She nodded. "When do I start and for how long?"


The Ol’ Cutter smiled at her, pleased that he could count on the talented surgeon. "I told them you’d be there by noon." He winked and nodded. "Stella will have the directions for you and anything else that you might need. Who knows, maybe this is something that the fates have had in store for you all along." He teased.


She smiled wryly at his remark. "If that’s all, I’ll get my things, along with a few changes of clothing and be on my way." She watched him, nodded, and rose from the chair to leave.


"Trivoli," he called out as she came to the door.


Turning back to him she answered. "Yes?"


"Thanks."



* * *

There was no need to leave the house, not just yet anyway. Garrett had taken her own car and Danni really did want to address the pile of mail that was left on the desk in her slot. She hadn’t had time to do any of the normal things that her life used to consist of since the tall, raven-haired woman came into her life. ‘Normal? How can anything be normal when I’m gay?’


The petite blonde thought about the topsy-turvy way that her life was spinning out of the realm of control. ‘I can hear it now when Mother finds out that I’m gay. She’s going to have a stroke.’ Danni shook her head as she sorted through the mail. ‘She’ll disown me and throw me right out of the…’


Danni put the rest of the mail down and hastily opened the one with the familiar writing. The delicate paper from some rich looking stationery set fell neatly open with little help from her. The nurse’s eyes quickly skimmed down the page until she came to the last line. It was now that she began coughing and hitting her chest with her empty, open hand. The nurse’s eyes got bigger, "Mother," she sighed. "How did you find out already when the woman of my dreams shares a house with me, works with me, and she still doesn’t know it yet?"


"What the hell is she talking about?" Danni turned the page over and looked at the back of it. It was blank. The petite woman picked up the envelope and stared into the gaping hole as she held it opened and then reread the name on the front of the envelope. It was for her all right, only Danni had no idea what in the world her mother was talking about with the phrase, ‘Take care of my Grandbabies.’


The woman looked down at her compact but shapely body, even going as far as to lift her T-shirt and gaze at her own flat stomach. "Mother, you are really losing it now if you think I’m…I’m pregnant."


The tall dark-haired woman froze in mid step as she came in the front door, her cool blue eyes flashing in total amazement of what she had just heard. The instant replay of her mind spinning backwards then forward again. Each and every time it did, the same phrase rang true. ‘I’m pregnant.’ The pained blue eyes slowly looked over Danni’s taunt exposed abdomen. Garrett felt the anger grow deep inside her when she realized who it must have been by. David, no doubt.


If she thought that she had personal issues with Dr. Beckman before, well, this just put the icing on the cake. ‘And you thought everything was fine when you found her asleep in your bed that morning, didn’t you? Well, I guess it didn’t take all night to give her that present.’ The surgeon breathed deeply trying to calm her body from the out crying of rage that she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. Feeling the reigns of control take over her body, Garrett focused on controlling her mind.


It was not what the surgeon had in mind for the way things should be, not after her body had given her the idea that Danni may be as interested in her, as she was becoming in the petite woman herself. But she was certain of things now and that was that the nurse would prefer males, with that one particular male being none other than Dr. David Beckman.


The blonde woman released her shirt as she clutched tighter onto the letter. The sound of the opening door had startled her and she stood staring at the tall figure as if she were a deer caught in the headlights of some fast moving vehicle. Finally, she was able to speak. "Gar? What are you doing home?"


"I came home to pack a bag. McMurray is sending me down to help out at…" Garrett thought before she finished, "another hospital."


Danni shoved the letter into her pocket. "Where are we going and for how long? What am I supposed to pack for, flying or inside hospital work?" The nurse was eager to get underway. She loved working with the surgeon.


"Ah, Danni, Dr. McMurray didn’t say anything about you coming along." Blue eyes looked directly into green and could see the pained look of separation hidden there. "I…I guess that I could call him and see if it was an oversight on his part." The surgeon slipped her phone from her pocket, hitting the speed dial as she brought it up to her ear.


The nurse stood looking hopeful while she waited for Garrett to get her the answer.


"Stella, is Dr. McMurray still in the office?" She paused than nodded her head. "I just wanted to ask him a quick question."


Danni stepped close to the tall woman, her head leaning towards the phone.


"Oh, good. I caught you before you left. I don’t remember you saying anything about Dan…ah…Nurse Bossard. Is she to go with me?"


Danni strained on tiptoe to get closer until she was practically leaning on Garrett’s shoulder. She could hear the gruff voice coming across the airwaves. "No, she’ll work in the E.R. for the time that you’re gone. They just need a surgeon to cover their emergencies for now."


Garrett turned to observe Danni’s face and saw the start of tears welling up in her eyes. "Thank you, sir. I’m sorry if I wasted your time." The surgeon was glad that she didn’t have to tell the young woman next to her that she was not going along. It would be hard enough to not have her around but to have to be the one to tell her that she wasn’t needed would have been even worse. ‘You better get used to it, Trivoli. She’s not going to be in your life for much longer, at least, not how you’d like it to be.’


