Falling Snow

by

Graysen Morgen

Falling Snow © 2012 Graysen Morgen

Blue Turtle Press

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without permission.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition – 2012

Editor: Melissa Strauss

Cover Design: Blue Turtle Press

Interior Design: Blue Turtle Press

Also by Graysen Morgen

Fate vs. Destiny

Just Me

Natural instinct

Secluded Heart

Submerged

Dedication

To my partner, you give me the strength and encouragement to do the one thing I love the most in this world and I promise to return the gesture when the time comes.

One

Dr. Cason Macauley lazily strode into the Denver Medical Center. Her short dark spiky hair was windblown and in need of a serious trim. She pushed her sunglasses up on her head revealing deep blue eyes as dark as the ocean. She strolled through the emergency room towards the trauma bay which sat off to the side of the ER. Several nurses and other doctors waved or mumbled hello as she passed them. Dr. Macauley was popular in a hero-worship kind of way. The nurses wanted to sleep with her and the ER doctors admired her for the heroic effort it took to save lives every day as a trauma surgeon. The fact that she was the only female trauma surgeon didn’t matter to them. She was one of the boys now, six years ago she was an outcast that had to start at the bottom and work her way up the ranks to be considered part of the team of five trauma doctors. They were a tight-knit group that treated each other like family. They had one of the most difficult jobs in the hospital and were well respected for it. Trauma lost more patients on their tables than any other department.

“Looks like you’re getting ready for vacation Cason.” One of her fellow trauma doctors said to her when she entered the trauma bay. He was very light skinned for a black man, and just a little taller than her own five feet six. She often wondered if he was mixed, but never bothered to ask. She looked at the metal clipboard he was holding. It contained all of the information on a current patient. She watched him sign his name to one of the pages and set the clipboard back in the stand that contained their patient chart list.

“Warren.” She shook her head and smiled. “You could put in for a rotation if you want. I know a couple of the guys were talking about taking a year or two off at our last meeting.”

“What the hell would I do in Aspen? I don’t ski. I don’t hike. I’m an indoor nerd and you know it.” He laughed. “Now, show me a bar full of good looking women and we can talk.”

“Then quit getting so jealous then.” She bumped his shoulder. “It is kind of like a vacation though.” She grinned.

Cason was part of an outside interim team of six doctors that rotated through Aspen General Hospital as the only trauma doctor for two months at a time. AGH didn’t have a trauma position in their budget so they worked with other major hospitals in the state to allow the interim floating position to be funded partially by each doctors employed hospital and the State of Colorado. She always took January and February as her two months because she loved the winter snow season. The number of traumatic incidents was fairly minimal and in the three years she’d been part of the I-Team she had performed six surgeries and treated a total of thirty actual trauma patients. So, in a way it really was like a vacation.

“I think you only go for the ski-bunnies.” He said.

Cason had already switched into doctor mode and was reading a chart on a trauma patient that had come in with an impalement of the lower abdomen. She saw Warren’s name printed at the top. He had performed the surgery. “What?” She said when she put the chart back. Warren’s shift was about to end as her twenty-fours was about to start. There were only five doctors on the trauma team at DMC. They worked twenty-four hours on and forty-eight hours off shifts. Every week one of the doctors was on call twenty-fours a day for major situations. Those were called ‘hell week’, they never knew if they would be called in and most of the time it would happen so they would wind up working three or four straight days at the hospital with minimal or in some cases no time off.

“I said you go for the ski-bunnies. That’s why you chose the winter ski season. It’s the same reason Harris goes in the summer. He likes the outdoorsy type of tourists that flock to Aspen.” Warren smiled.

Cason stopped in her tracks and spun around. He had a point. Harris Knowles was another trauma doctor at DMC that was also on the I-Team. The other three doctors came from Colorado Springs and Boulder. Like her, Harris was single and had a tendency for chasing women. He probably did go in the summer for that purpose, although he was a great doctor and that’s why he was chosen. Once you became part of the team you pretty much were there until you made the decision to step down. Multiple doctors all over the state applied every year for the rotating position, but if no one stepped down then you were put on a waiting list that was probably two pages long. If someone did leave then it became all about who you knew if you wanted to get the interview. Harris had already been on the team for two years when he recommended Cason. She was indebted to him.

“Harris might go for the girls, but you know I don’t like the chase Warren. I really just enjoy the snow and watching the Winter X Games. During the last week of January the little town of Aspen comes alive and it’s fun to watch.”

“Uh huh,” He laughed.

“I will admit the women definitely aren’t bad to look at, but who wants some straight woman looking for a lesbian hook-up on her vacation? I sure as hell don’t. I’m too old for that. Besides, I have plenty of good looking straight women chasing me around here.” She waved her arms around clearly meaning the actual hospital. It was true, numerous women had made it known that they wanted a fling with her. She ignored them, most of the time.

Warren shrugged and laughed. He mocked fanned himself. “Quick, get some water to put the flames out, you’re just so damn hot Dr. Macauley you get me all worked up.”

Cason laughed and smacked him. She loved working with him. He was actually more like her best friend than a colleague. She wished he was sharing her shift. “Get out of here. I think you didn’t get much sleep on your shift or something. You’re starting to get a little loopy.”

As soon as Warren was out the door a call came in from an ambulance transporting a couple of car accident victims. One had minor injuries and the other was apparently thrown from the car and hanging on to life by a thread. Cason immediately went into doctor mode. She prepped the trauma nurse and paged the other trauma doctor that was on shift. He had just finished a surgery and she wanted to let him know what was coming in. This rush of adrenaline was what she lived for. It was the reason she became a doctor, to work with trauma patients in extreme situations. It took a certain kind of personality for this position, not to mention a very different lifestyle. She was glad to be single with no pets, not a care in the world. She was the only doctor that actually enjoyed ‘hell week’. She had one twenty-four shift to get through, then she was on her way to ‘vacation’ for two months in Aspen. That thought hiked her adrenaline level just a little higher than the trauma coming through the bay doors.

Two

Adler Troy tucked her long curly blond hair into the back of her jacket and pulled the baby blue ski cap down over her ears. She covered her bluish-green eyes with a pair of white ski goggles and strapped her boot covered feet in the bindings of her snowboard. The wind chill at the top of Aspen Mountain was five below and she was still warm in thermal clothes and a ski jacket and pants. This is what she lived for, untouched fresh powder. The sun had just risen and most of the tourists were just now waking up. She hopped to the side and leaned forward letting the board under her glide smoothly over the fresh snow. She raced down the mountain in a straight line to build her speed, then quickly cut a razor sharp angle to the left going over almost one hundred and eighty degrees to ride on the edge of the board as she carved back and forth across the path down the face of the mountain. The Super Pipe was her sport, but nothing compared to free riding in fresh powder. She loved flying down the mountain at the crack of dawn like she was on fire with her curly hair flying in loose tendrils behind her. She was an adrenaline junky of the worst kind.

The sweat that beaded on her forehead under her ski cap was like drops of ice water once the cold air hit it. Adler tucked herself, then quickly stood straight up and leaned almost laying on her back to cut a sharp turn to go down one of the black diamond paths. Black diamonds were only for the most advanced skiers and snowboarders. They had rough terrain with uneven jumps, trees, and rock obstacles. She carved back and forth easily avoiding the trees in the middle of the path. She flew off the first jump goofy footed with her left foot first, which was the natural way she snowboarded. She tucked down and lifted off the jump soaring towards the sky. She reached down with her right hand and grabbed her board easily rolling into a five-forty spin causing her to roll over one and a half times before landing flatly. The path she chose had a few small jumps and a couple larger ones mixed with treacherous uneven terrain and multiple trees. She tackled each jump easily pulling small tricks all the way down the mountain. This was nothing like riding the pipe, but this was a great way to warm up and get her adrenaline flowing. She was very well known in Aspen and had to choose her routes carefully. She didn’t need fans or tourists getting in her way when she was working out. That’s why she always went at the crack of dawn. She ran into the occasional skier once in a while, but no one recognized her in ski clothes. Everyone looked the same in the bulky jackets and pants.

Adler reached the base of the mountain, turned to the side, and put her board up on its side in one smooth motion. A huge cloud of powdered snow shot up all around her as she slid to a stop and released her bindings. She grinned at the line of people already starting a line for the lift. She checked the watch on her left wrist, she shrugged. Plenty of time. She brushed some of the loose snow off her jacket and pants and walked over to the lift line.

Three

Cason walked into Snowmass Village, a little ski village up on Snowmass Mountain that contained shops and restaurants. The cold chill felt good on her face, she smiled. She had only been back in town for two days and so far she loved it. Being on call twenty-four hours wasn’t all that much fun, but the amount of trauma activity was very minimal so she didn’t mind it. She zipped her black ski jacket up at little higher in the collar and walked towards the ski shop. She somehow left her snow gloves at home when she packed in a haste to get an early start on the four hour drive.

As soon as turned the corner by the tiny walk-up restaurant window someone plowed her. She fell on her back with her head lightly smacking the hard concrete under her. A lithe body landed on top her with a small thud. She assumed it was the arrogant asshole that mowed her down. Whoever it was hadn’t weighed enough to knock the wind out of her thankfully.

***

Adler had just dropped her board off at the ski shop to get it waxed. A good friend of hers that she had known since high school was the manager there and she trusted him and only him with her equipment. Her sponsors hated it, but she was a local and wanted to support the local businesses whenever she could. She took off in a jog, she was already late. She should have passed on that second ride down the mountain, but the snow was calling to her and the mountain was riding so fast, she had to give it another go. Her new sunglasses sponsor would be pissed. She was a half hour overdue for a photo shoot at one of the resort hotels downtown.

She never saw the body step out in front of her in the small walkway until it was too late. She hit him hard enough to knock them both down. For a slim athlete she was solid muscle and packed a hard punch. She realized the person under her must think she was nuts. She quickly climbed off the guy and held her hand out. He was wearing jeans and a black ski jacket with a white turtle neck under it. His short dark hair was close cut around the ears with the top sort of spiky and messy. He wore dark sunglasses and a pissed off look. She hoped he hadn’t hit his head on the ground, that’s all she needed. When he took the offering she pulled him up on his feet. He was short, only an inch or two taller than her. She gave him a long look anyway. He was cute in a sexy bad boy sort of way.

“I’m really sorry. Did you hit your head?” Adler asked when he got to his feet.

“No. A little bit. I’m fine.” A deep, but distinctly feminine voice answered her. “I’m Cason.”

Adler froze. When the woman stuck her hand out to introduce herself, Adler swallowed the lump in her throat. Had she really just cruised a woman? What the hell? “Um…” She felt horrible for smashing into her and then, well, she needed to get the hell out of there before she made a complete idiot of herself or got recognized. She wasn’t sure which would be worse at the moment. “Can I buy you some hot chocolate?” She asked and stepped over to the window. She held up two fingers and handed a ten dollar bill to the woman behind the window. A second later the woman handed her two steaming cups of hot chocolate. Adler handed one to the dark haired woman. Cason. She had introduced herself as Cason.

“Thanks.” Cason said. She looked at the woman in front of her. She was just a little bit shorter. She was wearing grey ski pants, a baby blue ski jacket with a matching knit cap. A few loose blond curls hung down the front of her jacket touching her breasts. She was also wearing white sunglasses. From what Cason could see she looked very cute, and young, probably too young and definitely straight. But, Cason could swear she saw the woman give her the once over and grin.

“I’m really sorry. I hope your head’s okay. I gotta go.” Adler said as she took off at a brisk pace towards the other end of the village where the tiny parking lot was.

Cason watched her walk away. She rubbed the back of her head where a small lump was beginning to grow. She hadn’t hit her head that hard. She shook it off and turned back towards the ski shop when the woman in the window called her over. She had seen the entire incident.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

Cason smiled. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Man, she came out of nowhere and flattened you.” She shook her head. “It looked like it hurt.”

“I’m good.” She held up the Styrofoam cup she was holding. “This is good too.”

“Do you know who that was?” She asked.

Cason shrugged. “No. She never said her name.”

“I think it was Adler Troy, but I’m not sure she had sunglasses on.” The woman looked like she was in thought.

“Who is Adler Troy?” Cason asked.

“Oh my god, only the best female snowboarder ever. She’s a local girl that’s very famous in the ski world.” She said with a little more enthusiasm than needed. Like Cason was suppose to know who this famous girl was.

“Oh.” Cason shrugged. “I’ve heard her name a few times, but I couldn’t tell you what she looks like.” She did remember the name now that the woman told her who she was. She always went to watch the Winter X Games over on Buttermilk Mountain and Adler Troy’s name was always at the top.

“She tries to be incognito in the winter, but in the summer she can’t under ski clothes so everyone sees her out and about. She’s usually pretty nice. I’ve only really seen her on the streets once. I hear she travels a lot over the summer months.”

“Oh.” Cason wondered if this woman was a stalker or something.

Four

Adler parked her Mercedes SUV in the Valet line of the Premier Aspen Hotel. She tossed the keys to the guy walking towards her and grabbed the valet slip. Infinity Sunglasses, her new sponsor, was waiting on the roof for the first shots of her photo shoot with a renowned photographer. The shots would be in two magazines and a commercial. She had half the day scheduled with them. She was already tired and the shoot hadn’t even started.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I had a bit of trouble in the village this morning.” She said as she took her jacket, hat, and gloves off. She tossed them in a small pile and shook her long curly hair out and flipped it back.

“Is everything okay?” The shoot manager asked.

“Yeah, fans bombard me sometimes.” She flashed a bright smile and she pulled her snowboard boots on and took her dark blue thermal top off. She was standing in front of him in a white bikini top, grey snowboard pants, black snowboard boots and the white sunglasses that she was promoting. They already had two snowboards that her board sponsor had sent them to help work out their color schemes and sets for each shot. It was below zero on the roof, but thankfully no snow was falling at the moment. She was freezing, but smiling like it was a hundred degrees.

The photographer positioned her with Aspen Mountain as the only backdrop. He cranked the I-Pod docking station and shot numerous pictures of her in various poses alone with her ski cap on, then without it, then some more with her snowboard. Ten minutes later she redressed to warm up. The group set up again inside one of the wooden sauna rooms. Again, Adler stripped down to the bikini top. They took the same sequence of shots that were taken on the roof and then played around for an hour doing various other shots. When the manager and photographer were satisfied she dressed again and went back to the roof where he shoot another series of photos of her in her ski jacket, pants, and boots with her hat and without it.

Another hour had gone by before she knew it. These shoots were monotonous, but they paid her big bucks to wear cool looking signature white sunglasses with dark slightly mirrored lenses. She would much rather be riding her snowboard instead of riding the gondola up the mountain with these corporate clowns to take more pictures at the top of the mountain with her and her snowboard.

The manager checked his watch. “We have about an hour of shooting up here. Then, we will do a wardrobe change and head down into the city for some street shots.”

Was he checking his watch to rub it in that she was late? What a dick. She wouldn’t have been as late if she hadn’t smashed into that woman. Cason. It wasn’t like her to be late anyway. Riding in fresh powder meant more to her than having her picture taken for some magazine or the money for that matter. Nothing compared to snowboarding. In her opinion, riding the pipe was better than sex.

***

Cason was freezing when she arrived at Aspen General Hospital for the start of her first shift. She was relieving a fellow trauma doctor from Colorado Springs that she knew from their I-Team annual meetings.

“Good to see you Cason.” Mike Canterro walked up and shook her hand.

“You too Mike, I bet you’re ready to get home.”

“Oh yeah, my wife is due in three weeks so she’ll be happy to have me back home.” He smiled.

“Wow. Congratulations. Boy or girl?”

“A surprise.” He laughed. “I wanted to know so badly, but she wanted to wait, so I guess we will find out soon. I’m kind of hoping for a boy, but it doesn’t really matter.”

“Girls can be just as much of a handful, or at least that’s what I’ve always been told.” She could tell he was nervous, but any expectant father would be. She wondered if one day she’d be in his position waiting for her wife to give birth to their first child.

“Yeah, no kidding.” He pulled a notepad from his pocket. “Not much going on around here. The holiday season was pretty quiet. I had a couple of MVA’s and of course the routine slip and falls.”

“Any surgeries or follow-ups I need to know about?”

“Nope, the only operating I did was on the Operation Game in the doctor’s lounge.” He laughed. “That’s they only shitty part about doing this rotation, you really don’t see much trauma.”

“Yeah, one of my fellows at DMC calls this my vacation.” She laughed.

He shrugged. “Kind of feels like one I guess.” He smacked her on the arm lightly. “Hey take it easy. I need to get on the road. Good to see you again.”

Cason watched him walk through the sliding double doors of the ER. She didn’t have to turn around when she felt a hand rub across her back. Serena Nichols, a triage nurse, had tried to set her claws in Cason since the day she arrived for her very first shift at AGH.

“Hi Serena,” She said through clenched teeth.

“I’ve been excited for weeks. I love this time of year.” She smiled and ran her eyes over Cason seductively. Cason cringed. She really didn’t know why she hadn’t taken Serena up on her offer of casual sex when she was working the rotation. She was pretty, chestnut brown, dark green eyes, creamy pale skin and curves in all the right places. Cason wondered if she made the same offer to all of the I-Team doctors when they were on rotation.

“I should probably get settled. The ER is short a doctor tonight so it looks like I will be filling in for him as well if it gets busy.” Cason said as she walked away. It wasn’t exactly a lie, if for some reason the ER got slammed with patients she would need to fill in because one of the two doctors on shift was out sick. The odds of that happening were pretty much slim to none. Still, it gave her an excuse to get Serena hands off of her. That woman just oozed sex appeal. Two years ago Cason found out she was actually married to a truck driver that was never around. No wonder she was so horny. Maybe she should invest in a BOB.

***

Adler propped her feet up on the table in front of the couch and turned the TV on. She looked out the window at the snow covered mountain right outside the door of her townhouse. She lived in a ski-in/ski-out chalet that had been turned into luxury two bedroom townhomes on side and the other side was a huge resort. Both were walking distance to the ski lift and it was extremely quiet. Most of her neighbors were celebrities that used their townhouses as vacation homes. She had an end unit which she paid extra for, but the privacy was worth it. She wished she was out there in the snow instead of lounging on her couch.

Something fuzzy passed under legs and jumped up on the couch in a very pristine fluid motion, barely indenting the couch. She smiled.

“Hey Clyde,” She said as she ran her hand casually over the grey and white thin haired Siamese cat. He slithered closer rubbing his back further up into her hand. He meowed a few times when she rubbed his head. “I could use a massage too buddy.” She yawned and he stretched.

As soon as she closed her eyes her cell phone rang. “I wonder who that is.” She said sarcastically to the cat as she reached for the phone.

“I left you a voicemail earlier.” The male voice on the other end sounded peeved. She rolled her eyes. Clyde jumped off the couch when he heard the voice.

“I was at a photo shoot for Infinity Kevin. I went to the gym afterwards and I just got home a little while. I forgot to call you back.” She said lazily. She was getting tired of this conversation repeating itself day in and day out. “I emailed you my schedule.”

“I know babe. I just wanted to talk to you. I’m going to Cleveland in the morning to meet with the Cavaliers to continue this post lockout NBA story I’m working on. I really don’t want to go. It’s probably going to be cold as hell. Jeremy wants this piece for the cover of the February Issue so I have to go to Miami too, at least it’ll be nice down there.”

Kevin hated the cold weather, which is why she barely saw him during the snow season. It pissed her off, but she knew what she was getting into when she married him two years earlier. They met on a southern California beach where he met her to do a story for the magazine after she won her Olympic gold medal. After an entire summer of courtship he asked her to marry him. They had so much fun together surfing and walking the beach, until the cold weather rolled around. When the snow started falling she barely saw him. He’d been to her townhouse enough times to count on one hand. He had a huge house in L.A. and traveled around as a writer for ESPN Magazine.

She flipped the channel on the TV. “The X Games are in three weeks. Are you coming up here?”

“Not sure babe. It depends on what’s on the schedule. I’m going to try though. I’ve already missed both of your Tour events.” He said. She knew he meant well, he wasn’t a bad guy. She did love him, she just wished they shared more interests.

“I busted my ass in Snowmass Village today.” She said.

“Oh really. How did that happen?”

She told him the story of running late and plowing down a pedestrian. He asked if they were both okay and then laughed hysterically. “I wish I could’ve seen that. You probably scared the hell out of that woman.”

“Yeah no kidding, I really hope she’s okay.” She thought about the incident again. Cason. She hoped Cason was okay.

“I should probably go I need to be at the Staples Center a few hours early for tonight’s game to do some pre-game interviews for my article. I’ll call you soon. Love you.” He hung up before she could say anything back.

Five

Cason had just settled in for the night in the cozy little condo that the doctors used while on rotation. It was only one bedroom, but spacious enough and it was walking distance to a ski lift so she could sit and watch all the skiers coming down the mountain. She had been in town a week and so far the hospital had been fairly quiet. The pace was much slower than DMC, but she kept her twenty-four and forty-eight schedule. Although, she was still on call twenty-four-seven until she was relieved by the next rotation, it was nothing like ‘hell week’ where you literally worked a week with only a couple hours of sleep when you could squeeze it in.

As soon as she took a bite of the wrap she picked up from the deli down the street from the hospital her cell phone rang. “Damn.” She said out loud as she put the wrap down and answered.

“Dr. Macauley this is Marge at Aspen General, we have an MVA coming in with severe trauma. The fire department is still trying to get the car cut open for extraction. I’m not even sure if they won’t be DOA, but Dr. Henry asked me to go ahead and call you in.”

“It’s fine Marge. I’m on the way. Call me with an update if they come in before I get there.” She ended the call and grabbed her snow boots next to the couch. She quickly laced them up and snatched her jacket from the coat rack and her keys. She turned around at the last minute to get her hat and gloves. She left her sneakers and a pile of clean scrubs in her locker at the hospital so she didn’t bust her ass or freeze to death going back and forth.

***

Adler packed her SUV with both of her snowboards and boots, plus two sets of ski clothes and a little suitcase. She trusted her neighbor to watch her cat for a couple of days as was the usual plan when she traveled. She looked around for anything she was missing and grabbed an extra ski cap just for the hell of it. She was headed over to Breckenridge to practice in their Super Pipe for the X Games. She was going to go to Park City, Utah but a few of her friends were going to Breck so she decided to meet up with them instead. She programmed her I-Pod for the three hour drive. She planned to get in before dark and get a goodnight’s sleep before hitting the pipe early in the morning.

As soon as she got on the road she hit the speed dial button and waited. She expected to leave an unanswered voicemail which was normal. She didn’t mind. Unlike Kevin who flipped if he his voicemails weren’t returned. Sure enough the voicemail picked up.

