And so she sat there, waiting for the dark to overshadow her, while that ill- begotten letter kept coming to the front of her mind. What the hell was her mother talking about? She took it out and read it once more in the fading light. Her mind searching for answers, she thought to call Brie then quickly decided against it. To call Brie would be like talking directly to Mother and Danni didn’t need that right now, not when her mind was on Garrett. Besides, wasn’t that what was making the whole letter of Mother’s a little confusing anyway? Why would Mother say that Garrett was flirting with a woman unless…did she know that Danni had feelings for her?



* * *

Tight-lipped and calculating, Mrs. Bossard sat waiting for her son to return her phone call. It had taken her several days if not almost a full week to come to terms with the idea of having her oldest daughter impregnated with twins, bastards as they were. Now, she was ready to deal with the fact and, after some drastic planning, she considered the legal issues to be her best bet here. Matt was a lawyer and would, of course, know just how to go about it. The matriarch was pleased with herself for pushing him in that direction. It was one part of her blueprints for her children’s lives that had seemed to be working as planned. Now, if she could only get Danni’s life on track like she wanted it to be, then life would be good again.


The phone rang and she hurriedly picked it up, caring to not waste another second in time before her daughter and the family’s good name would be vindicated. "Hello, Mrs. Bossard speaking."


"Hello, Mother."


"Matthew, I’ve been waiting for your call. What took so long for you to find time to return it?" The sternness of her voice was evident.


"Mother, I was in court when you called."


"I bet if that Judge knew that it was your mother, he’d…"


"Well, I’m here now, what do you need?" He tried to corral her assault on his ears.


Her eyes flashed red at being directed in her thoughts by her son, but he was a good lawyer and she knew it. "Matt, your sister Danielle has gotten herself into a bit of trouble. I need you to take care of it without dragging the family name through the mud."


"Danni?" He thought of his gentle sister. "What could Danni have possibly done to get in trouble?"


"I prefer to think that it was not her fault at all."


"Mother, if you don’t tell me what’s wrong, I can’t help her," Matt pleaded his case.


"Alright, but this is strictly between you and me." The matriarch continued on in a hushed tone so as not to be heard by anyone but her son. "That surgeon that your sister has been seeing has gotten her pregnant and with twins, no doubt."


"Danni’s pregnant? Why I…"


"Oh, it gets better, too. Dr. Garrett Trivoli is also referring to her as his mistress and laughing about it to all his friends at the hospital. Then, if that’s not enough, I saw him proposition a lovely young woman right before my eyes to have…" she paused momentarily, "to have ‘IT’ in his office." Her face became red with anger and her lips tightened to thin little lines.


Matt was shocked at what he’d just heard. Quite frankly, being a lawyer and all, it took a lot for him to be speechless and he was indeed.


"His friends are even lying to Danni about his activities with other women. Trying to cover for him. Matt are you still there?"


The question startled him. "Yes, Mother, I’m here. What is it that you want me to do?"


"I won’t stand for any bastards in this family. Do whatever you can to correct this situation and do it soon. Why, to see your sister, she’ll be ready to deliver those babies before the summer is over. I want the name on those birth certificates to be Trivoli and not Bossard." She sniffed, trying to once again establish her dignity. "Do I make myself understood?"


"Yes, Mother. I’ll get on that right away." He heard the click on the other end and slowly lowered the phone from his ear. "Danni, what do you have yourself into now?"


He sat down at his desk and thought about the sister that he had always looked up to. She’d always been a freer spirit than Brie or he when it came to Mother’s law. Now, look at where she was, unmarried, pregnant and with a man that didn’t respect women in the least. He closed his eyes and prayed for guidance.



* * *

The surgeon sat crumpled up in a ball on the armed chair in the Recovery Room. It had been a long afternoon spent in surgery and an even longer night spent by the patient’s bedside. Garrett stretched her long limbs trying to get some life back into them before getting out of the chair. She wasn’t unaccustomed to going that extra mile for her patients; in fact, she regarded it as her duty and not just a job. It was the likes unseen for some of the nurses here in this smaller hospital. Most cases of this severity would be transferred to larger better-equipped hospitals.


Wiping the sleep away from her eyes, the surgeon focused on her patient. Her groggy, sleep-filled voice broke the air. "Any change since the last time?"


"No, he’s holding his own," the efficient nurse answered as she checked the drops in the I.V. chamber. "Can I get you some coffee, Doctor?"


Garrett nodded as she continued to gradually allow the rest of her cramped body to wake up. "Thanks. Say, what time is it?"


"Why, it’s just about change of shifts, ten minutes to seven…in the morning."


‘Well, that’s one night down and only a few more to go.’ She accepted the offered cup of coffee and sipped at it slowly. ‘I wonder what today will bring with it?’



* * *

The blonde nurse plodded along through another day without the sight of her dark-haired friend and already it was taking its toll on her spirit. Her steps seemed just a little less buoyant and her smile, not as quick to rise. But what it did to her work was even more obvious. She was like a taskmaster doling out the most menial jobs to herself. Everyone around her could see what she was doing, and that was to wear herself out. Perhaps, that would finally bring her sleep. She’d spent a long restless night and there were no signs of it being any different tonight.


