Up in the Air

Chapter 13

The last week of her Fellowship year slid by before Garrett Trivoli knew it. The days were filled with rounds, answering trauma calls, and occasional cases in the O.R. Things that she loved doing, but somehow now, without the bubbling, blonde nurse, the surgeon was just passing time with. She couldn’t believe how much one person had changed her whole outlook on life.

Often during a free moment, the surgeon thought about how she had left so abruptly, saying good-bye to Danni with nothing more than a hug and a few mumbled words of thanks for all that the nurse had done and been to her. She was ashamed for it, knowing that the blonde-haired nurse with the heart of gold deserved more. The surgeon had found the note placed by her mail slot when she had returned home later that night. It made her think that Danni had more on her mind to say when they parted than she had been allotted time for. Maybe that was why the surgeon kept putting off reading the note that Danni had left, afraid that it would blast her for it. Then Garrett would reason out that Danni could never do anything of the like. In fact, that knowledge made her not want to read the letter at all, at least not while she was still in Pittsburgh. That was why she left it in her mail slot, to be taken out with the last of her belongings.

It was Thursday and nearing the end of the day when Garrett received word during an appendectomy case that Dr. McMurray would like to see her. The surgeon planned to finish her case and once her patient was in the Recovery Room, she’d stop by her mentor’s office. ‘He probably wants to wish me well,’ she reasoned, knowing that he was headed out for a long weekend with his wife. She continued on with her procedure in the sterile environment.

McMurray was standing, his back to the door when he heard the brisk knocking on it. "Come in," he yelled never taking his eyes from the sights outside of his window. He pondered how to approach the subject that was on his mind. He thought about how well the surgeon performed her job with the petite nurse at her side. They were a crack Flight Team; why wouldn’t that extend to their personal lives? They always seemed to look out for one another, taking on the other’s battle as if it were their own. He could see the love in their eyes when they were together. ‘Just like the love that I still see in my wife’s eyes when she looks at me now.’ The Ol’ Cutter couldn’t understand why the surgeon wanted to leave. She could have it all and keep contact with the friends that she had made. ‘It’s almost like you’re leaving for another reason. Perhaps to distance yourself from someone?’

The door slowly opened, revealing the tall surgeon. "You wanted to see me, sir?" After closing the door behind her, she strode into the room, taking up a position near the desk. She wondered if he had heard her enter, he never moved a muscle, just stood there staring out of the window.

After a few moments, he nodded his head, as if in deep thought, then turned to address her. "Dr. Trivoli…Garrett," his eyes softened when they met hers. "Have you ever felt like you were caught between a rock and a hard place?"

Her eyes narrowed as she regarded his question. "Yes, sir, I have." Her eyebrow rose as she continued. "I’ve found either way you are damned if you do or damned if you don’t." She could sense that something was on his mind. She was pretty sure that whatever it was involved her.

Sighing, he nodded in agreement to her statement, as his fingers absently played with the picture frame on his desk. He made his mind up; he saw no reason to beat around the bush. McMurray had always thought of the skilled surgeon as a straightforward person and would treat her in the same manner. "You’re really set on heading to Arizona aren’t you? I suppose that they offered you everything under the sun and then some."

"It met my needs." The woman answered without batting an eye. ‘Far enough away and with enough work to keep my mind off of Danni.’

He took in a breath. Without allowing her time to answer further, he began speaking again. "You know in another 4 or 5 years, I’ll be looking for someone to take my place as Chairman of Trauma Services. We could’ve illuminated your career during the next few years, making you one of the most renowned authorities on trauma. That way no one would be able to dispute you replacing me when the time came. That is, if you would have chosen to stay here, under me." He looked her straight in the eye and waited for her reply.

She stood shocked at what he was offering her. "I…I hadn’t really considered staying, sir." She gulped. "I’ve been a little preoccupied lately, I guess." Her thoughts turned ever so briefly to the reason, allowing her face to blush. She chastised herself for letting her emotions come to the surface. She was losing control again and fought to regain it. Pursing her lips to speak, she was cut off before she could start.

"So," he barked. "Does the object of your affection know about it yet, or are you going to keep it all to yourself, Dr. Trivoli?" The Ol’ Cutter sniffed as he searched her face for an answer. "Hmmm, I can see that you haven’t even discussed it with yourself, let alone that person." He eyed her with disdain. "Or if you have thought about it, you think that you know what’s best."

