They let their hands glide smoothly past one another, as their eyes registered what they could not say.


"Good-bye, Garrett." He moved around the desk and hugged the tall woman who had become more of a friend to him than his colleague.


"Good-bye, Rene. Kiss those little ones for me, will you?" She said softly next to his ear.


"I will." The man let her slip away from his grip even though he wanted to hold her in place, not letting her leave until she would come to her senses.


Garrett nodded and left the office as the tall French-Canadian sank into his chair and propped his head on his hands with his elbows on the desk. He sighed loudly. ‘Now what is Danni going to do without you, my friend?’ The man shook his head in disbelief. ‘Better yet, what are you going to do without her?’



* * *

She was off the clock now, if you wanted to think of it as such. The surgeon entered the reception area outside of McMurray’s office.


"Hi, Stella." She greeted the woman behind the desk. "I’m supposed to drop these off to you." She held out her hand with the key, pagers and hospital I.D. for the woman to see.


"Yes, Dr. Trivoli, I was expecting you." The older woman smiled politely as she accepted the items. "If you would just sign here, you’ll be free to go."


Garrett acknowledged the requirement and complied by lifting the pen on the desk and scribbling out her signature. Standing back up, she turned and stopped looking at the wall to the left of the door.


"New pictures going up, Stella?" The surgeon pointed to the empty nails on the wall and wrapped frames on the counter right below them.


"McMurray didn’t tell you?" She thought for a moment. "I bet he forgot in his hurry to get out of here last night." The secretary rose from her chair and went over to the packages in question and opened them.


The surgeon’s eyes grew wider as she saw what was going to be hung on the wall. They were mounted photographs of her and Danni. The larger of the two was the PR shot for the Flight Team, while the smaller one was in black and white from the E.R.’s annual Softball game that she had participated in. It was the one that they had used in the hospital newspaper of her and the petite nurse sprawled out like two rag dolls on top of each other in the dirt.


Garrett stood in shock, not realizing that the woman was picking up a third package and unwrapping that also. When she finally saw what it was, she sank down into one of the chairs and just stared at it.


"When…when was that one taken?" The dazed surgeon asked, still glued to the photograph.


"You should know, you were there, Dr. Trivoli."


"I had…I had no idea."


"You don’t think that it’s a good likeness of you?"


"No, it’s good, in fact, it’s great even." Garrett bit at her lip. "I…I got to go. Thanks, Stella for showing them to me." The surgeon got up and left, letting the third photo be the last thing she saw as she walked out of the room.


Stella watched as Garrett departed from the room. "Hmmm…" she turned back to the picture in question. "You sure do always know how to pick them Mrs. McM." She went over to the photo and brushed a piece of lint from the glass. "Don’t want anything to cloud your vision." She giggled. "Just like that Ol’ Cutter of yours, she’ll be back once she finds out what she’s left behind." The secretary looked at the photograph of the four people, Dr. and Mrs. McMurray and Dr. Trivoli with Nurse Bossard at her right. "Yep. Just going to take some time."



* * *

The tall surgeon had taken off her lab coat and draped it over her arm as she walked down the hall thinking about the photographs that she had just seen. ‘And you thought you were doing the right thing by leaving and not staying around for her to see. She’ll see you every time that she walks into or leaves McMurray’s office. Damn that awards dinner.’ She let out a long breath. ‘Guess you were wrong about that, eh Gar?’


"Well only one more stop to make and you’re out of here." She spoke out loud to herself. "Next stop the E.R." With renewed emphasis on leaving, she set her course for the busiest area of the hospital.



* * *

Between the warm weather and the beginning of the summer, the waiting room for the E.R. was packed with people all waiting to be seen. The Spring cold and flu season had given way to injuries of every type and nature. Garrett surveyed the crowd of waiting patients as she wound her way through the seating section and past the registration desk. She could tell that the night would be a busy one for anyone left working. In a way, it kind of unsettled her to know that for the next week or so she had absolutely nothing to do but pack up and drive to Arizona.


