The pilot gulped and swallowed his last mouthful of coffee. Something was wrong, very wrong. He looked back into the E.R. and then to his helicopter.


The two women were almost at the ship when he hurriedly sat the cup down and took off after them. Something told him that it was not going to be a pleasant ride back home.



* * *

The surgeon could barely wait to get out of the helicopter when it touched down. She didn’t even allow the rotors to slow before she was out of her seat and sliding the door open. The petite nurse hurried to keep up with her, fearing that she might do a certain Attending Physician, namely Ian McCormick, physical harm. Garrett hunched over into the ‘hot’ unloading position and made her way towards the door of the E.R., Danni closely following at her heels.


It wasn’t until they were inside that they began to pull at their helmets. Taking her helmet off, Garrett shook her head, trying to release her hair. The raven darkness cascaded out of the loose braiding and fell across her shoulders, giving her a rather wild appearance as she strode in through the waiting room and up to the triage desk were she demanded, "Is McCormick in?"


Nan, the Nursing Manager had been walking by when she heard the loud voice. "Dr. Trivoli, is there something wrong?" She came to the aid of her nurse sitting behind the desk.


"Wrong, I’ll say wrong!" Garrett’s voice dropped an octave. "Tell that…that…man I’m waiting for him in his office." She pushed her way past Nan, heading for McCormick’s lair.


"What the heck’s wrong with her?" Nan looked to the blonde nurse for an answer.


Danni just shook her head. "I’d stay out of it if I were you, Nan. You don’t even want to know." She looked at the Manager, her green eyes churning with the violence of a storm at sea. Once the silent message had been sent, the young nurse continued in her pursuit. "She’s not letting this one drop, and neither am I."



* * *

Garrett paced back and forth in McCormick’s office, waiting for him to arrive. Her mind raced with thoughts and feelings that she had been holding in. Danni stood back out of the way, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire when he arrived. It had been several minutes before the sound of someone turning the doorknob grabbed their attention. They turned and waited to see who it was.


In sauntered Ian, the smile being quick to leave his face when he was met by the fury in the surgeon’s eyes. His reflexes reacted to the waving of the tall woman’s arms. He only had time to look from one woman to the next before the barrage of words battered his ears.


Garrett spun around to her teammate and tossed the helmet from her hands. Danni juggled the thrown piece of equipment, deflecting the helmet and causing it to bounce off the desk, then a chair, rolling onto the floor. The nurse quickly bent over, trying to stop the helmet, her fingers grabbing at it as she picked it up.


"What the hell is it with you that you think every woman is your ‘little girl’?" Garrett drew her shoulders up as she placed her hands on her hips, creating a foreboding image. "The only little girl that I’ll ever be is my father’s and even he knew better than to call me that."


McCormick moved behind his desk in fear. "But I…"


"Men like you are all the same. You think that every female is nothing unless they belong to you. Ian, not every woman wants to be branded as your little girl." She turned and walked away toward the door. Stopping short, she reversed her direction and strode right back towards his desk. "If I ever hear of that term used in reference to me, my team, or any female in this hospital, I’ll go directly to the Board of Directors with a charge of sexual harassment and you’ll be one sorry excuse for a mobile sperm bank if I ever saw one!"


Ian watched as the tall woman pulled open the door and left. His eyes looked over to the nurse in the corner, waiting to see her reaction. "Well, what do you have to say?" He felt braver without the surgeon’s presence.


Danni looked him over then folded her arms tight against her chest. Her voice was calm and reserved. "Nothing! I believe my teammate said it all for the both of us." The nurse turned on her heels and left.


McCormick dropped to his chair and, with a shaking hand, wiped his balding head. ‘That woman is going to drive me crazy,’ he looked up into the empty doorway, ‘one way or another.’ His eyes sparkled with delight, amazed that a strong woman could turn him on.



* * *

The tensions of the day before had eased some when Garrett bumped into Dr. McCormick on his way into the E.R. The narrowed glare that emanated from her was warning enough as Ian stepped back to allow her free passage as he waited his turn. After the Flight Surgeon Team member had passed, McCormick followed the tall woman with his eyes. Ian’s torquing of his emotional well being was demonstrated by the seething look that followed her as she met up with the rest of her team.


As Ian watched her move away, his mind conjured up images of one very scantily clad, tall surgeon walking from his bed in the dim morning light. Lost in the daydream for a moment, McCormick pulled himself out with the sound of a heavy sigh escaping his lips. He reminded himself to steer clear of the tall surgeon, at least for a little while. There would be time enough to play later, if he just waited. ‘She’ll come around. They all do.’


Danni’s brow furrowed as she watched her teammate approach her. "By the gods, I hope they didn’t get into it, again."


The pilot looked with some concern from one crewmember to the other as he remembered the hasty departure after their last stop yesterday. All that he was looking for today was a pleasant morning, enjoying the scenery from above. They only had a few stops to make and then the rest of the day was his. Well, until 2300 tonight when he’d check over the ship for their flight at midnight and the dawning of the year 2001.


In a voice filled with ancient wisdom, Cowboy spoke softly. "It’s a new day in an almost finished year, time to look to the future and not back."


