The clamoring of the arriving group of caregivers announced their arrival. The speed and efficiency that the combined group worked with was evident to all that watched. Within minutes of when the teamwork had begun, the patient was placed in a cervical collar and on a backboard. The flurry of activity was all being directed by the tall, dark-haired woman in the flight suit.

The photographer stood there not moving a muscle, his eyes riveted to her. When the activity had subsided and the entourage of caregivers gone, he walked slowly around the site of the earlier commotion as though he was in shock.

Sensing his inability to cope with the situation, McMurray approached him. "You okay?"

"She…she…" he stammered. "She was telling them all what to do. Why would they listen to a secretary?"

McMurray just chuckled at the thought. He patted the photographer’s shoulder gently and said. "Times have changed, my boy. They’re not just secretaries any more."



* * *

The E.R. was buzzing with excitement when the group made its way into the trauma room. The full team had been alerted and was assembled there, waiting for the patient. Garrett noted that it felt funny to be arriving with the patient. After giving a brief report about the patient in hand-off to Rene, the flight-suited surgeon left to go stand in the hallway with Danni.

"Hey, nice outfits. Do you know where I can get one?"

Danni felt the tug on her sleeve. "Huh?" She turned to see John standing next to her, a smile plastered across his face.

"Nice try, but it still won’t get you two on my ‘twins’ page."

"Knock it off, John." Danni wasn’t in a mood to be toyed with, especially not by John. "We were doing the photo shoot for PR when one of the crew became injured. These," she pulled at her jumpsuit, "are the flight suits that we’ll be wearing."

"Oh…you mean you’re still going to do that helicopter thing, even after what just happened in North Carolina? I thought you didn’t like to fly."

"North Carolina…why…what happened in North Carolina?" Danni was curious now.

"You didn’t hear?" John looked at the surgeon and then back to the nurse. "One of the medivac helicopters went down. It burst into flames, killing the pilot."

Garrett’s eyes narrowed as she studied John’s face. "What happened to the rest of the crew?"

"They’re fine. The pilot got some kind of warning signal or message and put down so that they could ground transport the patient. They thought that the problem was fixed and on the test flight it just happened."

The petite nurse gasped as her hand grabbed at Garrett’s sleeve. She was trying hard not to react to the news. Her face turned pale and she could feel the butterflies multiplying in her stomach. ‘How am I ever going to get through this. I can’t pull out now.’

The surgeon sensed Danni’s fear. ‘I’ve got to do something to keep her from thinking about this.’ Come on, Dan. We had better go get our clothes back at the studio." She nudged her shoulder and once she had Danni’s attention, motioned for her to follow.

"Yeah, right…our clothes." The nurse was pre-occupied, her mind seeing flaming balls dropping from the sky, but her body followed after the surgeon.



* * *

McMurray stood waiting patiently at the door for his team when they were ready to leave. "You two worked well together today," he called out.

Garrett felt Danni nudging her in his direction. "Considering…" the tall surgeon questioned him with her raised eyebrow.

"You both knew your responsibilities and you did your best." The man shrugged. "I want to thank you both for the help you gave us in the E.R. today."

"Well, we were right there and everything just kind of clicked together." Danni was honest in her facts.

"I know. That’s why the Board wanted you two for this project." He reached out and touched Garrett’s shoulder. "Six months isn’t too long. You’ll see."

"Yes, sir." Garrett nodded her head. "Did he make it?"

McMurray thought for a moment. "Oh, Dr. Chabot’s patient, yes, he’s doing fine. Said that he was out shopping for Christmas when someone came up and robbed him. I guess they thought that they needed an advantage, so they stabbed him."

The surgeon smiled weakly, "That’s good that he came through alright then."

"Come on, Garrett. We need to get to class." She stepped around her friend and acknowledged the Chief of Trauma Services nodding, "Dr. McMurray."

He stepped aside and watched as the pair walked down the long corridor. Listening, he could hear the almost non-stop banter of the smaller woman as she tried to cheer her friend out of her self-imposed doldrums.

"So are you hungry? I’m starved, want to go to the gift shop on the way to class?"

