Up in the Air

Chapter 12

The petite blonde marveled at how warm the days were becoming. The golden rays of the soon to be summer sun bathed everything in its path with its gentle warmth. Danni was even wondering if it wasn’t having some kind of effect on the Flight Surgeon as well. Ever since their time spent apart, she noticed that Garrett was warmer, and friendlier than before, at least to her. It wasn’t by any great leaps or bounds but by the simple, little things that she did that made her almost like a new person, one that truly loved and was ready to be loved.

The nurse had noticed it first in the often-lingering touch whenever their hands would reach for the same thing. The tenacious touch of their flesh was like a burning ember searing across their hearts. The excitement of their souls stimulated the flesh like nothing else could on earth. More and more it seemed that there was reason to touch or look at one another. Was it that they each knew what was in the other’s heart, or was it some long forgotten feelings that lured them to be together? Danni wished that she knew for sure.

Each time that a new day dawned, the nurse felt more love and contentment than she ever imagined existed. It was becoming a little overwhelming, even to her. She never looked for love in the people she'd come in contact with each new staff year; she just wanted to extend a hand of friendship to them for the time that they were here. What happened with this one?

Danni closed her eyes and let her memory relive the time that she had first seen the tall, raven-haired woman come barreling in through those E.R. front doors. 'I thought she was a Medical Student off on her first Trauma page. Boy, was I ever wrong.'

The nurse opened her eyes to see the profile of the woman in question across from her as they readied to take off on another flight. It was time to get her mind back to work and the job that they would soon be doing, together as a team.

The surgeon leaned back in her seat and looked at the nurse as she finished her last checklist. She would miss being this close to the woman who had opened her eyes to the world around her. There would never be anyone who could take her place, whether it be next to her, or deep in her heart. Garrett was glad that she was making every effort to enjoy Danni’s company until their time was up. She’d have to live on those memories for God knows how long. ‘Who knows, maybe if the job in Arizona isn’t as good as I’d like it to be…’ The surgeon sighed, closing her eyes to the pain. ‘Who’s to say that she’d want to give it a try. I wasn’t that easy to get along with this time around.’ Somehow, Garrett knew that she would survive. She’d just throw herself into the job like she did with everything else. ‘Too bad Danni wasn’t the job.’

It was time to get back to the present. The surgeon reasoned that she would have the rest of her life to think about Danni. She noticed the small blonde looking at her. "What?"

"Are you ready?" Danni teased her with a beguiling smile.

‘Oh, Danni, if you only knew what that smile of yours does to me.’ "Yeah," the surgeon stuck her thumb up as she made a fist, "I’m ready for whatever comes my way today."

Danni raised her fist with the thumb extended and side by side, they gave the signal. Cowboy turned to look over his right shoulder and smiled cordially as he mimicked them with his own thumbs up sign.

It was a short flight, but a flight none the less, as they landed outside the series of two story buildings. The landing zone had been prearranged and within close proximity to the drill site on the athletic field for the scheduled afternoon display of modern rescue practices. The publicity was always good for the program, not to mention driving home the idea of summer safety to the masses of teens, all in the possession of a new driver’s license. The idea had been Danni’s, and the surgeon was glad that McMurray had gone along with it. She’d rather meet these teens this way than on some lonely stretch of road, traumatized to no end. If it made a difference in saving even one life it would be worth the time and effort.

This was the first of several live demos that the Flight Team would be involved in, and the nervous jitters were evident on Danni. Her constant talking and fiddling with the equipment was finally starting to get to Garrett when the ship touched down. The surgeon watched the woman next to her go from nervous to self-confident in less than a minute. It was show time and Danni was prepared to drive her message home about safety to the gathered assembly of teens.

"You ready for this?" Danni looked at the Flight Surgeon.

"Yeah, just like any other flight we’ve had." That settling lopsided smile crossed her face. "It’s simply a meet and greet for me." Garrett winked at Danni.

"Well, ladies, its show time." Cowboy announced as he let the rotors spin down. "Just go out there and have some fun." He winked and gave them a thumbs-up sign. It was clear to go.

With a quick tug of her safety belt, the surgeon was out of her seat and unlocking the door. Danni took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. It was all up to her, now. This was her show and Gar was just the icing on the cake. The young woman pushed off, out of her seat and stood next to the surgeon. With the ease of her strong arms, Garrett had opened the door, stepped down onto the ground, and held out her hand for Danni to join her.