"But, Sir, it’s not that easy." Her eyes darted on and off of his face as she tried to find the words. "There are a lot of things to consider before I…"

"Before you what? Let love pass you by." He looked at the photo that he now was holding in his hands. His eyes falling on those of his wife’s in the picture. "Sometimes you only pass by once in life before the world takes you in another direction." He put the frame back down on the desktop. "Don’t live the rest of you life wondering what life would have been like."

‘I know that from experience. Thank God, I came to my senses after only a year, and what a year it was, filled with anger and heartache.’ He eyed her suspiciously. "You aren’t trying to be gallant and not let your feelings be known, are you?"

Garrett closed her eyelids, trying desperately to hold back her resolve. She mustered up all of her energy to resume her display of the stoic mask she had used so many times before. Her eyes burned deep into his. "I’m afraid, sir, that you are correct. I’m not sure that my feelings would be well received, anyway." Her voice trailed off in thought.

"This person," he paused. "They’re not already married, are they?"

Her face registered shock at the thought of breaking up a marriage. "NO!" She protested. "I could never…"

"All right then." McMurray abruptly turned back to gazing out the window, deep in thought. Suddenly it all became clear to the man. ‘Perhaps Dr. Trivoli, you just need to know where I stand.’ After a moment, his voice turned mellow as he spoke. "You know that things are viewed a lot differently today than they were in my day."

Her eyes grew big in realization of what he was alluding to. She muttered under her breath, fearing that he could read her thoughts. "I can’t believe that it wouldn’t be an issue, an obstacle to some."

"Dr. Trivoli let me remind you, when an injured patient comes seeking help, they don’t care whether you are a left handed surgeon or a right handed one. All that they care about is that you are able to help them, to heal them and make them as whole as possible. Why do you think that it will matter who you have beside you in your life’s path?" His brow furrowed in thought and anger both at her insecurity and her bullheadedness to realizing what her heart was telling her all along.

"I know how some people are. They wouldn’t understand." Her eyes were cast down to the floor.

"I’m sure that anybody you operated on would rather know that in this day and age of devastating, deadly diseases, the surgeon with her hands inside of them is engaged in a monogamous relationship. No matter who that relationship was with."

Garrett’s mouth dropped open at the candor with which the man spoke.

"Hell, you’d have to be a fool to take chances on someone that wasn’t. Now, don’t think that I feel that every patient needs to know your private life, I don’t," he barked. "At least you could answer that question if it were ever an issue. You’d be able to assure them of your complete and undeniable dedication to your partner, putting their minds at ease."

Unsure, she answered. "I just never thought…"

Turning quickly, his gaze pinned her in place tighter than if he had used a hammer and nails to do the job. "Then you’d better think about letting the other person know what’s in your heart or you’ll lose her for sure, before you know it." He shook his head as he thought aloud. "I can’t understand how you can be such a damn good trauma surgeon and not be able to take control of your own life." A sigh of disgust could be heard as it left his mouth. "I would have thought that you could have learned more while you were here with us, Trivoli, but I guess I was wrong." The Ol’ Cutter shook his head in frustration. "I suggest that you would at least be woman enough to confront the other person and see where they stand before you throw it all away." He turned and walked over to the window again, his back remaining in her view. "Now, go and think about what I’ve said. You’ve got a lot of things to consider before you plot out the rest of your life."

She stood motionless, her eyes not being able to stay fixed to any one place. Her mind was a jumble of mixed emotions raging from fear to hatred of the man who had been able to crawl inside of her head without her realizing it. Was it so obvious to everyone around her? Was she in such denial of her own feelings for so long that she couldn’t even recognize them when they were pointed out to her? The once proud and defiant surgeon stood there, her shoulders rounded in self-doubt. Biting her lower lip she closed her eyelids to try to calm her turbulent soul. Shaking her head as she left the office of her mentor, she knew what she needed to do next, and it wasn’t going to be easy.

After a restless night, Garrett rose to her last day of work here in the ‘Burgh. She’d puttered through the silent house hoping to hear the sound of a lumbering Danni climbing out of her bed to start the day, but it never happened. The surgeon was there by herself with only memories to keep her company now.

