Garrett stopped and reached out for Rosie’s arm, bringing her to a halt. "I need your help." The surgeon swallowed the lump in her throat then continued. "I want you to see if David could come here for a visit next weekend."


Now, Rosie didn’t know what to think. "You…interested in…David?" Her voice was hesitant but questioning.


"Not for me. I…I want to set things right with Danni. I thought that seeing David again could help."


Rosie chuckled. "So, you want to play Yenta…eh?" Then her head bobbed up and down. "Yeah, I’ll get David here." The thought of another chance for Danni and David sat well with her. "They make a cute couple, don’t you think?"


It wasn’t exactly what the surgeon wanted to think about but she did want her friend to be happy again. "Yeah, they do." The tone of Garrett’s voice was indicative of her thoughts as she mustered a weak smile, if only for show.



* * *

The next few days found Danni wishing that the unpredictable month of March would make its appearance soon. Whether it roared in as the Lion or gently emerged as the Lamb, didn’t matter to her as much as the passing of the time. It would mean that another month was over and the time left to the new Staff year was dwindling. In her heart she hadn’t wanted this year to pass, but now, she was finding it unbearable. The woman who had filled her heart with joy and hope had found a way to squash the life right out of her.


She was trying desperately not to show it, but the words spoken that morning at the ski lodge left a lasting impression on her tender heart. When Danni even thought of the raven-haired woman and her non-chalant manner of saying, I must have been dreaming. Honest, I didn’t mean anything by it…her heart felt as though it was breaking.


How could something that felt so right, not mean anything to the other person? There were times, even now, that Danni wanted to trust her heart but then the words echoed through it again. She didn’t mean anything by it only equated she didn’t love me and once again the nurse would busy herself with anything that she could find to stop her mind from thinking.


The mundane act of stocking supplies had always fallen on the aides in the E.R., but Danni needed something to have her mind focused on. She could hide in the supply room and not have to be reminded of Garrett Trivoli or the feelings of her own awakening sexuality.


It was during that last Tuesday in February, that she was beckoned out of the closet to the sound of a familiar voice on the telephone.


"Hello! Nurse Bossard speaking."


The smile on the other end was evident in the tone of the male voice. "Danni, how’s my favorite nurse?"


"David…is that you?" Her voice became softer and more relaxed.


"Yeah, it’s me. I’m going to be in Pittsburgh over the weekend. I was wondering if we could get together and do something say…on Friday night?"


"I’ll have to check with the rest of the bunch, but I know they’d all love to see you again." Her thoughts traveled to the rest of the E.R. family that he had been a part of.


"Oh…I…I was thinking that maybe we could do something together, you and I." There, he had finally managed to do it. He’d asked her out after all those years.


Danni was in shock. David had always been so shy around her and now he was asking her out. She smiled at the accomplishment of another one of her menagerie that had grown under her care and was now standing on his own. "David, I’m…I’m flattered but…"


"Come on, Danni, you name it, anything you want to do. Think about it and let me know. I won’t be leaving here until Friday at noon." The man paused to catch his breath. "I’ve been thinking a lot about you since the night up at Seven Springs. Just give me a chance, that’s all I’m asking for."


The nurse knew that her heart was already taken but she couldn’t let him know that now. Once again, Danni pushed her own feelings to the side and agreed to meet with him. "Okay, David. Let me see what I can come up with and I'll let you know on Friday morning."


"Okay, I’ll be waiting to hear from you." The excitement was evident in his voice. "Bye."


"Bye, David." Danni hung up the phone and stood there thinking. ‘Is it really fair to David when I know that my heart doesn’t feel for him like he would like it to?’ "It’s only a date."


"Date? Did I hear you saying date?" Mom turned the corner of the desk.


Sighing, Danni looked up to her and offered. "David, just asked me out on Friday night. Seems he is going to be in town for the weekend."


Karen looked around to make sure no one could hear their discussion. "Danni, I thought you had feelings for…"


"Mom, I don’t think Garrett is that kind of woman." Her eyes showed her hurt.


"Did something happen that I don’t know about?" She pulled the blonde down into a chair and sat next to her. "Talk to your Mom."


Danni hung her head in disbelief. Her own mother would have been jumping for joy if she knew about David. "We shared a room at the lodge that night."


"And?"


"Well, it was a king sized bed but we kept…a…meeting in the middle." Danni swallowed down a blush. "I…we…kind of woke up spooned together and her arm was wrapped around me."


"So, what’s wrong?"


"We didn’t say anything about it ‘cause the phone rang and well, Gar apologized for it. She said that she must have been dreaming and that it didn’t mean anything to her." Danni bit at her lip trying to quell the tears that were about to start.


Karen looked at her and brushed a lock of hair from Danni’s forehead like you would a little child. "Is that what has been the cause of your actions around her? You think that it didn’t mean anything to her?"


The young nurse sniffed back a tear. "Yeah." Danni nodded her head without looking up.


