It’s a Small Uber World After All
Chapter 17
KDarblyne
The atmosphere turned deadly serious when Katie led the Flight Team into the room. Even though they were on vacation, their mask of professionalism fell easily into place as they walked through the doorway. Quickly exchanged glances from surgeon to nurse assured them of their teamwork.
“I’ve found some people that can help us,” Katie said as she moved closer to where Rebecca was laying. “Watch your step coming around the room. Some of the furniture is out of place.”
“Don’t worry Katie, we’ve taken that matter into hand,” Dean’s voice came from out of the shadows. “You’ve got a clear path into the next room. Sorry we couldn’t get the lighting to stay on.”
Just then a bolt of lightning flashed outside, illuminating the rooms with its momentary glow.
“I think she’s coming to,” Josie said, hoping it was true. She held onto Rebecca’s hand as she knelt down on the floor.
The few seconds of light was all that Garrett needed to take the lead as she moved around the woman in front of her. “Danni, see what you can find to give me some light to examine her with.” The physician hastened her steps to get to the next room. She remembered where the opening for the doorway was from the brief illumination of that last streak of lightning.
“I’m on it, Gar.” Danni fished into the pocket of her shorts for the rental car ring. “I was hoping not to use this little promotional gift but I’m glad I have it.” She pulled the tiny flashlight out and touched the switch. Its beam shined into the room and she knew it worked. It did little for the area but it would be enough light to start a set of vital signs and examination. The nurse released the switch on the small flashlight and the shadows swallowed the room again.
Reaching the doorway Garrett stopped short peering into the inky blackness of the room. “Okay, I don’t want to step on anybody. Whoever is with the injured woman, sound off so I can get a fix on where you’re at.” Almost immediately she had her answer.
“We’re here to the left of the doorway,” Josie called out. “If you come along the wall you can’t miss us.”
“Got it,” Garrett answered as she felt for the wall and started to follow it until her progress was halted after a few steps.
“Here, take my hand and I’ll guide you down to her,” Josie touched the warm leg that was next to her with the back of her hand. Feeling the soft, uncalloused hand in her own rougher one she couldn’t help but think aloud. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing? Your hands don’t feel like they’ve done a day’s worth of work in a long time. I don’t want no quack touching Rebecca.”
“Steady there, Josie. If she’s a Flight surgeon like Katie said she was, her time is spent in the operating room. You won’t get calluses that way,” Randi tried to lessen the woman’s fears.
“She’s right. They do things a lot differently now than they did years ago.” Ginni thought of all the differences between Miranda and Virginia’s time and her own and she could understand where Josie was coming from.
“Just remember Doc, me and the peacemakers will be watching you.” Josie held onto the surgeon’s hand to get her point across.
“I can assure you, I have nothing but concern and the ability to help your friend in the forefront of my mind,” Garrett’s voice reflected her serious nature. “Now if you’ll let me, I’d like to examine her.”
The surgeon’s hand was then guided to Rebecca’s form. “Please, help her,” Josie whispered, then she backed off some to give the doctor room to work.
“Danni,” Garrett called out over her shoulder, “I need that light now.”
The skilled hands of the surgeon quickly followed Rebecca’s arm to her shoulder where strands of hair lead her to the woman’s face. Crouching over, Garrett placed the side of her face in the general area and listened for signs of life as she placed the sinewy fingers of her right hand in a splayed out pattern on the injured woman’s chest.
“Gar....” Danni called out the surgeon’s name in the darkened room, then let her instincts guide her as she turned on the flashlight. The small beam of illumination fell like a spotlight on the beginnings of a lopsided smile and right away the nurse breathed a little easier.
“She’s breathing,” Garrett said as she came up from her crouching position. “Let me have that light.” She held her hand out as though she were waiting for a surgical instrument to be placed into it. “I want to check her pupils and ears.”
The nurse complied, then knelt down on the other side of the woman’s body. “I’ll get a pulse.” Self-assured hands went to work as they wrapped around Rebecca’s wrist. She could feel the pulsating surges of blood as it coursed through the recumbent body. “Does anybody have a watch with a second hand on it? I left mine back in my room.”
“I would if I had my pocket watch,” Josie mumbled under her breath.
“I have one,” Katie knelt down beside the nurse and held her arm out for the nurse to see as she caused the dial to glow.