The tall woman pulled on her Dockers, polo shirt and grabbed a freshly laundered white Lab coat for her final day in the clinic. There would be no surgeries for her today, instead it would be a day of checking up on patients that she had seen initially in the past and she thought of it as coming full circle in their care. It would be a short day for her. Even with making the several stops to say her good-byes, she knew that she would be home earlier than on most of her previous work days. She looked around her bedroom and made a mental note to bring a few boxes home with her tonight to pack her meager belongings in, then left to begin her last day.

She had seen several of her patients as the morning wore on into the afternoon. Each of the visits had shown a steadily improving patient recovering both from their injuries and from the trauma of the accident itself.

Take for instance the woman that the Trauma Team had simply known as "Sunshine." Her ability to come back after the devastating attack and rape was testament in itself. The surgeon knew how hard the rape trial had been for both her and the victim but luckily some good had come out of it for the both of them. Garrett realized that she did indeed have tendencies leaning toward being gay, and for "Sunshine," the woman was able to find some sort of justice in knowing that the man who had violated her would be locked up for quite a while.

Then, there was the young boy who by bad luck had gone from mock patient to patient all in the same day. It would take some time but his rehabilitation was going along nicely. His initial neurogenic shock was resolving as well as the head injury that he had sustained in that fall from the bleachers. It would be another month or so before the Cervical Spine fracture was healed completely, but his prognosis was looking better every day. He would not be a victim of paralysis.

She felt proud of the work that she had been a part of in all of her patients’ efforts to bring their lives back to near normalcy. Her skills had been well used and relied upon over the course of the last year, making her feel good that she had played an important role in their lives.

Garrett looked at the clock as she went to the desk for the last set of folders that were waiting to be seen. It was nearly 1630. With a little luck this would be the last ones for today. She opened the first folder and smiled. Then as she quickly opened the second folder her smile grew broader. ‘What a nice way to end this day,’ she thought and went to the examination room where the patients were waiting to be seen.

The surgeon opened the door slowly and smiled at the pair. "Marie, Chris, I’m glad that I get to have you two as my last patients to see."

The eyes of the women lit up as they recognized the tall surgeon. "Why now, if it isn’t Dr. Trivoli, what a surprise." Marie voiced in her calm and eloquent manner while Chris nodded in delight from the chair next to her.

"So what do you say we get the exams done first, then we can chat?" Garrett looked at them with a raised eyebrow. "Chris, how about you first?" The surgeon motioned to the examination table in the room. "Care to hop up and let me take a look at how well that incision of mine is doing?"

"Sure, Doc," she stated as she got up and tugged her shirt out of her pants. She walked over to the table as she unbuttoned the shirt and then laid down waiting to be examined. "Looking pretty good, I think."

The surgeon pulled on a pair of gloves and gently probed the site, checking it for how it had healed as well as signs that the scaring was fading. After inspecting the length of the incision and the areas around it, she straightened up and smiled as she pulled off the gloves, throwing them into the trash receptacle. "Looking very good, Chris. Are you experiencing any problems, any tightness of the skin as it’s healing?"

"Hell…I mean heck no, Doc." Chris corrected her language and looked over sheepishly at Marie. "I been trying not to use that as much since I almost landed up there." She giggled as her curly hair shook in response to it. "You did a good job of patching me up and I wanted to thank you for it." The older woman nodded. "Marie told me what all you did and I wanted you to know that I appreciated it."

"Yes," Marie chimed in. "She was on the road to recovery much faster since you let me stay with her. Thank you for doing what was best for her and not what somebody else stated as policy."

Garrett smiled and nodded. "I like to think that I do what is best for the patient, not just follow the rules."

"Well, you do. I just hope that you do it for yourself too, Doc." Chris winked and searched the face of the surgeon to see if she understood.

"Well, some things don’t always happen like you want them to." She turned her attention to Marie now. "Let me take a look at that face of yours, Marie."

The quick glancing of eyes passed between the two older women as each wondered what she had meant.

"Doc, ain’t Danni, the nurse, here with you?"

"No," the surgeon cleared her throat. "She’s on vacation."

"But she’s coming back, right?"

"Yes, she’ll be back shortly after I’m gone." Garrett rolled her tongue around her teeth and raised her eyebrows like a shrug. "I’ve accepted a position in Arizona. I’ll be leaving tomorrow."

