They both turned to eyeball the man who was now only a few feet away, his hand moving all around in emphasis to his spoken thoughts. "I expected more from you, Trivoli. God damn hot shot! I should have known that a woman would fall to pieces at the first sign of danger. You were supposed to be our ace in the hole. Now look at where you’ve gotten us." He spit on the ground. "We look like asses now. It will take years to get rid of this fiasco."
Garrett’s hands dropped to her sides, her fists balling tightly, waiting for the call into action. The sounds of her snorted respiration were a definite sign of the anger that was building up on the interior of the usually well-regimented surgeon.
Her eyes narrowed, their steely color turning to ice blue. "You don’t even care what happened up there. You’re more concerned with how you look to those idiots than you are about your own people." Garrett clenched her jaw. "Why I have a good mind to…"
"If you had a good mind, you would have been able to complete your mission." He snapped. "What’s the matter with you?"
"Nothing! Nothing is the matter with her." Danni spoke up. "It was me. I…I kind of zoned out during the flight. She was only trying to…"
"Only trying to what? It certainly wasn’t part of her job, or yours for that matter. All you had to do was get off the damn helicopter and come over to the mock patient: assess, treat and take him for a ride back in the helicopter. Nothing fancy. It was all to be a show." He turned and took a step or two then quickly pivoted back in their direction. "Bossard, you’re grounded." Ian’s arm thrust forward and his extended finger pointed straight at Danni. "Better yet, you’re out of the program."
The nurse nodded, resigned that her fate was sealed. She looked to Garrett apologetically. The tears were starting to well up in her eyes, her hands just hung dejectedly by her sides. She had let her friend down, and now there was nothing she could do to correct it.
"We’ll get you another nurse as a partner, Trivoli. Try not to be so soft with the next one."
"Soft? You call being compassionate and caring soft? I thought that doctors were supposed to come to the need of the sick or injured." The surgeon slowly inched her way toward the man until she was within reach of him. Her fist shot up to his face and her forefinger extended as she brought it down into his bulky coat covered chest. "I suppose that you would have wanted me to walk away from her in a catatonic state." With each new point she made, her finger pushed a little harder into the coat until finally he began to backpedal. "Would it have been a better show for you? We’re a team. Do you know what that means? In the military that means you take care of your own first and foremost. You can her. You can me. I don’t want another partner. I won’t have another partner. Do you understand that?"
By this time they were several steps away from where they had started. Danni watched in awe at the temperament of her friend. She stood frozen in time until she caught sight of Garrett raising her opposite arm. Sensing what was to come, the nurse bolted toward the arguing figures. She readily stepped in between the two towering figures, facing the surgeon. Bringing her hands up above her head, Danni caught hold of Garrett’s arms preventing them from slamming into the E.R. Attending’s chest.
The icy cold, blue crystals raged with an all-consuming fire as the surgeon locked her gaze on the petite woman. The green pools churned with the will of a giant wave, first capturing the attention of its prey, then crashing down on it, releasing its cooling effect all around.
"Gar, he’s not worth it. Nothing is worth that." Danni could feel the anger letting go in her friend and breathed a sigh of relief.
Ian McCormick was appalled to think that a Fellow would have the balls to confront him in such a manner. Then he remembered that Garrett Trivoli was a woman, and his mind was completely intrigued by the force that she had displayed toward him. He quickly took check of his body and found himself to be turned on by the sheer power that the raven-haired beauty exuded. ‘God! What I wouldn’t give to taste all of her treasures.’ He could feel his heartbeat quicken and his breathing becoming ragged. He wasn’t sure whether it was the excitement of the exchanged words or the heat of passion that was coming over him.
He stepped back and threw up his arms in disgust. "Have it your way then. I’ll see that the Board is aware of your feelings. I’m sure that they’ll have a few things to say to you both when you get back." Ian turned and marched off in the direction of his parked car, never once looking back.
There were a few moments of silence while the accountability of their actions was being reconsidered. They each knew that they were both responsible for the dismal performance during and after the flight to warrant their departure from the program. Each one blaming themselves solely for it and absolving the other at the same time.
"Gar, I’m sorry."
"No need to be sorry, Danni. This wasn’t why I came here for the Fellowship. I’m a surgeon. I never really wanted to be riding around in helicopters and doing drop-in surgeries." Garrett looked away for a minute before casting her gaze back on Danni. "I…I never wanted you to have to go through that." She motioned to the helicopter. "I guess we should find another way back to the hospital. I’m sure that by the time we get there, McCormick will have the Board asking for our heads on a platter in retribution for today."
"Come on, let’s go tell the pilot his crew has been grounded."
The two women walked slowly back to the airship.
The pilot had seen enough when he got out of the ship to know that he didn’t want to be a witness to an altercation of any kind. He was an older man, his face worn with experience. He had seen many a heated argument between enlisted men and their superiors during his time in Vietnam. It’s funny the way men will fight to save your life and then, when they get back to the safety of the home base, want to rip your head right off for some foolhardy judgement call that was made. He had learned early on to stay out of the way, but mostly out of sight of any confrontations.
He figured that there was at least enough time for him to find a restroom and a good cup of java before he’d be needed again. After shutting down the engine, he exited the ship and walked across the helipad to the warmth of the building directly ahead. Once inside, he nodded a silent greeting to the clerk at the desk and made his way back into the treatment area. This was one of the frequent outlying hospitals that he had flown into often during his time with civilian medivacs. It was a hot bed for trauma. That’s why, he guessed, that it was chosen for today’s little demonstration.
He took his time using the facilities. He was certainly in no rush. Nobody’s life was at stake. Well, maybe just one. His mind thought of the tall surgeon and the fury that he had seen in her. ‘Nope, sure don’t want to be in her path when that pent up tornado lets go.’
The pilot strode down the hall to the nurse’s lounge with its tall urn of coffee waiting for him. His pointed toe boots clicked against the tile floors as he went. They weren’t regulation but they were his trademarks and that’s how he got his nickname. ‘Cowboy,’ that’s what he was known as.
He poured himself a drink of the potent black liquid and sat down to warm up as he slowly sipped away. It wasn’t long before he heard the scurry of activity around the E.R. A few seconds later, he heard one of the nurses calling out his name.