Garrett chuckled as she thought of the stories she had heard of the young male from the other nurses and Danni. She was amused that even with the pending birth, this guy would find an angle to talk about sex. "Yeah, let me in on the pool." The ends of her mouth curled upward as she considered what time the baby would arrive. "Hmmm! It’s 1845 now and they are still in labor," she mused. Her face twisted with thought, "Let’s say 2115."


"Sex?" The word was said with more of an implication then a question. The look of anticipation at the duel meaning and purpose of the question was written all over the man’s face. John waited for her answer to be a slip in a moment of Freudian thought. His mind was racing with thoughts of bedding the beautiful surgeon. The long limbs of her naked body wrapped around him, the tenuous moment of copulation moving her over the edge into a world of….


"Girl!" The answer was crisp and clear. Her eyebrow arching up under her dark bangs.


His dreams had come to a grinding halt. "What?" He snapped back.


"I said, Girl at 2115. That’s my guess for the birth of the Chabot baby." She smiled sexily, fully aware of the agony that she was putting the nurse through. Digging into her lab coat she produced two dollar bills. "Here!" She shoved them into his hand just letting her touch linger long enough to add to his sense of lost dreams. "I’ll trust you to mark me down." With that she winked and moved away.


John stood there in a dazed state of mind. He quickly ran through the conversation in his head. Where had he gone wrong? It had worked several times earlier today. Why not now? He shook his head. ‘Oh well, the chase is half the fun anyway,’ he thought as he turned to look for his next body of conquest.


Exchanging her street clothes for a set of trauma scrubs, Danni found herself listening to the buzz of activity coming from the other occupants of the locker room. There was definitely an aura of excitement in the staff today. She shoved her purse into her locker and closed the door. Making several tugs here and there, she straightened her hospital-issued clothing. Just as she was about to leave, the locker room door swung open by a very upset Manager.


Nan looked as though steam was ready to come out of her ears as she scanned the occupants of the nursing staff locker room. The professional image that she always tried to project was on the edge of a losing battle. "All right, has anybody seen John?" Her voice was full of intensity. "I swear, if I get my hands on that little snake, he’ll wish he was somewhere else." Then she sighed loudly, crossing her arms in front of her chest, her right foot tapping nervously on the tile floor. "If any ones sees him, tell him to report to me immediately." She turned and stormed back through the doorway. ‘See if he makes a mockery out of that child’s birth just to have a reason to solicit sex from unsuspecting staff members. They’re going to think that we’re all like that down here in the E.R. They already associate us with the seedier side of life anyway.’


The small nurse had never seen her manager so upset. She turned to look into the faces of the staff around her. Shrugging her shoulders she asked, "What’s up with John?"


The brown-haired young aide let out a long whistle. "Glad I’m not him."


Danni looked over at Marianna, "I don’t ever think that I’ve seen Nan this upset. What happened on daylight shift?"


The tall blonde nurse seated on the bench in front of the lockers finished tying her shoestring and offered, "I heard it was something to do with a doctor’s wife," Lori said shyly.


Everyone’s eyes riveted to the girl showing her naivete as she blushed at what she had said.


"Lori, are you sure?" Danni asked, trying to stop any wild and unfound rumors.


"Well, I think that’s what I overheard," she stated insecurely.


"I don’t see what all the fuss is about," Marianna shrugged her shoulders. "It’s not like he keeps his steamy little affairs underwraps. Sooner or later he’s bound to end up in hot water."


"Well, just remember that he is a nurse and part of our department." Danni let her gaze advance slowly from one person to the next. "You know how rumors get blown out of proportion in a place like this. Next thing you know someone will be saying that he is sleeping with me."


Everyone chuckled at the thought of Danni sleeping with John. They all knew of her complete aversion to the male nurse.


"Nah, that was last week’s rumor." Rosie stood at the doorway a large smile on her face as she watched the petite blonde’s mouth drop open. Then with a serious look, she deadpanned, "Is it really true that you made it a threesome when Garrett came home?"


The riotous sound of laughter could be heard out into the hallway. The atmosphere was now one of mirth and camaraderie. It was a running joke with the E.R. staff. They all knew how hard John was trying to get any action out of the roommates, always resulting in a brush off or a flat refusal to acknowledge his suggestions.


"Yeah, and you are the one that probably started it," Danni shook her head with a wry smile. The small nurse made her way over to the tall, auburn- haired woman. "Hey, how was vacation? It’s nice to have you back."


Rosie rolled her eyes, "Too short! That’s how vacation was." She noticed her watch and gasped, "Geez, look at the time. We better get out into the department before Nan wants our heads too." She motioned toward the door, "I’ll tell you later."


Standing in front of the assignment board, the petite nurse slowly looked over the list of names that would staff the E.R. tonight. It was nice to have Rosie back on shift again she thought, the regulars always worked better together. Next she studied the list of Doctors that would be with her, Jamie for the E.R. Attending and Garrett for Trauma Fellow. Tonight was stacked in their favor. No matter what could be thrown in their direction, Danni felt comfortable that this staff was the best the hospital had to offer. A smile came slowly to her as she looked over the assignment that was hers, Trauma Nurse. She liked being in that position, especially if the Fellow was Garrett. There was just something about the two of them working together that always brought a good feeling with it. It always seemed like the patients had a better than average chance to survive when the two worked jointly. The young nurse made a mental note to check into that notion. Just what was their survival rate, she wondered?