"You sure that you want to do something like that? I mean…all that way across the country?" Chris was intent on bringing it to her attention.

"Yeah, I’m sure. It’s a good job offer that I can’t pass up."

"Does Danni know about this?" Marie was quick to ask. "I’m sure that she wouldn’t want you to…" she stopped suddenly noticing the face that Chris was making. "Well, we’ll miss you, Doc. That’s for sure."

"Thanks." It was all that Garrett could say as she continued with the closer examination of the woman’s face. "Looks like that scar is healing nicely. A little while longer and you’ll hardly know that it’s there." The words echoed into the surgeon’s own head and she hoped that they would be true for her too as she thought about the scar that would be etched on her heart by leaving Danni.

It was the end of her day and now all she had left to do was stop by the office for her picture of Lucas and turn in her keys, Hospital I.D., and pagers to Dr. McMurray’s secretary. It wasn’t much but it was the last reminders of her year of Fellowship here in Pittsburgh, well, that and the occasionally sore ankle from that pothole.

Garrett turned the doorknob on her office door and was surprised to see it was unlocked. Opening it, she saw Rene Chabot sitting at the desk, his long frame stretched out and lounging from chair to desk.

"Taking over a little more of the office since I’m leaving, eh, Rene?" She teased him, her eyebrow high upon her forehead.

"Well, I did think that the office was going to be a little bigger with you gone, if only for the last week. But I can see that I was wrong." He smiled at her and joined in her laughter. "So, you really are going to Arizona?"

"Yes, I’ll be leaving to drive out there tomorrow." She shrugged not knowing what else to do. "Why, you going to miss me?"

He slowly nodded his head, "Yes, I will."

"Well, don’t let me disturb you. I just stopped by for my photograph." She motioned to it on the bookcase. "It was nice working with you, Rene. Heck, you weren’t too bad to get to know even if you were Canadian." The tall woman chuckled at the face he was making to her comment as she picked up the framed picture and tucked it into her pocket.

"Hey, do you want an international incident or what?"

"No," Garrett shook her head. "It’s just my way of letting you know that I enjoyed our little talks here in the office. You know, Rene, they always made me think."

The tall man sat up, attentive to her words. "That’s what they were supposed to do. Although…I’m not sure that they did."

Her raven hair moved softly around her shoulders as she nodded her head. "They did, believe me, they did."

Dr. Chabot stood and held out his hand to her. "Well, perhaps our paths will cross again, my friend and I’ll get another chance to work on you to open you heart and let the love enter in."

She took his hand and shook it first as one colleague to another and then as friend to friend. "Maybe someday. You never know what the fates hold in store for us."

They let their hands glide smoothly past one another, as their eyes registered what they could not say.

"Good-bye, Garrett." He moved around the desk and hugged the tall woman who had become more of a friend to him than his colleague.

"Good-bye, Rene. Kiss those little ones for me, will you?" She said softly next to his ear.

"I will." The man let her slip away from his grip even though he wanted to hold her in place, not letting her leave until she would come to her senses.

Garrett nodded and left the office as the tall French-Canadian sank into his chair and propped his head on his hands with his elbows on the desk. He sighed loudly. ‘Now what is Danni going to do without you, my friend?’ The man shook his head in disbelief. ‘Better yet, what are you going to do without her?’

She was off the clock now, if you wanted to think of it as such. The surgeon entered the reception area outside of McMurray’s office.

"Hi, Stella." She greeted the woman behind the desk. "I’m supposed to drop these off to you." She held out her hand with the key, pagers and hospital I.D. for the woman to see.

"Yes, Dr. Trivoli, I was expecting you." The older woman smiled politely as she accepted the items. "If you would just sign here, you’ll be free to go."

Garrett acknowledged the requirement and complied by lifting the pen on the desk and scribbling out her signature. Standing back up, she turned and stopped looking at the wall to the left of the door.

"New pictures going up, Stella?" The surgeon pointed to the empty nails on the wall and wrapped frames on the counter right below them.

"McMurray didn’t tell you?" She thought for a moment. "I bet he forgot in his hurry to get out of here last night." The secretary rose from her chair and went over to the packages in question and opened them.

