Danni hung her head in disbelief. Her own mother would have been jumping for joy if she knew about David. "We shared a room at the lodge that night."


"And?"


"Well, it was a king sized bed but we kept…a…meeting in the middle." Danni swallowed down a blush. "I…we…kind of woke up spooned together and her arm was wrapped around me."


"So, what’s wrong?"


"We didn’t say anything about it ‘cause the phone rang and well, Gar apologized for it. She said that she must have been dreaming and that it didn’t mean anything to her." Danni bit at her lip trying to quell the tears that were about to start.


Karen looked at her and brushed a lock of hair from Danni’s forehead like you would a little child. "Is that what has been the cause of your actions around her? You think that it didn’t mean anything to her?"


The young nurse sniffed back a tear. "Yeah." Danni nodded her head without looking up.


Mom wrapped her arm around Danni’s shoulders. "If you ask me, she was just trying to save you some embarrassment. I see how you both act around one another. Trust me, I think it matters a lot to her." Karen rubbed the blonde’s arm and then patted it gently. "Have you ever seen her not care about her patients?" Danni shook her head. "I bet she was only trying to take the blame to leave you off the hook."


"Really, Mom?" The nurse looked up with the glimmer of hope in her eyes.


"Talk to her." Karen got up from the chair. "Don’t write her off until you find out. You owe her that much."


Danni nodded her head. ‘Could she have really tried to do that? Was she just shielding me from my own embarrassment?’ She looked over her shoulder at the retreating form of the Charge Nurse. "Thanks, Mom." Her words were soft and thoughtful. ‘I need to find Garrett and we need to sit down and talk.’



* * *

It would have been too easy to use the surgeon’s pager or her personal cell phone. What Danni had to talk about was not something that she wanted to discuss over the phone. She needed to see Garrett in person and register her reactions first hand. After all, her future…no, their future was riding on it.


It didn’t take long for the petite nurse to track Garrett down. There were only so many hiding places for a nearly six foot trauma surgeon, especially one that wasn’t allowed in the O.R. After a few phone calls, Danni made her way to the Medical Staff Library.


The raven-haired woman sat with her back to the far wall, her head bent over a large and dusty volume of some long forgotten medical book. She liked to know how things were done before all of the modern technology arrived.


‘Always looking for something to fall back on in times of disaster, aren’t you, Gar?’ Danni mused at the sight. She stood there watching the studious nature of the woman who had come to mean so much more to her than she could realize. The nurse wavered for a moment before she approached, not wanting to disturb her deep thoughts.


It wasn’t a moment longer before the blue eyes looked up and were filled with the blonde vision in front of her. The softness of the subtle smile that graced Danni’s face took all of the weeks of avoidance away. ‘I wondered if it was because of David that her attitude had changed.’ If so, then she was glad for it. The surgeon loved seeing her friend happy and whatever it was that made her that way, she was prepared to do it.


Danni smiled, "Hey!"


The gentle word and smile was more of a greeting to Garrett then any she had ever received. ‘I could come home to that everyday.’ The surgeon closed the book and pushed it away. "Hey, yourself."


There was a renewed closeness that overtook them both. The world around them slowly vanished while only the essence of their beings remained. Each one willing to let their being melt, losing themselves only to find the other.


Slowly the noise of ruffling pages and the muted cough of another seeker of knowledge brought them back to reality.


Garrett let her eyes drift in the direction of the coughing then back to her friend. "Come on, I’m done reading for a while." She slid her chair back and got up, put the book under her arm. "Care for something to drink?"


"Not really." Danni shook her head. ‘It’s now or never. Come on, Danni girl, give her a chance.’ Gar, I think that we need to talk."


The surgeon held her finger to her own mouth in a hushing motion. Then made her way to the desk at the front of the room. Handing the book over to the librarian, Garrett looked back to see if the petite woman was following, then walked out the door.


"We can talk better out here." The tall woman held the door open for her friend. "Librarian’s don’t enjoy conversation as much as you do."


