Her thoughts were disturbed by the soft rapping on the office door. She looked up pensively from her hands. "Come in," she called out and waited to see what needed her attention now. She was relieved to see the face of Dr. Kreger, the Chief Resident on her service today. "Rob! What can I do for you?" Her voice was sincere. She actually liked her colleague and was glad to see that his initial fear of her was being overcome. She got the impression that he was a sponge trying to soak up all of the surgical skills that she could possibly show him. She liked having him on her trauma nights, especially now that he was coming into his own as a surgeon and finally realizing it himself. The importance of having confidence in yourself was necessary in this field, it added to your maturity and the sooner you learned it, the better you could become.
"I just stopped in to tell you not to worry about the meeting with the Ol’ Cutter today. I’ll cover the E.R. while you’re in conference with him." Rob winked in the knowledge that McMurray’s conferences were never short, his stories always taking precedence over time.
Garrett let her lower lip extend into a pout. "And I was going to hope for the trauma pager to go off," she teased. Her face took on a more normal expression as she nodded in acceptance. "Thanks, Rob. I appreciate that."
"Well, I know how much this project means to you. Say, if there is anything that I could help with…." Rob noticed that the Trauma Fellow’s expression was changing to one of happiness as her eyes began to twinkle in delight before she attempted to reign in her emotions, showing only the stoicism that she was known for. Her intermittent gaze distracted him as he followed it, turning to see what she was focusing on right past him. There, in the doorway, stood the blonde E.R. Nurse, Danni. Kreger’s voice stammered slightly as he continued. "But I…I…see that you probably have more help than you need already." He acknowledged her presence with a dip of his head.
Garrett spoke, her eyes still transfixed to Danni, "I’ll keep you in mind, Rob."
"Okay, I’ll…I’ll just go check in on that patient from earlier this morning. Good luck with McMurray." The Chief Resident excused himself to Danni as he made his way out the door. To be truthful, he felt a little awkward in that small office, especially standing in-between the two women. It was strange. He almost felt that he was intruding on something but just what, he wasn’t sure.
"Thanks, Rob!" "Thanks for the offer." The pair called slightly out of sync as he started off down the hall.
The nurse stepped into the room, her hand lingering on the doorknob. "Hey, Gar," she greeted her friend.
"Hey," was the return as the surgeon allowed the lopsided grin to take over her face. "You’re a little early, aren’t you?" She looked down at her watch. It was 0940.
"Yeah, well, tell it to my stomach. I don’t think those butterflies know how to tell time." She held on to her midsection and grimaced. "They started getting flighty about twenty minutes ago."
"Hmmm…" the surgeon looked very serious in thought. "Would you like me to write you out a script for some compazine? It will settle your stomach right up." Her eyebrow raised in question as she opened a drawer searching for a prescription pad.
The blonde hair quivered as the nurse shook her head, "No, I’ll pass this time." She then ventured further into the small office and closed the door. "Gar, do think that they accepted the whole proposal?"
"Well, I guess we’ll find out when we get the official rundown from McMurray in just a little while." The surgeon watched her friend as she was deep in thought. "Hey, this is really worrying you, isn’t it?"
"It’s just that I’ve never done anything like this before. I mean, write a proposal and all." She shrugged her shoulders. "I feel a little…" she searched for the right word to use, "overwhelmed by it all."
Garrett smirked at Danni’s insecurity. ‘You…insecure? Hardly!’ "Well, if I were you, I’d get used to it. I have a feeling that if we pull this project off, McMurray and the Board are going to expect more from us." ‘I’m sure of it. He’s into that damn teamwork thing. I know it.’
"Let’s just see what he has to say first, then maybe my stomach will settle down a bit and I’ll feel better." Danni bit at her lower lip then spoke. "Do you think we could change the subject? I mean, just for a few minutes."
"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" She was curious now, was it just Danni’s nerves getting to her or did she have something genuine on her mind. "Anything in particular?"
‘Okay, it’s now or never.’ "Have you given any thought as to what you’re going to do after your Fellowship year is done? I mean…where you want to practice?"
"I’ll be honest with you, Danni. I’ve been too busy just getting through this year so far to really give it any kind of serious thought." The surgeon noticed the disappointed look on the face of the woman. "Why do you ask? Does it make any difference?"
The blonde casually shook her head, keeping a disinterested look on her face now. "No. I guess it doesn’t." ‘YES! Yes, it does! By the Gods, please don’t let her leave.’ "I was just wondering if the project would continue without you being here, that’s all." ‘I wonder if McMurray will expect me to continue it without you.’
"I really think that to give it any chance to do some good, it’s going to take more than just a couple of months to even get it off the ground. I don’t think that they would discontinue their support without giving it a fair shot." ‘She may have something there. Maybe I should plant my feet and stay a while, just to get it going. Hmmm…what do you think, Lucas?’ Garrett thought about her brother, after all, it was he that had brought her to this point in her life anyway. ‘I wonder, what exactly it is that you have planned for me?’
The small office was silent with the somber thoughts of the two women. Each one trying to figure out what role they played in this ongoing puzzle of their lives. Each one wanting to keep the other in sight, yet knowing that sometimes friendships are made only to be lost in the events of life with all of its comings and goings. Whatever happened to them down the road of life, each one knew that the other would always be there for them, if only in their memory.
The petite nurse raised her hand to wipe an isolated tear from her eye, as she thought of life without her ‘Amazon’. It would be lonely again just like before. In an effort to distract from her motions, she began to speak. "So, don’t you think we better get up to Dr. McMurray’s office. We don’t want to be late."
Garrett nodded her head. "Yeah, let’s show him how eager we are." She looked over at the nurse. "Danni, am I going to have to push you inside this time or are you walking in with me?" She teased.
"What do you think?" Her tone was defensive and her body reacted to the challenge, her balled fists now rested on her hips. "I was just…just a little taken aback by how big that office was last time, that’s all." She tried to make an excuse for her previous shyness at their last meeting. "Now don’t be silly. You’ll see. I’ll follow you right in." She winked and wrinkled up her nose, still a little shy about being in the presence of such a powerful player in the hospital politics.
The surgeon got up from her desk, moving to the door where she stopped before opening it. Then, with Danni filed in behind her, she softly stated, "Oh, so that means that I’ll be pulling you in after me instead, eh?"
The tall woman quickly let her long strides move her body just out of reach into the hallway. The small nurse was still in the office doorway as she tried to swat at the surgeon in a playful fashion for the comment. The joking banter that ensued as they made their way to the meeting place was like music to their ears and put both of them very much at ease. All thoughts of coming or going were gone and only the time at present would fill their minds. Somewhere along the way, Danni forgot all about those pesky butterflies and just enjoyed her time with her friend.