The Fellowship

by K. Darblyne

  ************

  Time passed quickly as both the nurse and the trauma surgeon worked diligently over the information they had gathered that first day. The labor of love was not lost on either of them as they put together the pieces of a project that would help those it was designed for, the lone survivors of traumatic injury. Garrett pouring her knowledge of what it was like to be the lone survivor and Danni absorbed in finding ways to help ease the wounds of a lifetime of desiring to belong.

  As one day turned into the next, the two women found that not only were they working on the project together but also each was coming away from it with more insight into themselves and each other. Each new day brought with it a renewed sense of homecoming as the two worked side by side, the aloof and demanding surgeon finding it easier now to talk and share her life with the nurse. If ever a project had been designed for anyone specifically, it was this one for Danni and Garrett both.

  Along the way, the small nurse began to understand her own repressed need for belonging that had been so evident, now that she looked back on her life. She found her circumstances much different from that of the surgeon’s, but still, she felt that she had never fit into her family’s mold. Although still alive and around her, they had never given her that sense of home. Never quite putting her finger on it, that was something she was in search of.

  The time and effort that they had put forth to develop their brainchild into a successful program of recovery and support seemed to be working on them before it was even officially started. Now, with the task almost completed, each stood back and evaluated their own lives and their own needs to be whole.

  They soon found themselves at the crossroads of completion, each one eager to finish the task but yet hesitant to see it end. The time that they had spent together seemed effortless, as each was reluctant to go back to their normal daily grind.

  Danni sat reading over the information on the computer screen as they put the finishing touches on the proposal that was due in McMurray’s hands by the morning. Garrett’s tall body was unceremoniously draped over the armed chair as she watched in anticipation. Working at Danni’s house had given them the needed privacy to concentrate solely on the proposal without any unwanted interruptions. It had helped in her final closure and plea for the support program had taken much out of her in its writing. Her face was gaunt and her mood one of near defeat as she stared off into space. She had never opened up her soul like this before and she wasn’t quite sure that she would ever want to again. She thought of the wisp of a woman that had helped her reach this point, knowing that she would have never made it without her calm and comforting ways. "Hmm…?" Her mind drawn out of its thoughts by the sound of a voice directed towards her.

  "I said," Danni began again as she looked over to Garrett. "I think it reads pretty clear and concise. I don’t think that we can improve it any more than we already have."

  "You don’t think that it sounds like the ranting of a mad woman, do you?" She tried to joke at herself, but the look in her eyes told of her concern at how it would be perceived.

  "No, I don’t. You should be proud of this, Gar. I am." The nurse’s positive attitude, ever present as always. "You know something?"

  "Hmm…what?" She drew herself into a more humanly seated form.

  "I’m going to miss this last week once we hand this over to your boss in the morning."

  "My boss? Danni, you’re still on this team and he’s our boss right now." That drew an arched eyebrow from the tall surgeon as she dared her friend to repudiate it.

  "Okay, our boss." She rolled her eyes and then bit at her lip pensively. "Well, do you want the honors of hitting the print key? After all, it is all your work." ‘I don’t really want this to be over. I’ve never felt so good about anything as I have this.’

  "No, it was your idea, you get the honor." The surgeon forced a smile, nodding in assent. "Tomorrow, we’ll both take it to McMurray." She tried to reason with herself the benefits that the project could have for those who needed it, but all she really felt was remorse that the time spent putting it together was over. ‘Together,’ the word seemed to echo in her head as she reviewed the last six days. ‘I’ve never felt so together as I did during this last week. Well…up until now.’

  Danni nodded as she hit the print key causing the inkjet to come to life. ‘At least it won’t be over for another day. I’ll just have to hope that this project becomes a reality.’ Her thoughts drifted to every known god that she could remember as she offered a prayer in the proposal’s behalf.

  Within a minute or two the sound of the printer stopped, both women sat motionless as their eyes stared at the completed work lying there in its bin. Neither one wanting to make the first move to retrieve it.

  *****************

  Crisp white sheets of paper lay neatly arranged in the official looking folder with the insignia of the hospital on the front cover. The small hands held it tightly in her grasp as she sat waiting for her team member to arrive. The waiting area of the small outer office of Dr. McMurray was friendly, but carried an air of dignity about it. Danni’s eyes roamed across the paneled walls, taking in all of the photographs and distinguished looking certificates that adorned them. Her eyes flicked from one photo to another, studying them intently as she tried to pass the time.

  She looked down at her watch only to see that her new interest in being early had taken on a different edge this morning. ‘Perhaps it’s the anticipation that made me get here so soon. I can’t wait to hear what Dr. McMurray is going think of our proposal.’ She lifted her eyes up to the heavens. ‘God, I hope he likes it. I’d hate for Garrett to have gone through all this and nothing to come of it.’ She looked down to her hands, taking note of the slight tremor in them stemming from her nervousness. Her thoughts drifted to the tall surgeon as she imagined her trying to do surgery right now. ‘Jeez, I hope she’s not this nervous.’ She repositioned her hands, holding on to the proposal a little tighter to steady them.

