The icy cold, blue crystals raged with an all-consuming fire as the surgeon locked her gaze on the petite woman. The green pools churned with the will of a giant wave, first capturing the attention of its prey, then crashing down on it, releasing its cooling effect all around.


"Gar, he’s not worth it. Nothing is worth that." Danni could feel the anger letting go in her friend and breathed a sigh of relief.


Ian McCormick was appalled to think that a Fellow would have the balls to confront him in such a manner. Then he remembered that Garrett Trivoli was a woman, and his mind was completely intrigued by the force that she had displayed toward him. He quickly took check of his body and found himself to be turned on by the sheer power that the raven-haired beauty exuded. ‘God! What I wouldn’t give to taste all of her treasures.’ He could feel his heartbeat quicken and his breathing becoming ragged. He wasn’t sure whether it was the excitement of the exchanged words or the heat of passion that was coming over him.


He stepped back and threw up his arms in disgust. "Have it your way then. I’ll see that the Board is aware of your feelings. I’m sure that they’ll have a few things to say to you both when you get back." Ian turned and marched off in the direction of his parked car, never once looking back.


There were a few moments of silence while the accountability of their actions was being reconsidered. They each knew that they were both responsible for the dismal performance during and after the flight to warrant their departure from the program. Each one blaming themselves solely for it and absolving the other at the same time.


"Gar, I’m sorry."


"No need to be sorry, Danni. This wasn’t why I came here for the Fellowship. I’m a surgeon. I never really wanted to be riding around in helicopters and doing drop-in surgeries." Garrett looked away for a minute before casting her gaze back on Danni. "I…I never wanted you to have to go through that." She motioned to the helicopter. "I guess we should find another way back to the hospital. I’m sure that by the time we get there, McCormick will have the Board asking for our heads on a platter in retribution for today."


"Come on, let’s go tell the pilot his crew has been grounded."


The two women walked slowly back to the airship.



* * *

The pilot had seen enough when he got out of the ship to know that he didn’t want to be a witness to an altercation of any kind. He was an older man, his face worn with experience. He had seen many a heated argument between enlisted men and their superiors during his time in Vietnam. It’s funny the way men will fight to save your life and then, when they get back to the safety of the home base, want to rip your head right off for some foolhardy judgement call that was made. He had learned early on to stay out of the way, but mostly out of sight of any confrontations.


He figured that there was at least enough time for him to find a restroom and a good cup of java before he’d be needed again. After shutting down the engine, he exited the ship and walked across the helipad to the warmth of the building directly ahead. Once inside, he nodded a silent greeting to the clerk at the desk and made his way back into the treatment area. This was one of the frequent outlying hospitals that he had flown into often during his time with civilian medivacs. It was a hot bed for trauma. That’s why, he guessed, that it was chosen for today’s little demonstration.


He took his time using the facilities. He was certainly in no rush. Nobody’s life was at stake. Well, maybe just one. His mind thought of the tall surgeon and the fury that he had seen in her. ‘Nope, sure don’t want to be in her path when that pent up tornado lets go.’


The pilot strode down the hall to the nurse’s lounge with its tall urn of coffee waiting for him. His pointed toe boots clicked against the tile floors as he went. They weren’t regulation but they were his trademarks and that’s how he got his nickname. ‘Cowboy,’ that’s what he was known as.


He poured himself a drink of the potent black liquid and sat down to warm up as he slowly sipped away. It wasn’t long before he heard the scurry of activity around the E.R. A few seconds later, he heard one of the nurses calling out his name.


"Cowboy!" The woman stuck her head around the corner looking into the lounge. "Jeez, Cowboy, we’ve been looking for you. They need a medivac up at the old logging site. There’s been an accident. A tree came down wrong and someone is pinned underneath it." Her eyes had that desperate look to them, as if there was more to it than she was saying.


He shrugged his shoulders. "I’m out of service, strictly a training mission on this one. You better call dispatch and put in your request."


"We already did. They’re all committed to patients right now. The best time to get one here could be over an hour." She pleaded with him. "Can’t you do anything to help?"


"The best that I could do is check with dispatch and see if they can hurry one along." He grimaced at the thought. He always knew how dangerous it was to think about the next flight when you were still locked into one already. That’s when a pilot would make mistakes that could be fatal.


He picked up his Styrofoam cup that was half full of java and got up. "Okay, show me to your phone." He followed her out to the front desk of the E.R.



* * *

After waiting at the ship for the pilot’s return, the two women decided to go looking for him inside the building. They walked over to the hospital as Garrett thought about what might be their best form of transportation to get back home without exposing the young nurse to another bout of catatonia. She had made her mind up. The surgeon was not about to ask Danni to step foot on another helicopter for as long as she knew her. ‘I wonder if there’s a rental car place around here?’ She thought about her habit of carrying a credit card with her, even into the operating theatre. ‘I guess it’s going to come in handy today.’