The pre-arranged drill was to be a simple one. The local Fire and EMS Services would provide the actual rescue scenario reenactment and the Flight Team would land, accept hand-off of the patient, load and take off for a brief spin of the athletic field. After the fly by, the helicopter would once again land, allowing the mock patient to get back to his or her everyday life and then it was Danni’s turn to address the student body seated in the stands. All told, they should be on the ground for no more than thirty to forty minutes. It was a well-planned program.

Everything had clicked and ran smoothly as planned. The person who had been the mock patient was thrilled by his flight in the helicopter, not to mention being attended to by the likes of two beautiful women. The heart of a seventeen-year-old male was easy to win, especially in such close quarters. They had landed and now the young man was the hero of his class as he paraded triumphantly off the field and into their ranks. All three members of the crew stood watching as he was met by whooping and hollering, each one thinking how excited the young man was over something that they did every day. Oh, the pleasures of youth.

As the revelry in the stands was meeting its crescendo, the odd procession of nurse, surgeon, and pilot made their way to the small stage that had been constructed on the field. It was planned that they all would be introduced to the students in an effort to show that although not all of them were medically trained, they worked as a team to deliver the patient the best of their care. It was the dream of every Guidance Counselor to show that people in everyday walks of life could make a difference to more than just themselves. The Flight Team stood on stage and waited for their names to be called as they watched the group of cheering students in the stands.

Garrett looked around the field and the days of her youth soon flooded her mind. She’d only played soccer for one season but she could still remember how it felt to come running onto the field with her parents and brother in the open-ended stands, cheering her on. 'God, what I wouldn't give for just one more day with them?'

Her attention was grabbed by the nudge she received, and the whispered command to wave as her name had just been announced. The surgeon stepped forward and obliged, then turning her attention to Danni, she waited for the young woman to deliver her speech.

The petite blonde stepped up to the microphone; she let her eyes scan over the students and teachers who were assembled there. All eyes were on her as she began. "I’m happy to say that our services were not needed here today but that doesn’t mean that safety is something to be taken for granted. Each time that any of you slide in behind that steering wheel, you hold more than just your own life in your hands."

Garrett watched the nurse intently, letting her senses drink in all that they could. She loved the way Danni could speak to the whole-assembled group but yet make each one feel as though they were the only one she was talking to. It was as if they had suddenly all become part of her menagerie. She was concerned about them and it showed. Now, it was the surgeon who was proud to be on the nurse’s team. This she could tell by the smile stretching across her face, the likes of which she’d never felt before.

Lost in a dream world of what might have been, Garrett stood mesmerized by the young woman. It was then that Cowboy leaned in and whispered in the tall woman’s ear. "Wonder what she’s looking at?"

The surgeon’s thought pattern was broken and she now studied the face of her friend. Danni’s furrowed brow showed more concern than Garrett thought necessary and she began looking up in the direction of Danni’s gaze. It was at that precise moment the mock patient of just a few minutes ago fell from the side of the stands, landing with a thud; followed by the gasps followed by the students around him. Before Garrett could react, Danni was asking in the most calm and reassuring voice for Cowboy to step up to the microphone and tell the group a little about the helicopter.

The pilot stood there, wide-eyed and in shock. ‘Hey, that’s not part of the routine,’ he thought as he watched both of his team members step off the stage and break into a run toward the bleachers. ‘What the heck?’ Then Cowboy saw the commotion to the left of the bleachers and realized that he had been handed the most important part: to keep everyone calm and out of the way of the medical personnel. He hurriedly stepped up to the microphone and began to speak. "Well, let me tell you what this little baby can do if you really need to get somewhere in a hurry." He laughed and pulled out from his memory any story that he could think of to hold the students’ attention.

The Flight suited pair came up to the victim within seconds. The commanding tones of the surgeon parted the crowd of onlookers as they made their way to the young man who was being attended to by several of his instructors. The angle of his arm and the spattering of blood on the ground about his head were enough for the surgeon to know the severity of the fall. She determined his point of impact to be first the arm and that fractured under the stress. His head then took the remainder of the force associated with the fall.

"Okay, everybody step back. Please, give us some room to work." Garrett announced as she made the final steps to her now-real patient. "Danni, you’ve got the head until someone from EMS gets here." She glanced at his chest and watched for the rise and fall of it. "He's still breathing on his own."

The nurse slipped in behind her and steadied the patient's head with her gloved hands, protecting him from any further injury due to a traumatized spine. "Has someone called for EMS?"