The tall woman just raised her head and rolled her eyes. ‘Where does she put it all?’ "Yeah, I guess I could use some coffee."

"Okay, but it’s my turn to buy." Danni stopped dead in her tracks. "Jeez, I almost forgot. Mom said to give this to you." She dug into her coat pocket and pulled out the thin wallet. She smiled as she handed it to the surgeon.

Garrett took it and pressed it into the interior pocket of her leather jacket. "Thanks, Danni."

"No need for thanks." ‘Well, at least not yet.’ She wrinkled up her nose and smiled as she thought about the holiday that was fast approaching. "Now, come on…I’m starved." With that, she hastened her pace to keep up with her soaring spirits.


Chapter 3

Garrett stood staring off into the distance. Up on the roof of the hospital, it was as though you could see for miles. Her head turned to survey the glowing city skyline. Each tall building stood out as a testament to the men who built it. ‘I wonder if they ever doubted their effort?’ Her thoughts mirrored her own doubts about the effort that she was giving in the final half of her Fellowship. It seemed like no effort at all, except for her to stay out of the operating theatre.

The bitter wind at her face was no match for her resolve. She had come up here to think and sort out some of her life without any interruptions. It was quiet up here, away from the rest of the world. She looked down on the streets below watching the random moving of the people as they traveled in the cars below. Each one either moving toward or away from some familiar destination, all in a hurry to be with loved ones, whether they were near or far.

She looked up into the darkening night sky and let her eyes shift from one faintly glistening star onto another. The heavens were full of shimmering lights tonight, some of them shining more brightly than others. Like an old navigator trying to set his course, she sought out the North Star using the position of the Big Dipper for her guide. She’d learned a lot in the Navy, more than she realized. The surgeon closed her eyes and imagined herself once again out on the deck of the aircraft carrier, with the strong seas rolling beneath her.

The Flight Surgeon had worked savagely trying to save the young man. The numerous wounds and severity of the blows had made it impossible to stop the bleeding. Within minutes of reaching her operating table, the young seaman was dead. Her mind could not fathom anything with such a degree of morbidity as to what the body before her attested. She needed to know what had caused the man’s death. No, not medically, but mechanically. She had seen for herself the horrors of automobile and airplane crashes as a surgical resident. Nothing compared to this.

The tall woman stood with her hands tightly wrapped around the railing on the ship. She watched out over the sea as the waves broke and then came crashing down on themselves. The sound of the waves deadened her nerves with its watery lullaby.

She had never seen as many emotions on one face as she had earlier today. She closed her eyes and the scene was immediately before her again. The lone sailor standing vigil for his comrade. She wasn’t sure which emotion was strongest or which was more touching to her heart. It didn’t really matter. All that mattered was that his friend was gone.

She tried to cast the images out of her head, but before she could, she felt a presence around her. Slowly she turned to see the gaunt face of the seaman with his haunted eyes. She didn’t know what he wanted but she was sure that it would be in reference to his fallen friend. She turned around to face him and returned his salute.

"Permission to speak, Ma’am" His voice was strong and clear with a hint of determination in his manner. He had something to say and it was going to be now or never.

"Permission granted, Sailor. Stand at ease." She waited patiently for him to speak.

"I want to thank you, Ma’am, for working on my…" he paused to clear his throat and then continued. "…On Seaman first class Williams. I know that you did your best and that he would have been grateful for your effort." Tears were stinging in his eyes as he thought of his friend.

She nodded in acceptance. "I did what any Military Surgeon would have done. I only did my job."

"I know that Ma’am, but you didn’t give up."

The words were echoing through her head as the image of the young man faded from her mind. ‘Maybe it will be worth it.’ The surgeon looked back down to the streets below. Garrett thought about her new role here in the Fellowship, and everything became clearer to her. She was here for a reason and whatever it was, she wasn’t about to give up.

She took one long last look at the night sky and began to walk toward the portal to go back inside and rejoin the world again. Looking over in its direction, she noticed that it was open now and a small figure was silhouetted against the incandescent light of the bare bulb hanging within the stairwell. The stature of the figure brought only one person to her mind, Danni. The surgeon found a smile slowly coming to her lips the closer she came to the doorway.