Danni had made her way hastily away from the source of her hurt placing her tray on the conveyor belt area, she turned to look back at the table with the raven-haired surgeon. There was so much she could see that was hiding just under the surface of this woman and it made her want to cry. She would have to find a way to break through that tough exterior. ‘There is an alive and viable person, a real person locked up deep inside. I know that there is.’ With that thought, the young nurse mustered up a weak smile focusing on the positive as always. Somehow the night had turned out to be good and breakfast wasn’t that bad either. The nurse sighed, letting a smile slowly come across her face. ‘Yep, adding one ‘amazon’ to that menagerie of mine.’


Chapter 6


Cool crisp air was gently blowing over the tense white knuckles wrapped securely around the steering wheel as Danni was caught in the snarled traffic of the busy Saturday morning shopping area. ‘Why did I have to volunteer to get those watermelons in the Strip District?’ She shook her head and glanced at her wristwatch. It was a little after 11 A.M. and a growing concern at the stalled traffic in front of her made her contemplate the option of an alternate route to the hospital. Her eyes could barely make out the street sign down the block through the wavy lines of heat rising up from the asphalt of the road surface. The cars in front of her began to slowly inch forward. The young woman thought for a moment and as her car came closer to the cross street, she gently tugged at the steering wheel, cautiously maneuvering her small vehicle through the gap of pedestrians. She was now only a short block away from all this time-consuming congestion of both automobiles and humanity. Waiting for the traffic light to change, she again noted the time. ‘I’ll just make it, if nothing else comes up.’


She looked around at the gathering crowd on the corner and thought about the snippet of a dream she had that morning. It was cryptic as usual. It played again through her mind. There, in slow motion, was the sensation of being pushed from behind that ended in a whirling motion and a view of a rough stick against the outline of clouds. It was, of course, like the rest, making no sense whatsoever. ‘Maybe someday I’ll understand,’ she thought, sighing to herself.


The light changed to green allowing movement again to her lane of traffic. The smile on her face began to widen as she anticipated her next destination. For some reason her mind had conjured up the idea of her new friend dressed as a sailor looking out on the horizon waiting for her ship to come into port. The young blonde blinked her eyes and quickly dismissed the idea of Garrett Trivoli in dress whites. ‘An officer, yes, but a gentleman?’ Danni chuckled to herself and thought of Garrett’s womanly attributes. ‘No, no gentleman there!’ She carefully drove on to the hospital.


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


With the preciseness of a military operation, Dr. Trivoli emerged from the doorway of the hospital at exactly 1130 military time. She carried a small duffel bag filled with: her clothes from rounding on her patients, a large towel, and a bathing suit just in case the opportunity presented itself. She had forgotten to ask the young nurse if a pool was available near the picnic area. She looked down at the bag, ‘Well, at least I won’t have to skinny dip if there is a pool.’


The sun felt good out here on the driveway. It reminded Garrett of the warm tropical weather in Hawaii. After three years in the South Pacific, she was accustomed to the intense rays of the sun. It brought back memories of lush green foliage and wonderfully colored exotic flowers. She smiled as she remembered her favorite spot. It was on private property, tucked away from the view of the tourist population. She had found it by accident while horseback riding. When she closed her eyes, she could see the waterfall running into the secluded pool. If she concentrated hard enough, she could hear the sounds of the water gently lapping on to the shore. This was a place that made her feel at peace with herself. It was a place that was special to her and she held it dearly in her heart. No words of love were spoken to her there, but if ever there was the possibility, that would be the perfect place to express one’s commitment to a life together. The bronzed skin woman sighed, ‘Whom am I kidding? Love? Me? I can’t even let anyone get close.’


Annoyed at the direction her thoughts were now turning, the surgeon looked up and down the driveway in search of the friendly nurse. ‘What’s taking her so long?’ She glanced at her watch; it was 1133 and still no sign of the bubbly young woman. Garrett was in the habit of punctuality; waiting had never been her strong point. It was another one of her perfectionistic qualities, one that she wished everyone had. She tried hard to keep her mind from drifting and decided to make a quick check of what she needed to address when she came on shift tomorrow morning. The rest of the day was going to be for enjoyment and socializing with her new work mates, as it was decreed from McMurray. It would feel good to relax and maybe even have a little fun. ‘Ah, the thought of competition,’ she had liked sports in her younger days. At least there would be something to look forward to.