The surgeon’s eyes grew wider as she saw what was going to be hung on the wall. They were mounted photographs of her and Danni. The larger of the two was the PR shot for the Flight Team, while the smaller one was in black and white from the E.R.’s annual Softball game that she had participated in. It was the one that they had used in the hospital newspaper of her and the petite nurse sprawled out like two rag dolls on top of each other in the dirt.

Garrett stood in shock, not realizing that the woman was picking up a third package and unwrapping that also. When she finally saw what it was, she sank down into one of the chairs and just stared at it.

"When…when was that one taken?" The dazed surgeon asked, still glued to the photograph.

"You should know, you were there, Dr. Trivoli."

"I had…I had no idea."

"You don’t think that it’s a good likeness of you?"

"No, it’s good, in fact, it’s great even." Garrett bit at her lip. "I…I got to go. Thanks, Stella for showing them to me." The surgeon got up and left, letting the third photo be the last thing she saw as she walked out of the room.

Stella watched as Garrett departed from the room. "Hmmm…" she turned back to the picture in question. "You sure do always know how to pick them Mrs. McM." She went over to the photo and brushed a piece of lint from the glass. "Don’t want anything to cloud your vision." She giggled. "Just like that Ol’ Cutter of yours, she’ll be back once she finds out what she’s left behind." The secretary looked at the photograph of the four people, Dr. and Mrs. McMurray and Dr. Trivoli with Nurse Bossard at her right. "Yep. Just going to take some time."

The tall surgeon had taken off her lab coat and draped it over her arm as she walked down the hall thinking about the photographs that she had just seen. ‘And you thought you were doing the right thing by leaving and not staying around for her to see. She’ll see you every time that she walks into or leaves McMurray’s office. Damn that awards dinner.’ She let out a long breath. ‘Guess you were wrong about that, eh Gar?’

"Well only one more stop to make and you’re out of here." She spoke out loud to herself. "Next stop the E.R." With renewed emphasis on leaving, she set her course for the busiest area of the hospital.

Between the warm weather and the beginning of the summer, the waiting room for the E.R. was packed with people all waiting to be seen. The Spring cold and flu season had given way to injuries of every type and nature. Garrett surveyed the crowd of waiting patients as she wound her way through the seating section and past the registration desk. She could tell that the night would be a busy one for anyone left working. In a way, it kind of unsettled her to know that for the next week or so she had absolutely nothing to do but pack up and drive to Arizona.

She pushed open the double doors and walked into the main hub of the E.R., faint glimpses of Danni played across her mind as she looked around for the faces she wanted to see. God, was she going to miss coming in here. Not wanting to cry, Garrett quickly pulled out that stoic mask and let it fall in place.

"Hey, Dr. Trivoli." Jamie Potter waved to her. "Can I get you to take a look at a belly for me?"

Garrett smiled then shook her head. "Sorry Dr. Potter, I no longer have O.R. privileges here."

"Oh, jeez, I forgot that you were leaving." She grabbed a chart and started to walk by. "I guess you won’t be playing on our team then this year."

"No, hardly. I’ll be in Arizona."

"Good luck then, and take care." The wild haired E.R. Attending winked at her and waved. "I got a patient to see. Bye."

"Bye." Garrett sighed. ‘Well, that wasn’t too bad.’ She turned and looked for the older, no nonsense Charge Nurse. Seeing her, she called out, "Mom."

Karen turned and smiled. She was glad that the surgeon had stopped by. The nurse finished her writing and put down the chart. "Come here you." She reached out for the tall woman. "Now who’s going to nearly run me down and make me a trauma this year, huh?" The nurse hugged Garrett as if she were her real daughter, going off to live on her own for the first time. "I’m going to miss you, you Amazon." She released the surgeon and wiped a tear from her own eye. "You’d think that I’d get used to my kids growing up and leaving home. Never."

Garrett smiled and nodded. She too, had grown to think of this as her home and the woman in front of her as dearly as her own mother. "Yeah, well, you should try it from this side sometime. It’s not much better." The surgeon bit at her lip trying to remain in control.

"Hey, Trivoli." The loud voice was heard over the din of the hall as Rosie came up and put her arm around the dark-haired woman. "You stopping by to help out or to say "bye" as you get out?" She was one for teasing as always.

"Getting out, Rosie. I just stopped by to say thanks for all the good times this last year."

Rosie opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of the overhead paging system. "Trauma’s in the department. Trauma’s in the department."