  Danni smiled pleasantly at the secretary when their eyes met as she began to look around the room once more. Then she offered an attempt at making small talk, trying to hide her nervousness. "Nice waiting room," the nurse motioned to the walls filled with framed pieces.

  The older woman nodded and spoke softly, "Yes, Dr. McMurray is as particular about what gets hung out here as he is about the ones in his own office. He thinks that they all tell a story about the Trauma Services Department."

  "Oh! I’ll have to take a better look then."

  The secretary smiled politely and resumed her work at the computer keyboard in front of her.

  Danni gazed from photograph to photograph, paying much more attention to them now. In each of them she was able to pick out the familiar face of the Head of the Department, Dr. McMurray. She studied them again, this time noting the different stages of the man’s career displayed across the room. It was as though his chronological time line was in view for all to see, starting at the left side of the doorway from the hall and progressing to its right side.

  Then an odd thing struck the nurse’s thoughts. She glanced quickly around the room again. ‘Yep, I was right! There is another face that is in almost every picture.’ She concentrated on the woman always off to the side and behind the ever present surgeon. "Hmmm…I wonder who she is?" Her voice was barely audible as she brought her right hand up to her chin, striking a thoughtful pose.

  The older woman looked up from her computer screen, "Excuse me?" The question was directed at Danni.

  "Sorry, I guess I was just wondering out loud," the nurse apologized. "The woman in the pictures, I don’t recognize her. Who is she?"

  "Why that’s Mrs. McMurray. The doctor thinks of her as his good luck piece." She shook her head in disbelief. "He attributes her with his success and always insists that she be a part of the picture."

  "Hmmm…I guess that makes her feel like she’s a part of his work then."

  "You might be right. The doctor is always s
aying that behind every good physician is a nurse guiding them." The secretary smiled as she got up from her desk with a bundle of papers in her hand. "He shouldn’t be too much longer in surgery. I’ll be back in a few minutes." Then she left through the doorway into the hall.

  The petite nurse got up, taking the opportunity to get a closer look at the photographs without being observed. She had just about made it full circle around the room studying each picture more intently then before, only this time looking for the story that each of the photos was revealing. She glanced at her watch when she heard someone enter the room. It was 10 A.M. and a smile slowly stretched across her face. She knew that it would be her team member and friend, Garrett. She could sense her presence. ‘Her punctuality is phenomenal. How does she do that?’ Danni caught a glimpse of the tall surgeon as she turned her attention towards the door.

  "Hey! You’re here already." The surgeon sounded a little surprised at seeing Danni waiting for both her and McMurray to arrive.

  "I guess you’re rubbing off on me," she chuckled. Then motioning to the inner office she continued, "He’s not in yet."

  "I know…" she adjusted her collar and straightened her lab coat, "he’s still in surgery, just finishing up."

  "Did everything go all right with your patient in surgery? You look a little…" Danni searched for the right word to use before settling on one, "edgy."

  The eyebrow of the raven-haired woman slowly rose to new heights as she contemplated the idea of her patient being in jeopardy. "Why would you think…? I’m just anxious to get this presentation done and hear what the Ol’ Cutter thinks about it."

  The nurse moved closer to the surgeon and rested her hand on the taller woman’s shoulder in a comforting manner. "He’ll like it, Gar. I know he will. When he sees all the work and thought that you’ve put into it…"

  "We." The surgeon corrected her. "That we’ve put into it." She let her eyes meet and linger on the petite nurse’s in a silent exchange of thoughts.

  For the first time in a long while, she realized the importance of working together as a committed team and the feeling that it brought with it. ‘Déjà vu!’ The surgeon thought. It wasn’t new to her, just long forgotten.

  Her thoughts raced back to a time when the world was all fresh and new. 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 reached up, cupping her shoulder in victory, while communicating as only close siblings do with a meeting of the eyes.

  Dr. McMurray stood silently in the doorway, watching the unfolding scene knowing that the bonding of one human to another was of more importance then any meeting could ever be. It was something that his wife had taught him and he was grateful for it. The world always seemed to put more importance to things concerning money or prosperity instead of matters of the heart. Her words now echoing in his head. ‘Without the heart, one has no need of a soul.’ He was pleased that he was now witnessing the true awakening of a heart that had been lost in an abyss of everyday life. Yes, his plan was working.

  Danni was the first to notice the man standing in the doorway. Her face blushed with embarrassment of being watched. She retracted her hand from its comfortable position while her eyes changed their point of focus. "He’s here," she whispered to Garrett as she felt a renewed sensation of butterflies in her stomach.

