Garrett, on the other hand, had been plagued by the non-stop questioning of the teenager in her care. His constant need to know what happened only attested to his evident head injury, along with his being amnesic to the event of the crash. The surgeon maintained an even keel in her attitude for the first one hundred times that she heard the same question. It was somewhere during the second hundred times that her level of irritation became noticeable. That was just about the time that Danni came to her rescue having handed her patient over to the first arriving Flight Crew.


"I’ll take care of him, Gar. Why don’t you go check out the one in the car?" The nurse motioned to the overturned car that the rescue people were working on.


"Thanks, Danni." The surgeon looked relieved as she got up and started to walk toward the ongoing rescue attempt.


Just as she made it to the outer circle of rescuers, the lifeless body of the driver was released from the car. His injuries were numerous and his skin had already taken on that ashen-gray look of death. Once Garrett was able to look down at his body, she knew the outcome of the night. The odd angulation of his neck and the indentation on the top of his head said it all. The only thing he could have possibly been was an organ donor and even now, that was too late.


The surgeon knelt down next to the body and listened for signs of life. No breathing was heard and no pulse was felt as she reached for the carotid artery in his neck. Out of habit, Garrett looked at her watch and pronounced his time of death. "0138."



* * *

The night had slowly edged into the wee hours of morning as the last patient was being loaded onto their helicopter. Danni and Garrett had triaged, shipped off the earlier patients, and were now on their way into the Trauma Center with the last one. It would be their last patient together.


The limo driver was resting as comfortably as could be expected with a badly fractured ankle and wrist as the nurse and surgeon watched over him. Each one was thinking of the scene that they had just left.


Danni willed the trip to take forever as she didn’t want it to end. Stealing glances in the surgeon’s direction as best she could, the nurse wanted to freeze time and keep her team together. But as the saying goes, all good things must end. And so, as Cowboy started his steady descent to the helipad below, the petite blonde found her eyes to be misty with a veil of tears. Blinking rapidly, she fought to hide them from the others onboard.


Garrett sat silently, thinking of what she and Danni had been through. They had served together and learned that they had more to give than they ever expected to, not only to each other but also to their patients as well. Now, their time together would be gone and the learning would have to start all over again in another place, in another world. Each one would need to learn for themselves what it was like without the other close at hand. The surgeon turned her face toward Danni’s and stared into it, memorizing this moment in time. In Garrett’s estimation it had been their finest hour, meeting the challenge of multiple casualties and winning the battle with only a single life taken.


They went through the motions that they had done what seemed like hundreds of times before, and handed off their patient to the awaiting Trauma Team. Now, it was finally over and they left the E.R. to deposit their helmets and put the equipment back in order for the next crew that it would serve.


Cowboy waited until they were done before he approached the women. He’d liked both of them and had only found out earlier that day the choice that the Flight Surgeon had made concerning her future. It pained him to see another take her place but when you were military, you got used to it. They all did and the pilot knew the mixed bag of emotions a reassignment carried with it. Eagerness to start the new job, while still having feeling of sadness at leaving the one you were familiar with. Then he thought of Danni and wondered if she, too, would be leaving to follow the surgeon, after all, a team like that was hard to walk away from.


He held out his hand to the turning woman, "Doc, it’s been a pleasure flying with you. Anytime you want, I’d be honored to have you as a team member."


Garrett smiled and extended her hand to him. "Thanks, Cowboy, you made that easy for us." She looked over to Danni to include her in the thought then felt her hand being taken in his and her body being pulled into a hug with the man. She returned the embrace that felt so much like the ones that her father had given her when she had achieved a milestone in her life.


The petite blonde watched her team members as best she could with the tears that were streaming down her face. ‘Its over, it’s really over.’ She felt at a loss for words and hoped that she would not be called on for any. She closed her eyes and felt the hand on her shoulder guiding her into the group hug. ‘You just can’t leave well enough alone, can you, Cowboy?’ But it was too late and soon all three stood close together, the man’s long reach encircling them both as the sky slowly turned a lighter shade of dark.