"Bye, Doc, I got to go." The auburn-haired nurse gave her a quick hug and left for the Trauma Hallway.

"Bye." Garrett watched as she faded from view.

"You know something, Doc? I never thought I’d see that the first day you came through those doors. Nope, Rosie was ready to hunt you down and throttle you good."

Garrett looked puzzled. "Why didn’t she?"

"Danni. Danni promised that she’d make you more ‘E.R. nurse friendly’."

"And that she did." The words were muttered and meant only for the surgeon.

"Hey, speaking of Danni, she gave me something awhile back for you. Let me get it out of my locker." Mom took off, headed for the locker room before Garrett could react. Within a minute she was back and holding out a small box for Garrett to take. "Here, open it."

The surgeon looked to Mom. "Do you know what’s in it?"

"No."

Garrett nodded, then pulled the lid off of the box. Inside on a pillow of velvety material was a small, gold, free floating heart, the kind that could be worn on a necklace. The surgeon’s eyes blinked back a tear as she looked at the Charge Nurse.

"She never told me, honest. I have no idea what it was meant to be for." Karen debated whether or not to say anything about how Danni felt or what the young nurse had confided in her. "You know, Doc, that little nurse really does love you with all of her heart."

"Thanks, Mom." She leaned over, hugged the woman, then put the lid back on the box. "I…I got to go. Bye, Mom, and thanks." The stoic woman who was loosing her control held up the box, nodded, turned and walked out of the E.R.

Karen stood there and watched the doors close on another chapter in the life of the E.R., a chapter that she’d hoped would have ended differently.

It was a pleasant summer evening as she drove with her windows rolled down, her arm hanging out of the opening as Garrett headed towards home for the final time. Traffic wasn’t that bad for a Friday night and the flow seemed to be moving faster than usual when it was her turn to stop at the traffic light outside of the mall entrance. Sitting there, she eyed the listing for a jewelry store on the first level of the mall. ‘Hmmm…maybe I should get a chain for that heart.’ With her decision made, the Blazer pulled to the right as she turned into the mall drive.

It didn’t take long before the black full sized Blazer was once again sitting at the traffic light, only this time it was coming from another direction. The raven-haired woman at the wheel was playing self-consciously with the shiny new necklace and floating heart that moved freely about her neck. It had been almost a year since she had worn a necklace. The surgeon had only ever worn her dog tags from the Navy and that was because they required it. Now, she chose to wear something that reminded her of one petite, golden-haired woman with a free-floating heart all her own. Yes, Garrett decided that she’d wear this necklace for rest of her life, that way she’d always keep Danni close to her heart.

The surgeon found sleep to be nothing more than an illusion as she spent most of her time walking from one room to the next, reliving all of the things that had happened to her in this house, Danni’s house. She thought back to the first day that the nurse had even suggested that they share the space. Garrett had been so sure that it wouldn’t work out and now to look at her, she would have been better off if it hadn’t.

Somehow she ended up sitting on the couch for the longest time in the early morning, watching the sky change colors through the front window. The twinkling of the stars in the heavens made her think of the tiny ill-shaped Christmas tree that turned into a beautiful sight when the final decorations were done and the colorful lights were illuminated.

Garrett shook her head as if to try to clear it of the memories for a while. She pushed herself up from the couch and grabbing the two or three empty boxes that she had brought home, headed for her room. ‘If I’m going to be up all night, I might as well finish packing.’

It didn’t take her long before the few things that she had accumulated while living here in Pittsburgh were packed and ready for shipping when she would have an address to ship them too. She stacked them in the corner of the hall by the door. She hoped that Danni wouldn’t mind. They wouldn’t be there that long, just until she sent an address to have them delivered to.

"Well, Gar, shower time for you and then its time to hit the road." She stretched her body to its full height and felt the bones ease into place. "Yep, a good hot shower will do you wonders." The surgeon started for the stairs when she heard the house phone start ringing. "Hmmm…the hospital knows that Danni is on vacation, I wonder…" Garrett stopped next to the phone and listened, undecided as to pick it up or not.

Finally the answering machine picked up and the prerecorded message with Danni’s voice clicked on. "I’m not here, like always, so leave a message and I’ll get back to you."

Garrett closed her eyes and pictured Danni as she heard the voice.

