"Believe it or not, John actually helped me out on this."


"John? How?"


"He had his new digital camera and I kind of borrowed it for a minute or two. I hope you don’t mind." Danni’s eyes searched for any glimmer of approval from her friend.


"Thanks, Danni. Only you would realize what this means to me."


"I thought that perhaps with you having an office you might like to be able to look at it a little more often than you do now. I mean…with it in your wallet and all." The nurse wrinkled her nose. "Besides, I saw how you always look around McMurray’s office when we have to meet with him. I figured that it would be your first photograph for your desk when you’re a Chief of a Department somewhere."


"Danni, I’m only a Fellow now. What’s this talk of being a Chief?" Garrett eyed the blonde wondering if she had some hidden talent for predicting the future.


"Don’t worry, I know that it will happen. It’s you destiny."


The surgeon looked down at her friend. "If you say so." Their eyes met conveying the faith and goodwill that each one wanted for the other. Clearing her throat, Garrett suddenly became somewhat shy as she stammered her way through the next sentence. "Hey…I…uhm…I got you something, too. Why don’t you sit down on the couch and I’ll run up and get it?"


"Okay!" Danni’s voice was soft and reassuring. She could tell that Garrett was not in the habit of giving or receiving gifts.


Placing her gift on the table, Garrett strode over to the stairs where her pent up excitement could hold back no longer. Like a child, the long legs of the surgeon carried her up the steps at breakneck speed. Danni watched her friend disappear from sight, as a smile overtook the nurse’s face. ‘I would have loved knowing her growing up.’ She shook her head at the surgeon’s antics and made herself comfortable on the couch.


Within seconds, the sound of someone bounding down the stairs was evident. Garrett finally reigned in her excitement. Now, she walked from the bottom of the stairs into the living room at a somewhat reluctant pace. In her hands was a large box shining brightly of gold, the wide ribbon of silver contrasting nicely against it. She sat it down on the coffee table in front of the nurse and stood back.


"This is for you. Merry Christmas, Danni." Her eyes twinkled with excitement, anticipating the look on her friend’s face once she opened it.


Danni looked up at the towering figure in front of her. "You know that I’m not going to be able to open that without trying to guess what it is first, don’t you?"


"Guess away, you’ll never get it." The surgeon sounded very confident and once again she compared the gold coloring of the gift-wrap to the heart and hair of the woman. ‘Yep, that was a perfect match. I’m glad that I chose it.’ She watched as the petite hands lifted the box as if trying to judge the weight of it. Garrett had never seen the likes of concentration she was witnessing now. "I can tell you…" The surgeon’s speech was met with quickly upturned eyes of green that cast a silencing effect on her. "Sorry," she whispered.


Lifting the box higher, the nurse bent over and turned an ear toward it, listening for any sounds being emitted freely from inside. Having heard none, she gently shook the package, eliciting any information on size and distribution of material that she could. She could only feel the slight movement of the article hidden from her view. "Hmmm…." Danni looked over to her friend and then sniffed at the box. ‘Damn! This is going to be a tough one.’ "A robe!"


Garrett shook her head in response, too amused to speak.


The nurse was now more daring with her investigation. She flipped it upside down, watching Garrett’s face for any clues. ‘Must not matter whether it is inverted or not.’ Now she shook it again, this time more vigorously. "Hip boots for fishing up at the cabin," she declared triumphantly.


"Nope!" The surgeon chuckled at the thought. ‘I’ll have to remember that one for next year.’ "Good thing it isn’t something that’s still alive. You’d have traumatized it by now."


"Ah ha! So it’s something that’s dead." She reached for the bow and started to undo it. "Hmmm…let me think." The wrapping paper was next as she slid her hand along it to find the tape holding it in place.


"You’re not going to give up are you?"


"Not until it’s totally uncovered." She smiled rakishly and went right back to her slow and deliberate torture of guessing. She pulled off the wrappings and looked at the box. ‘No writing or name of a store.’ Danni lifted the lid slightly being careful not to expose the gift too soon. A familiar aroma was filtering from the box. She closed her eyes to sniff, then sniffed once more before bringing her head up in a satisfied way. "A leather knapsack." Her eyes opened to look at the surgeon.