One teacher stepped forward in answer to her question. "Yes, I sent one of the student's over to their vehicle. Is Richie going to be alright?"

Blue eyes met with green and the exchange of thoughts was done. Danni spoke calmly as the surgeon continued with her assessment of the patient. "We're going to do the best we can for him."

By the time that Garrett had made her initial assessment, the EMS personnel arrived with their equipment. She was quick in directing them in the patient’s care. After a fast splinting of the arm and the further protecting of his cervical spine with a collar in place, their next priority was to get him onto a backboard and packaged for transport via helicopter. Danni kept a constant vigil over the young man's vital signs, reporting any of her concerns to the Flight Surgeon.

With the patient strapped onto the board, Garrett did one last round of neurological checks. After clapping her large hands together in front of his face, she yelled out his name as she bent closer to his ear. "Richie…Richie can you hear me." She paused for a brief moment, seeing no sign of reaction to the noise or to his name, the surgeon moved on to the next evaluation of his status. Taking her thumbs, she found the small-notched bone in the supraorbital rim. Pushing on it to elicit pain, she waited for a reaction of any sort. 'Come on, blink…open up those eyes.' But again, nothing happened.

"Gar, his respirations are becoming a bit labored." The nurse cautioned.

Garrett nodded and continued on in her quest as she placed her fingers in his uninjured hand. "Richie, squeeze my fingers if you hear me." She repeated herself but again there was no response. "Damn it, Richie, move something." Her frustration was getting the better of her as she thought about the reaction of the parents once they found out the severity of their son's accident. Only a few moments ago, she had been wishing to spend one more day with her parents. How could she let him not have that and more now? Making a fist, the surgeon roughly ran her knuckles up and down his sternum in the middle of his chest much like the washboards of early twentieth century. It was a painful experience for someone who had sensation, but again, the young man was motionless to it all.

"How's his breathing, Danni?"

"It's becoming more labored as we speak." She assessed her monitor. "His heart rate is up in the 120's. He's cool and clammy to the touch."

"Neurogenic shock." Garrett looked to the EMS providers now. "Do you have intubation equipment?"

The young woman nodded eagerly, "Yeah, Doc. Right here."

"Good, then let's get him intubated before we load him into the ship." She walked to the head of the stretcher and accepted the offered equipment. "Danni, can you give me a little pressure over the cricoid, please?" She opened the laryngoscope and positioned it in her hand. Then she slid the blunt straight blade of the scope into her patient's slightly agape mouth and followed the tongue to the back of his throat using the instrument to prevent his tongue from dropping into her view. The tiny but bright fiberoptic bulb lit her way into the darkened region of his throat as she searched for his vocal cords and where to place the tube for his breathing.

"Press a little harder, Danni. That's it, I see them. Give me the tube."

The size seven and a half endotracheal tube was pushed into her hand after having been approved by the nurse who made sure the small retention cuff on the end worked. Taking it, Garrett inserted it through the cords and into the trachea, letting the blade slip out of the patient's mouth, then pulled out the stylet that was used to hold the flexible plastic tube’s shape as it was inserted. The surgeon held on firmly to the tube so as not to lose her placement of it as Danni inflated the small retention cuff once more only this time to hold it in place. "Okay, let's bag him. Danni listen for his breath sounds."

A roll of tape was quickly produced from the EMS provider and the end of it was hastily wrapped around the tube protruding out of the patient's mouth. Danni slipped the earpieces into place and positioned the bell of the stethoscope over the patient's chest. Listening for a moment, she moved the instrument from one side to the other, then to the upper most abdominal region.

"Lungs sound good, equal and clear bilaterally." She pulled back from the patient and looked at her friend. "Finish the securing and we're ready to go."

Garrett nodded in agreement as she held the tube with one hand and squeezed the plastic bag with the other, delivering air into his lungs. "Danni, run ahead and have Cowboy get the ride ready for us. Tell him he's done a good job so far." The surgeon motioned to the stands of interested students mesmerized by what they were hearing. "We'll start out to the ship while you do that."

"Will do, Doc." The nurse took off on her mission while Garrett directed the EMS personnel to deliver their patient without delay.

As she got closer to the small stage, Danni could hear what the pilot was saying and tried to keep from laughing as she recognized the story of her first flight. She waved to get his attention, then motioned to the helicopter.