* * *

It was early on Sunday morning when Danni rose and started packing for her yearly two weeks of vacation. The destination didn’t matter much because of her fear of flying. The trip was usually somewhere she could travel by any other mode of transportation. This year, her destination was simple. It was the place that she had grown up feeling secure and loved. The cabin that had been her grandfather’s and she knew it well. There, she could let her wounds heal while not worrying about what others would think or say. It would give her the time that she would need to grieve the loss of her loved one.


The tall woman stopped by Danni’s room on her way back from the shower. Knocking first and then opening the door to the muffled response, Garrett watched her friend, first put a stack of clothing into her suitcase and then take it back out again. "Is it alright to come in?"


The blonde nodded and looked away. She knew that the time for good-byes was fast approaching and she was stalling for all she was worth. "Yeah, I just can’t seem to decide if I’ll need some heavier clothing for the evenings or not. It can get pretty chilly up there with nothing to keep you warm." Danni smiled weakly as images of Garrett’s long arms wrapped around the nurse’s body to stave off the chill of the night air. ‘By the gods, I wish you were going with me.’


Garrett held up her finger, "I’ve got the perfect thing." She disappeared from the doorway and returned with an old heavy sweatshirt in hand. The surgeon walked into the room and held it out for Danni to take. "I don’t think I’ll get much use out of it in Arizona. Here, you take it, that way if I ever come back this way, I’ll have something to wear."


The petite woman took it from her friend and held it out to see. "Gar, I can’t take this, it’s from your college days. Don’t you want to keep it for a remembr…"


"I’ll never wear it down there. Besides, it’s a favorite of mine, took me quite a while to get it all broken in and soft. See?" Garrett took the sleeve and rubbed it against Danni’s cheek. "I’d rather see you with it than for it to collect dust in storage."


The nurse realized what her friend was doing and held the garment next to her heart. "Thanks, Gar." She folded it and packed it neatly into the suitcase with the large, faded letters U.S.C. showing. "It will be here if you ever need it." Then clearing her throat, she sniffed back a tear letting the breath she was holding ease out of her mouth. ‘You don’t have to do this yet, Danni, stall for more time.’ "Hey, I made some coffee. Do you want me to get you a cup while you get dressed?"


"Thanks, I’d like that," the tall woman disappeared from the room.


Danni closed her eyes and breathed through her mouth. ‘Control, Danni, keep it in control. She was never yours for the taking. If she doesn’t want to stay on her own, you can’t hold her here.’ She swallowed hard and headed for the door and the pot of coffee downstairs.


As she came to the top of the staircase, Danni heard the familiar beeps of the Flight Surgeon’s pager. Curious, she turned to see Garrett coming through her bedroom door, pulling a T-shirt over her head with one hand. The other hand was holding her cellphone as she did a quick answer or two, flipped it shut, then stuck it in her pocket of her jeans.


"Danni, forget the coffee. I got to get to the hospital. They need another surgeon for a Trauma patient." Garrett walked up to the petite woman and gathered her up in her arms. "Thanks, for everything this last year. I guess you’ll be gone by the time I get home." The surgeon felt the grip of the small woman tighten for a second and then let go. Bending her head down, the surgeon kissed the top of Danni’s head. "I’ll send you my address when I get settled." Her grip released and she was striding toward the door with the same determination that she had when she came into the nurse’s life.


"Good-bye." The words were mere whispers on either side of the door as it shut. The surgeon headed toward her Blazer while a lost soul floundering in the sea of life still stood on the steps to the second floor.


Danni had wanted to say so much more, and there she stood saying nothing, just giving her heart with that short embrace. Slowly sinking down to sit on the top step, the nurse heard the sound of the Blazer as it pulled hurriedly out of its space and took off down the street. There was an empty feeling in her heart as well as the pit of her stomach. Garrett was gone, and now she was left alone. ‘You are such a coward, Bossard. Why didn’t you tell her?’