Danni thought back over her days as a young graduate nurse when all things were new and wonderful. She stood in awe of the things that had changed or improved over the course of time to now, when she was a well-seasoned and established veteran of the nursing profession. She had made her mark with most of the doctors who passed through this E.R. Rarely did she find one that bulked at her better judgement, at least where compassion was involved. She never tried to tell a physician their job, but she was not above trying to dissuade them out of a wrong or hurtful encounter with either a patient or the family members. If ever there was an advocate for the patient, it was she.


"Phssst! Danni!"


Her concentration broken, the petite nurse looked around for the source of the hushed beckoning.


"Hey! Danni, over here." The muffled voice called out.


She turned abruptly to see the door to the supply room ajar with someone peering out of the opening. Trying to get a better look at the concealed features, she moved closer to the doorway. Pausing, she looked around the hallway before entering the room. Once inside, the door was promptly closed revealing the tall blonde-haired nurse. Nervously he looked out of the small window built into the door. Seeing no one approaching, John let a sigh escape, trying to calm himself.


The young nurse was weighing in her own mind about how wise of an idea it was to be in the small supply room with John. "You know that Nan is looking for you," she stated. "Don’t you?" She kept her distance from the man, relieved that the room was on a well-traveled hallway and that the door had an unshaded window in it that brought her into view of anyone outside of it.


"Yeah, I got that impression." He paused to look out of the window again. "I just wanted to give you report."


"Is there a reason for being in this supply closet, other than you trying to avoid Nan?" ‘Don’t even think of trying anything, mister. I may be small, but I can be tough when I have too.’


The man swallowed hard shaking his head. Stammering he started, "There’s… There’s nothing going on in Trauma right now. Hasn’t been all day in fact." He handed over the beeper to his relief. "That’s why I was asking everyone if they would like to get in on making the baby pool."


"Making the baby pool?" She looked at him with raised eyebrows, her arms protectively crossing over her chest. She was leery of any thing having to do in any way with sex where this man was involved. ‘Jeez! I knew it!’


"Come on, Danni, join in on the fun." He smiled sweetly, "I’ve already got Garrett pencilled in for nine fifteen…" leaning in towards the smaller nurse he confided, "…and she’s hoping for a girl."


The young woman’s mind was thrown into a quandary. Images of her tall dark-haired friend in the arms of this man raced through her head. ‘No, Garrett would never. She hates his sexist attitude as much as I do. There has to be something that I’m missing.’ She let her eyes stare directly into his, hoping for some sign to disprove what he had implied. Her mind raced with a little green-eyed monster darting recklessly around it. ‘Why would she choose him? She could have anyone. She could even have…’ then her thoughts were interrupted.


"You know, I realize that you two are close, so why don’t I just put you down for nine fifteen also. I figure, being a doctor that she will probably have the best time." He winked at the blonde woman; "You’re roommates. I know that you’re okay with sharing. I guess you’ll want a boy, that way all your bases will be covered." His look was one of hopefulness.


Stunned, Danni blurted out, "I can’t believe Garrett," she reiterated, "Garrett Trivoli is going along with this."


"Sure, why not? It’s a 50/50 deal. Everybody can walk away happy." He smiled at her. "It makes you feel good, it makes a deposit towards the baby bank, and me," his smile broadened. "I just walk away feeling damn good about the whole thing for doing my part."


She was appalled at the ease with which this man talked about the intimate acts that he was suggesting to her. ‘He acts as if it’s nothing to bring a life into the world. This is disgusting, and he wants me to do it with him and Garrett at the same time. He has finally crossed over that imaginary line of good taste and not to mention the code of roommates.’ Her eyes darted from him to the door and back again. She had all she was going to take. Danni stepped in the direction of the door, reaching for the handle.


Before she could grasp the knob, the door flung open. It was Rosie. "Have you seen John?" the well-relaxed nurse asked.


Danni’s eye riveted to the tall male nurse standing off to one side. "He’s in here," she spat out.


"Great! Hey, John, put me down for nine twenty-eight and it better be a boy." The auburn-haired nurse held out her hand with two crisp dollar bills in it. "I can’t believe that I made it back in time for the birth of Rene’s baby." The bubbly nurse looked at her friend, "So, what time did you guess the baby’s delivery would be?"


The young blonde nurse stood looking from Rosie to John and back again. Her mouth opened several times trying to form words but couldn’t. Suddenly it hit her. She thought about the phone conversation with Garrett earlier that morning and remembered the duffel bag in her locker. ‘Jeez, he’s been talking about Rene’s baby. That’s what the baby pool is about.’ She mentally chastised herself. Nervously she gulped and reached into the back pocket of her scrub pants. Retrieving her money, she meekly held out two-rumpled dollar bills to John. Smiling weakly and scrunching up her nose she said, "Put me down for that roommate thing. Okay?"


John took the money, "Sure!" He noticed the puzzled look on Rosie’s face and shrugged his shoulders as the embarrassed nurse slinked out of the room.