The blonde was somewhat let down by her own inability to cope with the thought of flying. She had so wanted to be there and functional for her friend. ‘Fat chance in hell, now. I’ll never be able to make this up to her.’ She thought a moment and considered all the ramifications of the botched job today. ‘I bet that carte blanche on the survivor project goes right down the tubes, too.’ She was beating herself up over something that she had no idea how to remedy. ‘I wish…’ she sighed. ‘Damn it! I’ll never get another chance.’ The tip of her small boot made contact with a stray stone on the driveway in front of the building and sent it flying.


The motion caught Garrett’s eye. She looked over to her friend and sensed the frustration that she was in. ‘If only we could prove to them that it would be different when it was for real. I know that Danni could pull it all together when there’s a patient involved.’ It was such a shame. The two had literally been thrown together and found that they both flourished in each other’s presence. The last three weeks had proven that, not only to them, but to others too.


The now defunct Surgical Flight Team entered the sparsely populated waiting room in search of their pilot. Eyes scanning the room, Danni spotted the flight suit through the window of the doors leading into the treatment area. She reached out and touched the surgeon’s arm drawing her attention. "Gar, I think I see him."


The tall woman followed Danni’s line of sight. "Hmmm…Might as well tell him that he’s free to go without us."


They each reached out and pushed open the doors of the E.R. and stepping through them presented a unified front. Between the unison of their actions and the commanding flight suits, it was a sight to behold. The head of the E.R. Clerk bobbed up and his mouth dropped open. Another nurse at the front desk fumbled with a chart dropping it onto the floor. She was so startled by their presence. Garrett turned her head slightly toward Danni and raised an eyebrow in question. While Danni’s only response was the subtle raising of her shoulders and the tiny giggle that she tried to restrain.


The waving hand of the pilot motioning them to come nearer grabbed their attention. He covered up the mouthpiece of the phone and called out to them. "Dr. Trivoli!" He waited for a few seconds until they were standing next to him. "I’ve got dispatch on the landline here. Seems that all of the other helicopters are committed to patients and there’s an emergency call for a medivac up here in this neck of the woods." He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I told them that I’d ask you if you’d take it."


The nurse quickly spoke up, trying to fill them in on what little details that she knew. "It’s up at the logging site. One of the men is pinned underneath a tree." Her eyes pleaded for assistance.


Danni looked up to see the strange twinkle that her friend’s eyes always got when their own trauma pagers beckoned them. She knew that the surgeon felt compelled to help. "Garrett…"


Garrett pushed the rising adrenaline rush back down. "We’ve been officially grounded. Sorry, but we won’t be able to help."


Danni looked over at the surgeon. Her eyes showed the confusion that she was experiencing. Then it came to her like a flash of lightning. ‘I never thought she would refuse to help anyone.’ Green eyes darted back and forth from the pilot to Garrett and back again. ‘She’s doing this because of me. She won’t go without me.’ "Wouldn’t it be best for us…"


The surgeon peered down at the blonde. "I’m not making you get back on that helicopter."


"Gar, we just can’t not help." The nurse was determined to speak up. "We could be his only hope. I can’t just walk away."


The voice started out as a low growl. "Danni…"


The blonde planted her hands on her hips and looked directly into the taller woman’s eyes. "We’re wasting time here, Dr. Trivoli. Are you coming or not?" A few seconds passed when Danni delivered her one-two punch straight to the surgeon’s brain. "This could be the only chance I ever get to prove myself. At least let me try."


Garrett thought about what Danni had just said. ‘Maybe that will do it. I know that her patients always come first.’ She nodded slightly then turned her gaze to the pilot. "Well, don’t just stand there. We’ve got a patient to take care of." The surgeon could feel the adrenaline already surging through her veins. One look at Danni was all that she needed to tell her that this ride was going to be different…a lot different.



* * *

Within minutes they were belted in and going over the checklist of supplies and equipment, making sure that everything was ready should they need to use it quickly. Garrett looked up from her task in time to see the familiar twirling finger of the pilot signifying that he was ready for lift off. The surgeon watched as Danni busied herself now with the small satchel that held the drugs that they may need to give for one purpose or another. The nurse wasn’t even noticing the vibrations that were going through the ship as it gained altitude. Her mind seemed completely centered on what she was doing.


Garrett breathed a sigh of relief when the helicopter started its forward flying and the shaking became almost non-existent. She watched the young nurse for any sign of distress, or the reemergence of the catatonia. Seeing none, the surgeon settled into her thoughts of what she needed to do to keep the man alive.


Either the pilot was finding no pockets of air turbulence, or flying with kid gloves on, holding the ship steady. Cowboy was giving his passengers the smoothest ride that he could, even on his descent into the designated LZ.


The surgeon looked over to see Danni unscathed by the experience as she readily released her seatbelt and grabbed for her assigned satchels to carry.


Garrett opened the door and the team quickly disembarked the craft. They knew that it would have to be a hot unload, and remembered to keep their heads low, bodies hunched over and out of the way of the blades spinning over them.


They were met by the foreman of the logging crew who told them what had transpired when the tree fell incorrectly. This simple miscalculation had caused a chain reaction of unbelievable events to happen. That’s when they found out that the trapped man was not a member of the logging crew, but instead a Road Department Worker who was just driving by in his dump truck filled with road salt.