draw some blood for labs."

**************

The Charge Nurse passed by the room with the mutterings of anger casually spewing out into the hall. The patient was obviously upset and blaming everything from the rain to landmines as the cause of his or her misfortune. Curious of the voice, Mom stuck her head into the room. "Is there anything that I can do to…Dr. Trivoli?" Karen’s eyes bugged out to see the surgeon trying to get her pants off over the swollen left ankle.

"What?" The voice was loud and irritated. "Can’t you see that I’m busy?"

Karen had now let her face reflect the Charge Nurse that she was. "I’ll get your nurse to help you with those, Doctor. Now, could you just stop with the cursing out of the world? I mean…what kind of example are you setting for the rest of the patients?" Mom’s hands were on her hips by now and her right foot tapping to the cadence of her words. "Now, who’s your nurse? I’ll go get them."

The blue eyes of the surgeon lifted to meet Karen’s. The raging sea in them only worsened with the mention of calling her nurse for help. "You call that perverted little man back in here and I’ll send him off on another wild goose chase again. I’m not having him take my jeans off."

Mom had to laugh; Garrett was right. She thought for a moment and could hear the stories in her head already that would boast of John’s ability to get into the tall, dark, and deadly-with-a-scalpel, surgeon’s pants. It would read like something out of a romance novel of wanton lust. The seductive power that the male nurse possessed to land the great and all-powerful Dr. Garrett Trivoli would be told again and again.

"Come on, let me give you a hand." Karen closed the curtain to shield the woman from any wayward eyes. "You know, I bet Danni would just love to help you out of these. Where is she anyway?" The nurse looked at the swollen ankle and asked rather shyly, "What the heck did you do to this…use it to beat that lawyer over the head when no one was looking?"

"No, I was going over to the accident scene after parking the Blazer and all of a sudden, I was almost knee deep in a blasted puddle in the middle of the lanes of traffic." Garrett sighed pointing to the other trauma. "So Danni’s over there filling out the report with the Medics."

The Charge Nurse laughed trying not to let it show. "Garrett, welcome to Pennsylvania. You’ve just been sucked into one of our famous potholes."

"Pothole, damn it! It felt like a crater in a minefield."

"Well, we’ve been known to have small cars swallowed whole in them." Karen shook her head, "Come on now, let me help you with those jeans."

"Why would they let them get that big? Doesn’t anybody see them when they start out little?" The surgeon winced as the older nurse gently eased the stiff denim material over the injured limb.

‘Should I? Hell, I might as well try! Danni, here goes.’ "You know, Doc, not everyone sees things the same. It takes some little feeling or emotion to let some people know that things are different about a person while another may be pretty dense to the activity going on around them." Karen watched for any sign that she was being understood before she continued on. "Take the way that you and Danni have become friends over the last few months. Most people might think that you two are very close friends."

"Well, of course we’re close. You work with a person long enough you get to know them."

"I don’t mean in that way, Doc. There’s something different about the relationship that the two of you have." Mom felt like she was sticking her neck out on the chopping block and hoped that Garrett would know what she meant.

Garrett looked down at her discolored ankle. "Hmmm…" she wasn’t happy with the way it looked "That’s because we live together. We both know what is going on in the other’s life."

Mom’s eyes rolled at that statement. "Sometimes, Doc, I think you’d need to be hit with a railroad tie to wake up and see what’s going on." Karen set the jeans down on the foot of the stretcher as she prepared to let the steam out of her boiler. This was getting her mad now. Who would believe that the skilled surgeon in front of her could not know that Danni had feelings for her? "Doc, you can be so observant of the tiniest imperfection in someone’s anatomy and not see the giant good that your being here does for her. I don’t get it. I just don’t get you." Karen pulled the sheet up, covering the surgeon to her waist. "You better start thinking about what’s going to happen when this year is all over. I swear, Garrett Trivoli, if you just leave without so much as a goodbye, I’ll…I’ll…" The Charge Nurse saw the puzzled look on Garrett’s face. "Well, just don’t! I don’t know what she sees in you, but then again who does when they’re in..." Mom ended her thought without finishing when she heard the footsteps at the door.

