"I was wondering why you didn’t come home for the holiday. Mother was very disappointed that we weren’t all together. You did remember that it was Thanksgiving last Thursday, didn’t you?" Her tone was sharp as she tried to show her sister what she thought. She paused, silently waiting for an answer.

"Danni," the husky voice called out from the second floor. "I can’t find my razor, do you have one that I can borrow?" Garrett stood patiently at the top of the stairs.

"Who’s that yelling?" Brie was quick to ask.

"Hang on a minute, Sis." Danni laid the phone down on the stand then crossed to the bottom of the staircase. "I have a spare one in the top drawer of my nightstand. Go ahead and take it. I’ll get some more at the store later this week."

"Thanks." The surgeon called back. "I owe you one."

The petite woman returned to the phone with a smile on her face. ‘I like this new Garrett even better.’ It was amazing how much they were growing to rely on one another. Taking a breath to bring her mind back into focus, Danni spoke into the receiver. "Okay, Sis, I’m back. Now, what was that question?"

"Never mind the question, I want to know who that was?" Brie was surprised at what she had heard over the phone. ‘Now, why would anyone want to borrow a razor? Unless…’ Her mind raced with possibilities until she heard her sibling start to talk.

"That was just Garrett, Brie."

"Garrett…Garrett who?"

"Oh, Dr. Trivoli, one of the Trauma Fellows this year." Danni’s voice was clear and without hesitation.

Then her sister took on another avenue of pursuit. "I guess that’s the reason you weren’t at dinner?" She smiled to herself. ‘Way to go, Danni. Mother always wanted a doctor in the family. We all knew you’d come around.’

"Ah…yeah, Garrett pulled that holiday to be on-call, so I volunteered to work, too. That way we ate together and Gar didn’t have to be all alone." Danni was proud of herself. She had answered with the truth and was feeling good about it. No more caving in to her family’s wishes. She was bound and determined to stand on her own.

"So you and this doctor are getting pretty friendly I see." Brie was testing the waters, trying to see just how much information she could extract from her sister without it being considered prying.

Garrett was standing at the bottom of the stairs now, putting her toiletry bag into her duffel. She motioned to her watch to signal her friend of the time, then whispered. "I’m leaving in two minutes, are we driving in together?"

Danni nodded her head and picked up her keys, shaking them in full sight. "Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you, Gar moved in with me a couple of months ago. Hey, Brie, I really got to run now or I’ll be late for work. I promise I’ll talk to you soon. Okay?"

"Yeah, get going, but we have to talk, and soon." There was a bit of urgency in her voice and Danni readily picked up on it.

"As soon as I can, Brie. Nothing’s wrong is there…with the pregnancy, I mean?"

"No, nothing with the baby. Now hurry before you’re late. Bye." She lingered on the phone line, straining to hear any other clues as to what was going on in her sister’s life.

"Bye," the nurse said, then called out to the waiting surgeon as she replaced the phone on to its cradle. "Okay, let me get my coat and I’m ready." ‘Well, that went better than I anticipated. She must be mellowing with the second pregnancy.’

Grabbing her coat as she passed by the chair that it was thrown over, she quickly put her arms into it and worked at the buttons as she went out of the already opened door. Pulling it closed behind her, she checked to make sure that it had locked and then went down the steps trying to catch up to her friend.

The nurse pushed all thoughts of the phone conversation out of her mind. It was going to be a big day and Danni wanted nothing to overshadow it.



* * *

The tall surgeon had quickly begun her day as she accepted the trauma pager from her colleague. The ease with which she and Rene had at handing off to one another made others believe that they had been associates for a long time. It seemed that since Garrett had stepped foot into Pittsburgh, her whole life was changing for the better. So often her earlier days in medicine had been met with challenges by the mostly male dominated profession. They had all considered females to be inferior to them and therefore only tokens to keep the equal opportunities people off their backs. Oh, how she had proven them wrong. Her intent was to be the best and nothing less. That is where all of her energies were channeled, to her studies and to honing her skills as an aspiring surgeon.

