The talk with Cowboy earlier had helped her understand why Ian McCormick was going out of his way being nice to her. He thought that Garrett and he had something going, if only for that one night. The night that he had no recollection of at the ski lodge. She pondered that thought for a moment, realizing that at least one part of her puzzle was solved. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the part that she was the most concerned about.


Sitting in her small office, away from everyone else, the surgeon closed her eyes and tried to remember what had taken place that could be making such a difference in her young friend. They hadn’t quarreled or exchanged words of any kind. Well, except about where Danni would sleep that night. Garrett immediately shook her head. ‘Why would she be upset about sleeping in the bed?’ Then it dawned on her. Perhaps it was who she was going to be sleeping with that was the problem.


Garrett’s mind conjured up images of waking up with the small blonde draped across her body at first then quickly changed to the intimate posturing of their bodies that morning before the phone rang. The surgeon’s mind lingered on the spooning of her body with the petite blonde woman. She could still remember the warmth of their bodies as they were molded together and the scent of her friend from the very moment that her senses had stirred. The sweetness of that moment washed over her like a sun lit summer day and Garrett found herself sighing deeply, wishing that she were still there with her arm wrapped around the nurse.


‘Why would this time standout when we did nothing more than lay together?’


The surgeon let her mind delve deep into her past, when she had shared more than just lying together with another woman. It was hard to remember that nothing noteworthy from those shared experiments had registered in her memory when they had happened or now, when she tried to bring them back to life. The sensations that those unions had brought lasted only for the brief time when she had first felt them and nothing more. Even if she tried, she couldn’t remember their names. They were nothing more to her than a passing of time in her search for love. A love that had remained just out of her reach. That was until now.


The welcoming ways of the petite nurse had opened her mind if not her heart to the world around her. It was Danni that had given the stoic woman a sheltering home in the mist of her inner storm and helped her lay her demons to rest. The love of that friendship was more than she had ever had with another human outside of her family.


Garrett’s mind drifted once more to the blonde woman nestled in her arms, her tousled hair resting just under her nose. She inhaled trying to savor the scent of her. Then, without warning, the blonde hair was teasing someone else’s nose. The surgeon’s mind now flashed with images of Danni held in the arms of David as they moved slowly around the dance floor.


"That’s it! She wanted to be with him." Now, she had an idea about why the nurse was different towards her. Garrett thought about how many times she had seen the young woman put others before her own needs.


The surgeon snapped her large hand through the air in front of her and quickly grasped at some elusive idea, snagging it as she spoke the words, "I got you now." Her mind had just perceived that last piece of the puzzle and Garrett began to devise a plan to get Danni what she wanted.


She got up from her desk and headed for the door. "First stop, Rosie!"



* * *

The auburn-haired nurse came sweeping through the door at the main lobby. Rosie was always early for her shift and especially on a day like today with the temperature hovering around zero. She would need time to change and warm up before starting her shift.


Garrett had been waiting patiently in the gift shop, watching for the feisty nurse to pass by. The surgeon quickly put back the piece of giftware that she had been holding when Rosie came into sight just outside the glass that separated the lobby from the shop. Moving swiftly, the long legs of the surgeon soon caught up with the nurse.

"Hey, Rosie, can I buy you a cup of coffee to warm up?" Garrett slowed her pace to match, the nurse’s stride.


"Doc, you feeling okay?" Rosie eyed her cautiously then looked around for Danni. "Where’s she at?"


"Where’s who at?"


"Danni. You two are usually inseparable anymore." Rosie looked around but could not find the petite nurse anywhere. "Okay, what’s the joke? Where’s she hiding?"


Garrett stopped and reached out for Rosie’s arm, bringing her to a halt. "I need your help." The surgeon swallowed the lump in her throat then continued. "I want you to see if David could come here for a visit next weekend."


Now, Rosie didn’t know what to think. "You…interested in…David?" Her voice was hesitant but questioning.


"Not for me. I…I want to set things right with Danni. I thought that seeing David again could help."


Rosie chuckled. "So, you want to play Yenta…eh?" Then her head bobbed up and down. "Yeah, I’ll get David here." The thought of another chance for Danni and David sat well with her. "They make a cute couple, don’t you think?"


It wasn’t exactly what the surgeon wanted to think about but she did want her friend to be happy again. "Yeah, they do." The tone of Garrett’s voice was indicative of her thoughts as she mustered a weak smile, if only for show.



* * *

The next few days found Danni wishing that the unpredictable month of March would make its appearance soon. Whether it roared in as the Lion or gently emerged as the Lamb, didn’t matter to her as much as the passing of the time. It would mean that another month was over and the time left to the new Staff year was dwindling. In her heart she hadn’t wanted this year to pass, but now, she was finding it unbearable. The woman who had filled her heart with joy and hope had found a way to squash the life right out of her.


She was trying desperately not to show it, but the words spoken that morning at the ski lodge left a lasting impression on her tender heart. When Danni even thought of the raven-haired woman and her non-chalant manner of saying, I must have been dreaming. Honest, I didn’t mean anything by it…her heart felt as though it was breaking.


How could something that felt so right, not mean anything to the other person? There were times, even now, that Danni wanted to trust her heart but then the words echoed through it again. She didn’t mean anything by it only equated she didn’t love me and once again the nurse would busy herself with anything that she could find to stop her mind from thinking.


The mundane act of stocking supplies had always fallen on the aides in the E.R., but Danni needed something to have her mind focused on. She could hide in the supply room and not have to be reminded of Garrett Trivoli or the feelings of her own awakening sexuality.


It was during that last Tuesday in February, that she was beckoned out of the closet to the sound of a familiar voice on the telephone.


"Hello! Nurse Bossard speaking."


The smile on the other end was evident in the tone of the male voice. "Danni, how’s my favorite nurse?"


"David…is that you?" Her voice became softer and more relaxed.


"Yeah, it’s me. I’m going to be in Pittsburgh over the weekend. I was wondering if we could get together and do something say…on Friday night?"


"I’ll have to check with the rest of the bunch, but I know they’d all love to see you again." Her thoughts traveled to the rest of the E.R. family that he had been a part of.


"Oh…I…I was thinking that maybe we could do something together, you and I." There, he had finally managed to do it. He’d asked her out after all those years.


Danni was in shock. David had always been so shy around her and now he was asking her out. She smiled at the accomplishment of another one of her menagerie that had grown under her care and was now standing on his own. "David, I’m…I’m flattered but…"


"Come on, Danni, you name it, anything you want to do. Think about it and let me know. I won’t be leaving here until Friday at noon." The man paused to catch his breath. "I’ve been thinking a lot about you since the night up at Seven Springs. Just give me a chance, that’s all I’m asking for."


The nurse knew that her heart was already taken but she couldn’t let him know that now. Once again, Danni pushed her own feelings to the side and agreed to meet with him. "Okay, David. Let me see what I can come up with and I'll let you know on Friday morning."


"Okay, I’ll be waiting to hear from you." The excitement was evident in his voice. "Bye."


"Bye, David." Danni hung up the phone and stood there thinking. ‘Is it really fair to David when I know that my heart doesn’t feel for him like he would like it to?’ "It’s only a date."


"Date? Did I hear you saying date?" Mom turned the corner of the desk.


Sighing, Danni looked up to her and offered. "David, just asked me out on Friday night. Seems he is going to be in town for the weekend."


Karen looked around to make sure no one could hear their discussion. "Danni, I thought you had feelings for…"


"Mom, I don’t think Garrett is that kind of woman." Her eyes showed her hurt.


"Did something happen that I don’t know about?" She pulled the blonde down into a chair and sat next to her. "Talk to your Mom."