“Hey Kevin, it’s me. I’m headed over to Breckenridge to get some practice runs in. I’ll be back in a few days. I hope you’re article is coming together. Talk to you soon. Love you.” She ended the call, tossed the phone in the cup holder, and turned the radio up. Elton John was playing and she was Crocodile Rocking.

***

Cason had just changed into her scrubs when she heard the commotion down the hall from the doctor’s lounge and closet that doubled as a locker room. She flung her stethoscope around her neck and ran down the hall. Two stretchers were in the middle of the hallway surrounded by doctors and nurses. The first appeared to be a teenage female and the second looked like an adult male.

“What do we have?” Cason asked as she met them inside the triage area that doubled as a trauma unit when needed.

The EMT with the teen answered first. “She was trapped in her car for close to twenty minutes from accident to extraction. She’s been unconscious since we arrived on scene, but is responding to pain stimuli. His BP is eighty ninety-two over sixty.”

Cason checked her pupils with her pen light. They were huge, but equal size. “Put her in one.” Cason said before turning Serena. “Get her in CT scan now.”

“Dr. Macauley, I need some assistance here.” Dr. Smith, the ER doctor called to her. “This is the driver of the other car. He was trapped upside down. His BP is eighty over fifty and slowly dropping.”

Cason looked at the man’s pupils with her pen light. They were severely uneven indicating a traumatic brain injury. She felt around the parts of head that weren’t covered by the protective padding from the backboard he was still strapped to. The left frontal area of his temporal bone had movement. She raised her eyes to Dr. Smith and softly shook her head. “He has a TBI and his skull is in pieces.” She slowly released the Velcro pad on the side of his head and revealed a tiny stream of blood dripping from his left ear. “Do we have any family contact information?”

“I’ll call the officer from the scene. He should have that.” The EMT jogged towards the phone at the nurse’s station.

“Smith,” She called the ER doctor’ name as she stepped away from the stretcher. “The girl has a chance. I’m thinking concussion. She should be out of CT by now. Let’s go ahead and get a scan. I’m almost sure there’s no activity here. He was probably brain dead on impact. It looks like he smashed the left side of his head into the side of the door or window with enough force to smash his skull.” She took a deep breath. She hated seeing a patient that she couldn’t save, one that was just too far gone. “Get his family here now. We will need to pronounce him after the scan and before his BP drops any further and he arrests.”

“He looks so peaceful.” Dr. Smith said. “Do you ever get use to this?”

“Use to what?” She asked.

“Death,”

“No.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “It makes me feel like the most helpless son of a bitch in the world when there is nothing I can do. You can’t get use to feeling that helpless. It passes and you move on. And in my line of work, you see it again, time and time again.” She walked away to get the results from the CT scan for the teenage girl.

A half hour later Dr. Smith walked into the lounge. Cason was sitting in a chair nursing a nasty cup of coffee. “Mr. Cranston’s family just left. I called him at four-thirty-two.” He collapsed into the chair next to her with a heavy sigh. “The EMT’s said a witness on the scene said he tried to stop at a red light and slid on the ice right into the intersection and Trisha Miller’s car t-boned his in the driver side. His car slid into the curb and rolled over.”

“So sad, he never had a chance, especially not after hanging upside down with a TBI. The blood flowed back into his head causing massive pressure which is why it began bleeding. He didn’t suffer.” She said.

“That’s what I told his family. It seemed to help knowing he never felt the pain.” He rubbed forehead. “This was probably the worst head injury I’ve seen in my ten years at this hospital.”

“None of them are any easier than others. I’ve been ridden the chopper out to a few accidents that were so severe I needed to triage on scene. I’ve seen much, much worse. Still, it doesn’t stop me from doing what I do every day because for every patient I lose, I save hundreds more.” She stood up and tossed her cup in the trash. “I sent Trisha Miller up to ICU. Her CT Scan showed a small contusion with no bleeding and minimal swelling which is what’s causing the mild coma. She’ll probably wake up sometime during the night or in the morning. She should recover and go home in a day or two guarding any unforeseen circumstances. Her BP and sinus rhythm are normal. She’s a very lucky young girl. Serena talked to her family. I believe they are up in the ICU waiting room if you want to go let them know about Mr. Cranston’s passing.”

“Yeah, I should probably go talk to them.” He stood.

“You gonna be okay tonight?” She asked cautiously.

He smiled. “Yeah, just a little shell shocked. You’re a hell of a doctor Cason Macauley.”

“You could have caught that if I wasn’t here. It was basic analysis of an unconscious patient.”

Six

Adler stood in the snow at the top of the pipe talking to two of her friends and fellow pipe riders. She had already made eight passes and was still trying lay down a new trick which caused to land on her ass more times than she liked.

“Man you got this. I think maybe you need more speed, try moving it up in your routine.” Amy said.

“If you get that landed it’s gonna be sick.” Gordy pounded fists with her. He was one of the best male snowboarders in the world and at five foot four he looked like a dwarf on his board.

“I don’t know. If I can’t get it laid down here I’m only going to have a few days in the Aspen pipe to try to get it. I think I’m going to take your advice Amy. What the hell? I’ll either land the mother fucker or crash again.” She stood up and snapped her snow board boots into the bindings on her board and set her I-Pod to play one of her the songs from her playlist of loud fast paced songs she used for riding the pipe. Adler Troy had had more ambition and drive than most athletes put together. She was aggressive with no fear, that’s what made her one of the best snowboarders in the world.

Amy and Gordy both jumped up and walked up the hill to get a better full view of her run. Adler started down the hill and dropped in on the right side. She carved directly across the pipe and launched into the new trick when she came off the wall towards the sky. She bent her knees and grabbed her board with her right hand and spun her body in midair causing her to completely rotate three full times. She landed a little shakily but rode it out and went right back up the other side of the pipe and threw down one of her routine tricks, then back to the other side again. She put up three more tricks before coming to a stop in a cloud of snow at the bottom of the pipe with her fists in the air above her head. She was jumping up and down before she could even release her bindings. She had just laid down a hell of a run and could be favored to win her third X Games gold medal in a row if she could land that first trick again in competition. She tossed her helmet and goggles in the snow next to her board and watched her friends both lay down sick runs.

Gordy was the first one down. He released his bindings and ran over to her. He threw his arms around her and picked her up into the air even though she was taller than he was. “You just fucking landed a ten-eighty and with a grab! You have balls of steel! That was so fucking sick!”

“That was awesome! Holy shit!” Amy said running over to her. “I guess I’m settling for another silver at X.” She teased. “You’re just too damn good girl!” She hugged Adler.

“I’m so damn stoked right now.” Adler was smiling widely from ear to ear showing off perfect white teeth. “I’m going to leave here on a good night.”

“Not going to try it again?” Amy asked.

“Hell no,” Adler laughed. “My ass hurts. I need to tweak it so I stick the landing a little better and I plan to work on all that in Aspen. The pipe is almost done. I was up there this morning checking it out. I’ll have three or four days to put a run together and nail that landing.”

“Awesome. Man, I can’t wait. I hear one of the Swiss guys has been trying to lay down the double mctwist. I can kiss my second gold goodbye if he lands that shit.” Gordy said. He tried the same move two years ago and broke a vertebra in his back when he crashed. He wasn’t interested in trying it again anytime soon.

“We should all go out tonight and celebrate.” Amy said. “And pre-party for X Games.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“I’m down.” Gordy said and high-fived her.

Adler shrugged and then raised her hand up to meet theirs. She hadn’t planned on going back until the next day anyway. Why not party a little bit. “I’m in.” What the hell, she’d just landed one of the hardest tricks and only one other female had ever attempted it that she knew of.

***

Cason sat on the couch in her condo, her grilled chicken Caesar wrap long forgotten. She poured a glass of bourbon over ice and drank it in two long swallows. The blinds were open on the balcony overlooking the mountain. She could see the snow silently falling in the moonlight. It was one of the prettiest sights she’d ever seen. She walked over to the glass and watched nature produce something so beautiful, all the while wondering why human life worked the way it did. Do people know when their number is up? Can they control it or is it really something managed and decided by a higher power? She watched the peaceful scene a little longer wondering what it would be like to fly down that mountain with her hair on fire. That made her think of Adler Troy, if that was even the girl that ran into her two weeks ago. She would probably never know.

Seven

Cason drove past Buttermilk Mountain on her way home from her shift at the hospital. From the street she could see the giant Super Pipe and the Ski Moguls glistening in the bright sunlight. The blue definition lines were being painted. It wouldn’t be long before the Winter X Games competitors took to the snow to begin practicing. The games were set to start in less than a week. That meant more tourists and traffic for the small town which could easily result in more traumatic injuries. She hoped it would go smoothly. She really enjoyed watching the games on the sidelines as a spectator.

She stopped at the small Mom and Pop type store halfway up the next mountain that was the size of a postage stamp. It was the local grocery store and pharmacy. She smiled. This small town living was so much nicer than the hustle and bustle of the big city. She grabbed one of the tiny carts that reminded her of one you would find in a Walgreens or CVS. She perused what appeared to be the fresh fruit and vegetables section and passed on the limited selection. Instead, she filled her cart of with frozen dinners, orange juice, and macaroni and cheese, not exactly the healthiest choices but in her defense the frozen meals were Lean Choice which she figured was their version of a Lean Cuisine. She shrugged and pushed on. A few kindling logs to try and get the damn stubborn fireplace in the condo going, a dilemma she found herself in every year, and a miniature bottle of dish soap since the last guy obviously forgot to replace it, but she’d forgive him since he was probably a new father by now.

“Dr. Macauley.” A sickly sweet voice called to her across the two-for-one bin by the registers.

“Shit.” She said under her breath and turned around. “Serena, how are you?”

The brunette flipped her hair and flashed a huge smile. “I’m good. I missed you today. I hate that our schedules are so far off.” She pouted and the wrinkled her nose when she saw Cason’s assortment of frozen boxes. “Maybe you should let me cook dinner for you, that shit is unhealthy.”

Cason forced a grin. The reason their schedules were opposite was because she finally put her foot down and asked for the touchy feely nurse to be put on a different shift. “I can cook, I just don’t care to.” She lied. She was a hell of a cook, but cooking for one sucked. Why go through all of that when you could throw something in the microwave or order a pizza? She wasn’t going to tell Serena that, hell no, the woman would probably follow her home and demand she cook for her. Cason wondered if her husband Larry or Lance or something like that was home. Hopefully, he was and she wouldn’t take a chance on following Cason. She was pretty sure it had already happened once before last year, but she wasn’t certain and she damn sure didn’t need some big burly bearded truck driver spit tobacco at her as he kicked her ass for screwing his wife. “I need to get going. I’m sure I’ll see you at work sometime.” Cason said and cut a woman off with her cart to get into the fastest checkout line. That woman made her nervous and it wasn’t the good kind. She really was a very good nurse and had worked next to Cason on numerous occasions, if she could only keep her paws and sexual comments to herself.

***

Alder watched Clyde walk along the back of the crème colored soft leather couch. She petted his head and ran her hand down his back and up his tail. She had been back from Breckenridge for two days and was itching like a junkie to get on the Super Pipe sitting on the face of the mountain next door. She hated the fact that the Aspen Pipe was closed from the second week of January until X Games so that they could get it groomed for extreme level competition and paint the definition lines. She was told the competitors would be given four hour sessions for the next three days to practice before the start of Winter X Games Thursday afternoon. From that Thursday to Sunday extreme sports would take over the four mountains of Aspen, Colorado and leave nothing but snow tracks in its wake. Some of the world’s best athletes would compete in Skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling events. The X Games were radical, crazy, and most of all exciting. Adler always felt the pressure of being a hometown girl, but she never let that stop her from throwing down. Since she landed that new trick in Breck she was full of energy and bouncing off the walls like a kid full of sugar. She needed to find something to calm her down.

“If you were a dog I’d take you for a walk.” She said to the cat. He stopped his couch walking and turned his head as if he understood her. He threw his nose up and jumped down. Apparently, being compared to a dog was below him and he no longer wanted to appease her by letting her pet him. She laughed and flopped down on the couch.

When her cell phone rang she snatched it up. She left Kevin a couple messages trying to find out if he was coming to town for the competition. Gordy’s name was displayed on the caller ID. She was use to going days without talking to Kevin, that wasn’t the problem. She just wanted to know whether or not to expect him.

“I’m so keyed up I don’t think I’ll sleep for the next week.” He laughed.

“Lay off the energy drinks man.” She laughed. She understood the excitement of competition. “What time does your flight get in tomorrow?”

“Around ten I think.”

“The pipe opens at eleven and closes at three.” She said.

“Yeah I saw the email. I like that better than two all day sessions and then a day off. That always messed with my head. I like going right into it the next day. It keeps it fresh.” He added.

“True. I hadn’t really thought about it that way.” She watched Clyde bat a toy around on the floor. “Those twenty-two foot walls in the pipe are sick. I was up there today talking to a friend that’s helping with the construction crew. He said it was pretty icy compared to last year so it should be pretty fast.”

“Awesome. I can’t wait to see the air we are going to get coming off those giant fucking walls. It’s going to be crazy.” His voice was full of excitement.

“Yeah I know it. Talk about literally flying.” She lived for the adrenaline rush and thrill of flying up out of the pipe into some crazy acrobatic trick. “I’m going to try to get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Eight

Adler was about to pull out of the driveway to her small townhouse complex when she tried Kevin’s phone one more time for the hell of it.

“Hello, Kevin’s phone.” A bubbly female voice answered.

“Excuse me, who is this?” Adler asked.

“Jeanette. Who is this?”

“Where’s Kevin?” Adler gritted her teeth together.

“He’s in the shower. Is it important?” She asked.

“Very.” Adler sneered. The phone got quiet and then she heard the girl’s voice again.

“Baby it’s for you. I think it’s your work or something.” She heard her say. Then she heard his voice. “Just hang it up and get your sexy ass back in here. I’ll call them later, my dick’s hard again and I want your lips on it this time.”

Adler threw her phone out the window when she pulled out on the main road. She watched in the side mirror as it busted into a bunch of little pieces.

***

Cason stretched her back and walked into hospital for the start of her next twenty-four shift. The regular ski tourists were already in full swing and the X Games spectators would be pouring into town in a few days. At least she would be off for most of the weekend so she could go over and watch all the action. That thought added a little pep to her step. She enjoyed all of the events and it gave her something to look forward to. She almost closed her locker with her cell phone still inside, but it rang, making her realize it wasn’t attached to her pants at her hip.

“Cason, how’s it hanging?” Warren said when she answered.

She laughed. “Uh, a little to the left?” She said with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

“Sounds good,” He laughed. “So, when are you going to invite me up to party with you?”

“Are you bored without me already?” She asked.

“It’s not the same when you’re gone. These people are so sterile.”

“Yeah well it’s not that glamorous here either. I did lose a patient last week. I thought the ER attending was going to stroke out on me. I don’t think he’s ever seen a TBI that was basically a DOA.”

“I had two of those yesterday.” He said. “Maybe he should get out of Podunk and practice real medicine.”

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad around here. Death just doesn’t walk the halls like it does in big cities. On a lighter note the Winter X Games are this weekend. So, I have some excitement to look forward to.”

“Meet any ski bunnies yet?”

“Nope. Not my thing.”

“Uh huh, that don’t ask-don’t tell shit doesn’t work on me this isn’t the Army.”

She laughed. “You asked and I told. What more do you want? I have this nurse chasing me, hell she chases anyone and everyone, but I finally had to get our schedules switched.”

“Is she hot?” He asked.

“She’s okay, not really my type and I’m sure her Billy-badass trucker husband wouldn’t be too happy.”

Warren chuckled like a little kid. “That’s hilarious.”

“Yeah, so anyway, I’m about to start my twenty-four. I’ll call you in a week or two and try to put a weekend together to paint the town. Don’t get your hopes up though. Unless you ski or snowboard these people won’t look at you twice.”

***

Adler had washed away the tears she shed in the small bathroom of the ski chalet next to the X Games competitor parking lot. It was actually on the next mountain, she had to take a small bus over the pipe like all of the other competitors with events on Buttermilk Mountain, that was the only problem with that mountain it had no parking.

Amy and Gordy hadn’t noticed any change in her which was fine. She wasn’t in the mood to talk about. She didn’t need to air her dirty laundry. She had already done two warm up runs and her blood was still boiling from the overheard conversation. She was beyond sad, she was just plain pissed.

She pushed the button to start the loud rock song on her I-Pod and tucked it in the inside pocket in her jacket and pushed off when she got the all clear signal. She dropped in and carved across the pipe with more speed than she intended and the icy bottom was slippery. She held her line and flew up into a backside seven two, then carved across again and up into a double nine-twenty. She landed perfectly, still carrying a lot of speed she shot up the wall and into her new trick but she pushed out over the deck and was at risk of getting seriously hurt. She quickly opened her body to stall the spin and her board hit the edge of the deck on the way down. She tried to ride it out but it threw her down and she tumbled twice before sliding to a stop in the middle of the pipe.

When she didn’t move the ski-patrol rushed to her side. Adler tried to open her eyes but everything was black. Her head was fuzzy and throbbing. She tried to move but someone pushed her back down.

“Do you have any pain?” The male voice asked. She tried so hard to see him.

“My head is pounding. I can’t get up.”

“That’s because we are holding you still. You need to go get checked out.” He waved for the ski-basket to be brought into the pipe. It looked like an orange half cage shaped like a person. She stayed still while they rolled her onto a backboard then set the backboard into the basket to ski the rest of the way down the middle of the pipe.

***

Cason was walking through the ER, which was connected to the little area she used for trauma, when she heard the radio say an ambulance was coming in with a downed snowboarder with a possible head injury. She figured she better hang around to see how serious it was. Dr. Smith was wrapped up with two minor MVA’s and a couple minor slip and falls and the other doctor working the ER was wrapped up with a rash of food poisoning coming from some fly by night taco joint.

Two EMT’s pushed a yellow stretcher with an orange backboard strapped securely to it through the double doors. She met them inside ER room one. The snowboarder was obviously female and she could see a few blond strands of hair, but she was still in her ski cap and helmet.

“She crashed hard, hit the deck from about fifteen feet in the air and sort of somersaulted down the wall of the half-pipe.” One of the EMT’s said as they unstrapped the backboard and set it on the hospital gurney. “BP’s stable, she never lost consciousness that we know of. She’s complaining of a headache.”

“Let’s go ahead and send her for a CT scan.” Cason said to Katie, the nurse that had been working most of her shifts since the switch of schedules.

Cason watched the gurney being rolled down the hall. The young woman looked vaguely familiar, but then again she’d seen over a hundred people in ski clothes since she arrived in town three weeks ago. She shrugged and went back to the nurse’s desk to get the new patients chart. She subconsciously dropped the metal clipboard when she read the name across the top. Adler Troy. She quickly bent and picked it up and laughed when the nurse made a comment about her lack of coffee causing the shakes. No, coffee wasn’t the reason she dropped the chart. She tried to think back to the woman in the ski village that mowed her down. She remembered long curly blond hair, thin pink lips, a bright smile and the smell of citrus and flowers on a warm summer day. Was this the same girl? The window attendant at the walk-up restaurant seemed to think it was.

“Dr. Macauley, the CT results are back.” The nurse sitting at the desk pulled her out of the memory she was sifting through. Cason read the report on the computer and printed it for the chart.

“She’s pissed. She wants off that backboard.” The nurse said to Cason when she walked out of ER one. She had just wheeled Adler back into her room. “There are a few people here to see her too.”

Cason bit the inside of her lip. “Go ahead and get her off the board, but make her lay down. She can elevate the bed if she wants. No visitors until I talk to her. I’ll be back in a minute.” She said.

***

Adler was fuming. She told them she didn’t need to go to the damn hospital and all strapped down like she was broken in half was just ridiculous over kill. She had a headache that was common when she bumped her head, not to mention she was already extremely pissed off at her lying, cheating, bastard husband. She really didn’t need this right now. She knew she probably shouldn’t have gone for that trick. Hell, she shouldn’t have been riding the pipe when her mind wasn’t in it, that’s how people got hurt and here she was sitting there on the damn spongy bed sweating her ass off as living proof. The curtain moved and she looked up to see someone in scrubs with short messy dark hair enter the room. She raised an eyebrow at the sexy compact body walking with a confident swagger towards her. She realized the person was female just as deep blue eyes stared down at her.

“Adler Troy,” She said as she shined a pen light into Adler’s eyes checking her pupil size. “So that’s your name.” She shut the light off and slid it into her breast pocket. “I’m Dr. Macauley.” Cason watched the thought process spread across the face of the blond as she tried to place her. Adler Troy was beautiful, long curly blond hair, flawless tanned complexion, and the most amazing bluish-green eyes she had ever seen. They were the color of the water in Tahiti or Belize. At least that’s the color of the water on the brochures she kept on her desk in her condo in Denver. They were two places she teased herself with every year as vacation destinations. Maybe one day she wouldn’t be single when her vacation days rolled around. She continued. “You have a nasty bump on your head my friend.”

“Cason?” Adler whispered. She wasn’t completely sure, but it had to be the same woman. She watched the doctor grin and knew right away it was the same sexy body she had plowed into and blatantly cruised. She was already embarrassed as it was and now she had to see her again.

Cason saw the recognition in her face and grinned. She was surprised to hear her name. She figured that was old news for the local superstar. Apparently, she had left an impression of some sort. She cleared that thought from her mind quickly. “I’m surprised you remember me.” She smiled as she opened the clipboard and signed the release form. “I’d say you have a slight concussion, but it’s so slight that it’s almost of the chart. Still, I am medically responsible for you at the moment so I’m going to give you the required paperwork that accompanies a head injury.” Cason quickly ran through the checklist. “My personal advice is to lay low for a few days. I know you’ll be busy this weekend, but if you happen to fall and hit your head again you risk serious injury.”

Adler had been through the song and dance a couple of times, thankfully she’d never had more than a minor bump on her head and a broken arm. She watched the doctor…Cason…write a few notes on the clipboard and then pull another sheet loose. “How’s your head?” She said before she thought about it. That was three weeks ago, she was probably long over the incident in the village.

Cason smiled brightly and laughed. “My head’s fine. I had a smaller bump than you do now if that gives you any indication. I think my pride was hurt more. You pack a lot of punch for such a slender body.” She said as she looked down at the top half of Adler’s body which was covered only by a tight crème colored thermal shirt.

“I may be slim, but it’s all lithe lean muscle.” Adler grinned.

“Oh I don’t doubt that. You nailed me like a full back. I never saw you coming.” Adler laughed again. “It’s nice to finally meet you though. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.”