“Thanks.” Danni counted the beats for a minute. “Eighty-two, strong and regular, Gar.”
“Her eyes are equal bilaterally and reacting to the light. There’s no evidence of blood in her inner ear canal and I can feel no step off or deformities in her neck.” The surgeon showed the light on Rebecca’s face, quickly examining it, then moved onto the next part of her body. “Here,” she handed the light to Katie, “just keep following where my hands are.” Garrett moved down the body, looking for any outward sign of injury or trauma as she continued her secondary assessment. There were no significant differences from right to left side and her trunk appeared to be intact and functioning well. Satisfied with the soft feeling of the woman’s abdomen under her fingertips, the surgeon pushed on to examine the posterior portion of the body.
“Danni, let’s log roll her. I want to see her back.” With that said, Garrett moved into position at Rebecca’s head. “On my count,” the words came out without her thinking of them, “One, two, three, roll.” Like a well-rehearsed unit they rolled their patient toward Danni.
“Katie, shine that light up and down her back for me.” Garrett observed the woman more closely while the torchbearer did her bidding. “Stop, there,” the surgeon peered more intently at the flash of light that reflected back toward her. “Josie, move her clothing a bit to the side. I want to see if there is anything that could have caused an injury.”
Stepping up to the task, Josie lovingly shifted Rebecca’s clothing to let the surgeon examine her patient as Katie kept the flashlight moving along the length of her friend’s body.
“No obvious injury on this side.” Garrett looked over to Josie. “Do you think you could do the same thing that Danni is doing? I’d like to roll her up to the other side and check that too.”
“Sure,” came back the eager reply. Josie positioned herself opposite the nurse and took note of where she was holding onto Rebecca’s body. “I’m ready.”
“On three,” Garrett glanced to Danni and their timing was set. “One, two, three, down.” The surgeon waited for Josie to position her hands and then repeated the process. “On my count. One, two, three, roll.”
With the patient now turned on her side facing Josie, Danni examined the woman’s back. “Nothing here on her back, Gar.” The nurse shifted her knees as she edged her way down the patient’s torso and legs. “Ouch! What the…” Danni lifted her knee and carefully felt under it. Her fingers found what had caused her pain and picked it up. “Shine that light over here a second.”
Katie complied and when the beam fell on Danni’s clenched hand a twinkle of gold showed brightly. There, dangling from the chain, was a pocket watch.
“Virginia, look…” Miranda whispered, “the watch.”
“Seems like our work here is almost done,” Virginia answered, tapping Ginni on the shoulder.
“My watch!” Josie stared at the timepiece and smiled. “I told you it would turn up sooner or later.” She glanced down to her friend’s face, “Rebecca, you’ve found my…” she stopped suddenly, her eyes growing wider. “Doc, I think I just saw her eyes a flutterin’.”
“Here, let me take that for safe keeping,” Randi snatched the pocket watch from the nurse’s hand. She held it up in triumph for Ginni to see. “Let’s get this where it belongs, Ginni. We don’t want Josie to leave without it.”
“Let’s get her onto her back. On three,” Garrett waited for the nod of Josie’s head. Upon seeing it she started, “One, two, three, down.”
“Rebecca, can you hear me?” Josie leaned over her partner. “Rebecca, speak to me.”
Katie kept the light centered on the woman’s face as fluttering eyelids and facial movement became more evident. “Is she waking up?”
“It looks that way,” Danni replied. Her eyes flashed over to Garrett. “Do you think she has a concussion…maybe a mild one?”
“The reaction of her pupils aren’t telling me that.” Garrett turned her full attention to her patient. “Rebecca?” She kept her voice low and without emotion. “Rebecca, can you hear me?”
The small woman stirred, giving off a breathy thought, “Where am I? What... what happened?” Green eyes opened and closed as they tried to focus in the dimly lit room. Her eyes instantly became larger and she reached for Josie’s hand, clenching it with her own. “Oh my, lightning is going to hit us.”
Garrett smiled, pleased with her patient’s cognizance of the situation. She looked over to her right to see pleading blue eyes wanting an answer. “She’s fine, Josie. I think she just fainted, that’s all.”
“Swooned? Me?” Rebecca slowly sat up as the red blush of embarrassment started coming to her cheeks.
