Jamie rolled her eyes, and sighed. "Oh, if they were my only problems in life."


"She’s actually doing better. The discoloration is pretty much gone but the swelling is still there. I keep telling her to give it time."


"She’ll do okay, as long as she stays off it for a few more days. She’ll be good as new and reigning havoc on the staff before she knows it."


"Ain’t that the truth." Danni’s eyes closed saying a silent prayer for anyone caught in the surgeon’s way today. "So, you got me with you for the next four hours, what can I do to help out?"


They both turned their attention to the assignment board. "Looks like Nan has you assigned to cover Trauma Nurse One." Jamie smiled. "There’s one coming in about 15 minutes from now. Why don’t you go get ready."


"Thanks, Jamie. You guys always know how to make me feel right at home."


Danni went to the Trauma Hallway and checked out her room. Finding nothing to do, she grabbed a lead apron and began dressing for her part in the incoming trauma.



* * *

The stern-looking woman slipped her car keys into her handbag and quickly shouldered it setting off on her mission. No one, especially a surgeon, was going to slap her in the face with her own daughter’s moral ineptitude. There would be no bastard in the Bossard family line and she was going to make sure of it. Her eldest child had always bucked her guidance in the past but now, it was going to be different. Without Danni knowing it, Mother was going to make things right again.


The woman crossed the street and started down the walkway to the huge building that was Danni’s place of work. Eager to find her man, Mother stopped the first medical looking person she could find and asked the only question on her mind. "Excuse me, but could you tell me where I might find a Dr. Garrett Trivoli?"


The O.R. Nurse looked directly at the woman. "That one’s nothing but trouble lady, do yourself a favor and find somebody else." The nurse thought about her first day with the surgeon and shivered at the arrogance of the demanding surgeon. "Your best bet would be to check the helipad. That surgeon is the only one in a Flight Suit. " The bitter nurse excused herself and continued on her way.


Mother fumed. "Trouble…eh? You have no idea." She altered her course for the Emergency Room driveway and the helipad that was near it.



* * *

Danni stood at the Trauma door, waiting for her patient. She thought that it was poor planning to have one helicopter on the way in while one was still seated on the pad. Her concern continued to grow as each second ticked by. The sound of the familiar long strides came from around the corner, the clicking of the toe taps sounding out its warning. A slow smile grew on the nurse’s face as the familiar figure of Cowboy came into sight.


"Hey, Cowboy!" She greeted the tall pilot by throwing her arms around his shoulders. To say that she missed him was an understatement.


The tall man leaned in to reach his long arms around the petite nurse. He had his visor flipped up on the helmet and greeted her with a warm smile. "Danni, my lil’ one!" He held her at arm’s length and poofed out the trauma gown. "I can see why you don’t wear these around a helicopter." He teased at the expanse of material that made the small woman look much bigger than she was. "You could hide a small army in there."


Danni let her hands feel the material as it started to settle down into place again. "You should see Garrett in one."


"No, I’d rather see you in those Flight Suits and back in my helicopter. Do you think it will be much longer for her ankle?"


The nurse reached out and pulled him down to her height then laid a gentle kiss on his check. "Soon, Cowboy, real soon."


The man smiled shyly as he fought the blush creeping up his body. "I…I feel like I don’t deserve that."


"But you do, and I just wanted to let you know that we miss you. Though I’m sure that Gar would have just shaken your hand."


Cowboy nodded in agreement. "That woman is going to wake up one day and surprise us all with the size of her heart."


"I’m praying for that more than you could believe. I just hope it happens soon."


"It will. Trust me, it will." The man saw the hope in the nurse’s eye. "Hey, I better get this craft up in the air if you want that pad for a trauma. I’ll talk to you later. Take care, Danni." He turned and walked into the hospital. "I’ll be back in just a minute or two," he chuckled, "got to let that coffee out."


The woman at the end of the driveway had stopped her forward motion and watched the touching display. Looking for a better view of his face, she moved closer to the building once she realized that the small blonde was her daughter. "Okay, Dr. Trivoli, I got you now." She watched with a renewed interest and when the Flight Suited man entered the building, Mother changed her direction and made for the front entrance. There was no way that she wanted Danni to know what she was about to do. "You may have picked him, daughter, but I’ll make sure he accepts his responsibilities to MY family." ‘After all the trouble that you’ve put me through with you not accepting your place in life. You should have been married a long time ago. That’s it! There’s no more time for you to squander away now Danielle.’


Mother was on a rampage now. She’d let her daughter have a say in her life and she could see that it wasn’t a good one. It was time for her to be shown how it was going to be for the rest of her life.



* * *

Dr. Rob Kreger stood in the hallway waiting for the trauma to arrive when he caught sight of the Flight Suited figure headed his way. He squinted, not believing what his eyes were telling him. "Dr. Chabot?" The Chief Resident took a step forward. "Is that you? Why do you have Trivoli’s Suit on?"


The tall man squared his shoulders and preened his sleeves. "Don’t you think that I do it more justice than her?" He was obviously in a good mood. He tugged at the chest of the suit to show the room that was unused. "I think maybe I need just a little take in up here though."