“So, you’re an ER doctor here. Why haven’t I seen you before? I mean in the village.”

Cason raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure you steer clear of people, from what I hear you’re somewhat of a celebrity. We’ve already had to close off this floor to ER personnel only.” Cason grinned when Adler’s eyes widened. “I’m kidding. No one knows you’re here but me, the nurse assisting me, and the EMT’s that brought you in. Oh and I think you have some friends in the waiting room.” She shrugged. “You haven’t seen me before because I’m not an ER doctor I’m a trauma surgeon. I actually live in Denver. It’s a long story. I’m here helping this hospital out for a few weeks.”

“Oh.” Adler said. She had almost forgotten about her slimy piece of shit husband for a couple minutes. Almost. Dr. Cason Macauley was easy to talk to and definitely easy on the eyes. Where had that come from? Adler had never looked twice at a woman and she’d been naked with them many times changing for photo shoots or in the sauna after a long day of competition. Not once had she ever felt drawn to someone like she did with Cason…the doctor.

Cason handed Adler the discharge papers and stepped back. “I’ll have the nurse escort your friends back here to take you home.” She turned to leave, but turned back around and stuck her hand out Adler place her surprisingly soft hand in hers. “Good luck this weekend.”

Adler gently squeezed the warm soft skin of the slightly larger hand holding hers. “Thanks. Are you going?”

“I’ll be there.” Cason winked and released her hand. Adler watched her walk out of the room.

Nine

Adler laid back down on the couch in her townhouse. She was on her second dose of Advil for the day and her head was still pounding. She wondered how much of it was because of the bump on the back of her head and how much was the stress of the situation her husband had created. She wanted a glass of wine. No, she wanted a bottle of wine, but she knew better than to mix the drugs and head injury with alcohol. She looked over at the picture of her and Kevin standing in the waves at Huntington Beach in California. Was he cheating then? How long had he been seeing other women? Did he even love her? Looking back on their three years together and two years of marriage she knew she loved him, but they never saw each other, they literally lived in two worlds. Was that fair to either of them? Still, it wasn’t a reason to run out and sleep with other people. When they did see each other he didn’t act like anything was wrong, but then again most cheating husbands played the role of husband really well. She got up and turned the picture around. She didn’t want to see his smiling face mocking her. She was glad she didn’t have a phone. She was sure he was probably calling constantly after his little shower blow job when he discovered who the caller was. She told Amy and Gordy she lost it in the snow on the mountain when they dropped her off. Amy drove her SUV for her and she rode with Gordy. He asked if she wanted to use his phone to call Kevin, she laughed and said no. He figured her head was still fuzzy or something and shrugged it off.

“Men are pieces of shit. No offense Clyde.” She petted the white and grey cat. “Unless, you’re cheating on me too.” She grinned when he meowed. “I did notice you eat those cheap treats Mrs. Jackson gives you when she watches you. Why do you make me by the expensive ones?” She shook her head. She was sitting here accusing her cat of cheating. She really needed to get some air, the walls were starting to close in on her. She wasn’t use to sitting at home. She decided to take a day off even though it would be crucial to her training for the X Games. She needed to clear the cobwebs from her head, so she sat out the second day of practice leaving her only one practice day before qualifying on Thursday afternoon.

***

Cason walked into a local Italian restaurant that seemed to be the place to go based on the nurses at the hospital. She’d only been up to Aspen Mountain a few times and never bothered to go to the local eatery when she was there. Most of her time was spent on Snowmass Mountain or the hospital. She did go to downtown Aspen quite often to walk around the shops and eat at the fancy restaurants. She looked around for an open table in the dimly lit room. For a Tuesday night the place was actually about half full.

Adler felt her before she saw her. When she looked up Cason was standing a few feet away dressed similar to that first day in the village in jeans and her black ski jacket. She brushed the snow from her short messy dark hair and smiled when Adler waved.

“Would you like to join me?” Adler heard herself say.

Cason shrugged. “Sure, unless, you’re waiting for someone.”

“No. No one.” Adler looked down at her menu. Cason took her jacket off and sat across from her at the small intimate table. Adler watched her as she sat down and got situated. She was wearing a grey v-neck sweater with what looked like a black t-shirt under it.

“I’ve never been here. The nurses keep telling me I need to experience this place, so here I am.” She smiled and watched Adler as she told her the history of the small local dive. Her long blond hair hung in loose spiral curls around her shoulders and the open top of her scallop neck lavender sweater. Her eyes were so bright Cason could swear they were glowing in the low light. She was beautiful.

“Everything’s good except for the spaghetti, I make it better.” Adler grinned.

Cason smiled. “I’ll have to remember that the next time I’m in the mood for spaghetti.” She opened her menu and pretended to study it. She had no idea why she decided to go out for dinner and why the hell was she sitting at Adler Troy’s table? She swallowed the lump in her throat. This probably wasn’t the best decision she made recently. The beautiful blond sitting across from her was young, way too young, and most definitely straight. The married kind of straight or at least that’s what her Winter X Games bio said when she read it last night. Cason noticed her left hand bore no ring, she wondered if maybe she just didn’t wear one. Oh well, it was none of her business.

“I like coming here because it’s quiet and the kind of place only locals go. I usually don’t get bothered.”

“Would you like me to sit somewhere else? I didn’t mean to impose on your privacy.” Cason started to get it up, but Adler grabbed her hand and squeezed.

“I invited you to sit with me. If I didn’t want you to sit here I wouldn’t have said anything.” Adler said. She was so moved by the depth of the blue eyes staring back at her she forgot to release the hand she was holding. She quickly let go and reopened her menu. Cason had a feeling she knew it by heart and probably had decided on her meal before she even walked in the door.

When the waiter finally walked over they both ordered pasta dishes, but neither ordered the spaghetti. “I looked for you today.” Cason said.

Adler raised an eyebrow. “Me? Where?”

“The Super Pipe.”

Adler raised both of her eyebrows then furled them together. “Were you checking up on me doc?” She grinned.

Cason bit the inside of the bottom lip. “Not necessarily. Do to all the recent activity lately and accidents and so on the officials asked the hospital if they had a doctor on staff that wouldn’t mind hanging around for the pipe events. I’m the best candidate because of my trauma field and I happen to be off those two days so I volunteered. I went up there today when my shift ended to meet with him and get the schedule. I’m glad you weren’t there.” She paused. “Any head injury is too serious to ignore.”

“I’m not reckless Dr. Macauley.” That was true usually. The day the accident had happened she was being reckless and she was lucky she didn’t get hurt worse. She spent the day trying to figure out how to turn all of the anger into positive energy at least for her competition this weekend.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Cason had a hard time looking Adler in the eyes. She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to look away once those striking blue-green eyes locked on hers. She didn’t want to be sitting at this table struggling to not be drawn to this woman.

“I’m not upset. I guess I have given you reason to think I’m careless after the village incident and then I come into the hospital with a concussion from snowboarding.” She took a sip of water. “Cason I’m a pro snowboarder, it’s not exactly the most laid back lifestyle. It is reckless in a lot of ways, but one thing I take very seriously is riding that board. I know every time I strap my boots into the bindings it could very well be my last. To get to the level that I’m at you learn to be fearless, you’re fueled by adrenaline and a drive most people won’t ever understand. People get seriously injured doing what I do, or worse they die. Nothing makes me happier in this entire world than shredding powder or riding pipe. They only way I get to keep doing what I love every day is taking care of myself. That means sitting out very important practice time to let my head heel from a nasty fall.” She locked eyes with Cason.

“I don’t even know you, but somehow you move me. Your valiant ambition is admirable. I will probably never understand why you do what you do.” She smiled. “But, that’s the doctor in me talking. I tend to steer clear of danger. I see the negative repercussions all too often.”

The waiter set their dinner plates on the table and walked away like he had no clue who was dining there. There was a small possibility that he didn’t, but Cason doubted that. It was nice to see local people respecting her privacy. Cason looked up from her plate when Adler spoke between bites.

“Have you ever been snowboarding?” Adler remembered Cason saying she was a trauma surgeon, she was sure she had seen much more severe injuries than a simple concussion. She was obviously a very strong person or she wouldn’t be in that line of medicine.

Cason cringed. She loved watching the snow sports, but they didn’t love her back. “Uh, yeah once. I think I’m just told old to learn something new that scares the hell out of me. I love to watch it though and skiing. It’s why I chose to rotate here this time of year instead of the summer like one of my fellow co-workers.”

Adler smiled brightly. “It’s not all that bad. Maybe I’ll show you sometime.” She took another bite of pasta. “So you said you live in Denver, right?”

“Yeah, I’m only here January and February.”

“How does that work out?”

“Well, it’s sort of complicated. Aspen General can’t afford a trauma doctor on their staff so they work with other hospitals in the state to rotate a group of six trauma surgeons through AGH for a period of two months each. Another doctor from my hospital is usually here June and July. The other four doctors are from other cities.”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“This is my fourth year. I really enjoy it. One of my colleagues, and a good friend of mine, calls this my vacation. In a way, he’s right. I’ve seen more trauma in one day at DMC than I’ve literally seen in the four years here. I love the snow and the atmosphere here. It took me awhile to get acclimated to the slow pace. I still don’t think I’ve gotten completely used to it. I’m more at home running around with my hair on fire and someone’s life dangling in the palm of my hands. The laid back environment is a nice change though. I look forward to it every year.”

“Wow. That’s interesting. So is that something you volunteer for or are you handpicked to come hang out here for two months?”

“You volunteer, but the waiting list is pages and pages long. You sort of need to know someone to get chosen and you’re pretty much on the Interim Team until you decide to step down or you screw up, but that means you’d probably lose your medical license so that’s never really happened. We have had a few people step down though. It’s not easy to change pace like that and then eight weeks later change back. It drove me crazy my first and second year.”

“You said I move you, well you definitely intrigue me, Cason.” Adler met her eyes.

“You know I was surprised you remembered my name when I saw you in the hospital.”

“Why is that? The head injury wasn’t that bad.” Adler laughed.

“I was a simple person that you happened to have a very brief incident with. It’s not like you hung around to talk to me or anything. I’m sure you meet people all the time. Do you always remember the names of strangers you meet?”

Adler chewed her bottom lip. How to answer that question? No. She didn’t remember strangers. In fact, she shied away from contact at all unless she was doing an autograph session. For some reason she had not only remembered Cason, she had actually thought of her a time or two. She shrugged. “It wasn’t exactly the most nonchalant meeting and you had a unique name. It stuck with me. And I really did wonder if you were okay I did hit you pretty hard.”

The waiter laid the bill in the center of the table and Cason grabbed it while Adler grabbed her hand. Adler felt like she just stuck her hand in fire, she quickly drew back. “Let me have that.” She said. “I invited you to sit with me.”

Cason grinned. “I’ve got it. Maybe you can make me that spaghetti dinner one night to repay me.”

“That’s means I would have to see you again.” Adler smiled.

“After this weekend you probably won’t see me again anyway.” Cason said as she slid her check card into the black folder.

“Why is that? I thought you were here until the end of February?” Adler asked.

“I am, but I’ll be sort of working at the games this weekend. After that you have no reason to see me.”

“Maybe I want to see you again silly.” Adler stood and put a khaki colored ski jacket on and a brown ski hat down her the top of her head and ears. Cason put her black ski jacket on and followed her outside. She wished she hadn’t left her ski hat in her SUV. At least she had her gloves, but her exposed ears were freezing.

“Good luck this weekend Adler,” Cason stuck her hand out but Adler pulled her into a light hug.

“Thanks. For some reason it’s going to feel just a little safer out there knowing you will be there if something goes wrong.”

Ten

Cason sat in her tiny condo contemplating going up to Buttermilk where all of the X Games courses were. Technically she didn’t need to be there until the Super Pipe events on Friday and Saturday. That’s what the event coordinator had asked for. She knew Adler was getting back in the pipe today to practice and then she would be there Thursday afternoon to qualify. Adler Troy made her nervous. The closer she got to her the more she wanted to know her. She was so alive, her free spirit was contagious. Adler Troy was like a powerful magnet and Cason was a precious metal that couldn’t help being drawn to her. She couldn’t control the inevitable; she just hoped she survived the fall.

***

Adler strapped her boots into her bindings and pulled her goggles down. She was as prepared as she was going to get. She stared at the bottom of the pipe wondering if she would see a familiar face when she finished her qualifying run.

The day before was one of the hardest days of her life. She had never actually been scared to ride pipe, a little nervous here or there, but yesterday had been difficult. She tried meditating, relaxing massage, motivational books, nothing worked. She just couldn’t get her mind to focus. She finally went out and did some free riding that morning; there was nothing in the world like riding powder. Pipe was an adrenaline rush and free riding was a thrill. Halfway down the hill when she hit her first jump, performed a clean backside three-sixty, and landed smoothly her nerves settled and her head began to clear. It really wasn’t the minor injury that threw her, but after two riders were seriously injured and another died in the last two years any accident was severe enough to take a step back and readjust not only your riding but also your focus. She couldn’t let Kevin continue to get to her. Right now that part of her life didn’t matter. It couldn’t matter or it could potentially get her killed. She practiced pipe flawlessly, despite not attempting her new trick.

When the song she chose to ride to began playing on her I-Pod she stood and pointed her board towards the pipe. A few loose strands of blond hair stuck out on both sides of her face. She dropped in and carved across the bottom of the pipe and up the front wall. She flew ten feet out of the pipe in a frontside air to fakie move, then back across to the other side. She was on fire pulling double backside nine’s, then a cab seven-twenty and a switch-frontside five-forty to end her run. She felt good about her run, it was solid, her lines were clean. She wasn’t at the top but she was in.

“That was sick.” Gordy said as she unstrapped her bindings and grabbed her board.

“Yeah, but backside nine’s aren’t going to win this thing, not this year. Amy and Desiree are on fire.”

“Amy and Desiree can’t throw down a ten-eighty.” He said.

She stopped in her tracks and smiled. “No girl has ever landed it in competition.”

“No, but you landed it in Breck and it was totally sick. You can do it here.” He patted her back. “This is your home pipe, you own this snow. Focus Adler. Believe it and you can do this shit. You’re one of the best snowboarders in the world male or female.”

“You know, for a midget you sure are philosophical sometimes.” She ran when he tried to smack her.

“Fuck you.” He laughed.

“You wish.” She smiled. He really was her best friend. Amy was cool and they spent a lot of time riding together, but Gordy was like a brother she never had. She knew he was right. She had to step her game up and she had the tricks to do it, she just had to believe it.

***

Cason was pissed that the qualifying wasn’t on TV. She wanted to see how Adler did. She was sure she qualified, and there was really no reason to ask about her head. An athlete of her caliber was healed and probably jumped back in it like nothing had happened. She grinned. Yeah, Adler was probably out somewhere celebrating qualifying first and gloating. She decided to call anyway, just a small friendly gesture. That’s all it was. She was glad she snooped in the hospital computer and got her cell number. At the time she said it was to check up on her, but really she knew then that she wanted to see her again.

Eleven

Cason loved the way the flood lights lit the mountain up for the night-time events. The icy pipe glistened and the blue definition lines made the whole thing look like it had a light blue hue. It was beautiful. She took her place next to the medic team at the base of the pipe close to the media. She was surprised to see the thousands of people next to her and behind her. Super Pipe had more spectators than any of other Winter X Games sport, except maybe the up and coming snowmobile events.

***

Adler stood in the warming tent at the top of the pipe with most of the other female competitors. Amy was next to her talking to one of the other riders. She looked down at the crowd at the base of the pipe. She knew they would go crazy cheering when it was her turn to ride. It was kind of cool being the hometown girl. She thought about the face in the back of her mind and wondered where she would be. She knew she was there, somewhere.

“This is it. Throw down or go home.” Amy said as she high-fived her. She was the number one qualifier and deserved it. She was damn good and Adler considered her to be her toughest competition. They always teased each other a little to try and one-up the other. It actually pushed them harder.

“I feel you.” Adler grinned. “You just bring it.”

Adler qualified fourth so she was at the bottom of the list of twelve girls. When her turn came up she said a silent prayer to herself while sitting in the snow. When she got the green light she stood up and angled the board down the mountain towards the pipe. She always dropped in on the backside wall which was technically on her right and the front side wall was on her left. She hit the frontside and flew into a cab nine, then a backside nine on the opposite wall. She carved across again to the front side wall with major air out of the pipe she pulled a cab seven-twenty followed by a switch-backside-five-forty and a backside air to fakie to finish her run. She was stoked.

The smile on her face faded quickly when she searched the crowd for the face in her mind and her eyes landed on Kevin. She unsnapped her boots and grabbed her helmet in goggles in one hand and her board in the other. Amy and Gordy both congratulated her. The score board said she qualified third. She couldn’t be excited, the very thing she tried so hard to push from her mind was standing five feet away.

“That was awesome babe.” He said when she walked past him.

She turned and raised an eyebrow. “You really want to do this here? All the media and everything Kevin, really?” She began walking again through the crowd of fans and media cameras. He was hot on her heels.

“I tried to call you like a hundred times.”

She spun around again and tossed her equipment in the snow. “You lying, cheating piece of shit. Did you think I didn’t hear you talking to her, pleading for her to get back in the shower with you? You disgust me!” She yelled.

“Look, Adler it’s not like that okay. It was a one-time thing. I didn’t mean for it to happen.” He pleaded as more spectators gathered around.

“I am so not doing this here Kevin.” She grabbed her equipment from the snow and walked through the crowd as it began parting like the red sea for her. She had to go back to the top for her second run and now she had an enormous amount of stress on her shoulders.

She finally saw the face she was looking for when she climbed onto the back of the snowboard to ride back up the mountain to the top of the pipe. She felt a tiny bit of the tension in her body release. She wondered how much of that she’d heard. Hell, most of the people standing anywhere near them heard their conversation. She was sure her dirty laundry was about to air on ESPN when the event aired. Thankfully, at least it wasn’t live.

***

Cason raised her eyebrows and stepped a little closer like the rest of the crowd. Adler was yelling at a tall guy in a dark blue ski jacket and matching cap. From the words she was using Cason figured this was her husband and apparently he had been caught cheating on her. Who in the hell would cheat when they had a beautiful girl like her at home? She wondered how the hell that happened. More importantly she wondered when it had happened. Was that the cause of Adler’s recent loss of concentration? Cason saw Adler’s eyes finally lock on hers in the crowd as she headed back up for her second run. She hoped this giant mishap didn’t turn her run into a disaster. This could be dangerous. Cason turned back towards the guy but he was long gone.

***

Adler couldn’t believe he had the balls to show up at her competition, and then to act like nothing had happened, she wanted to kill him. At least no one at the top of the pipe heard her conversation. She knew Gordy was down there somewhere. She hoped he’d understand why she didn’t talk about it. She kept her marriage separate from her career. She walked into the warming tent and took a seat. She’d have a little while before it was her turn to ride again and she needed to get her head in the game. She was four points out of first and sitting in third place. She knew Amy had a Mctwist in her bag of tricks and she would definitely throw it in her final run. If she wanted the gold she was going to have to do a lot more than attempt her new trick, she’d have to land it and she knew it.

Amy watched Adler sit down on the aluminum chair. She was quiet which wasn’t normal. They were usually razing each other at this point in the competition. Adler’s run was good, but typical and not signature Adler Troy. It was cautious just like her qualifying run.

“You okay?” Amy walked over and asked.

Adler forced a smile. “Yeah, just trying to figure out how to beat you.”

“Oh please. You have more in your bag of tricks than I ever thought about attempting. Don’t get me wrong, I would love the gold.” She grinned. “You just look a little spooked. How’s your head?”

“I’m fine.” Adler looked back out at the pipe. “Amy you have the run to beat me, you just need to throw it down. If it’s not my day then it’s not my day.” She shrugged then realized she must sound like a figment of herself. She was usually pumping everyone up. “Maybe I am letting my head get to me a little bit. Hell, we probably all are after these last eighteen months.” She smiled. “If you want my gold you better step up. I’m not going down without a fight.” She said and they both laughed. It felt good to laugh, but nothing helped to clear her mind. Her nerves were razor sharp edges.

Adler pulled her chair over to the side and turned her I-Pod back on. She listened to a handful of motivating songs while she tried to get her focus back. She was visualizing her run in her mind and concentrating on the blue lines of the pipe when the official tapped her on the shoulder. It was her time. This was it. She was either going to throw down a hell of a ride, fall on her ass, or cruise through without a podium run. She strapped her boots into the bindings on her lime green board with pink, black, and white writing. It wasn’t exactly her choice of colors, but it had kick-ass graphics and her sponsor made the board especially for her ride at Winter X.

When the green light flashed Adler stood up and angled her board down the mountain towards the pipe. She hit the frontside wall with more speed than she anticipated, that caused her to get almost two more feet of air than any of the other riders so far. She threw a sick air to fakie, then went right into a backside nine and into her new trick the front side ten-eighty. She held her breath until the board landed smoothly. She carved back across the icy pipe and spun into a frontside ten-eighty and finished with a cab seven. She felt numb, but she was rode flawlessly. She threw her arms in the air and shredded to a stop at the base of the pipe. The cheers from the crowd were so loud she could barely hear the ESPN reporter talking to her. She unstrapped her board and picked it up. She kept her goggles and helmet on and scanned the crowd. Thankfully, she didn’t see Kevin. She didn’t see the face she wanted to see though.

“That was definitely signature Adler Troy. What a sick ride! You’re the first woman to not only land a ten-eighty, but you did triple nines I don’t think any woman has ever done that either.” The young guy shoved the microphone in her face and the other guy with the camera zoomed in.

She smiled brightly. “This is Winter X, you either go big or go home.” She shook her head. She couldn’t believe the run she laid down. She would definitely have to watch the replay.

“Here comes the replay.” He said as if he read her mind. She turned to watch the large flat screen.

“Watch this…” He was practically jumping up and down. “That grab was crazy right there.” He pointed out. “The whole ride was just totally sick. I wonder what Amy Laughlin is going to pull out of her trick bag.”

“I guess we will see in a minute won’t we.” She smiled.

“So you were seen having a heated argument with your husband, ESPNwriter, Kevin Dodson…”

She cut him off. “I’ll comment about snowboarding, that’s all.”

Alder felt like she was watching someone else on the screen when they showed her replay again. She just had probably the best run of her life and she was completely numb the entire time. She hated Kevin for taking the thrill of that ride away from her. She would never get that feeling back. Gordy was waiting on the side when she finished the interview. He picked her up in the air.

“You are fucking crazy girl!” He said low enough to not be heard. “I can’t believe you went for triple nines, that ten-eighty was sick enough! You have the biggest balls I have ever seen on a girl, man!”

