"Yeah, I thought that I’d grab a quick bite to eat before I head home. It always seems more relaxing to me to have other people around than to be by myself." Danni looked around at the other people then settled her eyes on to her friend. "You know, Garrett, any place good has already been taken before September at the latest by the college students."


Nodding in agreement, "I’m beginning to realize that now. McMurray is going to flip when I tell him that I’m going to have to live out of the call room or my car until I find a place."


There was silence between the two as each sat quietly with their own thoughts. The young nurse was slowing down her rhythmic chewing as she began to contemplate her friend’s plight.


The surgeon raised her cup for more of the soothing mixture.


Swallowing, she drew in a breath and offered, "I have a spare bedroom in my house." She looked up into the clear blue eyes across from her. "You could move in with me." There she had said it.


The surgeon shifted in her seat, her eyes wondering off into the crowded cafeteria. "No, Danni, I don’t want to impose on you."


"Aw, come on, Garrett, it would be an answer to both of our problems." She searched for some emotion on the surgeon’s face. "You need a place to stay for the rest of your Fellowship and it would be less lonely for me around the house when I’m not working. Besides, it would be safer for the both of us." She was smug with herself for thinking of this point to help win over her friend. "It would be like a buddy system for safety’s sake. My sister has been on my case to get a roommate for some time now. What do you say?" The eager look of acceptance displayed on her face. "If it doesn’t work out, it will have at least given you more time to find a decent place."


The surgeon raised her eyebrow. "Okay, I’ll stop by after clinic today and take a look at the place. But if I take it, I will be paying you rent." She held up her hand to prevent any further discussion from the petite woman. "I expect that you will be able to come up with a fair price and any house rules that I will have to follow."


Digging into her food with a renewed zeal, Danni smiled. "Great! I’ll be expecting you about 5 or so."


Garrett gave her friend a lopsided grin and nodded her head. "This just might work out. After all, who knows where I’ll be working after June when this fellowship is through? I’ll see you then." She stole a look at her watch and gathered her things together. "Hey, I’ve got to go. I’ll just make it if I leave now."


"See you later." The blonde nurse called out to her. "Have a good morning!"


"Good morning!"


"Huh…" One eyelid opened, the crystal blue iris trying to get a fix on the sound that seemed to be echoing in her head. There it was again, that knocking sound. The raven-haired surgeon turned her head in the direction of the sound. She could barely raise both eyelids open when the cheerful sound came again.


"Good morning, Garrett!" The door opened slightly and a partial head slid into the opening. "Hey, you awake for your special breakfast yet? You don’t want to let it get cold, do you?"


The surgeon drank in the aroma of the breakfast as her mind stumbled its way into the present. "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that." She raised her hand to wave a lone finger at the door signaling that she would be there in a minute.


"Just let me get some clothes on," her voice was husky from sleep. "I’ll be right out." Covers were being thrown off in disarray.


The petite blonde caught a glimpse of muscled arms and the broad expanse of shoulders connecting into a well defined back as the covers began to reveal the emerging body of the slumbering surgeon. She hastily closed the door to assure her new roommate her privacy. She smiled to herself and raised an eyebrow at the idea that her friend felt comfortable enough to sleep in the nude.


It was the first morning since Garrett had moved into Danni’s extra room that they were both off. Several months had gone by since the softball game but a bet was a bet and the surgeon was ready to collect her prize.


"Yeah, breakfast in bed," she muttered. "That’s the only way to enjoy it." She sat on the edge of the bed sluggishly pulling on a T-shirt and gym shorts. ‘Boy, Danni, I’m so glad that you made the addition of the winner picks the place to have the breakfast to that bet. Come to think of it, I believe you really thought that you were going to win.’ Her senses were being teased with the inviting smells of a homemade breakfast that wafted in even stronger when the door had been opened. ‘I wonder,’ she thought to herself, ‘where you would have picked to have the breakfast had your team won?’ After a brief trip to the bathroom she opened her door and called out, "I’m ready for my victory breakfast now."