Josie chuckled. “Well, maybe you just got a little weak in the knees when you saw that bolt of lightning heading our way.” The pair exchanged knowing glances and smiled.
“You scared the daylights out of me, Rebecca?” Katie informed her friend.
“Sorry,” she said impishly.
Ginni stepped forward holding onto Josie’s coat. “Nothing to be sorry for, Danni found Josie’s watch because of you.” Ginni directed her gaze to Randi as the tall woman slipped the watch into the left breast pocket of Josie’s coat.
“There you go, Josie. Back where it belongs and everyone is safe now.” Randi winked over at her ghostly friends as they started to fade from her view.
“Thanks, everyone.” Josie looked over to the doctor and nurse. “And thanks to you both for being here for us. I don’t know how to repay you.”
“No payment needed at all, right Gar?” Danni looked over to the surgeon and winked. “We don’t get to make house calls and believe me, this one was easy.”
“Well, if you’re feeling alright then, Rebecca,” Garrett waited to see the blonde nod in affirmation, “Danni and I should really see if anyone else here in the building needs our assistance.”
“Thanks Doc,” Dean said, her eyes brimming with emotion. “Follow me and I’ll get you to the door.
“Oh wait,” Katie yelled, switching the flashlight on and off. “You forgot your light.”
“Yeah, and car keys with it,” Danni mumbled under her breath. “How would we ever be able to leave our room.” A coy smile came to her face as she leveled her gaze at the surgeon.
*********
“Whew!” Danni let an exhaled breath ruffle through her blonde bangs. “I think we’ve seen more patients today than when we fly scene runs.”
“Yeah, tell me, can I count splinter removal as OR time? And to think this is our vacation.” Garrett opened the door to their room and waited for Danni to enter. “I thought vacations were for having time to yourself and doing things that you didn’t get around to do all year.” A lopsided smile came to her face as she thought about what it was she would have rather been doing. When the thought turned into a pregnant pause, she caught herself from drifting further into her daydream and cleared her throat. “Sorry,” the blush came racing up her neck to her cheeks. “I got lost a little there.”
“Hmm…I guess we do need a vacation after all.” Danni wrinkled her nose briefly and smiled. “So what’s it going to be now that the storm has passed and the lights are back on in the building... dinner, driving around sight seeing, or all things Disney?” The nurse leafed through the pamphlets they had been looking at when the lights went out earlier. “I heard that Friday nights are fun at a place called Pleasure Island.” She picked the literature up and dangled it for Garrett to see, then investigated the pamphlet further herself. “Hmm... looks like we could do all three here.”
“I guess so.” The surgeon walked over to Danni and wrapped her arms around the nurse’s waist. “Do they have places with live music? I think I might like that.” She kissed Danni’s temple and nuzzled into her cheek. “You know... music can soothe the savage beast....”
“And set the mood for things to come,” Danni wiggled her eyebrows. “Are you in the mood for Country, Rock, or Easy Listening, Gar?”
The surgeon considered her choices. “Well,” she let her chin rest on Danni’s shoulder. “We could start off with rock and get all our pent up tensions released with some frenzied dancing....”
“Then do a little boot scooting and partner swapping?” Danni turned in Garrett’s arms to gaze into questioning blue eyes. “I don’t think so. I want you all to myself on that dance floor.” Green eyes glared, “Any dance floor, that is. I got you and I’m keeping you, Dr. Trivoli.”
“Hmm...” Garrett stared down into pools of shimmering green. “Then I guess that leaves us with a little one-on-one dancing, now doesn’t it?” The distance between them closed and one set of soft lips ensconced the other in a kiss, tender at first then it swiftly moved into the realm of passion. Stretching it as far as their lungs would allow them, the two finally came up gasping for breath.
“I... I think,” Danni took another breath, then continued. “I think I’m going to like being on vacation with you, Gar. You’re taking my breath away already and we’ve only been here about six hours.”
“Good thing I know CPR then.” The surgeon’s eyes twinkled with mischief.
“Oh yeah? I’ll remember to keep you in practice with that mouth-to-mouth skill you’ve seemed to have developed so well lately.” Danni moved in for another kiss only to be stopped by the sound of Garrett clearing her throat. “What?”