She laughed. “The last time I checked I didn’t have balls.” She looked down at her crotch. “I just fucking landed a ten-eighty and three nines in a row!” She smacked him in the chest.

“You also just won another gold.” He said as Amy fell coming out of her landing on her second to last trick. “I guess we have to start calling you Goldilocks or something.” He joked and hugged her again.

“Oh how nice.” She rolled her eyes and ran over to Amy who had just come to a stop. She knew he had to know what went down with Kevin, she was glad he didn’t bring it up.

“Can you believe I fell on a goddamn five-forty?” She yelled in frustration and laughed. “You, damn girl, when you bring it, you fucking bring it!” She grabbed her friend and hugged her. “I’m so stoked for you. What a crazy run. I was cringing the entire time.”

“I said step up.” Adler teased. “Honestly I think I had my eyes closed the whole time.” They both laughed.

“Maybe I should ride with my eyes closed too if that’s the result.”

***

Cason watched the friendly exchange. Adler Troy was well-liked in the snowboard community. Several other riders grabbed her and put her up on their shoulders and paraded her through the crowd. This was her fourth Winter X Games gold medal. Judging by the way she just rode the pipe it was very well deserved. Cason wasn’t stupid, she knew that was the hardest run of her life, on a difficulty level yes, but also on a personal level. Her head couldn’t have been all in it, yet somehow she pulled it off. Maybe she was just lucky. One thing was for sure though, that beautiful blond standing at the top of the podium in the middle of the pipe base with the shiny gold medal around her neck was one hell of a snowboarder. If she didn’t make Cason nervous before she most definitely did now with the obvious straight baggage and fearless way she rode that board.

When the short ceremony was over and Adler finished what looked like her fifth interview Cason walked over to her.

Adler smiled. “There you are. I wondered if maybe you left.”

“No. I couldn’t leave without telling you how amazing I think you are.” Cason said as she watched Adler’s blue-green eyes dance in the bright flood lights that lit up the SuperPipe area. She had the most beautiful smile Cason had ever seen. When Adler Troy smiled it looked like she was smiling all for you and you alone.

“Thanks. To be honest with you I still can’t believe I didn’t crash. It was my best run on one of my worst nights.” Adler had no idea why she was telling this to her. Cason was practically a stranger. She just felt so safe with her, so open. She was usually a very private person and this threw her a little bit.

“Yeah, I heard. I’m sorry.” Cason said.

“It’s okay. Shit happens I guess.” She shrugged. “Isn’t there an old saying ‘what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger’ or something like that?”

Cason smiled. “Something like that.”

“Hey, I’m expected to go out and celebrate at this kick-ass party. You wanna go?” Adler bit her bottom lip.

Cason found it extremely difficult to say no to this girl. She watched as Adler shook her hair out and put her ski cap back on. She looked like a California surfer girl with the tanned skin, long curly blond hair, sexy eyes and slender lithe body. Oh she was in trouble here, big trouble. “Sure.” She said and swallowed the lump in her throat. What the hell would she have in common with a bunch of skiers and snowboarders? Not to mention she was probably ten years or more, older than all of them.

Twelve

Cason walked into the double-decker bar behind Adler. The room was full wall to wall with people and the second floor railing was packed with people looking down all the way around the room. A band was playing some kind of rock/punk mix on a small stage in the corner. People were congratulating Adler left and right and she was quickly swallowed up by the crowd. Cason noticed most of the other male and female snowboarders and some the skiers she recognized. She wondered what the hell she would have in common with a bunch of skiers and snowboarders. Not to mention she was probably ten years or more, older than all of them. She was alone in the middle of the room wondering if this was a bad idea. She had a feeling most of the Aspen Winter X Games population was in the bar. She pushed her way to the bar and ordered a beer. She was more of a bourbon drinker, but she figured that would really show her age.

“There you are.” A warm soft hand slid into hers and pulled her away from the bar. Adler was right at home with this crowd. She was laughing and smiling. Cason wondered how much of it was being faked at the moment because of what she was going through. They finally stopped upstairs in the corner above the band. “These are my friends, Gordy and Amy.” Adler said still holding her hand.

“I remember seeing them at the hospital I think.” Cason stuck her other hand out to shake both of theirs. She wasn’t letting go of the slightly smaller hand holding hers.

“This is Cason.” Adler said. “She’s a big shot doctor.” She smiled at the look on Cason’s face.

“Cool.” They both said in unison.

Everyone around them was dancing and it didn’t take long for them to start moving with the crowd. Adler finally let go of her hand and moved to the music careful not to spill the beer she was holding. There were so many people in the room is was impossible to move without bumping into someone or accidently grinding against someone else. This certainly wasn’t a scene Cason was use to. She hung with Warren occasionally and sometimes they would wind up at a dance club because he liked to dance. In fact, he taught her how to do the Soulja Boy dance from a popular rap song. They both had a little too much to drink and wound up doing that dance in the middle of the dance floor a few times. Alcohol made people grow courage they never dreamed of having. She shook her head thinking about the last time they had done that. She had so much fun that night and wound up going home with some brunette, Jana or Janet or something like that. She laughed.

“What’s funny?” Adler asked as she moved into Cason’s dance space. Less than an inch separated them. Cason was almost sorry that there wouldn’t be a slow song anytime soon, or at all for that matter.

“Oh, just thinking of something back home. The last time I went out it got a little crazy and that’s definitely not me. I was with a guy from work. I guess you could say we’re kind of best friends. Anyway, we drank a little too much and were dancing crazy.”

“What kind of dancing? Dirty?” She smiled almost seductively and wiggled her eyebrows. She was very playful by nature. Cason had noticed she was like that with everyone.

“No. I don’t dance like that.” Cason laughed. At least not with men. She thought to herself.

“That’s too bad.” She tipped her beer and turned back to one of her friends that pulled on the back of her sweater.

When the bar closed at two a.m. Cason was tired. She wondered how many of these people shouldn’t be driving because of their alcohol consumption, let alone the road conditions outside. A fine blanket of snow had fallen while they were inside. She had only drank a beer and a half and felt fine.

“Do you want a ride home?” Cason asked Adler when they got outside. She watched her hesitate. “I know you’ve been drinking, please don’t drive. I don’t want to get called in to work and find you. I see it all too often unfortunately.”

“I’m okay to drive. I really didn’t drink that much, only two.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not much of a beer drinker.”

“I saw people buying you drinks and shots all night.” Cason said.

Adler grinned, “I’m very good at handing them off to others nonchalantly.”

“Oh.” Cason smiled.

“Thanks for looking out for me though. I actually don’t want to go home and find my husband in my house to be honest with you. I hope he slithered back to California a while ago.”

“You can stay with me if you want. It’s nothing fancy, just a studio style condo.”

“Thanks. I’ll be okay. If he’s there I’ll just kick his ass out.” She said.

“Well, call me if you need anything.” Cason said. “I just realized you probably don’t have my number. I called you the other day to see how qualifying went, but it just rang and went to your voicemail. I figured you didn’t know the out of town number so you didn’t answer.”

“Never got the call. My phone’s in a thousand pieces up on Brush Creek Road.”

Cason raised her eyebrows. “Oh.”

Adler grinned. “Long story,”

“I guess so.”

“I’ll probably get another one Monday.”

“Alright, well I had a good time tonight. Congratulations again. You really are incredible on a snowboard.”

“Thanks. I’m glad you came out with me.” Adler hugged her lightly. Cason caught a whiff of the citrus scent that always lingered when Adler was around. It reminded her of the summer. It made Adler’s bright personality remind her of sunshine in the summertime.

Thirteen

Alder walked into her townhouse and was surprised to see Kevin sitting on the couch in front of the TV. She set her gear to the side and took her hat and jacket off. He stood up and walked towards her.

“Don’t touch me.” She growled. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Adler, come on we need to talk.” He leaned against the kitchen counter and watched her make herself a glass of water. “I just watched the competition. I’m glad you won your fourth gold. I’m happy for you.”

“I didn’t do it to make you happy,” she paused and sipped her water. “You son of a bitch. I still don’t understand why you are here…in my house.”

“Damn it. I told you it didn’t mean anything it was a onetime thing.” He said.

“Kevin, I don’t care if it was one time or a hundred times!” She yelled. “I heard you demanding that she get back in the shower. Is that really what you want, some whore you just picked up sucking your dick in the shower? You absolutely fucking disgust me!” She threw the glass against the wall behind him. “I want a divorce!”

“God damn Adler, calm down!” He yelled back.

“Three years! I wasted three goddamn years of my life with you and two being married to you. I wondered why you never wanted to travel with me or come here during the season. You were probably off with your whores while I was traveling the world nine months out of the year. You had free rein to do whatever you wanted while you’re idiot wife was off playing in the snow.” The tears that fell on escalated her anger. She didn’t want him to see her like this.

He reached for her but she backed away. “I’m really sorry. We live such completely different lives. I know that’s not an excuse, it just happened. I love you Adler.”

“Different lifestyles don’t give you a free pass to fuck whoever you choose.” She wiped the last of the tears. “You don’t love me Kevin, because if you did you would have been here with me and know I had a bad accident at the beginning of the week and got rushed to the hospital with a concussion. You would have known I finally landed a double cork ten-eighty in Breck a few weeks ago. You would have known that tonight I made history and you would have been by my side for all of that. You weren’t though. No. You were with your whore or doing whatever else it is when you avoid having anything to do with my life. So, no, you don’t love me. Don’t hide behind that like some coward.”

“I didn’t know you got hurt. Why didn’t anyone report on it?”

She sneered. “So that’s how you get news on your wife, you watch your fucking network. You expect your job to keep you updated on your wife’s life is that it? Wow Kevin.”

“It’s not…I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Look, I’m done with this conversation. You need to leave.” She walked towards the front door.

“Where am I supposed to go?”

“Kevin, I really don’t give a shit. Go to a hotel, or one of your whores, or sleep in your fucking car. I want a divorce. My lawyer will be in touch with you.” She swung the front door open. She didn’t have to worry about giving any of his belongings, he had nothing there. She did have a few things at his house in L.A. but she could live without them.

“I didn’t want it to be like this.”

“Me either. You think I like this?”

“We probably never should have gotten married.” He said with his head hung low.

“You’re right. One wonderful summer doesn’t constitute spending the rest of your lives together. We are just two totally different people.”

He tried to hug her when he stepped outside. She backed away. “I guess there’s nothing to contest then. Just have the papers sent to me. I’ll sign them.” He wiped away a lone tear as he walked to his car.

Adler closed the door, put her forehead against it, and let out the breath she was holding. She opened a new bottle of wine and took it with a glass over to the couch. She cried away the last three years of her life as she drank glass after glass. What a mess. She had the best night of her life and the worst all at the same time. How did it get this far, this bad? How did she not see the signs? They were right in front of her face now as plain as day. She was miserable and she should be so happy she could shout it from the rooftops. She turned the TV off and opened the vertical blinds over the French doors leading to her patio. She swirled the red wine around the glass as she watched the snow fall silently to the ground. She wished she could go out and ride the fresh powder in the middle of the night. That was like asking for death. It was dangerous, dark, and the biggest rush she had ever had. She hiked up Snowmass when she was eighteen and free rode about two a.m. It was a full moon and the mountain was gorgeous. Just thinking about it made the fine blond hairs on her arms stand up.

Fourteen

A week after the Winter X Games Adler hopped off the chair lift and hiked over to the start of the black diamond trail. She had been going out and riding powder every day. Free riding in the back country for her was like chicken soup for a cold. It always helped her heal or made her feel better. She spent most of the day Monday at her lawyer’s office, then on the phone with her family breaking the news of the divorce. Her lawyer knew the truth, but she put irreconcilable differences on the papers. She also wrote a very small paragraph on her website announcing her decision to file for divorce and asked for privacy during the personal matter. She knew ESPN knew some of what the true reason because they saw the incident at X Games and tried to ask her about it in her interview. She was sure her statement was all over the internet and news channels by now. She changed her phone number when she finally got a new phone. The only numbers she programmed in it were her family, friends, and sponsors. The rest of the people trying to call her could go to hell.

A light dusting of snow was falling when she started down the mountain shredding powder and kicking up a cloud of white snowflakes in her wake. She felt free, pulling tricks over the jumps and edging around stray rocks and tree. Riding pipe was like flying, this was like standing on the nose of a runaway freight train heading downhill. She was pretty far away from the tourist crowd so she only encountered two or three other locals on her path. She went unnoticed as she rode over and over every day. She had more jackets and pants than she would every really need so she could easily blend in every day as a completely new snowboarder. She also had a handful of boots and half a dozen snowboards of various colors and sizes based on whether she was riding powder or pipe.

At the base of the hill she walked the short stretch back to the lift chair and rode back up. She pulled a protein power bar from her jacket pocket and ate it while she rode in the lift chair. She was surprised when her mind flashed to blue eyes, short messy dark hair, and a sexy smile. She had spent most of her time trying to clear her mind and push past the sadness, anger, and hurt over the last week. She really did have a great night after X, until she walked into her house. Her mind flashed back to Cason. She had no idea what it was that drove her towards that woman. She just knew she enjoyed being around her. She seemed happier for some reason. Maybe it was the excitement of having a new friend, or maybe the fact that she was so down to earth and easy to talk to. Either way, Adler knew she wanted to see her again.

***

Cason had just finished sewing a man’s leg back together after he cut it on his snow blower. The blade nicked a major vessel and tore some of the muscle tissue. She rushed him right into surgery and thankfully was able to save his leg. She changed into a fresh pair of scrubs and went back out into the ER.

“Hey, Macauley, you got someone asking for you at the nurse’s station.” One of the ER doctors said when he passed her in the hallway. She knew Serena was at the nurse’s station. She had somehow weaseled her way back onto the same schedule. Cason walked down the hall and turned the corner. Adler was standing there, her face lit up when she saw Cason.

“Hey stranger,” Cason smiled.

“Hey. I’m sorry to bother you here. I finally got a new phone, but I didn’t have your number.” Adler explained.

Cason grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side away from the nurse’s desk and Serena’s ears. She was already starring daggers at the blond. “It’s okay. I just got out of surgery, have you been here long?”

“No, just walked in actually. I asked the woman at the desk if you were here and she was giving me the third degree. That’s when I saw you.”

“Just ignore her. I’m glad you’re here. It’s good to see you.” Cason watched her blue-green eyes and noticed she was biting her bottom lip.

“It’s kind of been a week from hell. I’ve been hiding on the mountain.”

“Yeah, word got around pretty fast I guess. I’m sorry.” Cason wanted to push a stray lock of curly hair from Adler’s face, but decided against it.

“Such is life I guess. I wanted to go ahead and leave for Australia early, but I have competitions and a bunch of other shit lined up for the next three months so I guess I have to ride it out. I’m sure my demise will be old news soon. Tiger Woods or Kobe Bryant or some other athlete will mess up sooner or later. It doesn’t help that they sort of smeared Kevin’s name because he’s a writer for ESPN, but hey, do the crime do the time, right.”

“You’re very philosophical today.” Cason grinned.

“Ugh.” Adler rolled her eyes. “My friend Gordy that you met, he reads all this philosophy shit and he gave me some books a while back. I’ve been reading them.”

“I see.”

“Do I sound all educated?” She laughed.

“You’re a very smart woman Adler, no matter what you read.”

“Thanks.” Adler tucked that loose hair back over her shoulder. “So anyway, I came here to see if you wanted to go snowboarding tomorrow. I know I promised you a private lesson.”

“Oh.” Cason cringed. “I’m not much of a snowboarder, like I said. But, if you’re willing to deal with an old chicken-shit, I’m in.”

Adler smiled. “You’re not old.”

Cason raised an eyebrow. “I’m much older than you.”

Adler raised her hands in an excuse me sort of way and laughed. “Oh please.” She said and laughed again. She gave Cason her home address. “I’ll see you at six a.m.”

Cason watched her walk away, then she turned around to go back to the doctors lounge. She only had about four hours left on her twenty-four hour schedule. Thankfully, she would be off in the late afternoon so she would have plenty of time to rest before her snowboarding excursion.

“Getting a little cozy with the patients aren’t we?” Serena said when she walked by.

“She’s not a patient, at least, not anymore. We’ve become friends, not that it’s any of your business.”

“She’s straight you know.”

“So are you.” Cason countered.

“She’s just a kid Cason. That’s a little overboard don’t you think?” She leaned over the counter purposely pushing her busty chest up so that her cleavage showed in the V of her scrub top.

“Serena, she’s an adult number one. She’s a straight married woman number two. And again it’s really none of your business. Adler and I are friends, that is all. Now, if you will excuse me I have a patient to check on.”

“She’s going to hurt you.” Serena said to her back as she walked away.

Fifteen

Cason arrived at the small townhouse complex just before six. She still wondered why the hell she was doing this. She was not a snowboarder and never would be. She realized when you get to a certain age the no fear mentality disappears. Maybe if she had learned as a child she wouldn’t be so nervous. Oh well, it was too late now. She knocked on the door.

“Hey!” Adler said when she pulled the door open. She was dressed black ski pants and a white thermal shirt. “I’m almost ready. Are you excited?”

“Yup,” Cason said as she looked around. The bottom floor of the townhouse was an open floor plan. The kitchen overlooked the living room which was modernly decorated with a crème colored sofa and silver tables. She assumed the bedrooms were upstairs.

“You look a little scared.” Adler smiled as she ran up the stairs and came back down with her dark purple ski jacket and matching ski cap. “Okay, I’m ready. I put all the equipment in my SUV when I got up this morning, so we’re all set.”

“Okay.” Cason followed her outside to a black Mercedes SUV with black leather interior. “This is nice.”

“Thanks. I use to drive a Jeep, but my soon to be ex-husband decided I needed to look flashy or some shit and talked me into buying this. I like it though.”

The drove around the mountain in silence, Adler seemed to know all of the short cuts. When they finally reached their destination they parked in a small lot and grabbed all of the equipment. “We have to walk a little ways to catch the lift chair. There is a little private spot I know about on the back side of the mountain, so we will have to hike a bit when we get up there. It has some nice little bunny hills.”

“Sounds great,” Cason forced a smile. She really enjoyed Adler’s company, but she hoped she didn’t embarrass herself to bad.

When they reached the spot Adler was talking about she helped Cason get her helmet and goggles on, then she had her sit in the snow while she strapped her boots into the bindings on her board. “Okay, I want you to watch me first. I’m going to go down the hill and I’ll hike back up. Watch my lines and my movements.”

Cason watched Adler shred from side to side all the way down the little hill that was almost flat. She had to be bored to death; this was nothing like the slopes she usually rode. When she got to the bottom she unstrapped her board and walked back up to where Cason was sitting. “Did you see how I used my body to lean in and out?”

“Uh huh,” Cason said.

Adler laughed and grabbed her hands and pulled her up. “Lean towards me and balance up on the edge of the board. The edge is like your brakes.”

“Okay.” Cason was holding onto Adler for dear life.

“Here we go. Flatten the board out. I’m going to walk you around.” Adler said as she walked next to Cason pulled her along. “Okay now go up on your edge and move your body weight to the front and you can turn to go the other way.” She said as she helped her get to the edge and began pulling her in the other direction. “Good.”

“I feel like I’m five.” Cason laughed.

“You’re cute.” Adler laughed. “Okay, we are going to turn to go back the other way. You need to lean back to get on your back edge and shift your weight to turn the board.” Adler said. Cason leaned back too far and fell on her back pulling Adler on top of her. “That was a little too far.” Adler laughed and got up off of her.

“Sorry.” Cason said as she brushed the snow off her butt.

“It’s okay. You’re going to fall, that just comes with the territory. Now, let’s try it again.”

Adler pulled Cason back and forth showing her how to make the board go, stop, and turn. Just when Cason thought she was finally getting the hang of it she fell again pulling Adler down on top of her. “Damn it.” She said.

Adler laughed. “It wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t pull me down with you. I’m probably squishing you.” She said as she crawled off of her and helped her back up.

Cason smiled. How did she tell her she definitely was not squishing her, in fact it was quite nice having her smaller lithe body on top of her. “You don’t weigh enough to squish me.”

“Alright, this time I’m going to let you go down the hill by yourself. I’ll be right behind you. Just remember to lean and guide the board across then lean the other way to turn and go in the other direction.” Adler said. She watched and ran behind her as Cason followed her instructions and slowly carved back and forth all the way to the bottom of the little hill. “Yes!” She jumped up and down cheering. “You did it!”

Cason wasn’t prepared for Adler to rush her with a huge hug full of excitement. They landed in the snow with Cason on her back, again. “I’m starting to think you like me on my back.” She said with a smile before she realized what she actually said. She was too caught up in the citrus and shampoo scent that was distinctly Adler. And the weight of the smaller woman on top of her felt so good.

Adler laughed and got up. “Maybe,” She said with a shrug and began the short hike back up the hill.

Cason balled up a wad of dry powdery snow and threw it at her back. Adler spun around with raised eyebrows and grinned. She bent down and formed a nice tight snowball and threw it back. She was able to throw three more succeeding in hitting Cason in the chest and head as Cason struggled to get the snowboard off her feet. When she finally got free she jumped up and ran after Adler who was running back up the hill. She tackled her and they rolled together wrestling for the top position. Cason was surprised at how strong the smaller woman was. Cason held her down and Adler rolled them over and sat up straddling Cason’s waist. They both laughed as Adler finally got up and pulled Cason to her feet.

“You play dirty.” Cason joked as she wiped the snow off her arms and legs.

“You started it!” Adler laughed. “Don’t start it if you can’t handle it.”

“Oh, I can handle it.” Cason said almost under breath. “I can definitely handle it.”

They picked their lesson back up and Cason got a little better with each pass down the little hill. Adler was finally able to strap on her board and ride with her. She led and Cason followed her lines almost perfectly shredding back and forth on the low hill. After a few hours of riding down together and hiking back up over and over again Adler sat in the snow and unzipped the cargo pocket on her pants. She handed Cason a protein power bar and opened one for herself.

“How did you know I was starving?” Cason asked as she sat down next to her.

Adler smiled. “Call it intuition.”

Cason took her helmet and goggles off and checked her watch. They had been up the mountain for four hours. No wonder she was so hungry. She was running on pure adrenaline, especially after their little wrestling match in the snow. She refused to admit her feelings were creeping way past the friendship level.

“Everything okay?” Adler asked

“Yeah, I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”

“You looked like you were concentrating on something serious for a second there.” She finished her power bar and put the wrapping back in her pocket. “Did you need to go? I forgot to ask what time you needed to be back.” She had gotten so caught up just plain having fun that she forgot about the time. It had been so long since she felt like a kid again.