He understood what she wanted and just as calmly as the podium was handed over to him, he ended his story, thanking the students for their attention. It was his turn to jump into action as he made his way for the craft and started his checklist for take off.

The nurse caught up with him as she opened the back door and readied for the oncoming patient by getting her helmet on. "We'll need a fast lift off, Cowboy. It doesn't look good for the patient. We need to get him to the Trauma Room, STAT." The pilot nodded and continued with his routine.

With the patient loaded and the surgeon boarding the ship, the pilot made sure that no others were near the blades as he readied to throw them into action. Once seated and buckled in, Garrett checked for Danni's safety belt and gave Cowboy the thumbs up for take off. The surgeon was concerned for her patient and needed additional testing to determine whether the head injury or perhaps an injury to his spine was causing his deteriorating condition. The faster that they could determine this, the better his prognosis would be.

The sound of the whirring rotors cranking up to speed signified their fast approaching take off and soon they were in the air, speeding toward the hospital that they had left no more than an hour ago. This time the patient was for real and in a life or death situation.

Only a few minutes had passed since they handed off their patient to the Trauma Team when the X-ray images started to appear on the view. The surgeon studied them and sighed. The bones in his neck where not in perfect alignment and suspicion was high for a cervical spine injury from his fall. That finding could attest to his lack of movement and labored breathing alone. But until she saw the CT Scan of his head, Garrett would not put all her coins on that single injury as the cause of his problems.

She stood back from the viewer after examining the chest X-ray, content that there was no underlying problem there and that the placement of her intubation tube was correct. Sensing the presence of someone behind her, Garrett turned and commented. "Nice job with that speech. I don’t think anyone outside of that area knew that there was a real emergency going on when you handed it off to Cowboy. Nice idea to get him involved." She shook her head and smiled sadly. "I'm going to miss that after the end of the month."

Danni looked at her funny. "I don't understand."

"I've a…" the surgeon turned her attention back to the viewer, "accepted a position at a hospital in Arizona. I'll be working there next month." The surgeon felt the sting of tears at her eyelids as she closed them to hide the pain. "I guess I didn't quite know how to tell you."

The Flight Nurse stood there somewhat in shock. The thing she thought that she was prepared for was finally said and she realized that she wasn't ready for it. She'd never really be ready for it as far as she was concerned. "Oh." The word fell out of her mouth like a whisper. This was something that she didn't want to hear and surely didn't want to accept. Danni chose denial and, to the best of her ability, that's what she would do until there was no more time to deny it and she'd have to accept reality. Garrett would be gone from her life and, more than likely, from her world.

"I…I’d better replace the supplies that we used." Danni turned and walked away, not wanting to show her feelings to anyone, especially to the surgeon herself.

Garrett let her head tip downward and sighed. She knew that she had just dealt a blow to her friend. ‘She’ll just have to understand that it’s for the best…’ then she turned and watched the young nurse walk away, ‘for her best.’ She hated causing Danni any pain but some things couldn’t be helped. ‘It’s better this way than if….’ No, she didn’t want to think of anything that could possibly hurt her friend anymore.

Realizing the nurse’s need to walk away, the surgeon emersed herself into the X-rays displayed on the viewer once more, content that she was doing what was right for all of them.

The time was flying by quickly now as Danni began to count the days she had left with the tall surgeon. Vowing not to let even a minute go by without some sort of contact with the woman, the nurse got ready to spend the day lost in the fun of a picnic with her friend. No, it wasn’t the kind where a simple blanket and food would be all that was needed besides each other, but instead it would involve games, contests and a large group of people. People who were there for one reason, they were all lone survivors. It was one of the things that Garrett had planned when she was off healing her ankle injury.

When Danni had first heard the surgeon’s idea, she wasn’t sure that it would be a good thing for the group to do. But now, faced with the fact that in a few days she too would be a member of their ranks, in spirit then not in reality. It made it all that more apparent to her that she needed this time with the surgeon. She needed to bank away all of the sunshine and good times that she could before the gray and lonely days would overrun her life. And with that in mind, the petite nurse got out of her bed and met the day head on with only positive thoughts involving one raven-haired woman.

Garrett’s choice of North Park was a good one. She’d reserved the flat area around the Boat House for the group to use. The activities that it afforded in close proximity were numerous and would meet with everyone’s approval.