“I... ah... I really want to do this but I need to get that email off to Rene. It’s going to be hard for him to assign flight coverage if he doesn’t know when I’ll be available.” She leaned back and surveyed the nurse’s face. “I know that we work closely with him as my assistant director, but I’m sure reading minds is not a requirement to being Canadian,” she hinted at a smile. “Just let me finish what I was trying to do when the lightning bolt took out the building’s power.” Garrett gave the woman’s body a little twist at the waist. “I promise Danni, just that one email and I’m really on vacation. What do you say?”
“Ten minutes Gar, then you’re all mine. Got it?”
“Got it.” She placed a quick kiss on Danni’s forehead, then reached for her new acquisition in modern technology. “Thank you, Dell, for making a handheld PC,” The surgeon’s eyes danced with delight. “No more pain of lugging around a laptop for inspection at airports any more.” She pulled out the chair and sat down at the desk.
“You love that gadget, don’t you?” Danni shook her head, then turned in the direction of the bathroom.
“You bet I do,” Garrett nodded as she checked her modem card connection to the phone line. “I’ve got the ease of a PDA for keeping notes on my patients, fingertip access to the planner and reminder features,” she looked over to Danni and smiled, “and with this keyboard to type on, even I can read my notes. The best feature is the Internet access so I can keep in touch with the hospital from any phone line. Heck, I can even access my patient’s X-rays, now that they are digital, from anywhere.”
“And to think, it can fit in your pocket,” Danni shook her head. “I’m going to get a shower, Gar. If you finish before I’m done...” she looked over to the woman at the desk, “you could join me.”
“Give me a minute or two and I’ll....” Garret stopped talking and tapped the stylus on the Pocket PC’s screen. “Damn it!”
“What’s wrong?” Danni came running from the other side of the room as she watched the surgeon start jiggling connections and cords.
“The modem won’t work. The wires are melted,” Garrett held up the singed ends.
“Ewww... I bet the bolt of lightning had something to do with that. Weren’t you trying to dial into AOL when it struck the building?”
“Yeah,” Gar sounded disgusted as she unplugged the card from her handheld computer. “I’ll bet it fried the modem.”
“Now what?”
“I guess I’ve got to find another way to get an email off to Rene.”
“Come on, Gar. Let’s get cleaned up, grab some dinner and shuttle over to Epcot for the fireworks before we head off to Pleasure Island.” Danni rested her hand on the surgeon’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. “Who knows, we may even find a way to get the email out to Rene. You know, they say that Disney is pretty high tech. Maybe someone there can help us out.”
“If not, I’ll just have to make a long distance call.” Garrett sighed as she rose from her chair. “Come on, we’re losing valuable vacation time standing here talking about it.”
***********
Refreshed from their showers and dressed for an evening of entertainment, Garrett stood with her face buried into the park transportation guide. “We’re here,” she mumbled, “at the Magic Kingdom Ticket and Transportation Center. Hmm... and we need to get to....” her voice trailed off as she tried to find the destinations on the map.
Interested more in the sights around her than on the map, Danni tried to take it all in. Starting at the roofs of the structures around her, she gradually came down to the people that were milling around the open area. “Gar, have you noticed that there are a lot of tall dark haired women here with short blondes?” Danni centered her attention to a pair standing about twenty feet away from her. They seemed to be looking in her direction as they passed a cellphone back and forth between them.
“No,” Garrett paused. “If you’re talking about this afternoon, I just assumed that the dark conditions in that building made everyone kind of... look similar, you know... shadows and all. I’ll admit I was more focused on the injuries than anything.”
“Well, lucky for you the worst we had to deal with was a splinter extraction and a few bruised egos. Good thing they only got knocked down onto their behinds from a standing position.” Danni lowered her gaze as if watching someone fall. That’s when she got a closer look at the bricks making up the walkway. “Gar... look at this. People have their names on the bricks.” She silently read through a few of them and the smile on her face grew bigger. “Listen to this one. Dar and Kerry, Eternal Soul mates Feb. 14, 1999.” She looked up to her friend. “I bet they met here. What a beautiful way to....”
“Danni, it’s a brick. People walk on it.” Garrett sighed, “That would be like us writing our names on a piece of floor tile in the E.R. hallway or in Trauma Room One.”
“Well, it’s the sentiment that counts,” Danni muttered. “Sometimes I just feel like announcing it to the world, don’t you?”