Mom wrapped her arm around Danni’s shoulders. "If you ask me, she was just trying to save you some embarrassment. I see how you both act around one another. Trust me, I think it matters a lot to her." Karen rubbed the blonde’s arm and then patted it gently. "Have you ever seen her not care about her patients?" Danni shook her head. "I bet she was only trying to take the blame to leave you off the hook."


"Really, Mom?" The nurse looked up with the glimmer of hope in her eyes.


"Talk to her." Karen got up from the chair. "Don’t write her off until you find out. You owe her that much."


Danni nodded her head. ‘Could she have really tried to do that? Was she just shielding me from my own embarrassment?’ She looked over her shoulder at the retreating form of the Charge Nurse. "Thanks, Mom." Her words were soft and thoughtful. ‘I need to find Garrett and we need to sit down and talk.’



* * *

It would have been too easy to use the surgeon’s pager or her personal cell phone. What Danni had to talk about was not something that she wanted to discuss over the phone. She needed to see Garrett in person and register her reactions first hand. After all, her future…no, their future was riding on it.


It didn’t take long for the petite nurse to track Garrett down. There were only so many hiding places for a nearly six foot trauma surgeon, especially one that wasn’t allowed in the O.R. After a few phone calls, Danni made her way to the Medical Staff Library.


The raven-haired woman sat with her back to the far wall, her head bent over a large and dusty volume of some long forgotten medical book. She liked to know how things were done before all of the modern technology arrived.


‘Always looking for something to fall back on in times of disaster, aren’t you, Gar?’ Danni mused at the sight. She stood there watching the studious nature of the woman who had come to mean so much more to her than she could realize. The nurse wavered for a moment before she approached, not wanting to disturb her deep thoughts.


It wasn’t a moment longer before the blue eyes looked up and were filled with the blonde vision in front of her. The softness of the subtle smile that graced Danni’s face took all of the weeks of avoidance away. ‘I wondered if it was because of David that her attitude had changed.’ If so, then she was glad for it. The surgeon loved seeing her friend happy and whatever it was that made her that way, she was prepared to do it.


Danni smiled, "Hey!"


The gentle word and smile was more of a greeting to Garrett then any she had ever received. ‘I could come home to that everyday.’ The surgeon closed the book and pushed it away. "Hey, yourself."


There was a renewed closeness that overtook them both. The world around them slowly vanished while only the essence of their beings remained. Each one willing to let their being melt, losing themselves only to find the other.


Slowly the noise of ruffling pages and the muted cough of another seeker of knowledge brought them back to reality.


Garrett let her eyes drift in the direction of the coughing then back to her friend. "Come on, I’m done reading for a while." She slid her chair back and got up, put the book under her arm. "Care for something to drink?"


"Not really." Danni shook her head. ‘It’s now or never. Come on, Danni girl, give her a chance.’ Gar, I think that we need to talk."


The surgeon held her finger to her own mouth in a hushing motion. Then made her way to the desk at the front of the room. Handing the book over to the librarian, Garrett looked back to see if the petite woman was following, then walked out the door.


"We can talk better out here." The tall woman held the door open for her friend. "Librarian’s don’t enjoy conversation as much as you do."


Danni glanced back at the staunch-looking woman behind the desk. "I guess not." She turned to look back at the surgeon.


"So, what is it that you want to talk about?"


Danni bit at her lip, "Gar, could we go somewhere else besides a hallway to talk?"


"Okay," she shrugged her shoulders, "Is the cafeteria alright with you?" The surgeon turned to start walking towards the elevators but the gentle tug on her sleeve stopped her. Looking back at the pleading green eyes, Garrett’s eyebrow rose in question.


"Maybe somewhere a little more private. Your office, perhaps."


Garrett nodded slightly and reflexively reached into her pocket for the keys. ‘What is she going to say that needs to be so private?’ Flashes of David and Danni dancing at the lodge invaded her mind. They were twirling around the dance floor much like the figurines on top of a wedding cake. Garrett suddenly felt weak-kneed at the thought.


"Gar, you alright?" Danni’s hand went out to steady the surgeon. "You look a little pale."


"Yeah…I…I’m fine." Garrett’s voice became stronger. "My office then." She motioned with her hands to follow her down the hall. "I’m not sure if anybody else is using it. Let’s have a look." ‘Come on, Gar, get a hold of yourself. It wouldn’t be the end of the world. She deserves to be happy and in love.’


Stopping at the door, Garrett inserted the key and opened it. To Danni’s relief, the room was dark and without any human inhabitants. Now, came the hard part, where to start the conversation. The nurse closed the door after herself and got comfortable on the only other chair in the room, while the surgeon sat across the desk from her, trying not to fidget. The silence in the room was louder than a summer thunderstorm, each one dreading what the conversation could bring about.


Finally Danni rallied enough strength to show her cards. Whether she would win the pot of gold or come away the empty-handed one was dependent on the woman seated across from her. ‘By the gods, let me say this the right way without making her repulsed by it.’ The petite woman gritted her teeth and slowly started. "Gar, there’s something that I have to say about me and…"


That was all she could get out before the sound of the Flight Team pagers drowned out her voice. The cacophony of tones sliced through the air in the small room with a nerve-racking sound, interrupting anything that was within earshot of them.