“No. I’m off today and tomorrow, so I don’t really have anywhere I need to be.” Cason finished her bar and put the wrapper in her pocket like she saw Adler do.

“Speaking of work, what was that nurse’s problem with me yesterday? She looked like she wanted to claw my eyes out.”

Cason laughed. “Serena is a little territorial.”

Adler raised an eyebrow then furled her eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”

Cason took a deep breath. She had a feeling she was about to come out. She wasn’t sure if Adler even knew she was a lesbian. “She’s been trying to get her claws on me for three years now. I guess she got a little jealous when she saw you were there to see me and we made plans to hang out.” She bit her lip and stared at the snow she was sitting in. She picked up handfuls and let it slip through her fingers.

Adler stared at Cason, then all of the pieces sort of fell into place and her gorgeous eyes grew large and she turned away. “So, she thinks you and me…”

“No. I told her we are just friends and to butt out of my personal life.” Cason quickly interjected. “I’m sorry.”

Adler smiled. “It’s okay. I think I’m a little shell shocked.” The pieces fell into place very quickly. She hadn’t really thought much about Cason being a lesbian, but then again she couldn’t deny the attraction to her since day one. She thought she was a man at the time, but nothing changed when she realized he was most definitely a she. She turned and looked at Cason again. She was definitely good-looking in a roguish sort of way. She had this sexy bad-boy look going for her. Did I just call her sexy? Adler cleared her throat and stood up. “Should we get back to our lesson?”

Cason stood next to her. She watched the emotion play across Adler’s face just before she got up. “We can stop here. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Adler handed her snowboard to her. “I’m not uncomfortable Cason.”

“Well, okay let’s get back to it then.”

Sixteen

Cason found herself standing at Adler’s door for the second time that day. She was equally as nervous as she had been twelve hours ago, only this time it was a very different kind of nervous. She hadn’t expected Adler to remember offering to cook for Cason, so she was surprised when they were in the SUV heading back from their snowboarding adventure and Adler asked her to come over for spaghetti dinner. She thought for sure Adler was having a hard time with her being a lesbian. Maybe she was misunderstood when she saw the confusion on Adler’s face up on the mountain.

“Hey stranger,” Adler smiled brightly when she opened the door. Cason handed her a bottle of wine. “You didn’t have to do that.” She winked and walked to the kitchen with the bottle. The smell of Italian food permeated the air. Cason’s stomach rumbled.

“Wow. It smells really good in here.” She said as she took her jacket, gloves, and hat off.

“Thanks.” Adler said as she was opening the bottle. “You can leave your boots by the door there with mine.”

Cason was glad she dressed lightly in jeans and a black t-shirt under a light blue sweater. Being around Adler seemed to heat her up lately and the last thing she wanted to do was start sweating. “Can I help you with anything?” She asked when she walked into the kitchen. Adler grinned and handed her a glass of wine.

“To you,” Adler said and touched her glass to Cason’s. “You did really well today. I’m impressed.”

“It was all you and your training skills.” Cason smiled and sipped her wine. “When you retire from competitive riding you should become a trainer.”

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it. I still have a while though, I hope.”

“You’re what twenty-two, twenty-three. You have plenty more gold winning years to go.”

Adler almost choked on her wine. “I’m twenty-six. But, thanks for the compliment.”

Cason grinned. “You’re still a lot younger than me.”

“Oh come on. Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, that’s not old.”

It was Cason’s turn to choke on her wine. “Seriously, I do not look twenty-eight.”

“What?” Adler laughed. “You don’t look thirty if you are.”

“I’m thirty-four.” Cason said.

“Get out, really?”

“Yes. I told you I was a lot older than you.”

“Oh big eight years,” Adler laughed and stirred the spaghetti sauce on the stove behind her.

“Eight long years,” Cason grinned. “You forget I was already practicing medicine while you were still in what junior high.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Adler turned to face her and was surprised to see the blue eyes looking directly at hers. “You better get in here and make your plate. I cook, but I don’t serve.”

The dinner was probably the best spaghetti Cason had ever tasted. Italian was her favorite food and so many restaurants always made the spaghetti dish so bland. Adler knew what spices use and she added a couple different kinds of cheese. She wasn’t sure if Cason was a vegetarian or not so she put the meatballs on the side. Cason eagerly added a handful of meatballs and stirred the entire pile of pasta in the bowl.

“You’re a great cook. It looks like you have something to fall back on if you quit your day job.” Cason teased.

“You think so?” Adler looked at her with a serious expression. “I’ve been thinking about becoming a chef. I’ve had about enough falling on my ass lately.”

Cason watched her face, studying the serious expression until a tiny crease appeared in the corner of her mouth where she was desperately trying to hide the grin that was creeping slowly into a full smile. She laughed. “If I fell on my ass as much as you do I’d quit my day job too.”

“Hey!” Adler tossed her cloth napkin at her. “I don’t fall that much. Usually, most of my falling is done on an airbag in training, but lately I’ve been on a streak of bad luck or something. I think it all started when I crashed into you and we fell.”

“Oh. I see, so I’m to blame for the recent wipe outs.” Cason stood and cleared her plate. Adler followed her and began to apologize when she saw that Cason wasn’t smiling. “Gotcha!” Cason teased and wiggled her eyebrows. “Two can play that little woe is me game.”

Adler laughed full heartedly. Cason loved watching her when she was so happy. She lit up the room. Cason noticed the stereo that had been playing background from somewhere in the living room changed to Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat it’. She started singing along. She hadn’t heard his music in a while and she was a huge fan from her younger years and seeing him in concert. She still couldn’t believe he was gone.

“That’s my I-Pod. It’s hooked to the docking station by the TV.” Adler said.

“Are you even old enough to know who this is?” Cason joked and began moving to the music as she sipped the last of her glass of wine.

“Yes. I went to a concert once with my cousin. I had to have all of his C.D.’s when I got home.”

“What were like ten?”

Adler stuck her chin out. “Eleven.”

Cason laughed and followed her to the couch. The music changed again Lady Gaga started playing. Adler jumped up to adjust her playlist. “Do you even know who this is? Or are you too old?” She asked.

“Oh, ha, ha,” I think everyone knows Gaga. Hello.” It was only fitting that the song was ‘Bad Romance’. She was thinking how she and Adler sure could have a bad romance, right there on the couch she was sitting on.

When Adler found something a little mellower she sat back down. “So, tell me about Cason Macauley the infamous doctor that all the nurses want.”

Cason raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “You sound like my friend Warren. He calls me lesbian eye-candy.”

Adler laughed so hard she almost spilled her wine. “That’s hilarious. So the nurses do chase you around then.”

“No, the nurses don’t all want me, just one crazy one here that is married to some truck driver.” Cason sipped her wine.

“Uh huh,” Adler grinned. “That sounds a little scary. What about at the hospital in Denver?”

“What about it?”

“Is there anyone chasing you around that hospital?”

Cason looked into her eyes. “No.” Cason set her empty glass on the coffee table in front of her. “Tell me about you?”

“What about me?”

“How did you meet your husband?” Cason said and nearly jumped out of her skin when a white and grey cat appeared on the back of the couch between them. “Holy shit!”

Adler smiled. “This is Clyde. He usually hides in my bed when people are here, which is pretty rare so I guess he decided to check you out.” She shooed him off the couch. He paced around the living room looking at Cason, and then he meowed a couple of times and disappeared. Cason’s schedule was just too crazy for her to have pets. “Apparently, he approves.”

“Well, that’s good to know. I was wondering if he was going to claw my eyes out for a second there.”

“He’s all growl, but has no balls, literally.” She grinned.

Cason loved her beautiful smile, but she was really starting to like her sexy little grin. This gorgeous blond sitting two feet away was easily maneuvering her way inside without even knowing it and Cason had no idea how to stop it. Serena was right, she was going to get hurt. “He’s pretty good at changing the subject too.”

“I’m sorry. I guess…I don’t know…It’s still so new getting use to the fact that I’m getting divorced. Have you ever been married or in a committed relationship like a marriage?”

“Once. About ten years ago I met a girl in college and fell head over heels in love. We planned to move in together when I graduated med school. I thought it was forever, we lived together in an off-campus apartment. All of a sudden, almost two years later she tells me she’s pregnant and marrying the father of her baby, a guy who she had apparently been seeing for six or eight months. I never got the true number, it was probably longer.”

“Wow. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was a long time ago. I learned a big lesson in that mistake, don’t get mixed up with straight girls. Now, you see why I don’t get involved with nurse ‘touchy feely’.”

Adler laughed. “I guess so.” She set her empty wine glass next to Cason’s. “When I won my Olympic gold medal, Kevin, who is a writer for ESPN, asked to do a story on me. I was in Encinitas, California visiting a friend and surfing so I drove to L.A. and met him. We hit it off right away. I wound up staying in Cali a few extra weeks and he and I spent countless hours together surfing and walking the beach. It was an amazing summer. I usually go to New Zealand in the summer because it’s winter there and I get to snowboard about nine months out of the year if I do that. I didn’t go that summer. I spent a lot of time in the indoor training facility in Park City and traveling to L.A. when he wasn’t traveling here.” She laid her head back on the couch and rolled to the right to face Cason. “At the end of the summer he asked me to marry him. I said yes. Then, the snow fell and that’s when things changed.” She watched the snow falling silently outside the French doors. “Kevin hated the cold weather and despised the snow.”

“That’s a little crazy.” Cason said.

“Yeah no kidding. He barely saw me the entire winter. In fact, he didn’t go to any of my competitions. The only time we saw each other was if I went to see him. He always blamed it on his work schedule because he traveled so much.” She shook her head. “I look back on it now and see all the signs that I overlooked.”

“It’s easy to get blinded by love.”

“We got married as soon as spring rolled into summer. He kept his house in L.A. and I kept this place. We commuted for two years stealing time when we could. I think he’s been to maybe two or three of my competitions, not including this past X Games appearance. In the summer he came up to see me for a little bit before I went to New Zealand, but he barely came here at all in the winter and most of the time it was me going to see him.” She faced Cason again. “I wonder how long it had been going on and how many there actually were. He swore this was the first and only time, but I don’t believe it. He’s had basically three years to do whatever with whomever without me knowing.”

“How did you find out?” Cason asked.

Adler bit her bottom lip and shook her head. “I called to see if he was coming to Winter X and a girl answered his cell phone. He was apparently in the shower. I heard him in the background telling her to get back in there to suck his hard dick.”

“Oh god,”

“Yeah, I wanted to kill him. I threw my phone out the window going down the road.”

“So that’s why you were phoneless.”

“Uh huh,” Adler looked back at the snow. “It was also the same day I came into the hospital.”

“Your concussion?”

“I know better than to ride pipe if I’m not focused. That’s how people get killed. I made a stupid decision and let anger cloud my judgment.”

“You took your second run at X Games pretty upset too. I saw you.”

Adler turned back towards her. “I know. I saw you too.” She looked in her eyes. “I took my run because I knew you were there to take care of me if something happened. I know it was stupid, but as mad as I was I just put all of that energy into the run. I didn’t want him to see how he affected me. I wasn’t going to let him take my gold. Seeing you somehow gave me confidence.”

Cason held her breath. She wasn’t expecting that. “I’m glad I didn’t have to use my life saving skills that night. I wanted to punch him out and go after you, but I knew you were going to ride anyway. You have no fear Adler and sometimes that can be so dangerous. I trusted you knew what you were doing, so I went back to my post and watched you throw down the run of your life.” She smiled. “Don’t scare me like that again.” She teased.

“You know, at first I thought maybe that was why he didn’t go to my competitions because it scared him watching me put my life on the line time and time again. Then, I realized he just wasn’t interested and hated the winter and everything about it, everything that I loved.”

“People always say everything happens for a reason, sometimes it just takes a while to figure that reason out.” Cason stood and stretched her back. “I should probably get going before it gets too bad out there.”

Seventeen

Cason started her shift without checking the rest of the schedule, something she never did. She always wanted to know who was scheduled to work with her in case she did get that one traumatic emergency. It seemed to always make things go a lot smoother. Of course, she’d only had two trauma situations the entire five weeks she had been there. Still, it didn’t hurt to remain prepared. She only had three more weeks to go and she wished she could add another two months to that. She really enjoyed spending time with Adler. If someone told her she was going to become friends with Adler Troy, the famous snowboarder, she would’ve told them to go pound snow. She wasn’t sure when she would see her again. They didn’t make any definite plans and Adler was traveling soon with the Dew Tour and other competitions.

“Hey doc,” Serena said from the other side of the small doctor’s lounge. “It looks like we’re working together again.” Cason slammed her locker closed and mentally chided herself for not looking at the schedule board.

“Is that so? I hadn’t noticed.” She said with as much cordiality as she could muster.

“You haven’t noticed much of anything lately. I think that snowboarder has your head in the clouds.” Serena sneered.

“My personal life really isn’t any of your business Serena.” Cason said as she tried to walk past the shorter woman, but Serena stepped directly into her path.

“You’re fucking her aren’t you?” She snarled.

Cason gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists to keep from shoving the dumb bimbo out of her way. “Move out of my way Serena before I cause a very big scene.” She watched Serena put her hands up in defeat and step to the side.

“You’ll be old news in three weeks anyway. When you leave she will forget you ever existed.”

***

Adler stepped off the lift and walked towards the woods. She had a short hike across the face of the mountain to get to the back country area that was off limits to anyone but professionals. In fact, that area wasn’t even on any of the maps of the mountains. Back country wasn’t groomed, it wasn’t mapped out, it wasn’t safe, but it was where all the pros went to ride powder. The one rule to back country was never go alone. If something happened it could be weeks before you were found. At least on one of the groomed trails you would be seen either by another rider or the ski patrol that made passes on the trails periodically checking for downed skiers and snowboarders. Back country was as free as a free ride gets, except for maybe jumping out of a helicopter. She didn’t think she’d ever be that fearless.

When she finally reached the spot she was heading to she found Gordy sitting in the snow waiting for her. He smiled and stood up. “I was starting to think you stood me up.”

“Oh please.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s a little busier than I expected. I had to wait to crossover.” She said. To get to their sweet spot you had to cross three different trails and that was treacherous when you were on foot, it was like playing Frogger with skiers and snowboarders flying down the trail as you tried to walk across.

“Uh huh,” He said with a laugh.

She stood up from her place in the snow with her board strapped to her feet. She jumped around to check her binding straps and pulled her goggles down from her helmet. “See you at the bottom if you can keep up little boy!” She yelled back over her shoulder and pointed her board towards the bottom. He quickly followed choosing to ride her line behind her.

They raced down the face of the mountain around trees and rocks and over crazy jumps. A few loose blond curls flowed behind Adler’s head. She felt free, her blood was on fire with adrenaline. She lived for the feeling she got when was shredding powder. She threw a different trick with every small jump that they hit. Gordy was right behind her throwing his own tricks. At one point Gordy carved across into his own line and they hit a tandem jump. Gordy did a cab five-forty and Adler did a frontside five-forty. She carved over behind him to follow his line over the last couple of jumps and around the last of the obstacles as they made their way towards the bottom.

“That was sick!” He yelled as he high-fived her at the bottom. They cut back over to the closest trail when they reached the bottom so that they would come out closer to the lift chair.

“Man, I almost didn’t see that last fucking tree.” She laughed and picked her board up. She’d been down the same path hundreds of times and it was just as thrilling as the first time every time.

Gordy laughed with her. “If I barely missed it I don’t know how you didn’t clip it.”

“I must have lightening speed cat-like reflexes.” She grinned.

“I guess so.” He shook his head. “That double jump was off the hook.”

“Yeah that was pretty sweet. I wish we had video to play back. Maybe we can pay some bum to stand there with a video camera one day.”

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea.” He said as they started walked towards the chair lift.

“Yeah, but then we risk giving our spot away. I know the pros ride there, but if the tourist ski buffs find it we’re screwed. We own the back country and I plan to keep it that way. Maybe we can get Amy to do it.” She said. She briefly thought of Cason, but not as the cameraman they were talking about, more like she wished she could show her this part of the mountain.

“That could work, but she lives in Salt Lake City.” He said.

“I know. I thought she was moving down by you.”

“In Vail?” He shrugged. “She never said anything to me about it. I thought she was a diehard Utah girl.”

“I know she was talking about moving and named a few places that she was looking at. They were all here in Colorado though.”

“I’ll sell her my house.” He said with a laugh as they got on the lift chair and headed back to the top of the mountain to ride again.

***

Cason was sleeping in an on call room when her cell phone went off. She rolled to the side and answered it. “How did I know it would be you calling when my phone rang at three a.m.?

“Tell me you’re on shift, otherwise why the fuck did you answer?” Warren teased.

“Yeah I’m on, just laid down about two hours ago.”

“Busy night up on the mountain?” He asked.

“No. More like nurse ‘busy hands’ is on shift and I don’t trust her with my eyes closed. I had to hide , sneak into a room and then lock the door.” She rubbed her tired eyes. “Thank god she only works twelve hour shifts. I think she’s gone now.”

“That’s just crazy. Either hit it or turn her in for harassment.”

Cason rolled onto her back on the tiny hospital bed. Over the years she had gotten somewhat used to sleeping on them. “I’m not going to ruin her career over some heavy flirtation and I am definitely not sleeping with her. Hell no,” She sighed. “I guess she just got to me tonight. She pushed the right combination of buttons when I came on this morning and pissed me off pretty good.”

“You’ll be out of there in a few weeks anyway. So, how many ski-bunnies did you hook up with? I’m still mad you didn’t invite me up.”

She laughed. “I haven’t hooked up with anyone. I’ve actually been kind of busy outside of the hospital. I worked as a back-up medic at the X Games and I’ve been hanging out with a snowboarder that I met.”

“Oh really, do tell. Does she have friends?” He said.

“It’s not like that. She’s one of the pros and she is straight and married.”

“I see.”

“I haven’t met any of her friends. I think they live all over the world actually. She travels a lot so I imagine she doesn’t stay in one place for long, but it’s been fun getting to know her.”

“So you’ve been up there five weeks and you haven’t gotten laid once? What happened to the ‘hotter than hot’ doctor love that all the nurses chase around? What have you done with my friend?”

She laughed. “Oh Warren, you know better than that. I haven’t slept with or even attempted to sleep with nowhere near the amount of women you seem to think I pick up.”

He laughed. “I love jerking your chain. I know you’re a saint. I still think there have been a few nurses you never told me about.”

“Nurses are like hairdressers, if you’ve done one you’ve done them all. They gossip like newshounds. You know I made the mistake of sleeping with Camille, that ICU nurse like four years ago, she told everyone that would listen and then it just spread from there. She doesn’t even work at DMC anymore and the rumor is still going around that I like to play doctor with nurses.” She shook her head and laughed. “She was the one and only nurse I have ever slept with and the sex with her wasn’t even good!”

He laughed. “I’m glad you’re coming back soon. It’s so dull around here without you.” He paused. “Oh gotta go. Got an MVA coming in with multiple vics.”

“Must be nice to have work to do. I’m going back to sleep.”

***

Cason finished her shift without any traumatic events. She envied Warren a little bit. She missed home. She missed the fast paced lifestyle of the big city and busy hospital. She would miss Aspen just as much when she left, but for a whole new reason this year. She wondered what Adler was doing. She was surprised to see Adler’s name light up on her phone when it rang.

“Hey you,”

“Hey, what are you doing? Are you working?” Adler asked.

“No. I just got off shift a little bit ago actually. Why? What’s up?”

“Do you want to go with me on a photo shoot? It will probably be boring, but…”

“I’d love to.”

“Cool. I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.”

Eighteen

Cason was surprised when they parked in front of a small building in the middle of downtown Aspen. The town was extremely small to begin with so downtown was pretty much just two square blocks of shops and businesses. Adler put a handful of quarters in the meter a few feet away and printed a parking ticket to put on her dash.

“Now I see why you brought me along.” Cason nodded towards the meter. “To keep up with the time on your parking ticket.”

Adler smiled. “Yeah, I guess you figured it out.” She said as she grabbed her hand and pulled her inside the small brick building. “This place is pretty cool. The first time I came here I thought it was a hole in the wall, but it’s actually a very popular photography studio.”

Cason looked around at the drab decorations and black and white photos on the brick walls. She almost missed the skinny little guy that came out of the back and appeared next to Adler. He was about Cason’s height with thinning hair brown hair pulled back into a stringy ponytail. The sleeves of his thin button down shirt were rolled up to his elbows and his skinny jeans were that new style that looked worn and dirty. She expected to see flip flops on his feet, but he was wearing some kind of shoes that reminded her of the ones Gilligan wore in Gilligan’s Island.

“Cason, this is Harvey, he’s an awesome photographer. He owns this place.” Adler said.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Cason continued to look around the room. She wondered if he was a hippy.

“They finally sent all the outfits and suggestions a few days ago. I laid out a few ideas I want to try and then I figured we would just run with it. Did you bring the props?” He said with a slightly squeaky voice.

Adler pointed to the snowboards and boots that she and Cason carried in with them. “Awesome. Let’s get to it then.” He led them to a large room in the back with huge lighting and shading equipment scattered all around. Cason watched as he and Adler took a look at all of the various ski items that her clothing sponsor sent for the shoot. She agreed with his choices and read the suggestions that the sponsor sent.

“White Out, my clothing sponsor, is in Maine so it’s easier for them to send everything here and have Harvey take the preliminary shots, then they make the decision on what outfits they want and we go out on the mountain and take more pictures. It’s kind of a monotonous task, but they pay me well so I deal with it twice a year.”

“So these pictures will be magazines?” Cason asked.

“Yeah, and billboards or whatever else they want to put them on to promote their clothing line. I’ve been with them for three years. They make fashionable ski clothes that are functional.” Adler was talking and taking her jeans and sweater off at the same time. Harvey turned the heat off so at least it wouldn’t be eighty degrees, but it would still be pretty warm in the thermal jackets and pants and ski caps. Cason swallowed hard as Adler turned to her in just her bra and low slung jeans that were unbuttoned and hanging open. The top of baby blue panties were barely visible in the V.

“Come on doc, I’m sure you see people in a lot less than panties and bra.” Adler said and laughed.

“Yeah well they are usually dying of some sort of serious injury and none look like you.” Cason said with her back still to the blond.

Adler quickly pulled on a pair of white ski pants and a turquoise jacket. “You can turn around now.” She grinned when Cason gave her the once over.

“That jacket makes your eyes glow. I like it.” Cason met her eyes and held them a little longer than she probably should have.

“Let’s hope the camera likes it too.” Adler wiggled her eyebrows and smiled.