She brought the phone away from her head. The look on her face said it all. She was disappointed at both McMurray and David for taking the one thing that she had come to rely on in her life out of the picture, Danni.



* * *

Thrown back into her world of self sufficiency, Garrett drove along the highway until she reached her destination, a rather moderately sized brick building that was the work place of Danni’s baby’s father, Dr. David Beckman. Oh, would she love to do a few things to him. Leaving her emotions for the man and the situation in which she found herself in the car, she gathered her duffel bag up and walked into the hospital ready to accept her new assignment.


"I’m here to meet with Dr. Beckman, I’m Dr. Trivoli. Could you page him for me?" Garrett let her eyes drift over the lobby. It wasn’t the kind of hospital that she had been used to working at. Her career had always driven her to choose the larger, more cutting edge kind.


"Yes, Doctor." The receptionist was polite.


Garrett turned her back to the desk and took in the feel of the entire room. Her mind sent images of Danni in every corner as she imagined the petite blonde moving down to West Virginia to live with David and raise her family. She could see Danni sacrificing herself for the good of the baby and David’s career. ‘Good gosh, she’s so good at doing that. Giving it all up for everyone else and grabbing on to nothing for herself.’


It was now that Garrett Trivoli wondered if she could ever be like that, giving it all up for the sake of someone else. But wasn’t she doing just that now? Giving up exploring a remote chance with Danni because she thought her friend wanted something…no, someone else. Well, wasn’t it? The surgeon’s mind questioned her own motives and that was when she realized that the young woman behind the desk was talking to her.


"Huh?" Garrett turned back to the woman. "I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention."


The woman had noticed, but it wasn’t her job to point this out. "He’ll meet you on the second floor, right outside of the Operating Room." She stated for a third time.


"Thank you." Garrett said reluctantly and reached down into her depths to put that old mask of stoicism back into place.



* * *

Danni had reported into the E.R. for work. She would be an extra pair of hands in an already short-staffed emergency area. The nurse welcomed the chance to keep busy and willingly jumped into her duties. She thought positively. The more that she worked, the faster the time would pass and her raven-haired friend would be back in her world.


The nurse stood waiting for an elevator, after having transported a patient to the floor, when the familiar voice startled her.


"Nurse Bossard." The older gentleman nodded toward her in greeting. "I’m glad to see that you’re keeping busy without a certain surgeon to look after."


Danni turned on her heels, ready to meet the challenge, only to see the Ol’ Cutter standing just a few feet away. "I…ah…good morning, sir," her voice having a bit of an edge to it.


"Hmmm…mad at me are you for breaking up the team?"


The petite blonde just glared at him. "You’re the boss."


"Trivoli needed a little time to herself, O.R. time." He grunted. "Besides, who else could I send and not worry about doing their best. In fact, I was kind of glad when Dr. Beckman called me with the request."


"David asked…"


"For a surgeon to help out in a sticky situation. Seems some of their surgeons were at a conference and got stuck without transportation for a couple of days and just yesterday, another one of their surgeons fell and broke his arm. They seemed to be in a bit of a bind for a few days."


"He didn’t ask for her specifically did he?" ‘David if you did, I’ll kill you.’


"Why no. He just asked for someone to cover their emergency surgeries." He thought about that for a moment. "David said that he wouldn’t need someone for more than two or three days."


Now Danni really had something to think about while she waited for Garrett to come home. ‘I wonder if I’ll be one of the subjects that come up when he talks to her?’


The sound of the ding for the elevator was heard and grabbed both of their attentions. The arrow pointed up as the doors began to open.


"That’s for me." Dr. McMurray advanced onto the car and turned to face forward. "She’ll be home before you know it." He nodded reassuringly just as the doors closed.


Danni stood there wide-eyed and wondering. ‘Home before I know it. Now if I only knew what David's going to do, now that he has her all to himself? As if I don’t already know.’



* * *

Garrett waited outside of the swinging double doors to the Operating Room, her fingers nervously playing with the change in her pocket as she thought about how it would feel to be back in surgery. How she loved to be in the thick of things, the leader in a well-orchestrated symphony of surgical skills. She let her thoughts drift as she turned and stared out the window overlooking the small rural area.


It was funny how her mind evolved from the thick of surgery to one petite blonde, but it did. Everywhere she looked, the surgeon saw Danni in different stages of her pregnancy and with David not far behind. Garrett closed her eyes tightly trying to will the images away from her view. ‘Well, McMurray, I guess this is my fate now, isn’t it?’ She turned and opened her eyes to see David emerge from the doorway. ‘Why did you have to send me?’


"Ah, Dr. Trivoli. I see that you made it a little earlier than I planned."


The surgeon swallowed the bile that was gathering in the back of her throat. "Yes, it seems that I’m a little earlier than planned for all around today." Garrett thought of the earlier surprise that made her aware of Danni’s condition. "I hope I’m not too early for you now."


"No, in fact, now is a good time. I just finished a case and I can show you around."


Garrett reached for her duffel bag and shouldered it. "Lead on," she said dryly and waited to follow him.