She pushed open the double doors and walked into the main hub of the E.R., faint glimpses of Danni played across her mind as she looked around for the faces she wanted to see. God, was she going to miss coming in here. Not wanting to cry, Garrett quickly pulled out that stoic mask and let it fall in place.


"Hey, Dr. Trivoli." Jamie Potter waved to her. "Can I get you to take a look at a belly for me?"


Garrett smiled then shook her head. "Sorry Dr. Potter, I no longer have O.R. privileges here."


"Oh, jeez, I forgot that you were leaving." She grabbed a chart and started to walk by. "I guess you won’t be playing on our team then this year."


"No, hardly. I’ll be in Arizona."


"Good luck then, and take care." The wild haired E.R. Attending winked at her and waved. "I got a patient to see. Bye."


"Bye." Garrett sighed. ‘Well, that wasn’t too bad.’ She turned and looked for the older, no nonsense Charge Nurse. Seeing her, she called out, "Mom."


Karen turned and smiled. She was glad that the surgeon had stopped by. The nurse finished her writing and put down the chart. "Come here you." She reached out for the tall woman. "Now who’s going to nearly run me down and make me a trauma this year, huh?" The nurse hugged Garrett as if she were her real daughter, going off to live on her own for the first time. "I’m going to miss you, you Amazon." She released the surgeon and wiped a tear from her own eye. "You’d think that I’d get used to my kids growing up and leaving home. Never."


Garrett smiled and nodded. She too, had grown to think of this as her home and the woman in front of her as dearly as her own mother. "Yeah, well, you should try it from this side sometime. It’s not much better." The surgeon bit at her lip trying to remain in control.


"Hey, Trivoli." The loud voice was heard over the din of the hall as Rosie came up and put her arm around the dark-haired woman. "You stopping by to help out or to say "bye" as you get out?" She was one for teasing as always.


"Getting out, Rosie. I just stopped by to say thanks for all the good times this last year."


Rosie opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of the overhead paging system. "Trauma’s in the department. Trauma’s in the department."


"Bye, Doc, I got to go." The auburn-haired nurse gave her a quick hug and left for the Trauma Hallway.


"Bye." Garrett watched as she faded from view.


"You know something, Doc? I never thought I’d see that the first day you came through those doors. Nope, Rosie was ready to hunt you down and throttle you good."


Garrett looked puzzled. "Why didn’t she?"


"Danni. Danni promised that she’d make you more ‘E.R. nurse friendly’."


"And that she did." The words were muttered and meant only for the surgeon.


"Hey, speaking of Danni, she gave me something awhile back for you. Let me get it out of my locker." Mom took off, headed for the locker room before Garrett could react. Within a minute she was back and holding out a small box for Garrett to take. "Here, open it."


The surgeon looked to Mom. "Do you know what’s in it?"


"No."


Garrett nodded, then pulled the lid off of the box. Inside on a pillow of velvety material was a small, gold, free floating heart, the kind that could be worn on a necklace. The surgeon’s eyes blinked back a tear as she looked at the Charge Nurse.


"She never told me, honest. I have no idea what it was meant to be for." Karen debated whether or not to say anything about how Danni felt or what the young nurse had confided in her. "You know, Doc, that little nurse really does love you with all of her heart."


"Thanks, Mom." She leaned over, hugged the woman, then put the lid back on the box. "I…I got to go. Bye, Mom, and thanks." The stoic woman who was loosing her control held up the box, nodded, turned and walked out of the E.R.


Karen stood there and watched the doors close on another chapter in the life of the E.R., a chapter that she’d hoped would have ended differently.



* * *

It was a pleasant summer evening as she drove with her windows rolled down, her arm hanging out of the opening as Garrett headed towards home for the final time. Traffic wasn’t that bad for a Friday night and the flow seemed to be moving faster than usual when it was her turn to stop at the traffic light outside of the mall entrance. Sitting there, she eyed the listing for a jewelry store on the first level of the mall. ‘Hmmm…maybe I should get a chain for that heart.’ With her decision made, the Blazer pulled to the right as she turned into the mall drive.