"Okay, I’m coming with it," the younger woman answered, picking up the tray that she had just finished arranging. Her lips curled up at the corners of her mouth as she made her way to Garrett’s bedroom. "I never thought that I would be serving my ‘amazon’ breakfast in bed," she muttered to herself. ‘Heck, I never thought that we would lose that softball game to the Physicians. Well, not until I saw her play ball,’ she mused. ‘Who would have guessed that she had so many skills?’


The physician plumped her pillows aligning them against the headboard of the bed. She gracefully slipped under the covers and smoothed them around her long legs, waiting for her reward.


The sound of footsteps approaching caused the raven-haired woman to look over at the door as it opened into the mutely lit room. Soft rays of sunlight fell gently on the form carrying the tray giving it a warm golden glow. A friendly smile accompanied the hopeful look in the radiant green eyes as she entered the room. "I hope you like scrambled eggs and sausage."


"I do if they are real," the surgeon joked. Her blues eyes looked into the green veil of the small woman’s soul and immediately knew that she was blessed with a glimpse of the true spirit of this heaven-sent being. She gazed for as long as she dared before letting the lopsided grin come to her face in acknowledgement of the shared moment.


Danni sat the tray down across the surgeon’s lap. Beautifully arranged were the scrambled eggs with sausage links garnished with a sprig of parsley and a thinly sliced orange round that was cut and twisted. A glass of orange juice and toast positioned on the tray with the utensils. Off to one corner was a small bud vase with the most delicate pink rose and bud in it. Garrett looked over the array of food and nodded to Danni her approval. Picking up the napkin to place on her lap the surgeon stopped and looked over at the woman watching her intently.


"What?" Garrett was puzzled by the look of her friend.


"I brought home the quarterly news bulletin for the hospital last night. Want to read it?" She smiled coyly as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet in anticipation.


"Something tells me that you want me to see it. Right?" The surgeon was picking up her utensils, reading to eat. She sighed knowing that she couldn’t enjoy her food with those green eyes watching every bite. "Say, did you eat yet?


The eyebrows raised on the blonde with that remark. "Why, no. I’ve been making your breakfast." She looked so cute as she turned her head slightly as if she were shy about what she was about to reveal. "But I did make enough for me. I left mine out in the kitchen."


"Well, go bring it in here and eat with me. There’s no sense in us eating by ourselves when we are both here together." Her face turned into a scowl. "I’m sure not joining you in the kitchen. No way! The bet was breakfast were ever I wanted it. And here in bed is where I intend to eat it."


It was a decree straight from Garrett’s mouth and there was no way that the blonde nurse was going to refuse a chance like this. ‘After all, wasn’t that what I was going to request if I had won the game?’ Danni quickly assembled her food on another tray and briskly walked down to Garrett’s room. Save for the flowers, the trays were laid out almost identical. She rounded the corner of the bed and sat down on the far side. Nestling into the soft pillows she made herself comfortable before she handed the small hospital news bulletin over to the woman beside her. "You may want to start out reading the story on page three. I think you might know some of the people."


Garrett took the paper and opened it to page three. There on the bottom of the page was an article about the annual E.R. Physician/Staff softball challenge. Off to the right of it was a photograph of Danni and Garrett sprawled on top of each other in the dirt with a caption that read, "Nurse and Physician get down and get dirty to save lives."


Garrett’s face turned red. "I don’t remember any pictures being taken, do you?"


The petite nurse shook her head. "No, I don’t but obviously there was. We have the proof of that right there."


"You know, it’s not really a bad picture of either one of us. Maybe we could get a bigger one that we could frame and put on the wall. What do you think?" Garrett kept cocking her head for side to side to look at it better.


Danni nodded in agreement. "I’ll see what I can do. Now let’s eat."


With that said, both women started eating the food before them. Each one contemplating the situation in there own minds.