Cason watched as the skinny little photographer slithered around the room taking pictures from all angles. After about twenty pictures and a dozen poses he sent her to change again. Adler quickly shed her clothes and pulled on another combination of colors. Again, Cason turned her head.

An hour later, Harvey uploaded about a hundred photos to his computer and put them up on a large projector screen in another room. He and Adler went through each outfit and picked out the best pose. Once they had everything finished he emailed the proofs to her agent at White Out.

Harvey spun around in his chair with his hands folded behind his head. “Now, we wait.”

“We’re going to go get some lunch. Call me if you hear from them. We’ll be back in an hour.” Adler said as she stood up from the seat on the other side of the desk. Cason followed her out of the building. “So, this is where you say take me home, I’m bored to death.” She laughed.

“No. It’s interesting actually, this whole process.”

“They are so picky it’s ridiculous. By doing it this way though, they only have to pay for the photographers time. They don’t have to send my agent all the way here to oversee a couple hours of picture taking. All of my major sponsors do things differently. The inconsistencies kind of drive me crazy.” Adler drove them to a small bistro on the other side of downtown.

“We could have walked here.” Cason said when she got out.

“Hi Adler, can I have you autograph?” A young girl asked when Adler stepped onto the curb in front of the restaurant. Adler got a marker out of her SUV and signed the girls ski cap.

“That’s why we didn’t walk. We would’ve had to stop a lot. I always sign autographs when I’m asked. I think it’s an honor to have someone ask for you to write your name on one of their possessions, or their body. And yes that has happened.”

“I wouldn’t have minded.” Cason said. “Except for the body part, that’s a little odd.”

“You’d be surprised. A few guys have asked me to sign their chests.” She shrugged. “Gordy had some girl ask him to sign her tits once. I almost died when she pulled her shirt up and let him have full view to decide where to sign.”

“Wow. That’s crazy. Maybe they shouldn’t sell alcohol at these events.” Cason said and laughed.

“What gets me is they want us to write on them with a marker that will erase if and when they decide to shower. Why not ask for a picture or an autograph on something that you will remember in the morning?”

“Good point.”

“Anyway, I usually hide from downtown when the tourists are out. The locals don’t really bother me too much, just a simple hey or good luck here or there.”

They got a small table by the window inside the tiny restaurant. Cason was still studying the menu when Adler ordered for both of them. When the waitress walked away Cason set the menu to the side and studied the woman across from her. Adler had the signature lazy smile on her face that almost looked like a grin. Her bluish-green eyes were just too much to look at Cason felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and her chest swell. She was in trouble.

“Are you mad at me for ordering your lunch?” Adler asked.

“No.” Cason looked back at her. “We have a lot of the same tastes. You read my mind.”

“You looked at me strangely just now.”

“I did?” Cason shrugged it off. “So, what do we do when Harvey gets the okay on the proofs?”

“We take the outfits they chose and go up on the mountain. He’ll get a few shots of me standing around and then motion shots of me free riding. Usually, they only want two or three outfits so it should go pretty quickly. Harvey’s really good, he gets the shot and moves on. I can take you home of you don’t want to go.”

“Of course I want to go. Are you kidding? I love watching you snowboard and to get to see you free ride is pretty cool. What mountain are we going to?”

“The last time we did this we were in the pipe, but since I’m free riding we are going to my sweet spot. We have to hike a little bit to get there, but you will like the view and he will go ape shit for the shots he’s going to be able to get.”

***

Cason stretched out on her couch with a glass of bourbon. Her mind drifted back to the crazy day she spent with Adler. She was completely blown away when they finally made it to the mountain. Cason wasn’t lying about the secret spot. Harvey was literally salivating as he set up on the side of one of the small jumps to catch Adler in midair throwing a trick. Cason watched in awe as Adler rode down the mountain spinning and flipping through the air off of each jump in front of them on three separate occasions in three different outfits. She was amazed at the amount of effort it took to get through a photo shoot for a pro athlete. It was a lot more than taking a few simple pictures. Cason envied Adler’s patience. She wanted to beg off when Adler invited her for dinner, she wasn’t sure how much longer she could be around her without kissing her. She had never been more mentally and physically attracted to anyone in her life. The more time she spent with Adler Troy the harder she fell. She was glad they stopped at a restaurant instead of one of them cooking. She just couldn’t handle the intimacy of sitting on Adler’s couch with her two feet away looking into her eyes.

She drank the rest of the bourbon in her glass hoping it would chase away the stolen images of Adler’s sexy, slender body and six pack abs. Her mind was stuck on one in particular of Adler in her light blue satin bra, a pair of light grey ski pants slung low on her hips and black snowboard boots. That incredibly hot look was forever burned into her mind she was sure of it. She knew Adler caught her looking when she casually paused and that lazy smile spread across her face making her look even sexier. She was sure she would die of either internal combustion or sensory overload soon. Thankfully, she was leaving in just over two weeks. She would leave Adler Troy behind and go home.

Nineteen

Cason’s last two weeks in Aspen were flying by. Adler was gone to Canada for two separate competitions and wouldn’t be back until a couple days before she had to leave. The hospital wasn’t busy, but she a few skiing accidents and car accidents that at least gave her something to do. Serena found herself on a different schedule again, by coincidence this time, Cason didn’t mind however. The peace and quiet was kind of nice. She was actually kind of glad Adler was out of town, she was getting dangerously close to her.

“Dr. Macauley.” One of the nurses called her name. Cason was sitting on the leather couch in the doctor’s lounge watching the clock tick by.

“What’s up?” She said as she stood and stretched.

“We have a downed skier coming in. Looks like a young male with possible head and neck injuries. He’s coming in by helicopter.”

Cason ran passed her towards the elevator. “Tell Dr. Smith I’ll be on the roof.” She yelled back.

When the chopper arrived Cason ran through the double doors with only a pair of scrubs, and an under shirt, and sneakers on. Her adrenaline level was sky high and she never felt the bitter cold stinging her face and hands from the wind of the rotor blades.

“Seventeen year old male crashed into a tree head first on one of the slopes.” The EMT said as he pulled the stretcher out of the helicopter. “He was wearing a helmet, but his forehead took the brunt of the impact.”

“Let’s get him into ER One.” She said as she visually assessed the situation. His face was bloody and lacerated pretty bad. He had an open gash across his forehead that would need about thirty stitches. She shined the pin light in his eyes and his pupils were the same size, but extremely indicating a head injury. When they got the backboard moved onto a gurney she released the EMT’s and went to work. He was breathing on his own but his oxygen level was low.

“CT is ready for him.” The nurse assisting Cason was on the phone with radiology.

“Go ahead and send him up. Get a cervical spine scan as well. Also, go ahead and get a full spinal x-ray.”

Cason watched as he was wheeled away. She hoped she wasn’t right, sometimes she hated being right all the time. She hung out at the nurse’s station waiting for the results. She had already talked to his parents who were apparently skiing with him and witnessed his crash into the tree. They told Cason he was an avid skier and had been down that same slope at least three times that week. They were there on vacation from Arizona. Cason had them sign all of the release forms just in case he needed to be rushed right into surgery. Cason’s mind wandered to Adler, she hoped she was safe. Every snow related accident made her think of the beautiful blond daredevil.

When the phone rang Cason snatched it up. “Dr. Macauley.”

“Hey, this is Dr. Bennett in radiology. Your patient is on the way back. I just uploaded his scans and his x-rays are coming back with him. His C4 and C5 are crushed and pushing on the spinal cord. He has a hematoma on the frontal lobe of his brain that is bleeding with minimal swelling at the moment. My notes with the scans are a little more detailed, but that’s the gist of it. That kid’s in pretty bad shape.”

Cason rushed him straight into surgery and fused his spinal cord with rods in hopes that it would relieve the pressure on his spinal cord and maybe if he was lucky he would get some movement back. She left him in a medically induced coma and put him in ICU to watch his brain over the next few hours. She hoped this kid would turn around during the night. She was on shift until the middle of the next day so she spent all night checking him. When his brain function showed a dangerously low level of oxygen and blood flow she sent him for an MRI scan.

At two a.m. the neurologist on call helped her perform a craniectomy to remove a piece of his skull to try to reduce to pressure in his brain. It was a last minute resort and a very risky procedure. She had only done this procedure one other time and it was successful. She wasn’t really the praying kind, but she did silently ask for a little help with this patient.

When he was moved back to ICU she stayed at his bedside constantly watching the monitor attached to the wire lead inside the open part of his skull measuring the pressure in his brain. Every hour she noted the pressure rate in his chart. The swelling hadn’t stopped and the MRI scan she ordered at six a.m. showed very little brain activity.

At eight a.m. he was pronounced brain dead and taken off the respirator. Cason stood next to his parents in his room as he took his last breath. She’d lost patients, more than she cared to count, but this was the hardest loss she had ever faced as a medical professional. It hurt, it hurt so damn bad she left the room and went straight to the roof. The helicopter sat silently in the freezing cold with a fine sheet of snow on it. The sun was shining bright, gleaming off the snow in all directions. Maybe this is what death was like, all bright and shiny, but to her it was dark and cold. She wiped away the tears that fell, tears over her failed attempt to save a life, tears for a grieving family, and tears because she just needed to let her guard down for the first time in a long time. The first few years she cried for every patient she lost, but eventually she grew the thick skin that came with being a trauma doctor.

***

Cason finally fell asleep on the soft bed in her condo after being up the entire night. She gracefully finished her shift with little or no conversation with most of the other hospital staff. As soon as she got to her condo she showered and crawled into bed. She stared at the ceiling for so long she wasn’t even sure what time it was when she finally dozed off. She wanted to smash her cell phone when it rang. She hoped it wasn’t the hospital with another trauma, she didn’t think she had the strength at the moment.

“Dr. Macauley.” She said without looking at the phone. She was already thinking about going back to the hospital when she heard the sweet voice on the other end of the line.

“Hey stranger,” Adler said.

“Hey.” Cason laid back down in the bed. “I miss you.” She whispered softly. Then, all of a sudden she realized she just said that out loud. “I mean…”

“I miss you too.” Adler said. “I qualified first, but a few of these girls are riding sick.”

“You’re great Adler, I’m sure you will throw down an awesome run.”

“Yeah, thanks. The finals are in a couple of hours so I thought I’d see how you were doing. You’re not at the hospital are you?”

“No. I’m lying in my bed actually.”

“Oh really,” Adler’s voice dropped slightly, but Cason noticed the change. “It’s only five o’clock.”

“I had a really bad night at the hospital and didn’t get to sleep. My shift ended a couple hours ago so I came home and went to bed.”

“That sucks. What happened? Don’t tell me that crazy nurse bothered you all night.”

“A teenage skier came in with a bad head injury and a broken neck. I did everything I could,” Cason stared at the ceiling. “He died early this morning.”

“Oh god, I’m so sorry Cason.”

“I’m okay, now. It never gets any easier, but I sort of got use to the circumstances of my job. This one really tore me up, I guess because he was just a kid, only seventeen.”

“Wow. I don’t know what to say. I’m just really sorry. There is nothing safe about skiing or snowboarding, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry I told you this when you’re there competing. I’m not thinking, I haven’t slept in about thirty hours.”

“It’s okay. I know the dangers. I’m actually sorry I’m not there for you right now.”

“I’m fine. To be honest, I’ve only lost four people here in my four years and two were car accidents. I’ve lost more than four in a week alone from all kinds of things at home in Denver. We get car accidents, shootings, and all kinds of other crazy things. This shouldn’t have bothered me the way it did. I guess sometimes you have to come back down to reality to remain sane and remember you’re only human.” She knew she was upset because it was a kid, but at the same time the back of her mind was thinking of Adler and that triggered her emotions. She silently kicked herself for letting that happen.

“Yeah, I bet you see a lot of stuff there. I should let you get some sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know how did. I should be home in a few days.”

“Good luck Adler. Kick ass and take names.” Cason said before she hung up. She needed to go back to Denver before she really screwed up and let her feelings slip out.

Twenty

Cason was heading back to Denver in two days, but she found herself at Adler’s townhouse waiting for her to answer the knock. She wanted to turn down the dinner invitation when Adler called the day before. How was she going to go back to her life and leave this amazing chapter behind? How would she let go?

“Hey stranger,” Adler opened the door in jeans, a thin, beige, three-quarter sleeve scallop-necked shirt, and bare feet. Her dazzling smile tugged at Cason’s heart. She quickly threw her arms around Cason’s neck when she stepped inside. Cason wrapped her arms the warm, slender body and inhaled her citrusy scent. A single moment that was wrong in so many ways felt so damn right. Cason closed her eyes. The embrace only lasted a second or two, but it was long enough for Cason to drop her guard and that scared her.

“So,” Cason said as she took her jacket and snow boots off. “Something smells good.”

“It’s just a simple pasta dish with vegetables and chicken.” Adler said on her way back to the kitchen. Cason loved the open floor plan of the first floor. It reminded her of her condo in Denver. She watched Adler pour her a glass of wine.

“At this point, I’d eat the ass end of a horse if you said that’s what was cooking. I think I’ve eaten more TV dinners over the last two months than I care to admit.” She smiled and accepted the glass.

“Here’s to new beginnings.” Adler said.

Cason nodded. “I’ll drink to that.”

“So you leave in two days?”

“Yeah, I go on shift tomorrow afternoon and work until the following morning and I should be relieved sometime before lunch. I’ll pack everything up in the morning so I can just go from the hospital.”

“Wow. It’s sounds so final.”

“I’ve been doing this for four years so it’s kind of routine I guess.” She sipped her wine and sat on a stool across from the counter to watch Adler finish cooking their dinner. “So, you didn’t tell me about Calgary.”

“I was on the podium, just not at the top. I got third place. My first run was clean, but safe. I sat down the landing on my backside nine on my second run.” She shrugged. “Those things happen. Amy took first place with a killer first run. She did a new trick she was working on that is kind of like a rodeo five-forty I think, anyway it was sick. I’m sitting in second in the point’s standings and we have two more stops on the tour. So, hopefully I can stay off my ass.”

“Where do you go next?”

“I’ll be in Copper Mountain in two weeks and then Killington the week after that.”

“Is that the end of the season?”

Adler smiled. “No. That’s just the end of one tour. When that’s finished we kick off an international tour that goes to New Zealand, Chile, and two other places. I didn’t do the international tour last year so I’m excited.”

“Wow. That’s pretty cool. I can proudly say Canada and the Bahamas are the only stamps in my passport.” She smiled.

“Oh, you’re a travel virgin.” She laughed. “I need to corrupt you.”

You already have. Cason thought. “I’ve wanted to travel, just haven’t found the right companion or reason for that matter.”

“You do get vacation time, right?”

“Oh yeah, three weeks worth, maybe I’ll get overseas one day.”

“I love New Zealand in the winter and the summer. It’s a beautiful place.” She said as she sat their plates on the small dining table.

Cason wasn’t much of a talker and eater, she learned over the years as a doctor to eat fast in case she got paged. She would sometimes go half of a day without food, so she ate when the opportunity arose. When she finished she watched the snow fall softly onto a moonlit mountain outside the window in the distance. When she looked back at Adler she had put her fork down and was staring at Cason’s eyes as she watched the snow.

“I’ll wash the dishes.” Cason broke the eye contact and stood up. She needed to put some distance between herself and Adler before she made a stupid mistake, like kiss her.

“I’ll wash, you can rinse.” Adler said as she carried her plate to the kitchen.

They were standing at the sink together, so close their shoulders rubbed together at first, then, just stayed together. The flames of desire ran up and down Cason’s body. She could barely concentrate and in turn a plate slipped from her wet hands. Adler saw it slipping and reached over grabbing Cason’s hand and the plate. The feel of Adler’s soft skin against hers under the hot water was just too much to bear. Cason backed away from the sink and dried her hands on a nearby dish towel.

“Excuse me.” She said as she went around the corner to the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face, and then held her wet face in her hands. She couldn’t deny it anymore. Her heart was breaking. She couldn’t control her feelings anymore than she could control which lives she saved or lost. It had been so long since she was in love and even then it was nothing like this. The ache in her chest was so painful it felt like a heart attack and the shallow breaths she was taking was restricting oxygen to her blood flow. She feared she might pass out if she didn’t get control of herself. She splashed ice cold water on her face one more time and dried it on a hand towel. When she stepped out of the bathroom Adler was standing there with a concerned look on her face.

“Is everything okay?” She asked.

“Yeah, I’m just tired I guess.” Cason walked past her towards the living room. “I should probably go get some sleep. Dinner was wonderful.”

“Okay?” Adler walked up behind her. “Cason what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I…I just need to get some air and some rest.” Cason turned to face her. “Dinner really was good. I’m sorry to run out on you like this. I’m sure I’ll talk to you before I leave.” She turned back towards the front door.

“Wait a second, you’ll talk to me?” Adler walked up behind her. “Cason look at me…”

Cason took a deep breath and turned around. Adler was less than a foot away. She couldn’t stop it, she was trying to get out of there, get away from her, but it was just too late. She closed the distance between them in a split second and pressed her lips to Adler’s softly. Adler gasped and Cason slid her tongue between her lips. When she felt Adler’s warm, lithe body move against her she wrapped her arms around her waist and laid her hand in the palm of her back. Adler’s mouth opened further and she slid her tongue against Cason’s kissing her back with equal ardor. Adler ran her hands up Cason’s arms and into her short dark hair. Cason kissed her as if it were her last kiss, so soft, so sensual, and agonizingly slow. She didn’t stop for air, choosing to breathe when their lips slid slightly apart before going back together fully. Adler’s lips felt so soft and delicate against hers.

Cason felt Adler pull away and she knew it was over. What had been the most amazing minute or two of her life was ending. She opened her arms and her eyes as Adler backed away from her. Her bluish-green eyes said it all, she was hurt, confused.

“Adler…”

“Don’t…” Adler said. “Just go.”

When Cason walked out the door Adler touched her fingers to her lips and closed her eyes.

***

Cason walked out the door before the tear on the edge of her eyelid slid down her cheek. She had just made the biggest mistake of her life. She got into her SUV and smacked her hand on the steering wheel. She was sure she would never see Adler Troy again, much less hear from her. She drove on mental auto-pilot to the little condo she called home for one last night. She sat in the snow outside of the door and ran it through her ungloved fingers like sand on a beach. There were two things that usually happened when the human mind and body was so distraught it was incoherent. You either wanted to get drunk or get laid. Cason couldn’t do the first, she was on call, and the second wasn’t really an option either. She sat there in the snow staring at the moon until her hands felt frozen.

Twenty One

During her eight weeks on rotation Cason had gone from probably the happiest she had ever been to the saddest she ever could possibly be. Her mind was exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster. Three long months had passed since the day she arrived home, unpacked, and went straight to Denver Medical Center.

Nothing had changed while she was gone. The nurses and doctors told her how much they missed her and Warren was glued to her side. She was honestly happy to be back. The rhythm felt right and she settled right back into the fast pace of the busy hospital. She had finally been back home longer than she was in Aspen, but her dreams still carried her right back to the snow covered town every night.

“You know you’re off until tomorrow right?” Warren said when he bumped shoulders with her when she showed up in the doctor’s lounge on her day off.

“Yeah, I don’t know I was just walking around my condo today and it was so cold and empty. I figured you could use the help.” She shrugged.

“You ever gonna tell me what happened?” He said.

She grinned. “Nope,”

“Alright,” He knew better than to press her. “There’s a stabbing coming in. Want to assist?” He said.

She smiled. Yes, it was nice to be back. “Of course,” She said.

***

May was the only month that Adler actually took time off. It was also the only month she couldn’t find snow. She was glad it finally passed. Over the last three months she traveled all over the United States for competition and training camps. She was exhausted, but she threw everything she had into riding her snowboard every chance she got. It was exhilarating and excruciating at the same time. Everything she did, saw, or heard reminded her of Cason Macauley and she hated it. She tried to have a vacation over the last four weeks, but nothing seemed relaxing or vacation-like so she just gave up and flew to New Zealand two weeks early.

The snow finally began to fall two weeks later and her friends showed up stoked and ready to free ride for the next two months. She was waiting in line to ride in a helicopter to top of the volcano that doubled as one of the best mountains on the continent. The slopes they were dropping in on were for the most advanced riders with jumps, obstacles, and absolutely no marked path whatsoever. She was more than ready.

“I’ve been salivating for two months waiting for this moment.” Gordy said from the seat next to her in the chopper. When they got to the top they snapped their bindings closed and jumped out of the helicopter hovering thirty feet in the air. Loose tendrils of long blond curls always found a way out of her purple jacket and flowed behind her. The lime green board she was riding was the only thing that physically set her apart from the other riders dropping in on various parts of the volcanic mountain. It was sort of hideously loud, but she loved it.

Adler hit three jumps in a row that were well over fifteen feet in the air, throwing and landing a different trick each time. She had an ear to ear smile on her face behind the black wrap that kept her from getting frostbite. She was happy to be back in the snow. The thrill of free riding at this level was the adrenaline rush from hell. This was where she felt alive. The only place she could truly be free and clear her mind, if only for a few minutes at a time. She carved around boulders and through forests of tree on her private path to the bottom. Gordy was about twenty feet in front of her riding a very similar line.

When they finally skidded to a stop at the bottom Adler pushed her tinted goggles up onto her black helmet. “That was fucking awesome.” She panted slightly.

Gordy sat down in the snow. “Holy fucking shit.” He laid back and swung his arms and legs back and forth creating a snow angel. “I’m in heaven.” He laughed.

She dropped down next to him and did it too. “Wanna go again?” She said with a grin when she looked over at him.

“Hell yeah,” He jumped up, brushed off, and headed towards the bus stop. Various buses ran a route back and forth that picked up skiers and snowboarders and dropped them off at multiple destinations all over the ski area. They waited for the next bus to come by and take them to the helicopter pad.

When they grabbed a seat on the bus behind the driver Gordy looked out the window at the light snow starting to fall. “I hope we can still go up if it’s snowing.”

“It shouldn’t be a problem, unless it gets windy.” The driver said.

“Awesome. Amy is going to be pissed she missed this for a wedding.” Gordy said.

“She’ll be here in two weeks.” She shrugged. “It’s not every day that your mother gets remarried and you’re the maid of honor.”

“I guess.”

“You have a thing for her don’t you.” She turned half towards him and grinned.

“What?” He furled his brown eyebrows together and made a scrunched up face.

“I’m not going to say anything to her. That’s your business.” She smiled brightly and started singing, “Gordy has a crush on Amy.” He smacked her arm.

“Shut the fuck up, what are you ten?”

“Oh just admit it.”