"Hey! There you are. How’s the ankle? Ouch!" Danni stuck her head into the curtained off room, her face showing pain at the sight of the surgeon’s ankle.

"Yeah, too bad it ain’t as thick as her head, she’d be just fine then." Karen bustled out of the room. "I’ll go get an attending to come look at that."

"What’s up with Mom?" The petite blonde motioned toward the door.

"I’m not sure. She was telling me about the car-swallowing potholes and then started to talk about…" Garrett stopped short of finishing her thought out loud. ‘Our friendship and saying goodbye.’ "Ah…my ankle and how bad it looks." The surgeon studied Danni’s face. ‘Could Mom be right? Is there more than just an everyday friendship between us?’ This was something that she was going to have to think about and this just wasn’t the right time or place.

"It does look kind of nasty, Gar. Are you going to be able to walk on it?"

The surgeon tried to move her ankle in any easy direction. Each way that she tried, her action was met with pain. "Maybe you better call the Command Desk and notify them that we’re out of service for a while." A scowl was on her face as she handed over her cell phone to Danni.

The nurse accepted it and began the round of phone calls that would be necessary.

***************

Being a medical professional, especially one that is known for her demanding nature, helped to hasten Garrett’s time in the E.R. It wasn’t long after the customary examination, X-rays, treating, and teaching that the petite blonde assisted the crutch-using surgeon to the door of the Blazer in the driveway.

Using crutches was something new for the surgeon and she found herself feeling a little like a baby bird does going out for its first flying lesson. The tall woman was in no mood for joking as everyone within earshot could tell. The faint mutterings under her breath hinted at first of the pothole but were now turning in the direction of the crutches instead. The surgeon always thought of herself as striving for perfection while now all she was striving for was to go home and rest, away from the staring looks and pity-filled faces of those who saw her.

Garrett looked up into the compartment of her Blazer. She’d never seen it from this angle, the passenger’s side. "How’d you get the…"

Danni smiled graciously. "The Medics dropped me off when you were having your X-rays done. I figured that it was better then taking the bus."

The nurse’s eyes were hopeful. "Now let’s get you home."

The surgeon nodded her head. "Thanks. Guess you’re driving, huh?"

"I’d say so, at least for the next few days." Danni smiled. "I’ve got the written orders to prove that, too!" She held out the yellow discharge slip from the E.R. "All signed and sealed by Dr. Kreger and Dr. Porter. Besides, when I talked to Dr. McMurray about your injur…" she stopped short seeing the intense eyes of the surgeon, "ah…incapacity for the next several days, he suggested that I take some time off, too. You know, to relax a little. Now, get in before I have to have John help you in."

"I’m going...I’m going!" Garrett picked up her crutches and maneuvered her body into the seat of the Blazer. Once settled in she turned toward the driver’s seat waiting for Danni to climb in. "Home, James." The surgeon giggled. "You know, I always wanted to say that."

The petite nurse rolled her eyes and shook her head, then cautiously pulled out into traffic.

**************

Danni was trying her best to be a good nurse to the injured surgeon. She had brought her breakfast in bed and helped her assemble her clothing for the day, even drawing her bath and having everything ready for it, all within Garrett’s reach. She’d even made the corner of the couch into a comfort zone for the beleaguered woman with the edition of extra pillows for her to rest and elevate her foot on, while the close proximity of several surgical journals that had just arrived in the mail completed the zone. She would check in on Garrett from time to time, asking if she needed anything or wanted something to eat or drink. By the end of the supper, the nurse could sense that the injured woman was in need of some space of her own. The pleasant smiles had, over the course of the day, dwindled to forced smiles and annoyed mumbling after she left the room. The surgeon had taken care of herself for so long that it felt too confining having someone look after her almost every need. Danni had to agree coddling was not the surgeon’s style.

It was with Garrett’s best interest at heart that she decided to let the surgeon have some time to herself. After all, they were together as the Flight Team day and night; she didn’t have to be with her in their down time too. Perhaps some time away from each other would let the surgeon feel more in control. Besides, this was the perfect time that Danni had been looking for to go talk to David face to face. And with that idea in mind, the petite woman would set her plan into action the next morning.

