"Mom, I wouldn’t mind doing the prayer for Garrett." Danni’s voice was strong. "I’m sure that I’ve had more practice than the good doctor here."
"Next holiday, Garrett." Mom warned her, shaking her finger. "You’re not getting off the hook that easy." Then she turned to the petite nurse. "Okay, Danni, let’s get this going before everybody else’s dinner is over."
Danni looked around the assembled group of doctors, nurses, aides, technologists, housekeepers, and security personnel. One thing drew her attention as all the different shades of skin hues had come together on this holiday to give medical coverage to the rest of the world as they celebrated at home with their families. ‘Medicine truly is a diversified field! No one country or ethnic group or gender is in control of it.’
The petite nurse bowed her head and the group followed suit, anxious to move on to the food. After collecting her thoughts for a moment, Danni began her prayer of thanksgiving for all of those gathered.
"Lord, look down upon us, your servants. Whether we are here to learn or to teach, it is in your name that we serve the sick and injured. In this time of global communication, we are thankful that you have chosen us to learn from one another, to act in friendship and fellowship. Both technology and our strong will to reach out to each other have breached the barriers that have kept us distant from one another in the past, isolated in a world of our own. For this, we are truly thankful."
Garrett let the words sink in, knowing that they were especially meant for her. She raised her eyes to view the tiny blonde that was making landmark changes in her life.
She didn’t hear the rest of the prayer, as her mind took off on it’s own tangent. The past suddenly became
intermingled with the present. Scenes came back to her of her brother Lucas, but were suddenly superimposed
with those of Danni in his place. Her mind raced with thoughts of the snow globe and what her parents had
told her.
Her parents had given the globe to her. It was their way of explaining the bond that was to fill her life. The two snowmen inside of the globe stood side by side, one slightly larger than the other. They had told her about an unseen bond between the two figures. Her mother knelt down behind her to wrap her arms around the young girl. Pointing to the snowstorm of activity inside the globe, she commented that the two snowmen were held together in their strength for each other and that nothing could separate the bond they shared, not even the cold, harsh winds of the snowstorm. At times it was hard to see the figures, but then, the snow would die down and there the two were, standing side by side, as if nothing had ever happened. The small child wondered which snowman she was. The girl looked up to her mother for confirmation of the choice. She was hugged gently as her mother whispered, "You are the older and bigger one, my love."
Then she thought of how Danni had looked when she viewed her through the window not less than half an hour ago.
The weather had turned colder now and the small flakes of snow coming down seemed to glisten in the late afternoon sun, the wind swirling them around and around on their way toward the ground. There, in the distance was a small figure trudging across the parking area, its form bundled tightly with heavy clothing and its arms laden with boxes and bags. The swirling snow sticking to it as it moved closer. The surgeon’s mind drifted briefly to that small snow globe of her youth as the images outside stirred her memory to life. She remembered looking down at the both of them thinking how they resembled the snowmen of her globe by the time they entered the trauma bay doors. She, of course, was the large one.
‘No, It’s just my body trying to warm up from being outside. I’m just trying to think too hard, making some sense of things.’ She shook her head and looked once more at the demure nurse deep in her thoughts. Before she realized it, another scene stole into her thoughts.
The silences of the moment allowed a fleeting glimpse of a tasseled-haired boy come to Garrett’s mind. His youthful features covered with a smattering of sweat and dirt as he laughed, holding up his prize catch, a rainbow trout.
Garrett’s mind recalled the joy of fishing in her younger sibling, then twisted and turned until the tasseled-haired boy turned into a petite blonde.
"If we hurry, we’ll have time to hike down to the lake," the small blonde offered. "You like to fish?" Her eyebrows jumped up and down in anticipation.
"Fish? Yeah, I like to fish." The surgeon stopped, thinking back to the last time that she had been fishing. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"Do you think we could do just a little fishing today, I mean, the two of us?" Garrett looked at the petite woman, hope written all over her face.
Speechless, the blonde hair moved freely on top of the nodding head, while a dazzling smile swept across her face. Her voice was unsteady at first, taken back by the emotion of the moment. "Sure thing! I’ll get the rods and gear."
Her thoughts were wild with abandon now, drawing more to her attention.
There were so many times that she felt like this, when the combined effort of some plan that she and her brother put into action had turned into one of accomplishment. Often it had come as a surprise to her parents. When all was said and done, her brother would always reach up, cupping her shoulder in victory, while communicating as only close siblings do, with a meeting of the eyes.
Then the surgeon’s mind flashed to earlier this week, bringing the petite blonde back into the picture.
"I was just thinking." She reached up and cupped the surgeon’s shoulder. "We make a pretty good team. You had to push me into his office, while I had to pull you out of it." Her eyes flickered with the laughter in her voice. "You can’t get any closer to team work than that, now can you?"
Her mind was changing its stance. Reasoning was giving way to wanting it to be so. She had loved her brother and missed that bond of fellowship. She thought about how easy it was to talk to him, to tell him of her dreams and what was eating at her soul. ‘If only I could have him back. I’d never let go of that fellowship again.’
The image of the dimly lit cabin came floating back into her mind. The warmth of the tea and the fire as she spilled her soul out for Danni to see. Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure that it wasn’t Danni’s presence that had warmed her, not the other sources. That night had been like a breath of fresh air to her soul. One that it had needed and waited on for a long time, like the birth of a long awaited child.
Garrett’s mind flashed to the night Rene’s babies was born.
"Oh, I see." There was silence for a moment of reverent thought before the young nurse spoke. "You know, they say that when one spirit leaves this earth, another one comes to take its place." She shrugged her shoulders. "Life goes on."
"Hmm…interesting thought, Danni. Interesting in a lot of ways." Garrett wondered who would be the one to take over the place that was vacated in her life. She’d have to give this concept more thought when she had the time.
Her eyes flashed brightly with the final realization, ‘Could it be? Could this blonde nurse be the one to replace my brother in my life?’ Her gaze falling upon Danni’s as she ended her prayer. The life that shown forth in that moment was phenomenal, her blue eyes twinkling in delight. ‘Have you been trying to show this to me the entire time?’ She thought of her brother and knew it to be true. "I love you," she whispered under her breath knowing that the one it was meant for would hear.