"Nope!" Garrett laughed as she watched the green eyes shift back and forth trying to re-evaluate the clues. ‘I think that I could enjoy trying to stump her every year.’


"A purse. That’s it, a big ol’ purse." She was so sure of herself now that she opened the box without waiting to hear Garrett’s reply. She ripped back the tissue paper and stopped short when she viewed the article underneath.


The surgeon was pleased. She had surprised the young woman beyond belief. In fact, it had rendered her speechless and that was something to behold in itself.


Finally after a few moments of shock, the petite blonde spoke as her fingers ran over the collar of the jacket. "Gar, I never expected this." She looked up just as a tear slid over her eyelashes and trickled down her check. "I…I don’t know what to say."


"Nothing elaborate, a simple thanks will do." Garrett smiled and felt her heart warm with love for the woman in front of her. ‘I can’t believe I went this long without having a real friend.’


Danni sprang up and stepped around the coffee table until they came face to face. She reached out, allowing her hands to grab onto the broad shoulders and pull her in for a hug. The nurse just couldn’t find the words to convey the feeling that she needed to show. It only took a second or two for the nurse to realize that she had made the tall woman feel awkward.


Garrett stood there hunched over, not knowing what to do. Her arms felt like they should be doing something, not just hanging there. For the first time, she realized just how lacking she was when it came to people skills. It scared her a little to actually make physical contact that she had not initiated.


For the first time in a long while, the surgeon realized she wanted to let someone in this close to her.


Releasing her grip, Danni eased out of the close range of the surgeon. "Sorry, I tend to get a little emotional at Christmas." She looked up to see stunned blue eyes looking back at her.


"That’s okay…" was Garrett’s weak response. "I just wasn’t ready for it."


The nurse nodded and looked back to the present as she tried to put a little distance between them. She lifted it out of the box and held it in front of her to view the entire jacket. "I don’t deserve this, Gar. I almost cost you that project."


"But you didn’t. You came through when the chips were down and I appreciate that." The surgeon pointed to the embroidery on the front of the leather jacket that looked very similar to her own, only much smaller in size.


"That’s what I consider us…a team."


Their eyes both gazed down at the decorative writing on the jacket as Danni read it out loud. "Flight Surgeon Team, D. Bossard R.N."


"I figured we’d need something to help us tell them apart in a hurry." Her tone was light as she joked about the difference in size.


Before she knew what had hit her, the surgeon was wrapped in nurse from head to toe. The young woman clinging desperately with her arms around the tall woman’s waist and resting her check on the taller woman’s chest. It was only minutes after the first hug from her friend but this time Garrett knew what to do and let her body respond as her heart told her to. She slowly wrapped her strong arms around the petite woman, enveloping her like a shield from the world around them. Bending her head down, the surgeon rested her check into the golden tousles of Danni’s hair and gently kissed it without making a sound. Closing their eyes tightly, they both wished for this moment to never end.


Somewhere up in the heavens, in that late afternoon sky, a small star twinkled in delight just like the lights that twinkled brightly on that tree of love known as Danni’s life.



* * *

The house seemed quiet now without the small blonde. Danni had left for her parent’s house over an hour ago, but all that Garrett had done since was sit on the couch and watch the lights on the tree. ‘Danni’s tree, it’s so much like her, reaching out and touching the lives of everyone.’


The surgeon looked down on the framed photo that she held in her hands, her eyes sweeping over the images of her and her brother at a memorable time in their lives. ‘We were so close then, almost inseparable, Luc. You were in my every thought of the future. We were going to rule the world, you and I.’


The random patterns of the twinkling lights caused her eyes to drift from the photograph, her gaze now held by the warming glow of the tree and its lights. ‘Now it seems that my thoughts are filled with someone else.’ The surgeon’s lips grew into the lop-sided grin as the image of Danni strolled lazily through her mind. ‘But you already knew that, didn’t you, Luc?’