Danni thought for a moment then nodded her head, slowly allowing her body to resume a more humanly formed structure. In doing so, she felt the brush of Garrett’s face across her hair and the gentle planting of a kiss. Her body trembled with excitement as the strength of the surgeon’s arms flexed against her body making her feel the warmth of their embrace.


Danni let out a slow sigh as she tried to imagine what it would feel like to be held in a lover’s arms. What it would feel like to be loved by someone that could hold her heart captive for all of eternity. Right now it looked like she’d never be able to find out.


She remained seated like that until Garrett’s words brought her back to reality.


"Come on, let’s get you up to bed."


The low whispered words were like an elixir to her soul. Danni felt herself being helped from the couch and headed for the stairs. With each step they took together, it was as if they had been down this path before. Somewhere in time or in some other place, but she knew that it had been this way. It was like coming home after a long absence.


Garrett guided her precious cargo with the utmost of care as they rounded the corner at the top of the stairs. Her soothing voice helping to steady the nurse as they approached the door to her room. Stopping only long enough to remove the obstacle from their path, Garrett sidled through the doorway and over to the empty bed, helping to keep the momentum of the young woman from slowing.


Holding on to her friend with one hand, she reached to pick up the covers and waited for Danni to lay down. As soon as she had, Garrett pulled them up and tucked them neatly back into place. The surgeon ruffled the short blonde hair and bent down to kiss the woman like one would a child.


Danni felt the touch of the moist lips on her forehead and reached like a drowning woman for the lifeline that had been thrown to her. The nurse’s small hand clung to the arm of the surgeon. "Gar, don’t go."


"Danni you need your sleep."


The petite woman was glad for the dimly lit room. The light from the hall would not give her longing eyes away as she stared up at the woman she loved. "I don’t want to be alone tonight. Stay here with me."


"I…"


"I think that if you just hold me…" Danni could feel the bed shift as the weight of the surgeon sank down into the mattress. "I’ll fall asleep."


Garrett slid under the covers. She could feel the change of the body next to hers as the petite woman snuggled in close. With her arms tightly holding Danni in place, both spirits came to rest in a night that had brought them both accolades and sorrow, but most of all had brought them where they needed to be, together.


Chapter 8

Here it was the fifth of March and already it felt like Spring was in the air. Danni looked up to the blue sky above. She couldn’t believe that the weekend had already gone by and tomorrow would be their scheduled day in court for the rape trial of one of their patients. How fast the time was passing!


The weekend events danced through her mind. What a really different and unique weekend it had been. From the lows of losing a patient, to being honored at the Dinner on Friday night and then to the feeling of despair for not being able to verbalize your love for another human being. The epitome of Friday was waking up in that person’s arms on Saturday and feeling so right about it that she wished it could be like that every morning. The nurse felt her heart racing at the thought.


The corners of her mouth turned upward as she allowed her mind to move on with the weekend. It wasn’t anything special but rather just things that would be shared by good friends. Things like the slow-paced breakfast, the sharing of chores to once again rid the house of any speck of dust, or the quiet afternoon spent watching a movie with their feet up and sharing a huge bowl of popcorn. It was almost like there was something different from the night before with the raven-haired woman. Her mood was more open then she had ever seen it. It was nice to laugh and joke with a good friend.


Then, as the day progressed into the evening hours, Danni had noticed that Garrett started to sink back into her quiet ways. It was as if she was anticipating something going to happen, showing signs of dread as the hours advanced into night. The nurse thought back to that evening. Nothing happened, they had not even been paged out for any Flights and the world had forgotten that they even existed. There they were, lost in their own little world. Well, that was until David had called. The nurse concentrated on the time shortly after when Garrett had walked back into the kitchen as Danni was hanging up the phone. The surgeon had not said a single word, but the look on her face was one of disappointment. Danni remembered the look well. She had just said good-bye to David and that she would be waiting for him to arrive.


‘Could it be…was she?’ The petite woman thought about it for another moment. What she wouldn’t give to see the look of jealousy on that well-chiseled face. "What I wouldn’t give to see that face." She sighed and shook her head knowing full well that the idea of Garrett loving her the way she did the surgeon would be a dream come true.


Danni’s mind went back to Saturday and she thought about how Garrett had reacted after that phone call. ‘Gosh, it was like she couldn’t get out of the house fast enough.’ "I wonder what’s going on with her, any way?"


Now, David’s visit shortly after Garrett had left was anything but boring. He showed up with flowers and a box of chocolates like a lovesick boy out to impress a teenage girl. How he ever remembered that her favorite kind was dark chocolate covered cherries was beyond her. He showered her with attention, watching her move from room to room as she took care of the flowers to ensure their long life. His efforts at small talk were at first labored and nervous sounding then soon gave way to a more relaxed and comfortable conversation.


Danni had been caught up in hearing about his practice in West Virginia and all the things that he had done since moving there. She had completely forgotten about being a good hostess. She’d offered to get him something to drink and when she came back in from the kitchen, she was met with dimmed lights and soft music filling the air via the CD that was now playing on her sound system.