He sighed. “Fine, I think she’s cute and I like hanging out with her. It’s not like I want to get married or anything.” He bit his lower lip as soon as the words left his mouth. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s cool.” She said. She signed the mediation papers for her divorce before she left for this trip and would probably be officially divorced before she made it back to the states in six weeks. She and Kevin had no assets together, no children, no property, nothing. The mediation wasn’t exactly amicable, but it had proceeded smoothly. Gordy was one of only a few people that knew she was in the final stages of her divorce.

“It’s a new beginning.” He said when they stepped off the bus.

“Yeah, something like that.” She said and walked to the helicopter line. They paid in advance for unlimited access for the day so they could easily pass all of the people inside the office paying for each ride individually. She wondered when she would stop looking twice at every person that walked by with short messy dark hair. Cason was as far away as she could get, yet Adler felt like she was right there with her warm body and soft lips. She tripped getting into the helicopter. Gordy caught her before she smacked her head on the side.

“You okay?” He asked.

“Yeah,” She shook it off. If she didn’t get her head cleared soon she was going to be in trouble. She was straight. Whatever the hell was making her think of Cason was driving her crazy. It wasn’t just the kiss, no, it started long before that. She didn’t go around cruising women, wrestling in the snow with them, kissing them. Damn it, she was in the middle of a divorce, from a man. Not to mention, she was about to jump out of a helicopter and free fall thirty feet onto one of the most treacherous mountain ranges in the world with a snowboard strapped to her feet. Now was not the time to be thinking about any of that.

Twenty Two

June quickly turned into July and August wasn’t far away. Cason was working more hours than she could keep up with, but she was starting to finally move on and let go of Aspen. She definitely had no problem settling back into to her chaotic work load and she loved every minute of it.

“We have a shooting victim coming in by helicopter from Aurora.” Dr. Harris said. “It’s your patient. I just got a family emergency call. I gotta go.”

Cason watched him run down the hall towards the ER double doors. “Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know. I think something happened to his dad.” Warren said. He was standing next to her.

“Feel like assisting on a gunshot wound?” She turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

“Sure, what the hell, we might as well kick this shift off with a bang.” He laughed.

***

Adler was sitting in the snow with her board strapped to her feet, looking out at the magnificent view from the top of one of the slopes. She pulled a protein snack bar from her pocket and tore it open.

“I knew I forgot something this morning, son of a bitch.” Gordy said. He was sitting in the snow next to her. She opened her jacket pocket and pulled another bar out and handed it to him. “What would I do without you?”

“Starve.” She said between bites. He laughed. “My lawyer called this morning.”

“Oh yeah, how’s that going?” He asked.

She sighed and looked at the sun burning down on them. It was ironic how hot the sun seemed to be in the summer, but during the winter, no matter where you were the sun just wasn’t warm at all. “My divorce was final a couple of days ago.”

“Wow.” He said. He wasn’t sure if he should say he was sorry or cheer for her. Adler Troy was a very closed off person when it came to her personal life. When she got married most people didn’t even know she was dating anyone. He wondered how long it would take the world to realize she was divorced. “My offer still stands, if you ever want to talk about it.”

“Thanks. I’m good.” The only person she had ever talked to about her marriage in general was Cason. Hell, she hadn’t even told her mother the full story. She wondered if she ever would. She wondered why she even told Cason. What made her air her dirty laundry to a stranger? What made her want to be comforted by that same stranger right this very moment? And what the hell was causing her to want something she’d never had? She was haunted by the fraction of intimacy they had shared in one unguarded moment. Her mind had finished that scenario many times over in her dreams. At first, it scared her to death waking up in the middle of the night with a very detailed picture of a very naked Cason in her bed, on top of her, inside of her. She was terrified. Now, she welcomed the comfort of the dreams when they invaded her sleep. From the time she was a small child she had very real dreams. Many times she would dream of snowboarding all night and wake up exhausted the next morning from her body and mind going through the motions in her sleep. Lately, she was waking up covered in sweat with her body urging her to finish what the dream started.

“I’m ready when you are.” He shoved the wrapper for the snack into his pocket and zipped it up.

“I’m leaving tomorrow.” She said as she stood and snapped her boots into the bindings.

“Seriously?” He looked at her and stood up. “I thought we all planned to be here a few more weeks.”

“I’m just ready to go home.” She shrugged. “Besides, have you even asked Amy out?”

“Well, no, but what does that have to do with you leaving?” He asked.

“Go after what you want Gordy. Go after it and never look back.”

He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side. “When did you get so philosophical? Did you finally read those books I gave you?”

She smiled. “I’ve been reading them. It just finally sunk in I guess.” She turned to the side and pointed her board down the mountain. She was gone before he could blink. He quickly took off behind her.

***

Cason was about to leave the hospital when the chief of trauma paged her to his office. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. She was only summoned when it was serious. She hoped she wasn’t being sued over the patient she lost two weeks ago. The woman DOA, she tried to revive her, but the situation was just out of her hands. Her family was so distraught they thought Cason should have brought her back to life like she had the hands of an angel or something. She felt bad for the family, but in the world of medicine you played the game with the cards you are dealt and she had a folded hand on that round before she even looked at it.

Dr. Anthony Frank was sitting at his desk reading something inside a manila envelope when she knocked on the door. His head was balding and what hair was left was salt and pepper colored and shaved very short. He was a short, slender guy. He picked up his glasses from the desk and waved her inside. “Dr. Macauley.”

“Good morning.” She said and sat down across from him.

“We haven’t talked much recently. I must apologize for that. I get great doctors on my staff and sometimes I forget I still need to communicate and not wait for a mistake or negative issue to arise.” He smiled. “How was your rotation at AGH this winter?”

Cason froze. Had Adler complained to the hospital about their encounter? Would she try to ruin Cason’s career? She swallowed a lump down a suddenly dry throat. “It was fine. Why? Did you hear different?”

“No. Is there something I should be concerned about?”

“No. I mean we lost a couple of people, which was very rare, but my rotation was fairly routine.”

“Good. They speak very highly of you. I think if they ever found the money in their budget to hire a trauma surgeon they would be making you an offer.” He put his hands together in the middle of desk to form a small teepee. “Dr. Harris is suppose to start his rotation in a few days and I just found out his father has fallen suddenly very ill. In fact, he may not survive much past the next couple of weeks. I obviously can’t go into details, but I need to send a doctor for the rotation and you are the only other doctor on the Interim Team. I can call one of the other hospitals to see if one of their doctors wants to double back, but if no one is available, I’m afraid Dr. Harris would have to step down from the team so that someone new could be appointed.”

“I’ll go. If he wants to step down he can do it down the road when he is thinking with a clear head. I don’t want him to be forced into making a decision like that right now. He needs to be with his family.”

“Spoken like a true team member, and a true friend Cason. It’s a privilege to have you on my staff, and it’s a pleasure to know you as something other than an employee.” He smiled. “Get out of here. I know your shift ended two hours ago.”

She shook his hand and left his office. If anyone on the hospital staff ever dug through her family tree they would find out her great-grandmother had a sister who lived in Boulder and raised her family there. She had a son, who had a son named Anthony Frank. Cason had been working at the hospital a few months when she found out her boss was her very distant cousin. He never treated her like anything other than an employee even though he knew they were related. In fact, he knew who she was the day he hired her, he just hadn’t seen her since his grandmother died when Cason was five or six. When she interviewed for the position he could see the fire in her eyes, he knew she was going to be a hell of a doctor. One day, after working together on critical patient he asked her about her family and in turn he explained how they were related. She was pretty shocked and confused at first. She wondered if that was why she got the job, but he reassured her it had nothing to do with her blood, only her medical skills. She didn’t know the Frank family because there had been a falling out when she was a small child and it was still going on to this day. Neither side of the family knew they were working together, so their secret worked out nicely.

Twenty Three

Cason looked around at the scenery as she pulled into the hospital parking lot. She had never been to Aspen without the town being covered in snow. It was so different seeing all the colors. She was use to everything being white and various shades of grey. It was actually uplifting, the small town was full of life, and the sun was beating down lighting everything up. The fresh air was thin and clean. This was the complete opposite of the way she felt the last time she stood in this very spot. She felt like she was dying inside that day, now she felt like she was alive again.

“What are you doing back here?” Serena asked when Cason walked through the double doors.

“Dr. Harris had a family emergency. It looks like you’re stuck with me for another eight weeks.” She walked past the shapely brunette towards the other end of the hall where the doctor’s lounge and chief of emergency’s office were.

“Maybe you’ll get your head out of the clouds and see what’s right in front of you.” Serena called back to her as she watched her tight ass in her loose fitting scrubs.

***

Adler walked into her townhouse and flung herself down on her couch. The worst part about traveling was the actual traveling. She wasn’t a fan of flying, and flying around the world just plain sucked. She was glad she was able to come home quietly. She only had to stop and sign a few autographs in the Aspen airport, allowing her to quickly grab her bags and get the hell out of there. It had been a very long seven weeks since she left. Her house was in need of a major dusting and airing out, her two suitcases were full of dirty clothes, she had half a dozen voicemails to return, and all she wanted to do was sleep. She kicked her shoes off and curled on her side. She loved the overstuffed, soft leather couch, when she didn’t feel like going up the stairs it doubled as a very comfortable bed.

Two hours later, her cell phone rang, waking her from a very nice dream. She stretched like a Cheshire cat and stood up. It was dark outside and she had completely missed dinner. She checked the message, along with the other six waiting for her. Her mom wanted to know when she was coming home so they could get together for dinner, two of her local friends were inviting her to a party where some new band was playing, Gordy wanted to know if she made it back, one of her sponsors was calling to schedule a photo shoot, one call was from lawyer saying he mailed the final documents to her, the last call was her PR rep wanting to know when she planned to make a statement regarding her divorce being final. She tossed the phone onto the couch and went into the kitchen in search of food for her growling stomach. She wasn’t in the mood to go to a party or think about her schedule, much less something like writing a ‘news flash people I’m officially divorced’ post on her website. It really wasn’t anyone’s business.

She threw away three half eaten food cartons that looked like science experiments. The vegetables were all mushy and smelled horrible, and the cabinets were practically bare. Finally, she grabbed a takeout menu for the local Italian restaurant and ordered dinner. A Caesar salad and a hearty plate of lasagna would be ready in twenty minutes. She didn’t want to go out for any reason, but she wasn’t keen on giving out her address. She remembered the last time she had eaten at the small mom and pop establishment, Cason was with her. She wondered what she was doing at that same moment, probably saving someone’s life, and definitely not sitting around pinning over her. She wished things had gone differently the last time they were together. Not the kiss, that was an eye opening experience that haunted her like the memory of an old lover, no she wished she hadn’t made the mistake of telling her to go. She missed her so much. They had easily and quickly become very close. Cason knew a side of her most people would never see. When she was sitting up on the mountain in New Zealand she realized she grown closer to a virtual stranger in a few short weeks, than she was with her husband of two years.

Adler was in the middle of her dinner when she realized what she needed was closure. If she ended the chapter in her life that involved Cason maybe she could hopefully put an end to the haunting dreams and uninvited thoughts that occupied her mind.

***

Cason was laying on a hospital bed in one of the empty rooms trying to get some much needed sleep. She was so tired of her dreams being invaded at night since she had returned to Aspen. In the last week she had barely slept enough to make one full night. She was running on adrenaline and coffee. She thought she had finally gotten over Adler and let her go, then she was sent right back into the lion’s den. Thankfully, she hadn’t seen the lion and didn’t plan to. She bought more frozen meals than would fit in the freezer because she had no plans to be out in the public.

When the door creaked she sat up and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark. There was only one single person in that entire hospital that would deliberately sneak quietly into her room. “Serena what do you want?” She sighed and swung her legs to the floor.

“Isn’t it obvious?” She said. “I want you.”

“It’s not going to happen, not here and now, not ever.” Cason said as she reached over and pushed the button to turn the lights on.

“Oh come on. Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on that snow queen.” She sneered.

Cason shook her head. “Serena, you’re a married woman. I’m not interested in you.”

“She’s gone you know.”

“What?” Cason was confused.

“She goes out of the country for the summer. She probably won’t be back until the snow falls again. She’s only here in the winter.” She rolled her eyes and turned to leave the room. “This is the last time I’m offering.”

“That’s fine with me.” Cason said as she laid back down when the door closed behind the headstrong brunette. She felt a wave of sadness wash over at the thought of Adler not being around, then a wave of relief that she wouldn’t have to see her accidently.

Twenty Four

Cason finished her shift just after the sun rose. She was glad her twenty-four was over, she was finally sleeping a little more at night, but she was bored out of her mind. It always took almost two weeks to adjust down to the slower pace of the Aspen atmosphere compared to Denver. The hospitals were like day and night. She planned to spend her free time working on a small editorial that she was asked to write for the state medical journal, a privilege and an honor she didn’t take lightly. Very few doctors were ever asked to write anything for any of the medical journals.

***

Adler didn’t have a home address for Cason, so she drove straight to the hospital in hopes that she would be on shift or someone would know where she lived. When she walked into the ER she noticed immediately that the place was a madhouse. She waited in line at the nurse’s desk behind three different people that were there to see relatives or friends that were being treated. This hospital was set up completely different. The emergency area was completely blocked off and you had to go through security to get to the back where people were being treated, unlike Aspen General Hospital, where you could basically walk right into the ER.

“Can I help you?” The nurse said.

“I am a friend of Dr. Cason Macauley. I need to speak with her.” Adler said. She watched the woman type a few keys on the computer.

“I’m sorry. Dr. Macauley isn’t on shift. If it pertains to the hospital, is there anyone else you would like to speak with?”

“Is there another trauma doctor available?” She asked, hoping one of her friends on staff knew where she lived. She typed a few more keys and then picked up the phone. A few minutes later, a light-skinned black guy wearing dark blue scrubs walked up to her.

“I’m Dr. Jennings, is there something I can do for you?” He asked.

“I’m a friend of Dr. Macauley’s. Apparently, she’s off today and I’m from out of town. Do you or one of her colleagues happen to know where she lives?” She asked.

He eyed her up and down and raised an eyebrow. “I know where she lives, but it won’t help you. She’s in Aspen. Sorry.”

“What do you mean she’s in Aspen?”

“She’s working there for the next five weeks. She works a rotation at the hospital there.” He looked her up and down again. The young woman was very beautiful. He’d definitely have questions for Cason when she returned.

“She goes to Aspen in the winter.” Adler furled her eyebrows in confusion.

“She’s covering for another doctor that had a family emergency. She’s been there about three weeks…” He watched her walk away quickly before he could finish his sentence or get her name.

***

Cason was sitting at the kitchen counter bar working on her laptop. She had written and rewritten her article three times over and still didn’t like it. She was about to start a fourth draft when a loud knock on the door startled her. She hoped to god Serena hadn’t found out where she was staying. She cursed the door not having a peephole as she pulled it open.

“Were you planning on telling me you were back?” Adler said. She was standing there in jeans and a light green v-neck t-shirt that was made out of that thin material that made it look like an old throw-back shirt from the eighties. Her hair was pushed back off her face by the white sunglasses she had on the top of her head, just looking at her made Cason nervous.

Cason stepped back and let Adler walk inside the small condo. The citrus and flower scent she smelled made her want to smile, but the tone in Adler’s voice wasn’t exactly sunshine and roses. “I wasn’t aware I needed to let you know I was asked to fill-in for someone on rotation. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be out of the country anyway?”

“I came back early. My divorce was final a couple of weeks ago.”

“Should I say, oh I’m sorry, or congrats?”

“My divorce is none of your business.” Adler growled.

Cason threw arms in the air. “Then why the hell did you just tell me about it?”

“For some stupid reason I tell you about everything.”

“You confuse the hell out me. I still don’t understand why you’re standing here right now. The last time you saw me you told me to leave, remember.”

“Because I can’t fucking stop thinking about you…” Adler crossed the distance between them and pressed her lips to Cason’s. She kissed her like her mouth supplied the oxygen she needed to stay alive. Cason backed her against the wall, pressed her hips into Adler’s, and opened her mouth to take in the tongue begging for entrance. Adler kissed her with three and a half months of built up tension. If she could crawl inside her she would have. Cason pulled her mouth back slightly and Adler chased her trying to continue the kiss. Cason bit her bottom lip teasingly and traced her tongue over the soft flesh. She froze when Adler’s hands snaked under her shirt and ran up and down her naked back. The desire Cason saw in Adler’s bluish-green eyes was almost frightening. She leaned down and ran her moist lips over Adler’s neck and up towards her ear. The feel of Adler’s hips grinding against her made her instantly wet. She wouldn’t be able to stand up much longer, not with the way Adler’s body was physically attacking her from both sides. She ran her hands down Adler’s lithe body and grabbed her tight ass and raked her teeth over the sensitive flesh her lips were just on. Adler reached up with her hand and tugged Cason’s hair just enough to find her lips again for another searing kiss. Cason turned her away from the wall and walked her backwards until she bumped into the back of the couch. Adler pulled Cason’s shirt up over her head and tossed it on the floor. She ran her hands up Cason’s rippled stomach and across her chest to palm her breasts while Cason’s hips pressed tightly against her.

Cason pulled away from the kiss panting. She was so close, if she wasn’t careful she’d go off in her pants. She wrapped her arms around Adler’s slightly smaller body and picked her up. Adler wrapped her legs around Cason’s mid-section and her arms around her neck. She ran her tongue over Cason’s lips as Cason walked towards her bed on the other side of the room in the studio style condo. Cason laid her down on the bed, sliding on top of her at the same time. She dipped her head and kissed her softly, then pulled back and looked into her eyes.

“Tell me to stop.” Cason whispered.

“Never,” Adler said softly as she leaned up to kiss her, Cason met her lips with wild abandon. Adler wrapped her legs around Cason and her hips resumed their grinding motion causing the crotch of Cason’s pants to rub against her clit with every other movement, teasing her.

Cason backed away just enough to pull Adler’s shirt over her head. She quickly shed her bra and moved to unbutton her jeans when Adler’s hands covered hers. Cason moved to the side and Adler stood up. She unbuttoned her pants and slid them down her legs along with the tiny pair of panties she wearing. Very thinly trimmed blond hair formed a small V where her thighs came together. Cason ran her eyes leisurely up and down her body. Adler Troy was beautiful with an amazing body. She was slender and well toned. Adler reached her hand out and pulled Cason to her feet. Cason removed her pants and women’s jockey style underwear that she always wore. They were the only type of underwear she could find that didn’t sneak into the crack of her ass at the most inopportune times. It was just impossible to pick a wedgie in the middle of a life-saving procedure.

Cason sat back down on the bed and laid back. She pulled Adler on top of her. Warm wet liquid rolled down her thigh when their bodies pressed together. She wrapped her arms around Adler and slid her thigh up slightly between Adler’s. Adler moved against her, sliding her wet center back and forth over Cason’s thigh as she kissed her again. Cason ran her hands up and down Adler’s back and through her long curly hair. When she reached down and cupped Adler’s ass she slid harder against her coating her leg. Cason finally wrapped her arms around Adler and rolled them over. She settled between Adler’s legs and ran her mouth over her small round breast in light kisses before licking circles around her nipple. Adler grasped her head when Cason sucked her nipple into her mouth. She ran her hand up her side and gently squeezed her other breast as she sucked. Adler’s hips rose and coated her stomach with the same warm wetness that was on her leg.

“Touch me Cason...” She said breathlessly.

Cason slid lower slowly running her lips and tongue over Adler’s stomach until she reached the blond patch. She parted her legs and revealed the glistening folds begging to be touched. She met her eyes one last time and ran her tongue through the folds careful not to touch the center. Alder’s hips rose forcefully off the bed, but Cason’s weight held her down as she licked and sucked every crevice working her way to the pulsing center. When she finally wrapped her lips around her clit Adler writhed under her. Cason took her time licking around it in circles then sucking it into her mouth. Adler grabbed her hair and tugged.

“God that feels so good…” She moaned, moving her hips in rhythm with Cason’s mouth.

When Adler’s moving became more frantic Cason knew she was close. She pulled her lips away and slid back up her body as her fingers entered her softly. Adler’s breath hitched and her body tightened. When Cason kissed her the taste of herself on her mouth drove her completely over the edge. She slammed her hips into Cason’s hand as she rode the waves of orgasm over and over. Cason stayed inside of her until she felt her body calm and go limp. She wrapped her arms around her and held her tight. She ran her hands through the long curls lying over her shoulders and on her back.

Adler had her head on Cason’s shoulder and her thigh draped over her legs. She ran her hand up and down the center of Cason’s chest going lower with each pass. Cason grabbed her hand and stopped its progression.

“Show me how to touch you.” Adler rose up and looked into her blue eyes. She moved her hand lower and ran her fingers through the warm wet folds.

Cason spread her legs and put her hand over Adler’s. She moved her hand in slow circles around her clit, moving gradually towards the center. She was so close it wouldn’t take much. She nearly came while touching Adler so her body was wound tight. She pulled Adler’s head down and kissed her. When their tongues met she moved Adler’s fingers over her clit in even strokes. Her hips jerked and bucked and she sucked Adler’s tongue into her mouth and moaned as her body went to heights she didn’t know existed. She’d never come that hard in her life.

Twenty Five

Two weeks later, Cason was lying in Adler’s bed next to her. They’d spent every hour of spare time they could together and most of it was in bed, or on the couch, or one time on the floor, but the carpet burn stung like a son of a bitch the next day so they refrained from letting their passion for each other drive them to the floor again.

“I hate that you have to leave soon.” Adler said.

“I know. I feel like I just found the missing piece in my life.”

Adler smiled. “I think I found a lot more than a missing piece, more like an entire section of chapters.” She turned on her side to face Cason. “I also hate that we can’t go out in public around here because everyone knows me and the gossip hounds will be sniffing my feet now that the world knows I’m divorced.”

“You can always come to Denver. I don’t think anyone there gives two shits about the two of us sitting in a restaurant or walking through a store together.”

“That’s true. I plan on coming to visit. I have to get my ass back in the snow soon. I have two more stops on the international tour in September and then the season starts here in October.”

“What are you doing this month?” Cason asked as she ran her fingers lazily over Adler’s shoulder and down her arm.

“August is part of my international time. I’m usually in New Zealand until the middle of the month, then come home and get ready to go to Chile.” She smiled. “I came home to go get you. I was tired of thinking of you during the day and dreaming of making love with you at night.”

Cason grinned. “So that’s where you learned those moves.” She said as she ran her finger in circles around her breast.

Adler laughed and pushed her away. “I had months of practice in my sleep. When it finally turned to waking up to touch myself I knew I was no longer in control. My body wanted you and I couldn’t deny it anymore.”

