Without a noise or word, he moved to her side and gently placed a soft kiss upon her head, then leaned back waiting for her to wake up with his image in her eyes.


The quiet stirrings of eyelashes heralded the moment as the loving expression remained on her face. The softness of her voice immeasurable of the love that it carried with the single syllable that it uttered. "Gar?" Then slowly her eyes opened, revealing not the woman of her dreams but the man whose friendship she had shared for many years. It took her a minute before she realized where she was.


His brown eyes were transfixed to her form. He stood there wondering what she was thinking. Then slowly he realized that his likeness was not the one in her dream as the more she awoke her expression of love changed to one of mild embarrassment. He swallowed hard to choke back the emotion, then began to speak as if he had not seen the look on her face. "Danni, I’m sorry it took me so long in surgery. I…I lost track of time there for a while."


She pushed herself up into a more alert position letting the fog clear from her head. "That’s okay, I’m used to it. I know that nothing is ever predictable once you start a surgery."


David smiled at her, his eyes beaming with love. "Always the understanding one, aren’t you Danni?"


She blushed with embarrassment, the red color rising from her neck and up over her cheeks. "I try David. That’s all we can hope to do, is try to be understanding of one another."


"Say, why don’t I make up for it over dinner tonight? Let me take you out to the best restaurant in town here. We could do a little dancing to start off the night. What do you say? You don’t have to be anywhere, do you?" His eyes looked deeply into hers, pleading to be given the chance to make it up to her.


"David, I…"


"Come on, Danni. Hey, maybe we could take in a show if you don’t want do go dancing. Or maybe you just want to have a long, leisurely dinner filled with candlelight and conversation. Anything you want, just name it."


Danni smiled at his boyish charm then she bit back on her lip as she readied herself to speak. "David, I really just came to see you and talk. I don’t really think that dinner would be such a good idea. At least not right now." Her eyes searched his for understanding, then she ventured forward toward her goal.


"I was hoping that you might be…"


"Hiring?" His eyes lit up. "Are you thinking about coming here to work? I could talk to the Director of Nursing for you." He was delighted at the thought. "Have you seen our E.R.? I could show it to you right now."


"David I’m not interested in leaving Pittsburgh, at least not right now. I’ve made a commitment to the Flight Surgeon’s Team until the end of the staff year."


"You’re teamed up with Trivoli." David studied her face. "She’ll have offers from everywhere. So how about at the end of her Fellowship instead of teaming up with a new surgeon, why don’t you come here and team up with me?" He stared into her eyes, hoping for his eagerness to be returned. "We could see more of each other then, who knows we may even find out that we," David wiggled his eyebrows, "like each other better than friends."


Danni felt the realization of his words. Yes, he was right, Garrett could go anywhere she wanted, leaving the nurse and moving on in her career and life. She could feel the tear slowly spill over her eyelashes and roll down her cheek. The petite woman closed her eyes in an effort to stop the tears from continuing and to arrest her fears of losing the one thing that she had truly come to love, Garrett Trivoli.


"But I don’t want her to leave. We have so much going on with the Flight Team and the Lone Survivor’s Group that we started this year. I can’t…I don’t want to try to carry on without her by my side." Danni’s voice crackled with emotion. "I know that I can’t force her to stay, but I know that she would if she knew how much it means to me. How much she means to me."


David stood frozen in place. He’d never seen the blonde in front of him so emotional about anyone in all the years that he had known her. He saw the pain of anticipated loss etched on her face and immediately knew that he didn’t like what he was seeing. He had always thought of love when he thought of Danni. Now, seeing her on the edge of emotional upheaval brought a tear to his own eye as he reached out to her and wrapped her in his arms. He rocked her gently and talked in hushed tones trying to soothe her agony over events not charted yet. It was in this space of time that he saw what she was truly trying to tell him. She was in love with Garrett Trivoli!


Holding her at arm length, he studied her tear-streaked face, then mustered the courage to speak to his friend. "You love her, don’t you?" He waited to hear what her answer would be, already knowing it in his heart.


"Yes," she nodded slightly, "she’s touched my heart and my soul like no one has ever done before. David, I’m sorry. I know that you thought we…"


"Danni, what I thought and what is in your heart can be two totally different things. You have to choose what is right for you. No one else can, only you."


The nurse wiped her face with the back of her hand. "I never had feelings of love for anyone in my life, David. Friends, yes, but love," Danni shook her head and wiped away another tear. "I never dreamed that I’d have them for another woman. It’s taken me a little while to figure them out. I’m still trying to figure it all out. You’re not angry or mad because of my choice?"


"Danni, I had a friend in college who realized that she was gay. It’s not something that you wake up with one day and just decide from there. It’s something that takes time and a lot of rationalization to come to terms with. I know you, and I know that you only speak what is in your heart." He held open his arms and found them immediately filled with a blonde, quivering nurse. This time her tears were tears of joy at being accepted for what she was and hoped to be. "How could I be angry that you didn’t choose me?"


He paused then added, "Well, maybe just a little bit, you know, I had this God-awful crush on you the whole time I was in school and my residency."


