"You’re here late. Garrett tied up with something?" The older nurse studied Danni’s face.


Shaking her head, the blonde nurse moved into the locker room. "I wouldn’t know, Mom, we drove in separately."


Karen’s face was full of concern. "Did you say anything to her about…"


"No, I’m still not sure what her response would be." Danni shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I really need to be thinking about that."


Karen reached out and patted the petite nurse’s shoulder. "You’ll know when the time is right. Something will give you a sign. I’m sure of it."


"I hope so, Mom. This year is two-thirds over already." The young nurse walked toward her locker, opening it. "Say, Mom! You and Rosie got subpoenaed, too, didn’t you?"


"Yeah, just what I want to do instead of sleep tomorrow," Karen made a face, "go to court."


Danni looked up at the woman, her eyes sparkling as she voiced her idea. "Why don’t we pick you up? That way you wouldn’t have to drive and we could all go together, at least for tomorrow."


The Charge Nurse looked seriously at Danni. "You afraid to be with her on that long drive?"


"MOM!" The young nurse chastised her friend. "I’m not afraid of Gar." She wrinkled up her nose and squinted at her. "I just thought that maybe you could see some sign…"


Karen rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Okay! I brought some clothes to change into, pick me up at quarter to eight here in the E.R. But I’m not promising to see anything after working all night."


"Okay, Mom! I’ll come in and get you."


Danni left the locker room feeling a little more at ease than she had for a while. If she couldn’t spot some sign then maybe Karen could. The nurse made her way out of the building and to the parking garage. After a quick ride up to the third level, she was headed for her car when the sound of the familiar beeps stopped her in mid step.


"Damn! Well, at least I didn’t get all the way home first." She reached for her pager and looked at the message that was displayed. ‘The E.R., I wonder if I forgot something.’ Then she remembered that any use of the beeper had to be through the Command Desk. "Something’s up!" Danni promptly turned, hastening her steps back to the building from which she had come.



* * *

The tall woman felt out of place sitting on the bench of the hospital’s chapel. Garrett felt lost in the small room with its non-descript religious décor. It was a place that many people came to contemplate and make decisions in reference to a loved one or even themselves. It was a place where one was supposed to feel nearer to your maker, the higher being. The surgeon felt nothing of the like. She was still puzzled as to why she reacted so strongly towards David. Why was it not helping her? Was it because she hadn’t ventured anywhere near a house of God since she was old enough to be on her own? Maybe her name had simply been forgotten by the powers that be.


Disgusted from lack of enlightenment in her plight, Garrett sighed and resigned herself to being one of the hapless few who could neither believe nor disprove the power of God. ‘I guess you have to use it often to keep it with you.’ The only thing that Garrett Trivoli knew that she could count on was herself and the skills that she possessed. She’d done that for the better part of her life. Why would she think that it would be any different now?


Garrett’s mind drifted back to a time in her life where going to church with her family was a Sunday morning routine. Her parents proudly were displaying their faith and working to instill it into their children. The surgeon thought of the last real time she was at a church. One that she at least prayed at. It was the day of her family’s funeral. After that, she saw no reason to go, not by herself anyway. It had always been a family function and without a family, church just didn’t make much sense to her.


She got up to leave and felt the urge to genuflect. It was something that her mind had at least remembered in association with religion. Casting a watchful eye around the room and seeing no one, she bowed her head and lowered her body down on one bent knee. As she looked up to the altar the sound of beeps emanated from her pocket. Reaching for it, she viewed the message and silenced it in one well-practiced motion. The number was familiar to her. It was one that she had called often enough during her first several months as a Fellow. ‘The E.R.! If it’s that McCormick again…’ The woman’s blue eyes flashed with fire. Garrett squared her shoulders and left the small vestibule to the gods, setting her course straight for the E.R.



