"Hey, Danni, you might want to keep an eye out for some of the others who are coming up. I think you might enjoy seeing one in particular." Rosie was being coy as she taunted her fellow nurse. She knew whom it was that she had invited explicitly for the purpose of giving Danni something to think about. The sassy nurse waved, and together with her group, headed for the chairlifts.
"Mom?" The word was drawn out as Danni looked sternly at the woman.
Shaking her head, Karen feigned all knowledge of anything that Rosie had arranged. "I have no idea, Danni, honest." She shrugged and started off after the rest of the group calling out to them as she walked. "Hey, wait up for the old lady."
The snow had been coming down more heavily by the time the presentation was over. It had been a good one with many of the ski patrol interested in exactly when the use of the Flight Surgeon Team would be warranted.
Danni turned in search of their pilot when she was met by a cold biting wind as it swept down off the mountain. The leather jacket kept her upper torso and arms from the stinging cold but the Gore-Tex material of the flight suit was no match for it. "Brrrrrrr!" She quickly turned with her back to the wind. The nurse grabbed for the door of the helicopter, opened it and climbed inside. "Jeez! Is it cold!" She was thankful for the shelter out of the wind.
Looking around as she tried to warm her body by rubbing it, she saw the drawn look of the pilot as he was studying his charts. "Hey, Cowboy! We going to be able to go home or what?" Her eyes were hopeful as she waited for his reply.
Cowboy rubbed his chin with his right hand as he thought for a moment. "Don’t rightly think that would be a good thing to do now. The wind’s a little more than I would like to be flying in. Talk about some turbulence now," he chuckled, "we’d be like a dandelion seed cast out on the warm summer air."
"Guess we’re spending the night then, aren’t we?"
"Yep, looks that way."
A chill swept through the inside of the helicopter as the door opened and a tall form climbed in. "Whew! That’s a little cold out there." The surgeon settled into her customary seat. "Stuck for the night, aren’t we?" She posed her question to her teammates.
The nurse and the pilot slowly nodded their heads while their faces turned into beaming smiles at the prospective of being down for the night. Within seconds the giggling started as Danni reached for her small bag of clothing and Garrett grabbed her duffel. They looked up to the pilot.
"Hey, I told you I always have extra socks. What do you think I carry in that flight case?" He laughed as he pointed to the large bag that was to carry all of his maps and navigational tools. "I don’t need much room for a map of the Tri-state area. Got to keep them from bouncing around somehow. You ever try reading off of a dog-eared page?"
Garrett shook her head at the antics of the pilot. "Only you, Cowboy, only you."
"Well, I for one vote that we get out of these Flight suits and relax a little, what do you say?" The young nurse was feeling excited. "I wonder if any of the people from work are staying over. I know that some of them did last year."
"Speaking of staying over, I think we better go and see about getting some rooms." The surgeon patted her zippered pocket holding her wallet. "Never leave home without one." She unzipped the pocket and pulled out her ever-present credit card. "I’ll take care of the rooms." Garrett winked and threw open the door, heading for the main lodge.
"Hey! Wait up for me." Danni was scrambling out the door.
The late hour and the weather conditions on the mountain had sealed their fate, just like most of the skiers there. The best that Garrett was able to muster even with the corporate clout of the hospital and the medivac company behind her, was a single room for the night. The harried desk clerk had apologized but there was nothing more that he could offer to them, aside from sleeping in the halls or lounges warmed by the ever-glowing wood stacked fireplaces of the resort.
The surgeon looked down at the single set of keys that she held in her hand. ‘Well, at least we got a room.’ She turned away from the desk and looked over to her crew. ‘I’ve shared less space with guys on the submarine. Besides, it’s only for a night.’ Garrett took in a breath and shrugged her shoulders as she walked over to her team.
"So what did you get us? What floor are we on? Oh…." Danni looked up at Garrett her eyes twinkling like a child’s on Christmas morning. "Or did you get us a cabin, instead?"
"Hmm…." Garrett thought for a moment, "A room, the second and sorry, no." She watched the twinkle slowly fading from Danni’s gaze as the petite woman slowly associated the words to her earlier questions.
Then the green eyes flashed with a new brilliance as her eagerness bubbled over into her speech; "You got us a suite!"
"No, sorry, just a room. It’s all that they had left." Garrett felt bad that she had to burst the child-like excitement of her friend.
"Hey, at least we won’t have to sleep in the helicopter." Danni, the eternal optimist, tried to make light of the situation at hand. "What do you say we get rid of our bags and get changed while we’re at it."
Cowboy looked around. "You ladies go on. I’m going to get me a cup of java and warm up a bit first over there by the fire."
Garrett handed him one of the room keys. "Then take this, you’ll need it to get into the room."
"Thanks, Doc. I’ll see you a little later at dinner."
The sound of metal interacting with metal could faintly be heard as Garrett turned the key, unlocking the door to their room. Standing at the threshold, both women stood peering into the blackness, each one conjuring up in their own mind what they hoped the room would hold.
Danni’s head swam with thoughts of soft candlelight and gentle sounds of intimate mirth brought on by the shared revelations of emotions long held in. She closed her eyes tightly, offering a prayer that they would not be met with rejection as she took that first step into the unknown. Her right hand slowly inched along the wall on the left side of the doorframe in search of the switch as she leaned further into the room. The nurse’s mind thought about how much time she had spent in the dark to her own feelings. Now, could she illuminate the room and possibly what was to become of this newfound life of hers all at the same time. One, hopefully, that would include the dark-haired woman next to her as well.
Danni’s fingers felt the switch as she accidentally turned it on. The glaring brilliance of the light caused her to squint in an effort to shield her eyes, just like her mind had shielded her growing up. Never once had she thought of a woman as she did now. Why all of a sudden was there a change? Was it her or was it fate that had finally taken the nurse’s blinders off? It was like seeing a marvelous jewel for the first time, dazzling the eye and tempting the senses.
Slowly the radiance dulled, revealing a typically set up hotel room, complete with a large king-sized bed and a small love seat off to one side. Danni thought about her own queen-sized bed at home and how she made use of all of its abundant space. ‘Hmmm…guess it will be big enough for the two of us…well, maybe if we get real close.’ She giggled to herself at that thought. Her head turned enough to take the tall woman next to her into her view. Out of the corner of Danni’s eye, she could see the thoughtful expression etched on the surgeon’s face. ‘I guess I’d feel the same way if I liked having my own space all the time. Maybe I could…’