  The tall surgeon swallowed hard, the gulping sound almost filling the room. Her palms began to sweat as a sudden need to empty her bladder over took her body. ‘Nerves! I thought I had you under control a long time ago.’ She cursed her body for its reactions, willing herself to regain her composure. Then with a faint smile she nodded in his direction saying, "Dr. McMurray, we have that proposal ready for you."

  "Good! Did you two just work it out this morning or did you spend all week on it like I suggested?" He took off striding into his office. "Well, you don’t expect me to listen to it out there in the waiting room, do you?"

  "No! No, Sir." The voices of the team members piped in, one over top of the other. The nurse stood mesmerized at the view of the Chief of Trauma Services’ office as the door opened wide. Garrett nudged her gently from behind in an effort to advance into his office but the blonde was frozen in place. Bending over, she whispered into her ear. "The view gets better once you get inside." Then pushed her again with a little more force this time. "Go on."

  Danni suddenly realized her fear and looked back for support from the tall surgeon behind her. Blinking several times to help her mind to register what she needed her body to do, the nurse slowly began to move forward toward the open office door, her hand wrapped tightly around the bound proposal. The gentle touches of the large hand on her back helped to ease the fear of rejection that was racing through her body with each step. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the large desk, with McMurray seated at it. ‘Please, God. Please!’ She offered up one last quick plea on their behalf as she handed the proposal over to him. Then stepping blindly backward bumped into the woman behind her. "Sorry, I…"

  "So this is the other half of your team, Dr. Trivoli?" His voice sounded slightly bemused at the nervousness that he was evoking in the small blonde. He began to look over the bound proposal, opening its cover to go deeper.

  "Yes, Sir. Let me introduce Nurse Danni Bossard to you, Danni this is Dr. McM…"

  "Damn it, Trivoli. She knows who I am. I’m the Chief of a Department," his voice was coarse and gruff. He shot her a glance, then let his eyes fall back upon the nurse, watching for her reaction. "Nice package you have here." He nodded to the nurse as he motioned to the document before him. "Looks like you spent quite a bit of time putting it together."

  "Yes, we worked all week on it. The time that we put into the research alone was the better part of that week." Danni’s voice took on a bit of a defensive tone to it, showing her resentment of his words that were directed to her friend. "Sir, I’d like to just say that, Dr. Trivoli was only trying to do the polite and proper etiquette when she…"

  He lifted his eyes from the page he was reading. "You’re right. I should have let her finish, but then I wouldn’t know if you two were really a cohesive unit or not. Now, would I?" McMurray half laughed and half-grunted. "I like what I see. I can tell by this report," he held it up, "that you’re working together, at least on paper. It’s evident that Trivoli didn’t write this. It doesn’t sound like surgical dictation." He glanced at the wide-eyed look on the surgeon’s face in front of him.

  "Why, sir, is there something that you don’t like about the way I document my operative records?" Garrett narrowed her gaze at him, trying to read the body language that he was displaying.

  He sat back in the comfortable looking chair. "No, doctor, there isn’t. It’s just that this document will need to reach out and grab at the heart of that cold, calculating bunch who sit on the Board of Directors here. To do that, we’ll need something with more feeling and emotion in it than any surgical report." He returned to his reading as he skimmed swiftly through the rest of the proposal.

  The two women stood side by side now as they waited for him to finish. Each one praying in their own manner for the proposal to meet with his approval. With every change of his facial expression, Danni could feel her heart either rise or fall in anticipation of his words, while Garrett seemed unscathed by it all. The tall surgeon had pulled out one of her stoic masks from the dark recesses of her heart and used it to cover her emotions as she waited for his reaction.

  Turning the last page of the document to show the back cover of the packet, the Ol’ Cutter sat there, his face somewhat expressionless as he thought about the proposal that he had just finished reading. ‘Do I tell them that they’ve done well, that I’m proud of their effort?’ He mulled over the possible effects that it could have on them. ‘No, I think that they need to learn that for themselves...and fr
om each other.’ He closed the cover of the proposal, holding it in his hands in a playful motion. "Well, what are you waiting around in here for? The Board won’t meet until Wednesday, I’ll present it to them then." His lips pressed together tightly for a moment and then as an afterthought he threw out. "It should be enough to do the trick." He waved the proposal at them and then threw it off to the side of his desk. "Don’t you two have work to be doing?"

  Garrett’s eyebrow raised in question to their dismissal, her body standing straighter now if that were at all possible. The nurse could sense the impending reaction as she reached out, tugging at the surgeon’s sleeve.

  "Why I ought to…" the tall woman leaned forward, to which Danni’s tugging became more exaggerated.

  "We ought to go back to work now, Dr. Trivoli. Thank you for your time, Dr. McMurray." She pulled her friend with her as she made her way backwards toward the door. "It was nice meeting you and getting to see your office." She quickly looked around it and smiled wryly. "Very nice. I’ll have to see it a little more closely next time." She pushed the raven-haired woman through the now open door and once outside of it, reached back to draw it shut. "Thanks, again. You have a good day, okay?"