The day had started early with Danni and Garrett arriving ready to set up the areas for fun. After that was done, they had time to spare before the first members of the group would arrive. It was then that the two women let the spark of adolescence light up their eyes and take off running for the swings. It wasn’t more than a minute before the long legs of the surgeon could be seen kicking off the backward stroke of the swing as she strove to go higher. Like two children out for a day of fun, their laughter could be heard as they giggled and talked back and forth.

"Gar, did you ever have a really good friend when you were growing up? I mean, besides your brother."

The surgeon didn’t need time to think. The answer was easy. "No, why?"

Danni shrugged her shoulders as she let the swing glide down of its own accord. "I was just wondering."

Garrett’s swing swooshed past the nurse’s in the opposite direction and her body leaned back with her head almost upside down to watch her friend. "How about you?"

"No," the blonde shook her head. "Mother would never allow it. Gar, why don’t we make believe that for just today we’re kids again? You know…do all the things that we missed out on doing with a close friend growing up." ‘Please, Gar, let me remember you as that close friend.’ Danni’s eyes pleaded her case.

Slowing, the surgeon brought her swing to a stop and sat there dangling on the seat as the chains jingled back and forth. The raven-haired woman took on a shy smile and nodded. "I think I’d like that."

And so the theme for the day was set by the words on their lips. Each one acting more like a big child than they would ever care to admit. From going out on the paddleboats, playing volleyball, to running as a team in the three-legged race they spent their time together. Then, when it came to tossing raw eggs back and forth until they finally broke, they were teens trapped inside the bodies of women, enjoying the day, the sun, and their time together as if nothing else mattered. It was a day that each one would remember for a long time.

Then without warning the laughter all came to a crashing halt. While waiting in the food line for their dinner, Diana Morgan had asked the question that Danni didn’t need to hear.

"So, Dr. Trivoli, will you be staying with us?" Diana waited hopefully for the answer. She didn’t want to think of losing another member of her growing pseudo family this soon. The young girl had come to look up to the surgeon for the caring way she handled the delicate situation when her family had been so devastatingly snatched from her.

The surgeon stopped short, her face became serious, as all she could do was shake her head, not wanting to ruin the day for either Danni or herself by saying what they both already knew but chose not to think about.

"Oh, I see," was Diana’s muted reply, "well, I’m glad that you’re with us today."

Garrett agreed and turned to see Danni become pale and nervous looking. Without a warning, the nurse swallowed hard and found herself needing to walk away before the tears sprang forth. "I…left something in the car. I’ll be back." Then she was gone.

She just couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to know what was going to happen. Danni just prayed that she’d be able to live through it.

In a few minutes, the nurse was able to cope once again as the rest of the day drew to a close. It would be a memory-filled time for them both to reminisce about.

Everything was dwindling down to the last in a series of things for the women. First it was their last ride into work together that started off the day, then their last mid morning coffee, and their last slow wait through the express line in the cafeteria for lunch. Then, on their way home from work, it was the last take-out pizza dinner that they’d pick up. Now in the hours slowly ticking by, they waited for their last call out and emergency flight. Each one wanted just once more to remember their time as a team but not really wanting to wish misfortune on anyone.

Just when it looked as if it was over, the pager went off, startling them both from the late night news broadcast that they were watching. Danni jumped up, and ran for the bathroom as Garrett got the message from the pager. "MVA with multiple victims."

The surgeon flipped her cellphone to her ear as she pressed the speed dial to the Command Center. "Trivoli here." She listened for a minute then ended the conversation. "We’re on our way with a ten minute ETA to the helipad."

The ride both by automobile and helicopter was quick and they were soon circling for the descent to the designated landing zone. The fly by over the accident scene showed the severity of the crash. They were able to make out the form of a vehicle in pieces as the impact with the utility pole had split it in two. Off to the other side of the road was another vehicle with its front end smashed and flipped onto its roof.

Danni shook her head in disbelief. "Can you image that?"

"Looks like we’ll have our work cut out for us down there." The surgeon sighed and mentally prepared herself for being the triage person who would decide which patient would be given a chance at life and who would be beyond help. "Cowboy, are there more choppers being sent to this scene?"

"That’s an affirmative, Doc." He looked into the rear compartment. "We doing a load and go?"

"No, I’ll have to triage and take the last one out."

"Gottcha, I’ll park us in the farthest slot." He turned his eyes back to the ground below as he picked out his spot. "I wonder if that was a wedding limo down there. What do you think?"

"No, there’s different colors to the clothing. My guess is that it was Prom Night." The blonde’s face was filled with emotion as she remembered the numerous Proms that she had attended at the hand of her mother. "They were probably having the time of their lives and now look at where they are, just trying to stay alive."