There was a moment of silence, and then a male voice began to speak. "Danni, I’ve taken care of damage control with Mother. She knows now that you aren’t and never were pregnant. I hope that note she sent you didn’t get you too upset. See you later, Sis. Ah…almost forgot, it’s Matt." He trailed off with the sound of his laughter then hung up.

The surgeon stood there staring at the machine. She was in shock. "David was right…he never…" She closed her eyes tightly now and fought back the tears. "Too late now, Trivoli. You’re a fool to think that someone like Danni would even think of doing something without love being involved in it." Garrett shook her head in disbelief. "And if it happened any other way, I’m sure she would have come to me as a friend for advice." The surgeon rolled her eyes at the thoughts going through her head. "Damn it!" The large fist slammed down on to the hall stand. "You’re committed. You’re due to start that new job in Arizona on the first of July. Your word has always been like gold." She squared her shoulders and set her course for the shower, her right hand raised slowly to her chest and long, sinewy fingers touched the golden heart.

With her shower completed, Garrett dressed, picked up her bags and headed down the stairs. With purposeful steps, she made her way out the door and to her Blazer. Once the suitcases were stowed into the rear, she walked slowly back into the house and made one last sweep for any forgotten belonging.

Finding nothing more of hers to take, the surgeon stopped at the desk and pulled the few remaining letters out of her slot. There in the middle was the piece of stationery that was folded over. She hadn’t read it yet and knowingly shoved it into her jeans back pocket for another time. She took one long last look around, then picked up her leather flight jacket and flung it over her shoulder. Taking the house key from her pocket, she placed it on the desk next to Danni’s slot. The surgeon turned and went to the front door. With the lock set to secure the house upon closing, Garrett let her gaze fall upon the furnishing of the house once more.

"Good-bye, my love." She whispered as she closed the door.

It was mid day when the surgeon finally felt the need to pull off the road for a rest stop. She had been pushing herself to put as many miles in as she could before she stopped for the night. Here was good as any to get a bite to eat and some coffee to fuel her mind. She watched for the next exit that would take her to a roadside diner. Within a few miles the neatly displayed signs pointed her way.

"Mabel’s Home Cooking, sounds good to me," and the surgeon slowed her car to a stop at the end of the turnpike ramp. Pulling into the parking lot, Garrett got out and stretched until it felt good. "Yep, you’ll sleep tonight, that’s for sure."

Entering the small diner, she picked out a booth that was away from the crowd. ‘Alone, as usual, eh Trivoli?’ She settled into the seat and looked over the menu. After giving her order to the waitress, she found herself playing with the gold heart about her neck. She looked around and came up empty handed, "Hmm…nothing here to read." Then she remembered the folded piece of stationery in her back pocket. "Awe…I might as well read it now." She mumbled to herself and dug it out.

Hesitating for only a moment after she unfolded it, she began to read.

My Dearest Garrett,

This past year has been a wonderful experience that I would not trade for the world. Your friendship and understanding has touched my heart in such a way that I can not describe. I have no past liaison to compare it to and even if I did, I’m sure that it would pale to the love that I hold for you in my heart. Thank you, my friend for your confidence in me when I didn’t have any in myself. Even now, I’m lacking the confidence to tell you that I love you and that you will always have my heart.

Take care, my friend.

Danni

Garrett sat transfixed to the letter. The words racing wildly in her head as her mind thought about what to do. There it was in black and white. How could she deny it now?

"Hey, hon. You alright?" The waitress stared at her as she set the food down in front of her.

"Yeah…Yeah, I’m fine." The surgeon’s eyes darted back and forth as she thought. "Do you have a phone here?"

"Sure, right back there by the restrooms."

Garrett jumped up and went in the direction that the waitress had pointed.

"Silly, girl." The waitress smacked her gum and scribbled out the check that she left on the table next to the coffee. "Don’t think she’ll be staying long."

And the waitress was right. After a few moments on the phone, the tall, dark-haired woman sat down, ate quickly, finished her coffee and stood up to leave. Pulling a couple of bills out of her pocket, she counted them out and placed them on the meal check for the waitress, then walked toward the door.

"Hey, don’t you want any dessert?" The waitress yelled from behind the counter as the tall stranger reached for the door.

"No, I think I’ll save room for that later." Then she was out the door and headed toward her Blazer.