She looked into his eyes, taken aback by his last statement. "I’m sorry." she whispered, "I never realized."


"All I ever wanted was for you to be happy. If Garrett Trivoli makes you happy then, that’s all I can ask for."


"If I told you that I want to have her in my world for the rest of my life, loving her and sharing myself with her, that wouldn’t upset you?


David swallowed and fought back the urge to plead his love for her one last time. "No, I’m just sorry that it couldn’t have been me."


"Thanks for being so understanding, David." The nurse felt the load on her shoulders lighten and the path was set for yet another person to know what was in her heart. Her only wish now was for Garrett to know.



* * *

Danni watched the miles fly by as she made her way home to Pittsburgh and the woman she cared deeply about. Her mind, all the while, mulling over the time that she had spent with David. She had thought it so sweet of him to insist on eating dinner with her, allowing them more time to talk and her more time to tell David exactly how she felt about the woman she wanted to share the rest of her life with.


Quite frankly, David had amazed her with his understanding. Now, if she could only get another surgeon to understand, her worries would be over and she could move on with her life…no their life together.


Finally reaching home, she parked her car and went into the house, relieved that her day was over. Turning on the lights just inside the door, Danni could see the well-used comfort zone that she had made on the couch and smiled. To be honest, she half expected the tall, dark-haired woman to be sprawled out on it, with a magazine still in her hand. Walking over to it, she noticed the orange skins all neatly piled on a Kleenex and the empty glass of water next to it. ‘Well, at least she had more than just the breakfast that I made.’ She picked them up and went to the kitchen.


The room was immaculate except for the lone bottle of juice on the counter with only a mouthful or two left in it. ‘Well, she can find the refrigerator, that’s a good sign.’ The nurse smiled and emptied the bottle in the sink and rinsed it out before throwing it in the trash along with the orange peels. She placed the glass in the sink and turned, noticing the time on the stove’s clock. It read 0038.


She closed her eyes and listened to the quiet of the house, willing her soul and spirit both to follow suit. Danni wound her way through the downstairs rooms and headed for the stairs and the bed waiting for her at the top of them.


Coming down the hallway, she could see the soft rays of light streaming around the slightly ajar door. ‘I wonder if I left…no, I didn’t use any light this morning.’ Her mind thought about the hurried pace that she had set for herself to get out of the house that morning. Suddenly her eyes widened and she realized that she had never taken the journal downstairs to Garrett before she left. "Jeez, Danni!" She whispered. ‘I bet she went in and got it for herself and forgot to turn off the light.’ Resolved as to what happened, Danni stopped at the door and pushed it open.


Her eyes squinted to adjust to the light. Then slowly, the form of a human could be made out on top of her bed. There, with the comforter pulled across her body, was Garrett. Danni couldn’t help but smile at the sight. She had dreamed of the tall woman coming to her bed and here she was with her long graceful arm wrapped tightly around Danni’s pillow, fast asleep with the small bound journal still in her hand.


She ventured in for a closer look at the sleeping woman and found herself wondering what could bring such a relaxed, peaceful look to her face. Then without warning her mind offered up a prayer. ‘Please let that look be on her face because of me.’ Danni looked at the large portion of unused bed and eyed it longingly. Oh, how she’d love to crawl right in and take that pillow’s place. ‘Later Danni girl, there’ll be time for that later.’ She reached out and moved a wayward wisp of hair from the surgeon’s face. "Good night, my love," she whispered and turned out the light.


Retreating in silence to the hallway, she closed the door and stood now at a crossroads. Mentally, she pondered her options. ‘The couch or Garrett’s bed for the night?’ With those as her only options, it wasn’t hard to choose. The petite woman moved several feet down the hallway and opened the door. Even in the dark, she could feel the presence of Garrett in the room. Maybe it was the smell of the leather jacket that she loved or the feel of the raw power that the woman commanded in her daily life. Whatever it was, Danni knew that it was a source of life and love that she needed so desperately.


The dim lighting of the streetlight outside the house gave her enough sight to find her way to the bed, Garrett’s bed. The bed that she wanted to wake up in every morning with the tall woman wrapped around her body, their limbs intertwined and the feel of bare skin upon hers. Yes, this would definitely be more comfortable than the couch in the living room.


Danni took off her shoes and socks then slipped out of her jeans. Next to go was the bra as she unhooked it and slid it over her arms leaving her loose fitting T-shirt in place. It was a make shift sleeping outfit in her bikini underwear and shirt but it would have to do. The nurse lifted the edge of the covers and slipped down into the surgeon’s bed. The coolness of the sheets gave her body new sensations as she sank deeper into them. Her mind wondered if that is what the surgeon felt when she crawled in between them as they glided over her unencumbered body.


The nurse’s heart raced for a moment then slowly came back into its own pace as she nestled into the pillow that smelled so sweetly of her friend’s essence. Gathering up all that her senses could register, Danni logged them away in the memory of her mind, eager for the day that Garrett too, would be there with her. Invigorated but yet exhausted by the day’s events, the petite nurse was soon fast asleep.