"Get us down there, Cowboy, and we’ll see what we can do." Garrett picked up on the melancholy in Danni’s voice.

The Scene Commander had explained the accident as another result of drunk driving at its best. The car on its roof had been traveling at a high rate of speed and went airborne when it crested the rise of the hill. The Limousine driver saw the hurtling car coming in his direction and stepped on the gas to get out of its way. That’s when he lost control and went broadside into the utility pole.

Garrett surveyed the scene of rescuers as they worked to meet the needs of all the patients. The team first took note of the patients that they could easily access as they made their way to the very open rear half of the limo. None of them had been wearing seatbelts as the array of bodies intertwined one with the other was evident. There were six in all; only two of which had been backboarded and collared as of yet. Danni and Garrett each stopped by one of them and did a quick assessment of their injuries and condition in general. Each one had some broken bones but was stable enough for a quick transport to the hospital without any other medical intervention. Their I.V.’s were checked for infiltration and drip flow and then they moved on to the next in the long line of patients.

Two more helicopters filled the air and made Danni feel a little relief at the thought of getting them all to the care of an awaiting Trauma Team. There was only so much that she and Garrett could do in the field and right now, their resources were stretched to the limit. The nurse met the incoming Flight Crews and directed the patient flow out of the scene as deemed by the surgeon. Within minutes, the two packaged patients were loaded into the helicopters and on their way to definitive care. Danni turned around to find out where Garrett was and headed for her.

The surgeon stood over a young woman who had been closest to the point of impact. The patient’s shallow, gasping breaths were a sure sign of fractured ribs. Garrett’s concern for her breathing and the fact that the impact had already broken bones, made her more worried of the possible spinal involvement, too. It was certain that this patient needed to be flown out next.

The surgeon looked over her shoulder as Danni approached. "This one goes next," she directed the nurse. Garrett watched as her team member nodded in understanding.

The nurse turned her eyes to the heavens and looked for the next helicopter to start its descent. Knowing that it would be a few minutes for it to land, Danni turned her attention back to the patient and monitored her condition.

"GAR!" The cry came out as the nurse lifted her stethoscope from the patient’s chest. "Her pneumothorax is getting bigger by the minute. I think she needs a chest tube fast."

The surgeon’s attention was split now. "Danni, we don’t have that ability out here. Besides," Garrett looked up from the patient that she was getting ready to intubate, "I’m needed here first. You’ll have to needle it and use the tip of a glove for a flutter valve."

"But I’ve never…"

"You’ve watched me do it a couple of times. I’ll talk you through it. You’ll do just fine."

The nurse nodded her head. "Okay, I’ll try."

"You’ll do it." The order was given in no uncertain terms. "Now get an 18 gauge needle and cut off the finger of a glove. Insert the needle down through the tip of the glove."

"Okay, done."

"Now find the fourth intercostal space on the effected side of the chest." The surgeon paused until Danni had found it. "Give me some suction here. You got that tube ready?" She asked the ambulance member that was assisting her in the intubation.

"Did you find it, Danni?"

"Yeah, found it."

"Good, now pass the needle just over top of the rib and insert it into the chest wall at the midline of that side, parallel with the nipple." She picked up the laryngoscope and opened it. "You’ll know that you’re deep enough when you hear the trapped air escaping out of the make shift flutter valve." Inserting the tube into the mouth of the patient that she was working on, she continued to guide her team member. "Once you’ve got it in place, tape it down."

Danni offered up a prayer on both her and the patient’s behalf and did what she was told. "PHSSSSSSSSST!" The rush of air escaped and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Got it, Gar."

"Good, I knew you could do it." The surgeon pulled back the stylet as she held the endotube in place. "Now secure it." She directed to both Danni and her help mate in the intubation. "Give her a minute and she should be breathing easier." Garrett looked over to the nurse and beamed with pride in the woman, then resumed her ministrations to the patient before her.

Danni smiled with confidence at what she had done. It was just one more time that proved how well the surgeon and the nurse worked together.

Now, with their patients handed off to the next two Flight Crews, Garrett and Danni pushed on to the last two remaining teens. Their injuries were not that devastating but the emotional drama that they had been witnesses to was taking its toll. The surgeon assessed their physical conditions while Danni took care of the emotional support that they needed.