Danni rose early, getting herself ready for the day ahead. All night long she thought about what she would say to David. It was still on her mind as she began to make breakfast, a rather large one that would last the surgeon all day if necessary. She knew the eating habits of her friend if she was not around to reminder her to eat. Garrett would go without food before she’d think to make some.

The petite woman’s thoughts drifted to her tall friend. ‘What if Garrett doesn’t accept me in a more involved relationship? Could I live with that?’ The nurse flipped over the pancakes and sighed. ‘Danni…you know that you could live with anything as long as she stays in your life.’ She turned from the stove and was startled by the long lean figure that was staring at her. "Gar, I…I didn’t hear you come down the stairs."

"I’m getting better on these crutches than I’d like." The dark-haired woman motioned with her head toward the stove. "What are you making? It sure smells good." Her eyes were eager, like that of a child.

"Pancakes and sausage. I thought that I’d make you a good breakfast since I’m not going to be home for the rest of the day." She hesitated to see her friend’s reaction.

Garrett looked at her for a moment then let her eyes move downward to the floor. ‘I can’t blame her, I wouldn’t want to be around me either, especially now.’ The surgeon played with the handles of her crutches trying to console herself. "Going anywhere special?"

It was now or never, Danni knew what she had to do. "Yeah," she nodded, "I’m going to drop in on David, we’ve been playing phone tag just a little too much lately."

"Oh…." Garrett felt as if someone had just punched her in the stomach. ‘She’s got a life of her own, Gar. She’s a big girl and can do what she wants without you in tow.’ It was David again and for the life of her, the surgeon couldn’t fathom why she felt the way she did.

"You…you didn’t want to do anything special today, did you?" Danni had picked up on the shift in moods. "I just thought that you might like to have some time to yourself, maybe get some reading done."

"Yeah, I guess just because I’m the one that’s hurt, you should take advantage of the down time." Garrett nodded as she moved toward the seat at the kitchen table now. "You should go and have a good time. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine." ‘What am I saying?’ She sat down and thought about it. ‘Why am I giving her my blessing to be with David when the mere thought of them being close to each other sends a chill down my spine?’ Garrett stared at her plate as Danni placed the food on it.

"I don’t know how long I’ll be down there." The petite woman fixed her own plate and then sat down. "Will you be alright here alone?"

"What am I going to do but read and keep my leg elevated? You go ahead, I’ll be alright." Feeling the need to say something, the surgeon mumbled out her words. "Maybe I’ll give some time to planning a few activities for the Lone Survivor’s Group." Garrett started to cut her food into small bites. "When were you thinking of leaving?"

"I thought that I’d throw a few clothes into a bag and leave after I clean up the breakfast dishes." Danni took the food on her fork and chewed it until she swallowed it. "Hey, Gar! You told me before that you liked figuring out puzzles. Why don’t I give you my journal to read? Maybe you can make out what all those pieces of dreams are about."

The surgeon thought for a moment, she did make that offer several months ago. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. It will keep my mind occupied for a while."

"Good, I’ll bring it down for you before I leave." The petite woman dug into her piled-high plate of food, now relieved that Garrett would have something to keep her busy while she went down to see David. ‘David, now that is still the question here. I wonder how he’s going to take it when I tell him that I have no feelings for him other than as a friend.’

The rest of their breakfast was spent in silence, each with their own agenda on their minds. Their eyes each taking turns to steal glances from one to the other. Once finished with the meal, the women set about their courses, each with thoughts and plans for the day to come. Danni pushed herself to finish the dishes, knowing that her resolve was quickly fading to leave the side of the surgeon. With great haste, she assembled her bag and came down the stairs to the living room. "Gar, I’m leaving now. Don’t expect me home ‘til late, or more likely tomorrow." The nurse knew that if she spent one more minute in the house that she would never leave it…leave her friend.

Garrett looked up from the surgical magazine that she was reading. There was no logical reason to stop her, so the surgeon just let her go with a simple "Goodbye." All the while, the voice in her head was screaming ‘NO!’