Now, her efforts were beginning to pay off. She was at the top of her learning experience and had an excellent mentor in Dr. McMurray. She knew that what he had confided in her that first day on the job was true. Her technical skills were impeccable. It was her people skills that she needed to work on. ‘Thank the gods, for Danni.’ Her mind turned over how the petite nurse was making such a large impact on her life. It was as though fate had planned this move for her and there was nothing that was going to change it.

Garrett fidgeted behind the metal desk in her small office. She was growing nervous about the meeting with the Ol’ Cutter. She thought about his nickname, it seemed so appropriate for someone of his medical stature. McMurray always made her more aware of the world around her each and every time he started to talk about one of his photographs that decorated the large office, or his experiences in previous operative procedures. They were taken directly from his life and travels with his wife during his budding career. In a way, it was like learning from a wise old soul.

For a moment, Garrett turned very introspective and thought about what she would have to show of her early days in medicine as she imagined herself as Chief of Trauma Services sometime in the future. She looked down to her hands, the only thing that really symbolized her career thus far. "Maybe I should have them bronzed?" She joked. She could see herself now, trying to make a point, any point, and always reverting back to the bronzed hands. Sighing, she thought about it. ‘I guess they’re only good when you reach out to someone. I can see that talk becoming pretty boring after the second time.’ "Hmm…guess I’ve got a lot of reaching out to do."

Her thoughts were disturbed by the soft rapping on the office door. She looked up pensively from her hands. "Come in," she called out and waited to see what needed her attention now. She was relieved to see the face of Dr. Kreger, the Chief Resident on her service today. "Rob! What can I do for you?" Her voice was sincere. She actually liked her colleague and was glad to see that his initial fear of her was being overcome. She got the impression that he was a sponge trying to soak up all of the surgical skills that she could possibly show him. She liked having him on her trauma nights, especially now that he was coming into his own as a surgeon and finally realizing it himself. The importance of having confidence in yourself was necessary in this field, it added to your maturity and the sooner you learned it, the better you could become.

"I just stopped in to tell you not to worry about the meeting with the Ol’ Cutter today. I’ll cover the E.R. while you’re in conference with him." Rob winked in the knowledge that McMurray’s conferences were never short, his stories always taking precedence over time.

Garrett let her lower lip extend into a pout. "And I was going to hope for the trauma pager to go off," she teased. Her face took on a more normal expression as she nodded in acceptance. "Thanks, Rob. I appreciate that."

"Well, I know how much this project means to you. Say, if there is anything that I could help with…." Rob noticed that the Trauma Fellow’s expression was changing to one of happiness as her eyes began to twinkle in delight before she attempted to reign in her emotions, showing only the stoicism that she was known for. Her intermittent gaze distracted him as he followed it, turning to see what she was focusing on right past him. There, in the doorway, stood the blonde E.R. Nurse, Danni. Kreger’s voice stammered slightly as he continued. "But I…I…see that you probably have more help than you need already." He acknowledged her presence with a dip of his head.

Garrett spoke, her eyes still transfixed to Danni, "I’ll keep you in mind, Rob."

"Okay, I’ll…I’ll just go check in on that patient from earlier this morning. Good luck with McMurray." The Chief Resident excused himself to Danni as he made his way out the door. To be truthful, he felt a little awkward in that small office, especially standing in-between the two women. It was strange. He almost felt that he was intruding on something but just what, he wasn’t sure.

"Thanks, Rob!" "Thanks for the offer." The pair called slightly out of sync as he started off down the hall.

The nurse stepped into the room, her hand lingering on the doorknob. "Hey, Gar," she greeted her friend.

"Hey," was the return as the surgeon allowed the lopsided grin to take over her face. "You’re a little early, aren’t you?" She looked down at her watch. It was 0940.

"Yeah, well, tell it to my stomach. I don’t think those butterflies know how to tell time." She held on to her midsection and grimaced. "They started getting flighty about twenty minutes ago."

"Hmmm…" the surgeon looked very serious in thought. "Would you like me to write you out a script for some compazine? It will settle your stomach right up." Her eyebrow raised in question as she opened a drawer searching for a prescription pad.