It absolutely tore at the young nurse’s heart to see the effect of emotional carnage that the one young man was displaying. His wild-eyed, frenzied look was enough to show that this night would be forever locked in his memory to haunt him when he would least expect it.

Danni sat next to him and held his hand, talking to him and comforting him as only she could do. Healing was not always done with medicine, especially when it came to the emotions of trauma. It took a while, but her soft voice and concern for him and his friends soon soothed the young man enough to allow him to be loaded on the next helicopter and transported to where his friends had been taken.

Garrett, on the other hand, had been plagued by the non-stop questioning of the teenager in her care. His constant need to know what happened only attested to his evident head injury, along with his being amnesic to the event of the crash. The surgeon maintained an even keel in her attitude for the first one hundred times that she heard the same question. It was somewhere during the second hundred times that her level of irritation became noticeable. That was just about the time that Danni came to her rescue having handed her patient over to the first arriving Flight Crew.

"I’ll take care of him, Gar. Why don’t you go check out the one in the car?" The nurse motioned to the overturned car that the rescue people were working on.

"Thanks, Danni." The surgeon looked relieved as she got up and started to walk toward the ongoing rescue attempt.

Just as she made it to the outer circle of rescuers, the lifeless body of the driver was released from the car. His injuries were numerous and his skin had already taken on that ashen-gray look of death. Once Garrett was able to look down at his body, she knew the outcome of the night. The odd angulation of his neck and the indentation on the top of his head said it all. The only thing he could have possibly been was an organ donor and even now, that was too late.

The surgeon knelt down next to the body and listened for signs of life. No breathing was heard and no pulse was felt as she reached for the carotid artery in his neck. Out of habit, Garrett looked at her watch and pronounced his time of death. "0138."

The night had slowly edged into the wee hours of morning as the last patient was being loaded onto their helicopter. Danni and Garrett had triaged, shipped off the earlier patients, and were now on their way into the Trauma Center with the last one. It would be their last patient together.

The limo driver was resting as comfortably as could be expected with a badly fractured ankle and wrist as the nurse and surgeon watched over him. Each one was thinking of the scene that they had just left.

Danni willed the trip to take forever as she didn’t want it to end. Stealing glances in the surgeon’s direction as best she could, the nurse wanted to freeze time and keep her team together. But as the saying goes, all good things must end. And so, as Cowboy started his steady descent to the helipad below, the petite blonde found her eyes to be misty with a veil of tears. Blinking rapidly, she fought to hide them from the others onboard.

Garrett sat silently, thinking of what she and Danni had been through. They had served together and learned that they had more to give than they ever expected to, not only to each other but also to their patients as well. Now, their time together would be gone and the learning would have to start all over again in another place, in another world. Each one would need to learn for themselves what it was like without the other close at hand. The surgeon turned her face toward Danni’s and stared into it, memorizing this moment in time. In Garrett’s estimation it had been their finest hour, meeting the challenge of multiple casualties and winning the battle with only a single life taken.

They went through the motions that they had done what seemed like hundreds of times before, and handed off their patient to the awaiting Trauma Team. Now, it was finally over and they left the E.R. to deposit their helmets and put the equipment back in order for the next crew that it would serve.

Cowboy waited until they were done before he approached the women. He’d liked both of them and had only found out earlier that day the choice that the Flight Surgeon had made concerning her future. It pained him to see another take her place but when you were military, you got used to it. They all did and the pilot knew the mixed bag of emotions a reassignment carried with it. Eagerness to start the new job, while still having feeling of sadness at leaving the one you were familiar with. Then he thought of Danni and wondered if she, too, would be leaving to follow the surgeon, after all, a team like that was hard to walk away from.

He held out his hand to the turning woman, "Doc, it’s been a pleasure flying with you. Anytime you want, I’d be honored to have you as a team member."

Garrett smiled and extended her hand to him. "Thanks, Cowboy, you made that easy for us." She looked over to Danni to include her in the thought then felt her hand being taken in his and her body being pulled into a hug with the man. She returned the embrace that felt so much like the ones that her father had given her when she had achieved a milestone in her life.

The petite blonde watched her team members as best she could with the tears that were streaming down her face. ‘Its over, it’s really over.’ She felt at a loss for words and hoped that she would not be called on for any. She closed her eyes and felt the hand on her shoulder guiding her into the group hug. ‘You just can’t leave well enough alone, can you, Cowboy?’ But it was too late and soon all three stood close together, the man’s long reach encircling them both as the sky slowly turned a lighter shade of dark.