The rush of air on her back and the sound of the door as it closed were the last sensory things that her body could feel as Danni’s presence faded from the room. The muffled sound of the Malibu as it started up in the parking space in front of the house and then slowly pulled away left a gaping hole a mile wide in the heart and soul of the woman sitting there on the couch. The essence that was Danni still clung to the air and that was all that Garrett was left with in the house, all alone.

************

The several hours that it took Danni to drive to West Virginia gave her ample time to reason everything out in her head. She knew that she was doing the right thing and that David would just have to understand how she felt, not only about him, but about Garrett Trivoli as well. The nurse wasn’t looking forward to the talk with David but there was no other way to deal with her heart. He had to know and it had to be before she said a word to Garrett. ‘This way she’ll know that I’m sure…sure of what I want.’

Danni hoped that David would understand that love was just not something that could be turned on or off. It had to come from the heart. She was sure as she ever would be that one tall, dark and deserving surgeon in Pittsburgh was the only one that had ever made her heart stir, had ever made her aware of love and would forever hold her heart in the palm of her hand.

************

The surgeon put the medical journal down and rubbed her eyes. It was quiet with no one here. Finished with the first one, Garrett laid it on the coffee table and picked up the second magazine. Her eyes caught sight of the glass of water and piece of fruit that was on the table next to the magazine. She could feel the smile creeping across her face as she thought of the petite blonde who had left them there as a reminder. "You always know what I need, don’t you?" Danni was on her mind now and she looked around the room almost hoping to see her walking through it.

Garrett picked up the orange and began peeling it, the sweetness of its fragrance filling her nose. She broke off a piece and divided it into the smaller segments that it grew in. With each division of one segment from the other her mind drifted to how much like oranges that she and Danni were. Each one a part of the whole while being an individual, yet coming together and fitting each other as though they were meant to be that way for life. After a minute or two, the surgeon just shook her head wondering what she was thinking. ‘Danni is in love with David. She’s your friend, be happy for her, she’s found that someone to love for the rest of her life. Why else would she be headed down to meet him?’ Her mind kept telling her, but deep in her heart she was still bothered by it. Sighing, the surgeon opened the magazine on her lap and started to read, hoping that her mind would let her.

****************

The casually dressed blonde woman in jeans and blazer stood before the information desk in the lobby of the hospital. She knew the ins and outs of finding a medical professional when she needed one in particular and even though this hospital was in a different state, they all worked pretty much the same. Danni waited for the older woman to finish her phone call and turn in her direction. Smiling politely, Danni looked at her. "I’m a friend of Dr. David Beckman, I was wondering if you could page him to let him know that Danni Bossard is here?"

"Dr. David Beckman," the older woman nodded and returned her smile. "If you’d like to have a seat over there, I’ll let you know when he returns the page." She motioned to several chairs in the lobby.

"Thank you." Danni smiled once again and took a seat from which she could see the information desk.

Within minutes the woman had motioned for Danni back to the desk where she was told of David’s involvement in a surgical procedure. "He asked me to direct you to his office for you to wait there for him." The older woman attempted to repeat his message word for word.

Danni agreed and was given directions to his fourth floor office.

Following the directions, she soon came upon a large wooden door with a shinny new placard on it reading, ‘Dr. David Beckman, General Surgery.’ Danni smiled realizing that the young medical student that she had first met was now known as a surgeon. It was all those years of growing in knowledge and skill that had brought on the friendship that they shared. The blonde woman closed her eyes wishing that she would still have his friendship when she came back out of the office after they had talked.

The nurse knocked gently then opened the door to the empty office. She looked around and could sense the man that used it. His love of cars was evident by the models that decorated his shelves and the calendar emblazoned with the Porsche emblem on the wall. "He may be practicing in West Virginia but he’s got a New York state of mind." Danni shook her head as she sat down to wait for him. The seat was comfortable and it soon conformed to her body as the minutes turned to hours waiting for his appearance. Waiting for David’s appearance reminded her of the many times that she sat waiting for her own surgeon, Garrett Trivoli to meet her for the ride home.