Danni listened to his comment and mulled it over in her head. The more she thought about it, the bigger her smile got. "I like that. I just wish we could get her to live by that one." The nurse’s eyes sparkled at the thought as she tilted her head in the surgeon’s direction.


The pilot nodded in agreement. Then leaning forward, he whispered, "We’ll see what we can do," and winked. Straightening up, he greeted the surgeon as she grew near. "Morning, Doc! We all ready to leave?"


The tall woman rolled her eyes, "I’m not the one in charge today. I’m just coming along for the ride." She looked over to the woman next to him. "Okay, boss," Garrett smirked, "What’s our plan for today?"


Danni let out the breath that she was holding when the lopsided grin emerged on her friend. ‘Thank you!’ Even though she shared the same house with the woman, there were times when she just couldn’t read her moods. Today had been one of them. Garrett had been quiet and withdrawn on their ride to work, and it had worried the nurse that a storm, bigger than the one she was witness to yesterday, was out there lurking on the horizon.


"Hmmm…Let me see." Danni teased as she squinted and tapped on her chin with one finger trying to remember. "Oh, yeah! More meet n’ greets today." The sound of laughter rose from the trio, as did the steam from their breaths as the cold morning air surrounded them.


The pilot shivered and rubbed his coat-covered arms with his hands trying to stimulate some warmth. "Well, it’s too cold out here for me. What do you say we get these under our belts and stay warm for the rest of the day."


Garrett jumped up into the open door of the helicopter then extended her hand out to Danni. "Sounds like a plan to me."



* * *

The morning had been pleasant with only a handful of stops to make. Each E.R. Director that they had met with today seemed eager to bring the new service to the attention of their staff, often taking them personally on the tour of the department. The staff would first show signs of hesitancy for fear of their jobs, but once it was explained that this was a specialized team for only the worst of traumas, they soon became friendlier. Nobody wanted to see a traumatized patient die, and if there was some way to prevent it, they wanted to know.


The rides to and from each stop were filled with small talk and teasing as the trio settled into a nice pattern of friendly bantering, each one in turn being teased. The mixture of personalities hadn’t surprised the nurse, but what did was the ease with which Garrett had taken Cowboy into her small circle of friends. Danni supposed that it may have been the shared experience of the military service that bonded them together, but she was happy that her friend was showing signs of her humanity. The cold aloofness that Garrett had exhibited the day before had Danni worried that all of her groundbreaking strides would be reversed. But it hadn’t, and the petite nurse was grateful for it. Before any of them realized it, the helicopter was touching down on their home base. Danni’s mission was over and she had proven herself to everyone, including herself.



* * *

Danni made the last of her phone calls before she slumped back into the chair, her sigh loud enough for the surgeon to hear.


"You’re done?" The monotone voice came complete with a raised eyebrow.


"Yep! All ten of the lone survivors that we needed to talk to have been contacted. I think it’s going to be a pretty good turnout on Saturday." Danni sat up straighter. "You getting nervous about it yet?"


"It’s not like I’m going to run the meeting. What should I be nervous about?"


Danni shrugged her shoulders. "I don’t know. Maybe ‘cause it’s your project?"


"Our project, Danni." Garrett corrected her. "You’re as much a part of this as I am." The surgeon studied her friend. "You getting nervous about tonight?"


The nurse wrinkled her nose. "Well, maybe. I mean…I’ve never been up in the helicopter at night. How does he see to land in the dark?"


Garrett smiled at Danni’s honesty. "It’s all by radar. You don’t have to see anymore. Don’t worry, Danni, I’ll be right there with you."


"That’s what I was hoping for." The nurse’s eyes twinkled in delight. "Who wants to be alone at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve?"


"Well, you’ll have me and Cowboy for company." Garrett thought for a moment. "If that’s alright with you?"


The blonde nodded and smiled, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Danni thought about all of the years that she had spent on duty as a nurse when the stroke of midnight changed the date from one year to the next. The toasting with ginger ale that was done between staff members had always been her signal that another year had come and gone. The handshakes and pecks on the cheek were nice, but there had never been anything special about them at all. In fact from one year to the next, the nurse couldn’t even remember to whom it was that she first wished a Happy New Year. All of the faces and names of the people seemed to blur in her mind. There was never anything that stuck out as memorable. That was until this year, and she could just feel that things were going to be different.


Garrett logged off of the computer and opened the drawer where her valuables were stowed. Reaching in she gathered them all with a single hand: one wallet, a daily planner and her set of keys. She grabbed her leather jacket from the hook on the door and shoved the valuables into its pockets.


"Well, how about we stop in to see Dr. McMurray and then go home. Not much that we can do around here until later tonight." She looked to Danni all comfy in the chair. "Besides…we both should get some sleep before we actually are on-call for the next six months." She chuckled knowing that the few hours of sleep would never be enough to last that long.


Danni nodded in agreement. "Okay, let’s go see McMurray." She pulled herself into a standing position and took the leather jacket that Garrett was holding out to her. "I guess since I was in charge on this mission I’ll have to give the report." She wondered if any word had gotten out about the confrontation yesterday and decided not to say anything unless McMurray brought it up to her.