It was early on Sunday morning when Danni rose and started packing for her yearly two weeks of vacation. The destination didn’t matter much because of her fear of flying. The trip was usually somewhere she could travel by any other mode of transportation. This year, her destination was simple. It was the place that she had grown up feeling secure and loved. The cabin that had been her grandfather’s and she knew it well. There, she could let her wounds heal while not worrying about what others would think or say. It would give her the time that she would need to grieve the loss of her loved one.

The tall woman stopped by Danni’s room on her way back from the shower. Knocking first and then opening the door to the muffled response, Garrett watched her friend, first put a stack of clothing into her suitcase and then take it back out again. "Is it alright to come in?"

The blonde nodded and looked away. She knew that the time for good-byes was fast approaching and she was stalling for all she was worth. "Yeah, I just can’t seem to decide if I’ll need some heavier clothing for the evenings or not. It can get pretty chilly up there with nothing to keep you warm." Danni smiled weakly as images of Garrett’s long arms wrapped around the nurse’s body to stave off the chill of the night air. ‘By the gods, I wish you were going with me.’

Garrett held up her finger, "I’ve got the perfect thing." She disappeared from the doorway and returned with an old heavy sweatshirt in hand. The surgeon walked into the room and held it out for Danni to take. "I don’t think I’ll get much use out of it in Arizona. Here, you take it, that way if I ever come back this way, I’ll have something to wear."

The petite woman took it from her friend and held it out to see. "Gar, I can’t take this, it’s from your college days. Don’t you want to keep it for a remembr…"

"I’ll never wear it down there. Besides, it’s a favorite of mine, took me quite a while to get it all broken in and soft. See?" Garrett took the sleeve and rubbed it against Danni’s cheek. "I’d rather see you with it than for it to collect dust in storage."

The nurse realized what her friend was doing and held the garment next to her heart. "Thanks, Gar." She folded it and packed it neatly into the suitcase with the large, faded letters U.S.C. showing. "It will be here if you ever need it." Then clearing her throat, she sniffed back a tear letting the breath she was holding ease out of her mouth. ‘You don’t have to do this yet, Danni, stall for more time.’ "Hey, I made some coffee. Do you want me to get you a cup while you get dressed?"

"Thanks, I’d like that," the tall woman disappeared from the room.

Danni closed her eyes and breathed through her mouth. ‘Control, Danni, keep it in control. She was never yours for the taking. If she doesn’t want to stay on her own, you can’t hold her here.’ She swallowed hard and headed for the door and the pot of coffee downstairs.

As she came to the top of the staircase, Danni heard the familiar beeps of the Flight Surgeon’s pager. Curious, she turned to see Garrett coming through her bedroom door, pulling a T-shirt over her head with one hand. The other hand was holding her cellphone as she did a quick answer or two, flipped it shut, then stuck it in her pocket of her jeans.

"Danni, forget the coffee. I got to get to the hospital. They need another surgeon for a Trauma patient." Garrett walked up to the petite woman and gathered her up in her arms. "Thanks, for everything this last year. I guess you’ll be gone by the time I get home." The surgeon felt the grip of the small woman tighten for a second and then let go. Bending her head down, the surgeon kissed the top of Danni’s head. "I’ll send you my address when I get settled." Her grip released and she was striding toward the door with the same determination that she had when she came into the nurse’s life.

"Good-bye." The words were mere whispers on either side of the door as it shut. The surgeon headed toward her Blazer while a lost soul floundering in the sea of life still stood on the steps to the second floor.

Danni had wanted to say so much more, and there she stood saying nothing, just giving her heart with that short embrace. Slowly sinking down to sit on the top step, the nurse heard the sound of the Blazer as it pulled hurriedly out of its space and took off down the street. There was an empty feeling in her heart as well as the pit of her stomach. Garrett was gone, and now she was left alone. ‘You are such a coward, Bossard. Why didn’t you tell her?’

The tears flowed freely now and the petite woman got up and walked down to the desk in the hall. Taking out a piece of stationery, she picked up the pen and poured her heart out into words that she hoped the surgeon would accept. Done after only a few minutes, Danni folded it noticing the few tearstains that had been left on it. She placed it next to Garrett’s mail for the surgeon to find.

She returned to her room, finished packing, and left. There would be no need to stall for more time now. What she dreaded for so many months was over and done with. It was time for healing, and then she would have to move on with her life, if she could.