"Hmm…I think she fills that out better." He looked around to see if the ominous woman was in earshot but the only person he could see was the matronly dressed woman with the handbag on her shoulder. He smiled at her but she didn’t seem to take note of his greeting and turned her back is if she were searching for someone. "Does she know that you’re getting it?"


Dr. Chabot smiled. "And with her blessing, too!" They both laughed at the thought. "I’m not sure she’ll ever let anyone into her pants any other way."


Dr. Kreger shuddered. "Don’t want to go there."


"Speaking of going, I’ve got to get back to the O.R. to schedule my case for tomorrow morning. I’ll see you then, remember you’re assisting me."


"I won’t forget." Rob Kreger waved good-bye to his colleague and watched him head on down the hall toward the elevators.


"Hey, Rob!" Danni waved in his direction. "Have you seen Garrett around?"


"No, but I think Rene is meeting your surgeon in the O.R." He watched the young woman walk toward him. "Anything special that you need Garrett for that I can’t help you out with?"


"No, just checking up on my surgeon. Making sure that there’s no trouble I need to watch out for."


The matronly visitor edged her way toward the elevator trying not to be seen by her own daughter. She needed to get this Garrett Trivoli by himself if she was ever going to set things right. ‘I couldn’t believe that he could be joking about ‘getting it’ with his friends. Has he no couth?’ Finally the doors to an elevator opened and Mother moved to get on it. ‘And that friend, outright lying to my daughter to cover for that cad.’ Her raging temper was going to get the best of her if she didn’t keep it under control. ‘Why, hearing him talk, he even sounds French-Canadian like her grandfather.’ The woman shuddered at the thought. She’d fought long and hard to have her family thought of as French and not French-Canadian.


The woman took one last glimpse of her daughter and ducked into the loaded car.


"Hey, Danni, did you see that creepy old lady?" Rob motioned with his head toward the elevator doors that were just closing.


"Not a good one, why?"


"Nothing, I guess." The Chief Resident thought to himself for a moment than looked at Danni. "You know, if I were a betting man I’d bet that woman was up to no good."


Danni thought back to the brief glimpse that she had gotten of the woman right before the doors closed. ‘Hmmm…no, it couldn’t be. What would she be doing in Pittsburgh?’ The nurse shrugged her shoulders. "The trauma’s going to be landing in two minutes. We better get back there." She grabbed the sleeve of Rob’s white lab coat and tugged at it until he followed her.



* * *

Mrs. Bossard got off the elevator and looked around. There, at the end of the corridor was a sign pointing out her way. "O.R., Hmmm…let’s see if I can’t catch up to you now." She was a woman on a mission and no one had better get in her way. That was until she turned the corner and saw the huge signs hung on the doors. "Authorized Personnel Only! Damn it!"


The staff coming out of the door could hear the mutterings and one nurse quickly came to the woman’s aid. "Is there anything that I can do to help you?"


Mother looked up at the woman with fire in her eyes, "Yes! I need to find Dr. Garrett Trivoli."


The intense look on the woman’s face gave the nurse a fright. She sure wouldn’t want this woman tracking her down. "You’re looking for the Trauma Fellows. Why I just saw both Garrett and Rene Chabot outside of the doctor’s lounge just a moment ago."


"Where?" She was no longer asking but demanding. "Which way to that lounge?"


"Down the hall and to your left." The nurse watched her with a wary eye as the woman turned around and stormed off down the hall, her hands acting like excited robots as they opened and closed around the shoulder strap of her handbag.



* * *

"Oh, there you are, I’ve been looking for you all over. I thought we were going to make the rounds together." The Flight Suited surgeon held open the door for the woman on crutches.


Garrett had finally met up with Rene when she came out of the Doctor’s Lounge outside of the O.R. She stood casually leaning on her crutches with her back against the wall as Dr. Chabot stood in front of her. "What…no greeting, you just want to get right down to business?"


He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Oh, but you are lovely this fine day."


Garrett shook her head and chuckled. "You’ll never give up will you? What would your wife say if she saw that?"


"But how could she see it, if she is nowhere around." He wiggled his eyes and smiled broadly at her. "Wife? Do I have a wife?"


"Well, whatever you want to call her then."


"Ah, yes! The mistress of my nights," his eyes grew wide, "well, at least when I’m not on call."


"You’re never going to change, are you?"


"And why should I…eh? I’m having way too much fun." He winked at the dark-haired woman and leaned against the wall next to her with one arm. "If you would listen to me, you’d be having some fun, too!" He cast his eyes down to the placement of her heart. "Open you heart and let the love find you."


"You keep telling me that. So, any news as to when the babies are coming?"


"OH! It will be so good to have the twins here, safe and in my arms finally. I can’t wait to see them. They’re changing everyday, getting bigger and bigger now. Why just the other day, one kicked me while we were playing…what is that game? Hard to get…no, hide and seek."


Garrett opened her mouth to speak but stopped at the sound of a commotion just a little piece down the hall. "Rene, did you see what happened?" She motioned to the matronly looking woman being attended to by several Staff Physicians and nurses.


Dr. Chabot studied the scene and shrugged his shoulders. "I don’t know, maybe she got some unexpected news that she wasn’t prepared for. Come on, let’s go back to the office and I’ll give you this Flight Suit back." He dramatically motioned for her to lead the way, saying, "After you, my friend."