Annoyed at the direction her thoughts were now turning, the surgeon looked up and down the driveway in search of the friendly nurse. ‘What’s taking her so long?’ She glanced at her watch; it was 1133 and still no sign of the bubbly young woman. Garrett was in the habit of punctuality; waiting had never been her strong point. It was another one of her perfectionistic qualities, one that she wished everyone had. She tried hard to keep her mind from drifting and decided to make a quick check of what she needed to address when she came on shift tomorrow morning. The rest of the day was going to be for enjoyment and socializing with her new work mates, as it was decreed from McMurray. It would feel good to relax and maybe even have a little fun. ‘Ah, the thought of competition,’ she had liked sports in her younger days. At least there would be something to look forward to.
"Hey, Garrett! Over here." The small blonde was standing outside of the green Geo Metro with the door open. She waved trying to get her new friend’s attention. ‘Oh! I forgot, hospital property.’ "Dr. Trivoli," she called even louder hoping that the surgeon had not heard her first name called earlier.
The sound of her name made her look around. There, off to the side, she could see the wild antics of the young nurse trying to get her attention. Garrett allowed the corners of her mouth to slowly turn upward as she waved and made her way across the driveway. "Thought you forgot about me. You did say 1130, right?"
"Sorry, I had a little problem with traffic. Here let me put that into the trunk." Danni accepted the duffel bag from the tall woman and opened the rear compartment, revealing several large watermelons. "Our offering to the picnic. I hope I got enough." She laughed, placing the bag into the little space that was left and closed the trunk lid. "Your door is open."
Garrett looked at the small size of the Geo Metro and thought about her almost 6 foot tall body. ‘I guess it will be like getting into that damn submarine.’ One eyebrow slowly raised. "How far to the park, Danni?"
"Oh, it will only take ten or fifteen minutes, why?" The small blonde was settling back into the driver’s seat.
"Nothing, just wondered." The tall surgeon thought about the cramped quarters, gulped, and gingerly tried to fit her long legs into the passenger compartment.
"I moved the seat back to give you more room."
"Thanks, I think." Garrett was in the seat, her legs more like an accordion with the knees rising just slightly higher than the dashboard. "Airbags?"
"No, the next model year has them. Sorry."
"No, just wanted to be prepared, that’s all." The surgeon was contemplating adding a few more joints to her body. "Okay, I’m in and buckled up."
"Door closed?" Danni looked over at her companion.
Garrett nodded her head; she could feel her hair rubbing against the padded ceiling of the passenger compartment. The car jerked into motion and they were on their way. Headlines began to run through the surgeon’s head. ‘Promising Surgeon Cut Short by Fender Bender.’ The woman shuddered at the thought. ‘Seatbelt, hell, I couldn’t move if I wanted to.’ The surgeon tried to relax but it wasn’t easy.
The young nurse sensed her friend’s uneasiness and began to ramble on about the passing landmarks and history of that area of the city. "Most people think of Pittsburgh as a Steel Mill Town but that’s not what the city’s like anymore. All of the Steel Plants have been pretty much torn down and replaced with newly developed business parks that are being used by the high tech industries. One of the local colleges, Carnegie Mellon University, is a leader in the developments of the computer industry, especially with their new Robotics Department."
Danni casually looked over to see how the surgeon was doing. It was an attempt to get Garrett’s mind off of the incommodious conditions. It was working as the tall woman allowed herself to become absorbed into the interesting stories that were being conveyed.
"The city used to be known as the dirtiest city in world with all of it’s mills sending large, thick clouds of coal dust billowing out of their smoke stacks. The old timers even tell stories of not being able to see the sun at high noon for all of the airborne coal dust. But that’s not the way it is now, as you can see."
Glancing over at Garrett, the blonde noticed that the surgeon’s eyes were riveted on the building up ahead. It was a large old style massive building in foreboding black stone. She quickly jumped on the fact that it held the woman’s interest. "Andrew Carnegie was a coal baron in the rising days of the steel industry. His fortunes have been used to establish the Carnegie Library, that’s the big building over there." Danni pointed to it. "He also founded the museum of natural history, too. That’s the bigger building in front of it facing out onto the main street."
Garrett’s eyed it longingly. "I like history."
"Maybe we can go together and make a day of it sometime. I’m kind of partial to the Egyptian rooms, myself." Danni carefully turned down the street at the next corner where a completely different style of architecture was located. It was a dome-roofed building that was almost completely made out of glass with ornate iron work painted white, giving it an almost gazebo appearance. Immediately Danni’s tour guide mode started in about it. "That, on your right, is Phipps’ Conservatory." She smiled at her fond memory of times spent there with her mother. "It’s a botanical garden that changes with the seasons. They have everything from lush tropical rooms to rooms that take you around the world. I was always been intrigued by the rooms representing the orient when I was growing up. Their sense of serenity is so…peaceful." She laughed at her lack of words. Then continued on. The young woman loved to talk, it was obvious. Her stories were filled with personal insight and observations that held Garrett’s attention. So mesmerized was she by the young woman’s fluid speech, that she hadn’t noticed pulling into the parking space.
"Well, we’re here. You going to get out or are you comfortable like that?" The green eyes flashed as a warm smile was revealed.
Quickly looking around, "Ah…no…I mean yeah, I’m getting out." The surgeon fumbled for the seatbelt. "Damn this!" She took a small beeper- size digital phone off of her belt. "There!" She placed it onto the dashboard.
Danni looked at the phone. "You aren’t on call, are you?"
"No!" She struggled with the seatbelt latch. "McMurray insisted that I had to have a phone. Seems the one at the hotel isn’t good enough for him."
Danni reached over laying her hand on top of Garrett’s. "Here, let me." The smaller woman deftly released the belt. "Okay, you’re free now." She chuckled as she got out of the car.
"Thanks."
The young woman had briskly walked to the passenger side of the car and opened the door for the contorted surgeon. She offered her hand saying, "Need some help?"
Blue eyes looked up and locked onto the shimmering green that seemed to dance in delight. If the eyes were indeed the windows to the soul, then Garrett felt as though she had been privileged with a rare glimpse of this woman’s essence. It obviously made her shiver to think about it.
"I guess the air-conditioning is colder than I thought," Garrett offered. She grabbed the small hand saying, "Now get me out of here, huh?"