They left the small office of the Trauma Fellow and headed for the Chief of Trauma Services. The hallways showed little signs of life as the evening hours were approaching. The holiday atmosphere seemed subdued in the working staff tonight. The skeleton crew that staffed the holidays had more than enough work to keep their minds off the gaiety that would embark on the rest of the world at the stroke of midnight.


The echo of their footsteps down the corridor to the Ol’ Cutters office seemed out of place in the usually busy hallway. Upon reaching the office, they noticed that the secretary was getting ready to leave for the day, with her boss doing the same.


"Excuse me, but is Dr. McMurray able to see us?" Danni was polite and soft-spoken.


The older woman looked in through the open door. "Well, he hasn’t left yet. I think he might be able to for a few minutes." She reached over and pressed one of the buttons on the intercom. "Dr. McMurray, there is someone here to see you."


He stopped what he was doing and leaned across the desk to enable himself to reach the button on the intercom. "Who is it?"


"It’s Nurse Bossard and Dr. Trivoli."


"Bossard…Trivoli…send them in." He looked up and there they were, standing in his doorway. "Come on, you don’t have to stand out there." He motioned for them to come in. "How did the meet n’ greets go? Do they sound receptive?" McMurray looked directly at the surgeon. "Anything that you couldn’t handle?" His eyes searched into her crystal orbs for an answer. The slight shake of the surgeon’s head was all that he really needed to know. That had been the answer that he was hoping for. The rest, he didn’t really care about.


"They all seemed to welcome us, once they realized we weren’t there to steal patients from them. I think we made some fine contacts and hopefully they’ll think of us before they’re in over their heads." Danni was proud that her mission could be considered a success.


"Good! That sounds very good." He turned and walked over to the window. "Looks like a nice night for being out under the stars. I guess you two will have a front row seat on that one." The Ol’ Cutter turned back to them and smiled. "It’s times like these that make me wish that I was twenty years younger."


"I think we could squeeze you in for a fly-along tonight. That’s if you really want to go." Garrett offered her mentor.


Chuckling, he shook his head, "Don’t think that the wife would be too happy with me. She’d be entertaining a whole slew of people by herself. No, that’s not the way that I want to start off a New Year." He reached out his hand to touch the picture of her on his desk. "Maybe some other time. Tonight is just for you young people. Enjoy it."


"Thanks, sir," came in stereo from the two women, then Danni continued, "We will."


McMurray picked up his coat and walked toward the door. "Oh, and Dr. Trivoli, just remember that the next time you have a need to use your helmet for something other than what it’s intended for…"


Garrett gulped, "Yes, sir…" ‘Here it comes. I can feel it, reamed out because of that asshole McCormick.’


"Make sure that your mike is turned off. It does a number on the ear drums when it bounces across the furniture like that." He looked her in the eye. "Never thought that they picked up quite that well, ‘til yesterday. Seems that dispatcher was quite upset with you. He even wanted to file a report against your rough usage of their equipment." He raised his hand. "No! Not a single word." McMurray turned to each one, tipping his head as he spoke. "Happy New Year, Ladies." Then he winked at Garrett. "I’ll see you next year." With that, he went out of the door and down to the elevators without another word.


They stood looking at one another for a moment, then slowly turned and followed suit.



* * *

The few hours spent relaxing at home gave Danni the courage to do what she thought a good daughter should. She picked up the phone and made the required connection to speak to her parents. Hearing the ringing on the other end, she secretly hoped that no one would answer it. ‘Maybe I won’t have to speak with them this NewYear’s Eve.’ The rhythmic pattern of the ringing giving her a false sense of security. Abruptly it stopped and she heard the voice on the other end.


"Bossard residence, Mrs. Bossard speaking."


Danni sighed, ‘It’s her, why couldn’t it have been dad?’ "Hi, Mother."


"I thought that you would have been here by now, Danni. It is a holiday. You are aware of that, aren’t you?"


Danni nodded to herself, "Yes, Mother, that’s why I’m calling to wish you and Daddy a Happy New Year."


"When are you going to learn that holidays are meant to be with loved ones?" The tone of her mother’s voice left a sting in her ears. "I don’t understand why you insist on working under these conditions. I really think that it’s time you give some thought to your future and settle down. Your sister Breanna understood that early on. I don’t know why you can’t."


There was silence on Danni’s part, and she wished now that she had never felt compelled to call in the first place.


"A young woman like you shouldn’t have to be around all those drunkards tonight."


"But I won’t be, I’ll be spending my night with Garrett and we should be flying pretty high by midnight," her words came out in a rush, "that’s why I was calling now instead of later. I may be a little too busy to get to a phone."


"Well, there’s nothing that I can do about that now. I suppose your mind is already set on it. I just hope that you know what you’re doing with this Garrett before it gets too late."


"I’m a trained nurse, of course I know what I’m doing." Danni was confident in her own knowledge.


"I hope that you’re right, dear. I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt." Her mother hesitated and thought about what her daughter had meant. ‘Trapped men don’t stick around in today’s society like they did in my day. That’s all I need is for her to saddle me with a bastard grandchild. What would everyone think?’ Then she continued, "You…you will take all the necessary precautions, won’t you, Danielle?"


