"Hello!" The surgeon voice was crisp and clear, meaning nothing but business.
Danni sat on the bed, her heart racing like a wild animal. ‘She’s going to know for sure now.’ The nurse stole a glance over her shoulder. ‘I can’t believe that I…she…’ Her eyes got bigger. ‘That we were laying there like that.’
The nurse could hear words but nothing was making sense to her. Just the thoughts running through her mind and the pressing need to write down her dreams that seemed to be grasped by her mind. Danni’s eyes roamed the room in search of something, anything that she could use. ‘The desk! There has to be something there.’ The petite woman got up and went to it.
Within the time it took Garrett to complete her phone call, Danni had finished recording her dreams. ‘One day, I know these will make sense to somebody.’ Danni kept her back turned when she heard Garrett hanging up the phone. She wasn’t ready to see the look on Garrett’s face.
"That was Cowboy!"
The nurse kept her pen going in a mock writing motion while she answered. "Hmmm?"
"He wants us to get ready to leave. Seems like there is going to be a brief window of opportunity to fly in about 30 minutes."
"Okay, I’ll take the bathroom first." Danni rose from the chair and grabbed her Flight Suit off of the hanger. "I’ll be done in just a few." She entered the bathroom and closed the door.
Garrett got out of the bed and paced the room briefly, not knowing whether to be the first to say something or not. She could see that Danni was obviously upset by the situation. "Damn, I don’t want to lose this friendship," she muttered under her breath and she knew what she had to do.
Danni vacated the bathroom to see Garrett’s duffel bag packed except for her toiletry bag, and the woman herself already dressed in her Flight Suit. The surgeon brushed past her as she grabbed her small bag and entered the empty room. The sound of the door locking behind her made the nurse feel as though she was having an important part of her life taken away. She felt herself being closed off, her lungs crying out for air, her heart ripping in two. ‘If only she would have left me sleep on the love seat or floor. I’d be sore but at least I wouldn’t hurt like this.’ Danni hung her head and slowly packed her bag, her eyes stealing glances at the king-size bed that they had shared.
The tall woman had been silent in her entry to the room. She stood there, watching the sullen nurse finish her packing. Stuffing her toiletry bag into the duffel and tying it shut, Garrett spoke softly. "Danni, I’m sorry for what happened earlier." She paused but the petite woman did not turn around or slow her efforts in packing. "I must have been dreaming. Honest, I didn’t mean anything by it."
The words echoed in Danni’s head, ‘Didn’t mean anything by it.’ It felt like a stake going through her heart each time it repeated itself. She closed her eyes and held onto the overnight bag, fighting the tears back. "Don’t worry about it." She picked up her bag and turned around to face her team member. The eye contact was only for a second but it hurt more than she thought. Hurriedly casting her eyes to the floor, she started for the door, "I’ll meet you at the helicopter," and was gone.
Garrett picked up her bag and followed the nurse, pausing at the open door to turn and gaze one last time at the rumpled blanket covered bed, then stepped out, closing the door behind her.
Ian McCormick walked out into the setting room when he spied the folded over paper on the desk. Picking it up, he studied the handwriting. "Gosh, you’d think for as well educated as we are, doctors would be able to write more legibly." The only word on the front was a strange one at that. "McDoc," he muttered then let the corners of his mouth edge into a smile. "Must be her pet name for me." He opened the sheet and began to read aloud, wanting to hear the words as if she were saying them. "Thanks for letting me rest before taking off to new heights." That was all there was, nothing more.
The sound of blades spinning in the thin mountain air as the helicopter readied for take off drew him to the window. Ian stood with the note still in his hand, watching the lift off begin. The slow motion of his waving hand was like a metronome to the song of the rotors as the ship flew out of sight.
Danni sat, buckled into her seat. Her close proximity to the surgeon was not an easy one to maintain but in the cramped quarters of the helicopter it was as far as she could get. The nurse could tell by the quietness of her team member that her time up in the air was going to be filled with lots of thought about what had happened between the two friends.
She closed her eyes, and tried to remember the feeling of her dream. Each time her mind brought the same image to her. Garrett…was all she could think about.
Chapter 7
Garrett didn’t know what to make of the mood that Danni had been in lately. They were still a team but something was missing. She just couldn’t put her finger on it. It was almost like a piece of the petite woman’s heart was taken away.
Ever since they had come back from the ski lodge, Danni seemed to be nothing but all business around the surgeon. Even Mom had noticed and commented to Garrett about it. The only thing that the surgeon knew was it all started with that overnight stay.
Often during the last three weeks, the dark-haired woman found herself just sitting there thinking of what she could have done or said that may have caused the change in Danni. Each time she was becoming more puzzled than the last. If only she could think of what it was, then perhaps she could correct it and they could once again have their comfortable friendship back.
Another thing that the surgeon was feeling baffled about was the pleasant attitude toward her by Dr. McCormick. It was the complete opposite of what she had expected, especially after that night at the ski lodge. Garrett wondered if perhaps there was something in the alcohol or food that Ian and Danni had partaken of. It was as if their attitudes had changed places toward her. The surgeon finally decided that she needed to talk to Cowboy and find out what happened in that room with Ian. Something had definitely changed him. Maybe if she could figure out what it was, it would give her some insight into Danni’s mood.
The tall surgeon rounded the corner just in time to see the pilot step out of his craft. The faint rays of the late February sun gave his metal boot tips a glimmer of reflected light. It was still cold but Cowboy refused to wear anything but his customary clothing, including the down ski vest with the insignia of the company on it. Garrett watched from the Trauma doors of the E.R. as he made his way into the hospital.
"Morning, Cowboy!"
"Morning to you, Doc. You know of a flight that I don’t?" He looked at her seriously for a minute then continued, "Or do you just need to talk?"
Garrett wet her lips, stalling for a moment then she closed her eyes, and sighed. "Talk is more like it." The woman looked around the busy hallway. "But not here. Do you have a minute or two?" Cowboy nodded. "Then let me buy you a cup of java. Come on." She motioned with her head for him to follow her as she moved down the hallway.
Cowboy had sensed that something was troubling Garrett and Danni both for the last week or so, maybe longer. He’d wanted to ask if he could help but chose wisely not too. The pilot had hoped that he was enough of a friend to the both of them that if they needed help or even just wanted to talk, they knew he’d be there for them.