David had been so cute when he took the glasses from her hands and set them down on the coffee table. He then took her hand and politely asked for the honor of dancing with her. Danni was in awe and nodded in acceptance. ‘What was one friendly little dance going to hurt?’ The nurse considered the events that followed to be anything but coincidence.


With the song almost over, David had gone from whispering song lyrics to nuzzling her upper neck until she could feel the kisses inching their way down her throat. That’s when she froze. The front door had opened and the bright lights of the overhead fixture illuminated the room. Garrett had returned!


Without a word, Danni’s eyes met hers. The steely blue ones reached out at first then the growing storm raged fiercely as they moved from Danni to David. It was at that instant that the petite woman knew that some deep hidden emotion had been brought to life in Garrett. The nurse’s heart fluttered as she pushed David away from her.


There had been no exchange of words, but Danni knew what had been placed in her own heart by the communication of Garrett’s eyes. If that look meant what she thought it did…there was a glimmer of hope for them yet. With renewed faith that love would conquer all, even the heart of a stoic surgeon, Danni had worked to hasten David’s farewell.


There wasn’t a word from Garrett. The tall woman crossed to the stairs and went to her room. Danni remembered the sound of the door as it came to rest in its frame. The echo of it could still be heard in her head, even now.


Perhaps it was the upcoming court appearance playing on the surgeon’s mind that kept her in a thoughtful, moody grip for the remainder of the weekend. However, Danni wondered if something else was not on Garrett’s mind. Something that could possibly be related to the incident on Saturday evening that was being mulled over, like the pieces of a puzzle.


Looking back up to the clear blue sky above her, Danni sighed, then continued on her walk into the main doors of the hospital. It had been a while since she had driven to work without the company of the surgeon. She felt a little uneasy by it and thought of what it would be like without Garrett in her life. It was a possibility that she would have to consider now that it was March and there were less then four months to go in the Fellowship year. There was one thought that kept running through her mind: A lot can happen in four months.



* * *

Garrett had left the house early today. Not that anything special was happening or that she needed to be at the hospital by a certain time, the surgeon just couldn’t stay in the house any longer. She needed to be out in the open or somewhere that her mind could think clearer than it had been for the last day or so. In fact, setting there at her desk, she didn’t even know what it was that she wanted to be thinking about.


She had always known her mind. Why was she having a problem now? Better yet, what was the problem, anyway? She liked the blonde nurse and if anyone were able to draw the stoic woman out of her shell Garrett was glad that it had been her. The surgeon didn’t even mind the gentle ribbing that Danni occasionally was able to do to bring her playful side out into the open.


Garrett’s mind drifted back to Saturday evening. The earlier part of the day had gone quite well, especially after the roller coaster ride of emotions that they had been met with on Friday night. First the whole dinner thing with Ian and David, then the near mishap at the Railroad yards that had sent them both crashing to the ground. The surgeon shook her head in amazement that neither one of them were hurt in any way.


Her mind replayed the scene as it unfolded before her, the noise, and the nudge then the outright shove. ‘If you hadn’t thought fast, Gar…’ She shuddered to think of the metal coupling that would have obliterated Danni’s face and head had she not been guided out of the way. What would she have done then, seeing the decapitated lifeless form dangling from the vice-like grip of the device?


The veteran Navy Flight Surgeon grew pale at the thought of losing the other half of her team. She had grown to rely on the nurse over the last several months of working hand in hand with her. Garrett laughed. ‘How can you not bond with that woman?’ And it was true. Danni was like a breath of fresh air let into the surgeon’s tightly run and well-organized life.


Garrett wondered why she could not stand to see the petite woman with David anywhere near her. David had done nothing to the surgeon but hand off his beeper to her on that first day of her Fellowship. He seemed like a nice person. Garrett smiled as she thought about that for a second. ‘Just not the right person for Danni.’ It was funny, but that was the exact thought she had had when she walked into the house Saturday night and saw the two of them together with the dimmed lighting and the soft background music.


Garrett thought of the slightly pudgy, dusky, brown-haired man whose medium height was just barely a few inches taller than her friend. ‘How could he watch out over her? Danger follows her like a magnet.’ Sure he was quiet compared to her vivacious character, but that was due to shyness and nothing more. There was no quiet inner strength that oozed from him. Quite frankly, there was nothing about him that screamed love but the goo-goo eyes that he wore as he followed Danni’s every motion. Garrett was sure of it now. David was all wrong for the nurse, not at all what she had pictured as Danni’s perfect partner for life.


Closing her eyes, the surgeon leaned back in the chair and tried to picture the image of the other half of Danni’s soul. She could see a tall statuesque form whose coloring was the opposite of the fair skin and hair of the nurse. The gentle mannerisms of Danni would be complimented by the power that exuded from her soulmate. A power that would be used for good and righteousness while tempered with compassion. Garrett saw Danni as a force of life, the up-lifter of souls, knowing that anyone who would be so closely connected with her would be a leader in their own right.