"I hope Chris is alright. I don’t know what I’d do without h…" the patient stopped before she could finish the word. "That nurse is so nice. You two work well together. Have you been doing that long?"
Garrett smiled underneath her mask, "It seems like forever sometimes but no, I just arrived in Pittsburgh eight months ago."
"Oh, I thought…maybe…"
"Let me finish your exam and by that time Danni should be back with word on the rest of the people in your car."
The surgeon went about doing her job as the patient wondered how she could have been so wrong about the relationship between the nurse and the woman examining her. She had seen the way they worked together, the silent communication. It was so much like her and Chris.
The expertise of the surgeon coupled by the quickly procured radiographs of the patient’s cervical spine, chest and abdomen soon brought Garrett to the conclusion that the head wound was the patient’s only real injury. Aside from a CT Scan of her head, there was nothing left but to clean her up and suture the laceration on the side of her face.
Garrett stood at the viewer outside of the Trauma Room going over the patient’s films one last time when Danni came back to the room.
"Did you find her friends and husband?"
Danni hesitated a moment. "Friends, yes…husband, no."
"Maybe the next grouping of ambulances will…"
Danni laid a hand on the surgeon’s arm. "Gar, Chris is another female."
"Why wouldn’t she just tell us? It doesn’t make a difference to me."
"Consider her age. She probably grew up hiding the relationship. She may have be a teenager in the day of free love during the sixties but there were still some very taboo things, that being one of them." Danni looked in on the patient for a moment then continued in a whisper. "Bobbie and Charlie are both males. They probably used each other as cover."
"Oh. Where is this Chris, I’ll go see how she’s doing?"
"She’s on the next ambulance in. I pulled a few favors from some of the Medics to find her."
Garrett nodded. "Let’s get this one into another room then for suturing and we’ll take her friend next in Trauma Three."
Danni smiled and considered how much she loved seeing the gentle nature of the stoic surgeon. "Okay, I’ll get her moved and hooked up with Plastic Surgery right away."
The surgeon stripped off her gloves, gown and mask. Rolling them into a ball, she stuffed them down into the trash. She stood there thinking to herself. ‘Now why did I think of Danni when she told me that the husband was a woman? What could I have been thinking of?’ The image of the golden haired nurse was plastered across her mind. Garrett looked back to the Trauma Room only to see Danni wheeling the patient out and into the room directly across the hall. The surgeon reached out and pulled another fresh gown to dress in now for Chris.
"Ma’am, I’m sorry, I don’t even know your name."
The patient smiled slightly and offered her hand. "Marie…Marie Remhouse, and you are?"
"Danni Bossard." The nurse smiled back. "I’ve made arrangements for someone to come and take care of the cut on your face."
"Thank you." Marie’s eyes narrowed as she formulated the question in her head. "Chris, is…is she here?" The patient closed her eyes when she realized that she had slipped, not wanting to see the disgusted look on the nurse’s face. ‘What will this nurse think of me…us…now?’
Danni reached out to comfort the woman, her hand coming to rest on top of the patient’s. "I know what it’s like to love a woman that deeply." Her words were whispered and her eyes conveyed the intent. "Gar…I mean…Dr. Trivoli and I will see that she’s well taken care of. I’ve made arrangements for us to treat her like we did you. No one else will need to know."
The tears flowed freely down Marie’s face. Their secret would be kept and no one would be any the wiser. "Thank you." The words were caught up with sobs of relief.
The surgeon had been standing in the doorway, watching the actions of her friend for few moments before she spoke out. "Danni!" Garrett stood looking into the room. "Our patient…Chris is arriving now. They’ve just pulled up outside."
The nurse wondered how long and how much of the conversation Garrett had heard. ‘Too late now, if she doesn’t know already. Guess that I just outed myself.’ Danni nodded in affirmation. "Be right there, Doc."
Marie watched the pained look on the nurse’s face. "She’s the one, isn’t she?"
"That obvious, eh?" Danni sighed. "Seems like everyone knows but her." The nurse turned to view the now empty doorway.
It was time for the patient to comfort the nurse. "Don’t give up. She’ll see it and soon enough." Marie now patted the small hand that was clamped onto the bed rail. "It makes a world of difference in life to be loved."
"I’ve got to go. I’ll tell Chris that you are…" Danni’s eyes twinkled, "THINKING…of her." With that, the nurse walked out of the room.
The sound of the overhead alert announced the next wave of incoming wounded to the busy E.R. personnel. "Trauma in the Department. Trauma in the Department."
Danni stood in the hallway making sure to direct the patient known only as Chris into the right room. The burly looking Medics with the balding man passed her by and turned in the direction of Trauma Room One. Next in through the doors was a face that seemed familiar to her. She studied the Medic and realized that it was the young man from her famed ambulance trip with Garrett from the annual softball game.
‘Gosh, I hope he doesn’t recognize me dressed like this.’ Her mind thought back to the upset stomach and surprised look on his face when she opened the door to the bathroom. ‘I didn’t know anyone was in there. The door wasn’t locked.’
The next stretcher in the line was upon her. "Where to?" The young Medic said, not recognizing her.
"Is this Chris?" Danni peered at the face of the patient.
"Chris…is…my name. How do you know…"
Danni pointed the way. "Trauma Room Three." She let them go first, then fell in line next to the patient’s head. "Marie told us that you’d be coming." She winked and followed along. The nurse looked at the patient’s wildly curled short locks of gray hair and smiled involuntarily. It reminded her of a pre-school stick figure drawing, especially since the patient had the body to match it.
The patient nodded as best she could being in a protective collar and strapped onto a backboard. "That’s Marie, always watching out for me," she muttered as her face showed the pain that she was in.
The group whisked into the room where they were met by the tall surgeon. Her blue eyes looked directly into the patient’s eyes as she greeted her. "Chris, I’m Dr. Trivoli. I’m here to help you. Can you tell me where you hurt?"
"My belly, Doc. It hurts like hell."
The advancement of the stretcher stopped and each member of the team grabbed on to the backboard.
"Ready, on my count. One, two, three." The strong voice of the surgeon directed the movement. "Airway clear, respiration’s good. No obvious signs of external bleeding." The surgeon cast her eyes over the woman’s clothed body. "We’re going to be cutting your clothing off and examining you more closely. Just tell us if we are hurting you at any time."