*************

The surgeon was restless. She’d sat in one position longer than she ever cared to and now it was time to get up and move about. Garrett gingerly lowered her leg, letting it hover just off the floor as she positioned the crutches under her arms for support. ‘How long did I sit like that?’ She looked at the clock on the hall stand. "It’s 1700 already?" Garrett couldn’t believe that she was missing the constant chatter and helpful interruptions of her roommate already.

The tall woman worked her shoulders before she started on her way roaming aimlessly around the first floor of the house. Each room reminded her of some moment in time that she had shared with Danni as they all came rushing back into her mind. The laughter, the joking, the stark reality of their profession when one of their patients didn’t make it, in fact, all the words, the thoughts, but most of all, the face of the blonde was what haunted her soul.

Garrett sighed considering what to do next to keep her busy. Then it came to her, ‘The Journal…Danni asked me to read it.’ She looked around the living room for it, then the hall stand. It was nowhere in sight. "Hmmm…I bet she forgot to bring it down." The woman smirked and shook her head. "Well, I guess it’s time for a bathroom break any way." She slowly turned around and headed for the stairs.

The slow and tedious ascent to the second floor was met with feelings of relief as she emerged from the bathroom, ready to sit down once again and begin to read Danni’s journal. She had faith that she’d be able to solve the puzzle of the young woman’s dreams if given enough time. She made her way to the nurse’s room and stopped before the door, hesitant at first to enter. "This is crazy! She said that I could read it. So what if I have to go into her room to get it?"

Garrett pushed open the door and was immediately hit by the fragrance that was Danni. She closed her eyes and savored it, letting it settle in her mind and soon she swore she felt her presence in the room with her. It was subtle but there, like the petite woman herself. As the surgeon entered the room, she eyed the journal on the nightstand and a wonderful thought came to her head. ‘Why not, perhaps it will help with the puzzle?’ The corners of her mouth gently turned upward until the open smile could not be controlled.

She made her way to the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed. After getting herself comfortable, she reached for the book and turned on the small reading light. Settling into the pillows, Garrett reclined on the bed and began reading the small handwritten book filled with the bits and pieces of Danni’s dreams.

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Between the lack of sleep the night before and the long drive to come to see David at his place of work, Danni had nodded off waiting for her friend to finish his surgery. It was one of the rare occasions where exhaustion overwrote her need for a blanket and pillow. Her petite body relaxed in the chair like it had been designed specifically for her comfort while wisp-like dreams of dark hair and the hint of leather came dancing across her mind. So engulfed in them was she, that the nurse didn’t even hear the door as it opened.

David stood looking at the blonde woman whose face was graced with love. There, in his very office, was the woman on whom he had carried a crush for his entire medical career. How peaceful she looked. He hoped that it was himself that she was dreaming of.

Without a noise or word, he moved to her side and gently placed a soft kiss upon her head, then leaned back waiting for her to wake up with his image in her eyes.

The quiet stirrings of eyelashes heralded the moment as the loving expression remained on her face. The softness of her voice immeasurable of the love that it carried with the single syllable that it uttered. "Gar?" Then slowly her eyes opened, revealing not the woman of her dreams but the man whose friendship she had shared for many years. It took her a minute before she realized where she was.

His brown eyes were transfixed to her form. He stood there wondering what she was thinking. Then slowly he realized that his likeness was not the one in her dream as the more she awoke her expression of love changed to one of mild embarrassment. He swallowed hard to choke back the emotion, then began to speak as if he had not seen the look on her face. "Danni, I’m sorry it took me so long in surgery. I…I lost track of time there for a while."

She pushed herself up into a more alert position letting the fog clear from her head. "That’s okay, I’m used to it. I know that nothing is ever predictable once you start a surgery."

David smiled at her, his eyes beaming with love. "Always the understanding one, aren’t you Danni?"

She blushed with embarrassment, the red color rising from her neck and up over her cheeks. "I try David. That’s all we can hope to do, is try to be understanding of one another."

"Say, why don’t I make up for it over dinner tonight? Let me take you out to the best restaurant in town here. We could do a little dancing to start off the night. What do you say? You don’t have to be anywhere, do you?" His eyes looked deeply into hers, pleading to be given the chance to make it up to her.