"Hey, Garrett! Over here." The small blonde was standing outside of the green Geo Metro with the door open. She waved trying to get her new friend’s attention. ‘Oh! I forgot, hospital property.’ "Dr. Trivoli," she called even louder hoping that the surgeon had not heard her first name called earlier.


The sound of her name made her look around. There, off to the side, she could see the wild antics of the young nurse trying to get her attention. Garrett allowed the corners of her mouth to slowly turn upward as she waved and made her way across the driveway. "Thought you forgot about me. You did say 1130, right?"


"Sorry, I had a little problem with traffic. Here let me put that into the trunk." Danni accepted the duffel bag from the tall woman and opened the rear compartment, revealing several large watermelons. "Our offering to the picnic. I hope I got enough." She laughed, placing the bag into the little space that was left and closed the trunk lid. "Your door is open."


Garrett looked at the small size of the Geo Metro and thought about her almost 6 foot tall body. ‘I guess it will be like getting into that damn submarine.’ One eyebrow slowly raised. "How far to the park, Danni?"


"Oh, it will only take ten or fifteen minutes, why?" The small blonde was settling back into the driver’s seat.


"Nothing, just wondered." The tall surgeon thought about the cramped quarters, gulped, and gingerly tried to fit her long legs into the passenger compartment.


"I moved the seat back to give you more room."


"Thanks, I think." Garrett was in the seat, her legs more like an accordion with the knees rising just slightly higher than the dashboard. "Airbags?"


"No, the next model year has them. Sorry."


"No, just wanted to be prepared, that’s all." The surgeon was contemplating adding a few more joints to her body. "Okay, I’m in and buckled up."


"Door closed?" Danni looked over at her companion.


Garrett nodded her head; she could feel her hair rubbing against the padded ceiling of the passenger compartment. The car jerked into motion and they were on their way. Headlines began to run through the surgeon’s head. ‘Promising Surgeon Cut Short by Fender Bender.’ The woman shuddered at the thought. ‘Seatbelt, hell, I couldn’t move if I wanted to.’ The surgeon tried to relax but it wasn’t easy.


The young nurse sensed her friend’s uneasiness and began to ramble on about the passing landmarks and history of that area of the city. "Most people think of Pittsburgh as a Steel Mill Town but that’s not what the city’s like anymore. All of the Steel Plants have been pretty much torn down and replaced with newly developed business parks that are being used by the high tech industries. One of the local colleges, Carnegie Mellon University, is a leader in the developments of the computer industry, especially with their new Robotics Department."


Danni casually looked over to see how the surgeon was doing. It was an attempt to get Garrett’s mind off of the incommodious conditions. It was working as the tall woman allowed herself to become absorbed into the interesting stories that were being conveyed.


"The city used to be known as the dirtiest city in world with all of it’s mills sending large, thick clouds of coal dust billowing out of their smoke stacks. The old timers even tell stories of not being able to see the sun at high noon for all of the airborne coal dust. But that’s not the way it is now, as you can see."


Glancing over at Garrett, the blonde noticed that the surgeon’s eyes were riveted on the building up ahead. It was a large old style massive building in foreboding black stone. She quickly jumped on the fact that it held the woman’s interest. "Andrew Carnegie was a coal baron in the rising days of the steel industry. His fortunes have been used to establish the Carnegie Library, that’s the big building over there." Danni pointed to it. "He also founded the museum of natural history, too. That’s the bigger building in front of it facing out onto the main street."


Garrett’s eyed it longingly. "I like history."


"Maybe we can go together and make a day of it sometime. I’m kind of partial to the Egyptian rooms, myself." Danni carefully turned down the street at the next corner where a completely different style of architecture was located. It was a dome-roofed building that was almost completely made out of glass with ornate iron work painted white, giving it an almost gazebo appearance. Immediately Danni’s tour guide mode started in about it. "That, on your right, is Phipps’ Conservatory." She smiled at her fond memory of times spent there with her mother. "It’s a botanical garden that changes with the seasons. They have everything from lush tropical rooms to rooms that take you around the world. I was always been intrigued by the rooms representing the orient when I was growing up. Their sense of serenity is so…peaceful." She laughed at her lack of words. Then continued on. The young woman loved to talk, it was obvious. Her stories were filled with personal insight and observations that held Garrett’s attention. So mesmerized was she by the young woman’s fluid speech, that she hadn’t noticed pulling into the parking space.