Danni glanced back at the staunch-looking woman behind the desk. "I guess not." She turned to look back at the surgeon.


"So, what is it that you want to talk about?"


Danni bit at her lip, "Gar, could we go somewhere else besides a hallway to talk?"


"Okay," she shrugged her shoulders, "Is the cafeteria alright with you?" The surgeon turned to start walking towards the elevators but the gentle tug on her sleeve stopped her. Looking back at the pleading green eyes, Garrett’s eyebrow rose in question.


"Maybe somewhere a little more private. Your office, perhaps."


Garrett nodded slightly and reflexively reached into her pocket for the keys. ‘What is she going to say that needs to be so private?’ Flashes of David and Danni dancing at the lodge invaded her mind. They were twirling around the dance floor much like the figurines on top of a wedding cake. Garrett suddenly felt weak-kneed at the thought.


"Gar, you alright?" Danni’s hand went out to steady the surgeon. "You look a little pale."


"Yeah…I…I’m fine." Garrett’s voice became stronger. "My office then." She motioned with her hands to follow her down the hall. "I’m not sure if anybody else is using it. Let’s have a look." ‘Come on, Gar, get a hold of yourself. It wouldn’t be the end of the world. She deserves to be happy and in love.’


Stopping at the door, Garrett inserted the key and opened it. To Danni’s relief, the room was dark and without any human inhabitants. Now, came the hard part, where to start the conversation. The nurse closed the door after herself and got comfortable on the only other chair in the room, while the surgeon sat across the desk from her, trying not to fidget. The silence in the room was louder than a summer thunderstorm, each one dreading what the conversation could bring about.


Finally Danni rallied enough strength to show her cards. Whether she would win the pot of gold or come away the empty-handed one was dependent on the woman seated across from her. ‘By the gods, let me say this the right way without making her repulsed by it.’ The petite woman gritted her teeth and slowly started. "Gar, there’s something that I have to say about me and…"


That was all she could get out before the sound of the Flight Team pagers drowned out her voice. The cacophony of tones sliced through the air in the small room with a nerve-racking sound, interrupting anything that was within earshot of them.


The surgeon winced at the noise on her sensitive ears as she grabbed for her pager to silence it. She pressed the button and listened to the voice page.


"Dr. Trivoli and Nurse Bossard please call the Command Desk by phone."


They looked at each other for a second, each one questioning the reason for the page. Garrett reached for the phone on her desk and made the call. She listened intently to the message that was relayed to her, then hung up.


"What?" Danni was interested in where they were off to next. "Where are we headed to?"


"McMurray’s office." The surgeon’s voice sounded ominous. "He wants us there for some kind of meeting."


Danni’s brow wrinkled with thought. "When?"


Garrett got up and headed for the door. "Now! You coming?"


"Right behind you, Gar." She rose and followed the surgeon. All thoughts of her needing to talk were pushed back to the far corners of her mind for another time.



* * *

The Ol’ Cutter hung up the phone and thought about the proposal that had been presented to him. He loved the idea of getting recognition for the services that his staff provided but found himself being a little more than concerned with how a particular staff member would take it, namely, one Dr. Garrett Trivoli. There were some areas of that Fellow he just could not quite put his finger on. He thought about the effect that the other member of the Flight Team, Nurse Bossard, had on the surgeon and was glad that she would be a part of this, too. Perhaps she could help.


‘Trivoli has a long career ahead of her, it might as well start now. She’s going to have to learn to accept the honors that go along with it.’ The swivel of his chair allowed him to shift from his desk to the large expanse of windows behind him. It always helped to calm his nerves to look out at the city he called home. With a little luck, he might even be able to persuade another talented surgeon to call it home, too. If only there was something that could anchor her in this port. His mind drifted off to his wife and how his own anchoring had brought him the needed satisfaction in his life that he had only dreamed of in his younger days. He sat, staring out the window, lost in his own memories.