* * *

Stepping off the elevator, Garrett let her long strides propel her across the lobby of the hospital. The revolving doors of the entrance were in motion as she came by them and the petite form of her teammate stepped out into the lobby. It was the first time that either of them had been in the presence of the other all day. Each one of them anticipated a cold reception from the other only to find the soft warm glow of friendship when their eyes met. It was like they had never been out of the other’s close proximity


"Hey!" Danni smiled as she fell into step with the surgeon.


"Hey, yourself." The first signs of her lopsided grin surfaced. "You got the page, too?"


"Yeah, I wonder what’s up?" The nurse reached out for the button on the wall that controlled the automatic doors leading into the E.R.


"Not sure." Garrett slowed her stride. Waiting for the doors to open fully, together the team stepped into the E.R. that was full of activity.


The red, frizzed hair of Dr. Jamie Potter could be seen sitting at the monitor screen of patients occupying the E.R. The serious look on her face was a real sign that something major was going on. Her eyes darted back and forth across the screen as her mind started playing its game of patient chess. It was her job as E.R. Attending this evening to clear out as many patients as she possibly could and in record time.


The Flight Team crossed the hall and stood at the desk. "Jamie, do you know why we’ve been paged to your E.R.?" Garrett stood leaning on the desk with Danni right beside her.


"Never thought that I’d be calling in you guys." Dr. Potter pushed her glasses up on her nose. "There’s been a huge pile up on the Parkway East. They gave us a report of at least seventeen cars. We’re not sure how many will be injured yet. My guess is at least twenty or more."


"What do you need us to do?" Danni was eager.


"You two do what you do best, act as a team. I’m pairing up a nurse and a physician for every two rooms. I figure that we can staff at least six teams that way. That will leave the Attending Trauma Surgeon for the first O.R. case, with Dr. Chabot and then Garrett as back ups. Until then, you can help us wade through the mess down here." The freckled-faced physician looked to Garrett for her approval. "Sorry, but I’m crying wolf to cover my butt."


"You sure that they won’t need us at the scene?" The level head of the surgeon was evident.


"Not sure right now. We’ll cross that bridge if we need to."


The surgeon and nurse turned their heads to look at each other. Then nodding their heads with smiles tugging at their lips, the reply came. "Just tell us where and which patients to cover." The excitement of being back in the Trauma Rooms and the O.R. was very appealing to Garrett. She had missed it and any chance to get her hands back in some operation was strictly a godsend to her.


Jamie looked up at the two women in front of her, happy that they were so willing to lend a hand. "You’ll be in Trauma Room Three." She smiled at them and immediately resumed her activity at the computer screen.


The hastened pace of the team found them at their assigned room, donning the lead apron, trauma gowns, masks and shields as they had done many times before. They readied themselves and stood in silent anticipation of the arriving patient load. Looking down the Trauma Hall, Garrett could see the other teams of paired off medical staff all waiting for their chance to save a life.


From the other end of the hall the voice of the French Canadian could be heard. "So, Dr. Trivoli, do you remember what you have to do? I mean, with the proper equipment and a room that doesn’t lift off." Rene was teasing his friend and trying his best to relieve some of the tension of the impending trauma.


Danni nudged her friend and Garrett nodded as she chuckled at his implied joke. "We could fly circles around you, just watch us."


Danni looked up at the surgeon, not sure that she had heard the woman correctly. ‘Did she just say we?’


"You know, Rene, working with few instruments leaves a lot of room for intuition. I’ll stake my reputation on the intuition of two women," Garrett motioned with her hand to Danni and herself, "any day."


The blonde nurse let the corners of her mouth turn up into a smile while her mind became ecstatic. ‘She really does consider us a team.’ Danni reveled in the knowledge that she was being accepted as an equal member of the Flight Team and by the surgeon herself.


The reverberating sound of the overhead announcement put a quick end to the playfulness between the two Fellows as it blurted out its message. "Traumas at the back doors! Traumas at the back doors. Three ambulances and more on the way."