The nurse thought of all those hours spent learning safety procedures and rehearsing them. "Yes, Mother, I know how to watch out for a spinning tail rotor." Danni chuckled slightly. "And Gar is pretty good at keeping that head down and protected when the lower hatch opens. See, you won’t have to worry, we’ve already practiced it to the point that we could do it in our sleep."


The shock of what her daughter had just told her registered. ‘I guess that’s what they’re calling it today with that high tech language. Thank God she has the decency not to say that word to me…Pe...pen…I don’t even want to think it.’ Mrs. Bossard closed her eyes and made a horrible face at the thought. She couldn’t believe that her daughter would be so open and cavalier about it, especially to her own mother. ‘It’s time to put an end to this conversation before she gets into any more details.’ "Happy New Year then Danni, from all of us." Her tone was sharply final sounding.


"I’ll pass that on to Garrett for you and Daddy. Bye." Danni didn’t wait for an answer. She pulled the receiver from her ear and laid it on its cradle. ‘Well, it wasn’t the conversation that I was hoping for but at least it’s over with now, for another year.’


The sight of the advancing figure coming down the stairs sidetracked Danni’s thoughts. "Hey, Gar! Did you get any sleep?"


"Yeah, a little. I think I’m getting kind of excited…about being on-call for the next six months. How about you?" The surgeon rubbed at the back of her neck as she tried to work the kinks out.


"Me, too, I guess." The petite woman’s brow furrowed with thought.


"Something the matter, Danni?" Garrett stood in front of her, letting her doctor-mode assess her friend. "You look a little worried."


"It’s probably nothing." She shook her head in denial. "Did you ever have a conversation with someone and after it was over think that you both weren’t talking about the same thing?"


"Hmm…can’t say that I have." Garrett thought for a moment longer. "No, not that I’m aware of. Why do you ask?"


"It doesn’t matter." She looked at her watch. It was 2230. "Gar, look at the time, we’d better be on our way back to the hospital."


The surgeon nodded and reached for the jackets that they had left on the couch. "If we’re lucky, we’ll be back home by 0030."


Danni nodded as she put on her jacket. "Hey, I gotta get lucky sometime. Maybe it will happen this New Year." The young woman sighed as she headed for the door. ‘Don’t I wish!’



* * *

The pilot had been laboring long and hard over the mandatory pre-flight safety checklist. His painstakingly intense attention to every aspect of the aircraft was obvious in his diligent double-checking of every detail. Nothing would slip by him. After all, it could be the possible downfall of the craft and those onboard if it did. He was never ready to accept that form of defeat.


Cowboy was making his last pass around the tail section when he saw the rest of his team approaching. He held out a lone arm raised high in the air and waved his hand. The pilot made the last check mark on his clipboard full of paper work when they were close enough to exchange greetings. "Good evening, ladies. Looks like one fine night for a little fly by of the town. What do you think?"


"Sounds like a plan to me." Danni was eager to get it over with. "You sure it’s not too dark for you to fly?"


"Little lady, you could paint my windows black and I could still fly this machine. Just like bats, we got us some good radar here." He winked at her, "Now don’t you go worrying, I’ve got everything covered.


"Great! That’s all she needs to hear. You better show her that your window glass is spotlessly clean." Garrett chuckled as the petite woman next to her pushed her in playful retaliation. "How you doing tonight, Cowboy?"


"A little cold right now, but otherwise, just fine." He slid the pen back into his outer jacket pocket. "Just as soon as you’re ready with your checklists, we’ll be on our way."


Garrett slid the hatched door open. "Just give us a few minutes and we’ll get to work." The tall surgeon waited for Danni to climb into the craft ahead of her, then followed swiftly, closing the door behind her.


The pilot shook his head. ‘Those two are just like kids, the way they tease each other. I wonder if they know…’ He stomped the snow off his boots before reaching for the door to his own compartment. ‘Nah, that would be too easy to tell them. Just have to see what happens tonight.’ Cowboy pushed back the cloth on the basket wedged next to his seat, checking to make sure that everything was as he planned it. Yep, this ride should be real interesting come midnight.’ The broad toothy smile lit up his face and set a twinkle to his eyes as he covered the contents of the basket then settled into his seat.



* * *

Garrett watched her friend as the lift-off started. This nighttime flying was a little unnerving to her team member and she knew it. The young nurse wouldn’t come out and say that it bothered her but at the same time she wouldn’t say that it didn’t. The pensive eyes and the subdued mannerism were an indication that a total zone-out was a good possibility.


The surgeon thought about ways to keep Danni’s mind from taking that first step off the deep end. She’d had no problem when there was something to keep her busy and her mind occupied. There wasn’t much that they could do here in the confined space of the helicopter. They’d already done all of their checklists and equipment preparation, leaving nothing but conversation and the scenery of the nighttime skyline of the city of Pittsburgh.


"It’s a couple of minutes before midnight. They wanted us high overtop of the Golden Triangle when it comes time for the New Year." Cowboy informed them of his instructions. "I’m going to buzz around the Point, it sure is a pretty picture down there." His right hand pointed down to the land below them as he watched the airspace they were moving into.