Picking up on the nurse’s changing emotion, Garrett considered her choices. There really wasn’t any. She knows that I love her, but if it will make her happy.... Garrett made her mind up. “I... ah... I could carve something appropriate on a tree up at the cabin if you’d like. That’s where I consider our time together really started.” She watched as Danni’s head turned in her direction. “Blades are really more my style than chisels, wouldn’t you say?”
Green eyes twinkled in delight as they looked up to see a lopsided grin. “Gar... that’s so... so nice. And you said you weren’t romantic,” Danni chided the surgeon. “Hmm... I almost want to say let’s skip the entertainment tonight and go back to our room now.”
“No,” a lone eyebrow rose on Garrett’s forehead. “We’re on a mission, remember? I’ve got to get that email off to Rene.”
“I remember,” Danni said dutifully. She looked back to the area where the dark haired woman and blonde had been only to find them gone. “I wish there was someone around here that could help you get connected to the Internet.”
The surgeon brought the map back into her view. “By the looks of all things Disney, I think that our best chance of that happening is at....”
“Epcot.”
The voice came from behind Garrett, startling her. She looked over to Danni. If it’s not her... who is it? The surgeon turned to see who was ending her sentences for her. It was a pert looking blonde with a cellphone in her hand. “Do you know for sure that they have Internet access there?”
“Well, not really but....” She looked over to the woman who was with her. “I think we can arrange something for you to get an email out. Can’t you, Dar?”
“I take it this is something important?” The taller woman asked with a twitching dark eyebrow.
“YES,” came the answer in tandem, but for different reasons.
The action brought a smile to the blonde’s face. “I’m sorry, but that was so cute. You obviously must spend a good deal of time together. That was teamwork if I’ve ever seen it.”
“Well, we are a team,” Danni glanced over to Garrett, “a Flight Team to be exact. Let me introduce myself, I’m Nurse Danni Bossard and this...” She reached out and rested a hand on her friend’s arm, “is Dr. Garrett Trivoli. She’s my Flight Surgeon.”
“My name is Kerry and this is Dar Roberts. We... uhm... we sort of work together also.”
“Kerry and Dar,” Danni mumbled under her breath. She looked down to the brick and her mouth dropped open. “Dar and Kerry....” she blinked in surprise. “Are you that Dar and Kerry?”
“One and the same,” Kerry beamed.
“See Gar....” Danni tugged at the surgeon’s arm. “They’re just like us.” She paused for a moment deep in thought. “Speaking of which... is there some kind of look-a-like competition here or what? You’re the fourth couple we’ve seen today that resembles us.”
Kerry let go with a laugh. “Well... it could be fate.”
“Or just some whacked-out cult gathering,” Dar flashed a toothy grin. “Maybe we can find the answer on the Internet.”
“That would have been easy had that bolt of lightning not fried my modem,” Gar smirked. “I just thank God the cord melted before it did in my Pocket PC. I’d be lost without it any more.”
“That’s what surge protectors are for,” Dar smiled knowingly, “especially down here in Florida. We get all kinds of bad weather brewing up all the time... tropical storms, hurricane watches. I’ve even been in the eye of the storm a time or two.” She drew in a breath and let it go.
“I can attest to that,” Kerry nodded enthusiastically. “My personal favorites are the tropical highs.”
“Please, we’ve had enough bad weather already with that thunder storm earlier today. I want the weather for our vacation to be clear and sunny the rest of the time we’re here.” Danni looked over to Garrett. “Heaven knows we don’t get enough time to ourselves when we’re at home.”
“I promise you, Danni.” Garrett made a cross over her heart with her fingers and held her hand up as she pledged. “As soon as this email goes out to Rene at the hospital, I’m totally on vacation and we’ll be dancing the night away... in all kinds of ways.”
After seeing the hopeful look in Danni’s eyes and feeling Kerry’s spurring touch on her back, Dar knew what she had to do. “Come on, we’ve got some connections here in Disney,” Dar started to move toward the monorail. “Let’s get your email taken care of and then maybe we can all have some fun tonight. I’m kind of partial to setting off some fireworks myself.”
Dar’s sidelong glance at Kerry spoke volumes to Danni. “Do you work for Disney?” She nonchalantly slipped her hand into Garrett’s as they began to stroll along with their new acquaintances.
Dar glanced over to Kerry and smiled. “Sort of.”
To be continued in Chapter 18 ....