"David, I…"

"Come on, Danni. Hey, maybe we could take in a show if you don’t want do go dancing. Or maybe you just want to have a long, leisurely dinner filled with candlelight and conversation. Anything you want, just name it."

Danni smiled at his boyish charm then she bit back on her lip as she readied herself to speak. "David, I really just came to see you and talk. I don’t really think that dinner would be such a good idea. At least not right now." Her eyes searched his for understanding, then she ventured forward toward her goal.

"I was hoping that you might be…"

"Hiring?" His eyes lit up. "Are you thinking about coming here to work? I could talk to the Director of Nursing for you." He was delighted at the thought. "Have you seen our E.R.? I could show it to you right now."

"David I’m not interested in leaving Pittsburgh, at least not right now. I’ve made a commitment to the Flight Surgeon’s Team until the end of the staff year."

"You’re teamed up with Trivoli." David studied her face. "She’ll have offers from everywhere. So how about at the end of her Fellowship instead of teaming up with a new surgeon, why don’t you come here and team up with me?" He stared into her eyes, hoping for his eagerness to be returned. "We could see more of each other then, who knows we may even find out that we," David wiggled his eyebrows, "like each other better than friends."

Danni felt the realization of his words. Yes, he was right, Garrett could go anywhere she wanted, leaving the nurse and moving on in her career and life. She could feel the tear slowly spill over her eyelashes and roll down her cheek. The petite woman closed her eyes in an effort to stop the tears from continuing and to arrest her fears of losing the one thing that she had truly come to love, Garrett Trivoli.

"But I don’t want her to leave. We have so much going on with the Flight Team and the Lone Survivor’s Group that we started this year. I can’t…I don’t want to try to carry on without her by my side." Danni’s voice crackled with emotion. "I know that I can’t force her to stay, but I know that she would if she knew how much it means to me. How much she means to me."

David stood frozen in place. He’d never seen the blonde in front of him so emotional about anyone in all the years that he had known her. He saw the pain of anticipated loss etched on her face and immediately knew that he didn’t like what he was seeing. He had always thought of love when he thought of Danni. Now, seeing her on the edge of emotional upheaval brought a tear to his own eye as he reached out to her and wrapped her in his arms. He rocked her gently and talked in hushed tones trying to soothe her agony over events not charted yet. It was in this space of time that he saw what she was truly trying to tell him. She was in love with Garrett Trivoli!

Holding her at arm length, he studied her tear-streaked face, then mustered the courage to speak to his friend. "You love her, don’t you?" He waited to hear what her answer would be, already knowing it in his heart.

"Yes," she nodded slightly, "she’s touched my heart and my soul like no one has ever done before. David, I’m sorry. I know that you thought we…"

"Danni, what I thought and what is in your heart can be two totally different things. You have to choose what is right for you. No one else can, only you."

The nurse wiped her face with the back of her hand. "I never had feelings of love for anyone in my life, David. Friends, yes, but love," Danni shook her head and wiped away another tear. "I never dreamed that I’d have them for another woman. It’s taken me a little while to figure them out. I’m still trying to figure it all out. You’re not angry or mad because of my choice?"

"Danni, I had a friend in college who realized that she was gay. It’s not something that you wake up with one day and just decide from there. It’s something that takes time and a lot of rationalization to come to terms with. I know you, and I know that you only speak what is in your heart." He held open his arms and found them immediately filled with a blonde, quivering nurse. This time her tears were tears of joy at being accepted for what she was and hoped to be. "How could I be angry that you didn’t choose me?"

He paused then added, "Well, maybe just a little bit, you know, I had this God-awful crush on you the whole time I was in school and my residency."

She looked into his eyes, taken aback by his last statement. "I’m sorry." she whispered, "I never realized."

"All I ever wanted was for you to be happy. If Garrett Trivoli makes you happy then, that’s all I can ask for."

"If I told you that I want to have her in my world for the rest of my life, loving her and sharing myself with her, that wouldn’t upset you?

David swallowed and fought back the urge to plead his love for her one last time. "No, I’m just sorry that it couldn’t have been me."

"Thanks for being so understanding, David." The nurse felt the load on her shoulders lighten and the path was set for yet another person to know what was in her heart. Her only wish now was for Garrett to know.

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