Forced to take her lunch, Danni had ventured to the cafeteria to sustain her body with nourishment. It was there that she thought about the surgeon again, wondering if she was eating or just surviving on coffee and a quick bite here or there. Downing only a few morsels of food, the nurse made her way back to the E.R., sick to her stomach by the absence of her friend.


On her return to the E.R., her Manager, Nan, greeted Danni. "Hey, you got a message while you were at lunch."


Danni’s eyes perked up, as did her whole body. "I did?"


"Yeah, it’s on the clipboard at the charge desk."


The petite nurse’s eyes immediately looked in that direction. "Thanks, Nan." She made her way over to the desk and slipped the note out from under the clipboard mechanism; eager to see who it was from. Her thoughts were of Garrett as she unfolded the paper. "Call me tonight when you get home." The words murmured over her lips, then she looked at the name below it and her shoulders slumped as it registered. ‘Matt.’ She folded the paper and shoved it into her pocket. Just what she needed, more family members to see her in her pain.



* * *

The day in the rural community was not turning out too badly for the tall woman surgeon. The small but ever-busy E.R. had provided her with several cases for minor surgeries, two appendectomies and a nasty boil to be lanced at the bedside. It wasn’t much, but after not being in the O.R. everyday for several months, it was enough to keep even a surgeon of her caliber happy.


Garrett used the inside of her scrub top to wipe her face. She looked down at her watch and saw that there would be only another hour to go before her services as a Trauma Surgeon would be vanquished at 1900 by the decree of the Level Three Trauma Rating. ‘Then,’ she mused, ‘It’ll be time to hit the showers.’


Making her way back to her call room, she’d stop in and check on her patient from last night in the ICU and then the rest of the night would be hers to do with as she pleased.



* * *

Danni wasn’t more than a few steps inside of the house when the phone started to ring. Jumping on it as fast as she could, she lifted the receiver to her ear and spoke, "Gar?"


Taken aback by his sister’s eagerness, Matt was speechless for a moment then slowly began to speak. "Sorry, sis, it’s me, Matt."


With her hopes dashed, Danni slowly fought back the tear that was starting to roll over her lashes. "Matt, hi, I was just getting home when you called."


"I guess that Garrett is not with you." He sighed, not wanting to do this over the phone. "I was hoping to maybe talk with you both."


"Matt, I’m not sure when that could be. Ever since Gar’s ankle injury, we’ve been grounded. They’ve even loaned Garrett out to another hospital for a few days to fill in for an incapacitated surgeon. For all I know, it could be tonight or next week before we’re home together again."


His sympathy went out to his sister. ‘I wonder if that’s the truth he told her about not being at home for a while?’ "Sis, how about I drop in on Friday evening right after work. I’ll take my chances that Garrett will be there then."


"If I get a chance to talk to Gar, I will."


"Danni, are you taking care of yourself?" She felt the concern in his voice. "Mother mentioned that you were in court for something. I hope it was only to give testimony."


"Testimony on my part, but that Defense Attorney really tried to put Gar through the wringer. Thank the gods that it didn’t do any good." Danni sighed audibly. "You’re not like that are you, lil’ brother?"


Matt cleared his throat and coughed.


"Okay, I’ll let you off the hook." Danni shook her head. "Yeah I’m taking care of myself, I’m just a little lonely without Garrett being around. I’ll see you on Friday, Matt."


"Friday, then. Bye." He listened until he heard the sound of the line going dead. Man, how he hoped that his feelings about this surgeon were all wrong.



* * *

David had noticed that the tall, able-bodied surgeon had been avoiding him like the plague for the last day or so. Resolving to correct the situation by confronting her, he set on a course to intercept her before she could lock herself away behind a closed call room door. After several inquiries into her whereabouts, he was able to track her down to the surgeon’s showers in the O.R. dressing area. Now, all he had to do was wait for her to emerge. Armed with a cup of coffee, the man laid claim to a leather recliner in the lounge that faced the windowed door leading to the hall outside of the dressing room and waited.


Three coffees and a stale half a donut later, the tall woman surgeon emerged with her hair still damp and shaking it to help it dry. David brought the recliner to its upright position and got up to intercept the advancing woman.


"Garrett, could I have a word with you in my office?" He looked her straight in the eye. "Now?"


She did not want to do this for fear of something that she might say. But she was on his turf and needed to play by his rules not hers. Reluctantly, she nodded her head and stepped aside waiting to follow him down the hall.


Before she knew it, they were in his office and he was taking the seat behind the desk, leaving the lone upholstered chair in front of it for her. Self-consciously, she placed her toiletry bag down next to her in the enormous chair and shifted in the seat until she felt comfortable. There was silence in the room as each one watched the other for a moment before David finally spoke.


"So, Garrett, are you enjoying your stay with us?"

The stoic woman eyed him cautiously, not at all suspecting that to be the first thing out of his mouth. It took her by surprise. "As best as can be expected."


"Good, I’m glad that I finally got the chance to see what all the fuss was about. I mean…all that PR with the Flight Surgeon Team is building you up rather strongly. You even have Danni quite impressed. Now I can see why she picked the surgeon that she did."