“You know that just made me wet right?” Cason said.

“Maybe we should do something about that.” Adler said as she crawled on top of her and straddled her hips.

Cason put her hand between Adler’s legs and moved her thumb over her clit in slow steady strokes. Adler leaned back slightly and moved her hips back and forth matching each stroke. “This isn’t what I had in mind.” She said, but she kept moving and moaned when Cason reached up with her other hand and massaged her breast.

“Come here.” Cason stopped moving her hand and pulled Adler’s hips towards her face. Adler straddled her shoulders and lowered herself onto Cason’s tongue.

Adler moaned and grabbed the headboard moving her hips with every stroke of Cason’s tongue on her clit. Cason reached up and grabbed her hips to hold her still so she could lick and suck over and over until Adler shuddered and came with her tongue inside her.

“We were talking about something before you interrupted us.” Adler said with a smile. She slid down next to Cason and ran her finger around her stomach in long strokes over the hard muscles.

Cason grinned. “You were telling me about you masturbating.”

“Before that,” Adler smacked her lightly. “I still don’t know why the hell I just automatically tell you everything. It drives me crazy.”

“Maybe we’re soul mates.” Cason shrugged. “We were talking about your schedule.”

“Oh yeah, so anyway, I was thinking maybe if you have any vacation time and can get away maybe we can get away for a week or so and go somewhere we won’t be bothered in public.”

“I have some time available. Where were you thinking of going?”

“I usually go to Cali for a few weeks to surf and just bum around at the beach. I didn’t go this year because I went to New Zealand early hoping to clear my mind of a certain sexy trauma doctor.”

“I see.” Cason leaned over and kissed her. “Let me check with my chief when I get back and see how the schedule looks. We usually have to put in weeks and sometimes months ahead of time for vacation. If no one has any time off scheduled then he will clear it.”

“That sounds good. My schedule is pretty tight to, but hopefully it will work out or I’m dragging you to Chile with me.” She grinned.

Twenty Six

“I can’t believe you’re going on vacation, you just got back. And to California, you suck man. You get to go to all the places the hot girls hang out, no wonder you get all the action.” Warren teased. “I bet you’re going with that gorgeous blond that came here looking for you too.”

Cason shook her head and smiled. “Are you scrubbing in on this surgery or not?” She said.

“Yeah, yeah, calm down.” He began washing his hands in the scrub sink. They were about to go on an exploratory mission inside a young man’s body to find out why his abdomen was full of blood. He had been in a car accident and came in with severe stomach pain and the ultra sound in the ER showed he had a massive bleed somewhere.

Cason was watching the surgical tech prep the area while she waited for Warren to come out. “All set doctor.” The tech said.

“What are you thinking?” Warren said when he stepped up to the table.

“Could be liver laceration, but there was so much blood in the ultrasound I couldn’t tell.” She answered as she began the surgery.

***

Adler hated the summer, well most of it anyway. She loved going to Cali and surfing for a month or two and just letting go, but she missed the snow. She lived for the powder and halfpipe. She wasn’t leaving for three more days, but she was already packed. She planned to stop and see her mom in Boulder for a couple of days on her way to Denver. She planned to fly to California from there with Cason for their weeklong vacation trip.

She smiled when her cell phone lit up on the table in front of her. “Hey stranger,”

“I’m sorry I missed your call. I was in surgery.” Cason said. She was sitting in the doctor’s lounge with her feet propped up on the table across from her. She squeezed the bridge of her nose trying to ward off the ache that was easing into her head. She was tired and hungry, and still had another ten hours on her shift.

“How did it go?” Adler stretched out on her couch and started to pet Clyde when he jumped up on the back to sit in his favorite spot.

“Fairly routine, the guy was in a car accident and the severe tightening of his seatbelt and impact from the crash caused a tear in his spleen and his liver. They were both bleeding so bad I could hardly see to sew them closed. He’s fine now though and recovering in ICU.”

“That’s good. You sound tired.”

“I am. I’m fourteen hours into my shift and I’ve had two surgeries and various other patients. I probably won’t get to sleep tonight if it stays this busy.” She said with a yawn at the end. “What did you do today?”

“Packed,”

Cason laughed. “Already,”

“Yeah, I’m leaving in the morning. I’m going to go see my mom in Boulder for a couple of days and then we are off to paradise for a whole week.”

“I’m sorry I can’t go for two. It’s just crazy around here. Ted Harris buried his father last week and took this week off to grieve and help his mom. The chief is hoping he returns next week.”

“That’s so sad. Cancer just plain sucks. Amy was talking to a few of the free skiers about doing an exhibition event this coming season to raise money for cancer. I’m not sure where it will be yet, probably somewhere we can draw a huge crowd.”

“That would be really cool. It’s nice to see athletes or famous people in general that give back.”

“Dating a doctor will do that to you. All of a sudden you want to help the world.” She teased.

“Uh huh,” Cason laughed. “I guess that’s called positive corruption.”

“Something like that.” Adler said. “I miss you.”

“I miss…” Cason was cut off when a nurse rushed into the lounge.

“Dr. Macauley we have two victims coming in with multiple gunshot wounds.”

“Looks like I gotta go.” Cason said into the phone.

“Go save lives. I’ll see you soon.” Adler said before she hung up.

Cason put her phone in her pocket and stretched out her back when she stood up. She was probably heading into another surgery or possibly two. She was definitely not getting any sleep tonight. Denver Medical Center was the largest hospital within three hundred miles and the only level one trauma center in the same distance. They saw numerous patients everyday from all over. Most arrived by ambulance, but a large number of patients arrived by helicopter daily. This adrenaline rush of not knowing what to expect and being ready to tackle anything was the reason she became a doctor in the first place and there was only one area of study that she was interested in, trauma.

Twenty Seven

Cason was jolted awake when the plane landed with a thud and taxied back towards the gates at LAX. She rubbed the knot in her neck from sleeping all kinked up. It didn’t matter that they were in first class, it was still just plain uncomfortable sleeping on an airplane.

“I should have woken you, I’m sorry.” Adler said. “I know you barely slept last night and you looked so peaceful.”

“It’s okay. You can just give me a massage later.” Cason grinned.

“That can definitely be arranged.” Adler grabbed her carry-on bag and followed the line to the exit. She was glad they both traveled light and wouldn’t need to wait in the hoards of people at baggage claim.

When they finally got off the plane Cason led them to the rental car counter where she had a convertible BMW rented for the week. She quickly signed the papers and grabbed the keys. The white car was waiting for them with the top down and a full tank of gas. They had a short drive out to Huntington Beach, where they were actually staying in a rented one bedroom bungalow a block from the ocean.

“Very nice ride,” Adler said when she set her suitcase in the backseat and sat down in the front seat.

Cason smiled. “If you like this I should show you what I keep in my garage at my condo.”

“A motorcycle?” Adler asked curiously.

“No.” Cason shook her head. “About five years ago I paid my condo off so I decided to splurge on something else. I have a convertible Porsche Boxster S that sits in my garage collecting dust.”

“No shit.” Adler turned in her seat. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.” Cason laughed. “I drive it all summer and put it away every winter to keep it off the salted streets.”

“Why haven’t I seen it?” Adler asked as Cason pulled out of the airport into the afternoon Los Angeles traffic.

“You’ve only been to my condo in Denver once, and that was yesterday. We didn’t exactly leave my bedroom until this morning and I put the car away a few days ago.”

“Well hell. Now, I have something to look forward to when we fly back. Can I drive it?”

“No.”

“What! Why not?” She laughed.

“Do you have any idea what it costs to insure that car? I have it stated on my policy that no other person will drive it, that made my premium go down like twenty percent.”

“You’re something else.” Alder smiled. “What other secrets are you hiding?”

Cason paused and made a face that looked like she was in serious thought. “Nothing that I can think of, except, I’m thinking of selling the car next summer.”

“Why do you want to do that?”

“I barely drive it and it was kind of a crazy impulse buy when you live in a place that gets snow six or seven months out of the year.”

“What color is it?”

“Midnight blue with black leather interior.”

Adler bit her lower lip to hide a grin. “You can’t sell it. Your sexy meter is off the chart now. No wonder the nurses all chase you around. You’re hot and you drive a sweet ass sports car.”

“So, if you knew about the car you would’ve hooked up with me in the village when you knocked me on my ass, is that what you’re saying?”

“No. But, I might have seriously considered it.” She laughed.

Cason rolled her eyes and pulled into the gravel driveway of the little bungalow. “Women.” She said under her breath.

“I heard that.” Adler said as she got out.

***

Cason awoke two days later to a note on the pillow next to her scribed in perfect loopy feminine handwriting, nothing like her chicken scratch doctor scribble. She read it and got out of bed. Adler had gone surfing at sun up which was about two hours ago. She quickly dressed in a t-shirt, board shorts and flip flops and walked down to the brown sandy beach a block away.

Adler peeled the top of her wetsuit down revealing a baby blue string bikini top. Her long curly blond hair was wet and pasted to her shoulders. She bent over and shook her hair out and flipped it back over her shoulders. Droplets of saltwater ran down her slender torso and pooled at her waist at the top of the wetsuit. Cason watched her from about twenty yards away. Two guys stopped and talked to her for a second, she must have said something to make them keep walking.

“There you are!” Adler said when she finally noticed Cason watching her. “Good morning.”

“You’re beautiful.”

Adler smiled. “Thank you.”

“I don’t know which look I like better, hot snowboarder chic or hot surfer girl. You’re like the epitome of most men’s fantasies.”

“Is that so? What about you and your fantasies?” Adler raised an eyebrow over her bluish-green eyes.

“You’re mine, so there are no fantasies anymore, it’s a reality.” Cason said.

Adler stepped closer and kissed her softly before backing away. She hated being closeted, but with everything she had just gone through she wasn’t quite ready to flaunt her newfound lesbianism. “What did I ever do to get you?” She said mostly to herself. Cason treated her like there was no else on Earth that compared to her and it was flattering. It made her actually feel loved. Something she had never felt before by anyone she ever dated. That thought both excited and scared her to death. She knew she had strong feelings for Cason, but she just wasn’t ready to fall in love. She kept her heart close and under strict lock and key after she gave it away only to have it broken.

“I guess you never thought you’d be stuck with me when you ran me down that day.” Cason laughed.

“No, definitely not. Hell, I never thought I’d see you again. Maybe you were stalking me.” Adler said as she sat in the sand. Cason sat down next to her.

“If I was stalking you, then why did you come into my hospital needing treatment from me? Maybe you were stalking me.” She said as she bumped shoulders with her.

“Oh please.” Adler laughed. Cason loved to see her happy. When she smiled or laughed it was like a rain of sunshine on a cloudy day lighting up everything around it.

“So, we’ve been here a couple of days and walking this beach numerous times and supposedly you’ve been coming down here every morning to surf when the sun comes up, but you always seem to be finished when I show up. What gives? I’m starting to think you’re not really surfing.” Cason raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

Adler shrugged. “If I’m not surfing then what am I doing? Picking up guys?”

“I hope not.” Cason laughed.

Adler looked her in the eyes and bit her bottom lip. A gesture Cason was becoming very familiar with. “I’m not like that. I don’t hook up with strangers.” She paused. “Honestly, I guess I’m a little nervous. You’ve only seen me snowboard, so you’ve only seen me at my best. I’m only an intermediate surfer, it’s not the same.”

Cason stared at her for a second. “Are you afraid I will make fun of you or something?”

“No. I know you wouldn’t do that. I just don’t want to disappoint you.”

Cason reached over and brushed a strand of curly hair from her check. She wanted to kiss that cheek and taste her salty skin, but she refrained. “Adler I would never be disappointed in you for anything. I’m not sure where all of this insecurity is coming from and I hope I’m not the cause of it. You do so much more than I ever thought of doing. I’ve never surfed a day in my life and I’m too chicken shit to ride a snowboard on anything but a flat surface. You’re amazing at everything you do. I love watching you no matter what sport it is. You could be playing chess and I’d be on the edge of my seat in awe.”

“You’re so incredible.” Adler laid her head on Cason’s shoulder and watched the surf rise and fall.

“Besides, haven’t other people seen you surf? Didn’t you come here with your ex-husband?”

Adler lifted her head and looked at Cason. “Kevin and I met here, well not this very spot we were at another beach, but he sort of taught me to surf so it wasn’t a big deal.” She looked into Cason’s blue eyes. “I didn’t care what he thought to be honest. Guys are all the same, it only matters if you look good. With you everything is so different, I’m still getting use to that.”

“Maybe you can teach me one day. You were pretty good at teaching me how to snowboard.”

“Why do you want to be with me?” Adler said out of the blue. “You just said it yourself we have nothing in common.”

Cason watched the surf rise and fall. “I’ve asked myself that same question numerous times.” She paused. “That day in the village I had no idea who you were. I mean obviously working up here I had heard the name Adler Troy quite often and I had been to the Winter X Games every year so I had seen you compete, but I really had never seen you without your gear on. I had no idea what you looked like, I just knew that girl that knocked me on my ass had a little hard body, beautiful eyes, and she smelled like citrus and flowers. She was like a ball of sunshine. When I treated you in the hospital I was floored that I saw you again and you were this famous athlete.” She shrugged. “You were and still are the most beautiful woman I have ever met. Just looking at you makes me crazy sometimes, but there is so much more to you than looks. When I saw you ride your snowboard in the pipe I was literally in awe. That day you taught me to snowboard was the day I stopped pretending it was crush. I got home that night and knew I was in trouble. You made me so nervous I could barely string words together to form sentences.” She smiled. “I like the fact that you’re not into medicine, talk about boring conversations. I’m also glad I’m not a pro snowboarder, we would never work out if I was.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Are you worried I’m going to be like Kevin?” Cason asked bluntly.

“No, I…”

“I’m my own person Adler. You have to trust me and I know that’s difficult when you’re newly divorced from someone who was never there and who broke your heart. I’d be a little weary too, but I love being with you no matter what we are doing. I love watching you snowboard, and I’d also love to watch you surf. I know we live in different cities and if there was a way to live closer together I’d move in a heartbeat. The only thing I can say is I want to be with you, all of you, every single part, whether you’re lazing on the couch, snowboarding, surfing, or traveling from competition to competition. Kevin was an extremely stupid person. How he ever let you go I will never know.”

Adler wiped a tear from her cheek. “I’m so scared Cason. I wasted so much time thinking things were great when in reality it was spiraling downhill from day one. Then, I meet you and my whole world is turned upside down all over again.”

“What made you want to be with me?” Cason asked.

Adler grinned. “That day in the village I cruised you when I got off of you. I thought you were sexy as hell, then I realized you were a woman and I was surprised, but somehow I think I knew. I thought about that day a few times before I saw you at the hospital. I guess it sort of happened slowly for me. We got to be friends and I knew you were gay, but it never bothered me. When you kissed me my strong exterior shattered. I fell apart and left the country to grieve over my failed marriage and deal with the fact that kissing you, a woman, was the most incredible feeling I have ever felt in my life. My mind drove me crazy thinking about you and dreaming about you. Then, I started wondering what it would be like to make love with you and my mind sure painted a vivid picture for me. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to see you, touch you. I didn’t know what would happen the next day or worry about the repercussions, I just wanted you so damn bad.”

“Why.” Cason grinned. “What made you stay?”

“I can’t explain how you make me feel, I just know being with you, even like this just sitting here, it is the best feeling in the world. It’s not an adrenaline rush or thrill ride like snowboarding, it’s more like ecstasy, pure happiness, and I guess I’m scared that bliss will disappear or fizzle out eventually.”

“You make me happier than I’ve ever been in my life. I know we haven’t been together that long, but I’ve been falling for a long time. I love you Adler.” Cason watched her face go from surprise to shock to sadness. She stood up and pulled her wetsuit back on. She was in the water with her board before Cason could say anything else. She knew it was way too soon, but she did love her and she wanted to reassure her that this wasn’t a fluke or anything else that she might think it was.

Adler caught the second wave that rolled under her and cut back inside the small wave riding her board low with her hand dragging the water next to her. She sliced back to the right before running out of wave. No, she wasn’t a pro, but she looked like she knew what she was doing and she was enjoying it, that was all that mattered.

Twenty Eight

In September Adler was getting ready for the season to start when the first snow fell in October. She’d been to Chile for two weeks for the end of the international tour where she finished second and Amy finished third. She was working on some new tricks and doing a lot more riding for herself versus riding the way people expected her to ride. She was riding a lot freer and fell more times than she liked during the last leg of the international tour, but she was picking up new tricks and going to new heights. If she could pull everything together perfectly she would be virtually unbeatable. As soon as she got home she dumped her gear and packed for a weeklong trip to Denver before her loaded schedule of photo shoots, training, interviews, and everything else that came with the start of a new season.

She felt bad for leaving Clyde again, but the lady next door spoiled him so much she wondered if the cat preferred it when she was out of town. She told him bye and grabbed her suitcase. She was excited to get on the road. It had been about a month since she’d seen Cason. She missed her more than she ever imagined. She was nervous about seeing her after their little vacation in California. It scared her when Cason said she loved her. She felt strongly towards her, she just couldn’t say it back. Everything was still too new and her old wounds were still too fresh. She wasn’t ready to love someone again.

***

Cason finished her shift at the hospital and rushed home to shower and clean her condo one last time before Adler arrived later that afternoon. She had no idea why she was so nervous. She wondered if it would always be like that since they often spent weeks apart. The excitement still hadn’t worn off. When she heard the knock on her door she almost tripped and fell rushing to answer it.

“You’re early.” Cason said when she opened the door.

“Would you like me to go and come back later?” Adler asked with a raised eyebrow and a sexy grin.

“Hell no,” Cason grabbed her and pulled her inside. “God I missed you.” She wrapped her arms around Adler and kissed her like her life depended on it. She ran her tongue around the edge of her lips before slipping inside. Adler’s hips moved against her involuntarily.

“I missed you too.” Adler said when they parted enough to breathe. “I was sure I was going to get a ticket on the way here.”

“You could have just said you hadn’t seen your girlfriend in a month and you were hot and bothered thinking about making love with her and that made you drive faster.” Cason smiled.

Adler rolled her eyes. “I’m sure that would’ve gotten me out a ticket.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“Oh my god, you’ve used that line?”

“No.” Cason laughed. “But, if it had been a guy he would let you go to hide the tent forming in his tight uniform pants.”

Adler giggled. “That’s a visual I don’t want.” She raised an eyebrow when she finally looked past Cason’s eyes. “You’re hair’s shorter.”

Cason ran a hand through her short dark hair. “Yeah, the girl that usually cuts my hair was off when I went in so I let the other girl do it and she buzzed my head. It was like a damn flat top. Thank god it’s grown out a little bit.”

“I like it.” Adler said.

“Good.” Cason said as she moved her hands from Adler’s waist to her ass and picked her up. Adler wrapped her legs around Cason and ran her hands through her short hair as she kissed her. Cason deposited her on the bed and crawled on top of her.

***

“I promised Warren we would go out with him tonight.” Cason said when they finally came up for air. “He’s been dying to meet you and he was driving me crazy at work. Do you mind if we meet him at this club downtown?”

“Haven’t I met him?”Adler asked.

Cason smiled. “Yes, but he doesn’t know that.”

“Trying to keep me all to yourself huh,” She laughed. “I don’t care if we go out.”

“We won’t stay out long enough for him to embarrass me.” She grinned.

“Oh, this should be good then. How long have you known him?”

“About six years. I guess he’s kind of like my best friend, I mean he’s the only person I see outside of work, and I don’t really associate with many people anyway. He and I use to spend a lot of time going to clubs or bars, but this year I sort of became a homebody.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to seeing you in action then.” Adler wiggled her eyebrows. “What kind of club is this?”

“It’s a mix, black and white, gay and straight, you name it everyone kind of fits together.” She shrugged. “Before you ask, no I have not taken anyone home from there. I have gotten my fair share of numbers, but no one night stands. He however has left me stranded on more than one occasion which is why I learned to just meet him there.”

Adler laughed. “So he’s a charmer. He was pretty curious about me when I was here asking about you.”

“He was probably checking you out.”

“Yeah right,”

Cason shook her head. “He checks out anything in a skirt.”

“I wasn’t wearing a skirt.”

She laughed. “You know what I mean. Oh my god, this one night about three years ago this nice looking black woman asked him to dance. She was wearing a short leather skirt, high heels, and a tank top style blouse. The place isn’t exactly lit up like a runway so it took me a little while to realize he was dancing with a cross dresser. He didn’t believe me until he went to the bathroom and she was in there standing at a urinal with her skirt pulled up and her package showing. He ran out of there and we didn’t go back for six months.” Cason couldn’t stop laughing. “Ask him about Darlene the Queen tonight.”

Adler was hysterical. “Oh man, I bet he was scarred for life.”

“No kidding. He isn’t a homophobe at all, I think he was more shocked that the guy in a skirt danced, and moved like a woman and I think they kissed a few times while dancing. He was hot and ready to take her home just before he noticed the twig and berries. It sure as hell gave me a laugh. I still use it as leverage when I need to bend his arm at the hospital for a favor.”

Adler got out of the bed and stretched her naked trim body causing tight muscles to show in various places. Cason grew wet all over again. She had never been that easily turned on by just looking at a woman in her life, not constantly. She wondered how long it would last, this instant readiness every single time Adler was in her presence. Maybe the distance between was causing her to feel like it was the first time every time because they spent so much time apart.

“Where are you going?” Cason asked as she followed her out of the bed.

Adler’s heart skipped a beat when Cason stood in front of her. She still wasn’t use to the excitement her naked body caused. “If we’re going out then I need to shower now. I hate blow drying my hair and I’m sure you don’t have a blow dryer anyway.”

“That is correct. Not much here to blow dry.” Cason rubbed her short messy hair. “Want some company in there?”

“If you get in here we won’t get out.” Adler smiled.

***

Warren was sitting on a stool at a small, high-top table close to the edge of the dance floor when he saw Cason walking towards him with a pretty blond in tow. He looked her up and down when he stood to shake hands with Cason. She looked familiar.

“I’ve seen you before.” He said to Adler, then, turned to Cason. “You said it wasn’t the girl that came looking for you.”

Cason smiled. “I never said it wasn’t I just never answered you. Anyway, I guess you two have already met. Warren this is Adler, the snowboarder from Aspen that’s had me on a rollercoaster for the last nine months.” Adler smacked her arm lightly and reached out to shake his hand.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.” Adler said.

“I’m sorry to say Cason hasn’t really said two words about you. I can see why she kept you to herself.” He winked.

“Have you two ever competed for the same girl?” Adler asked after they ordered a round of drinks from the waitress.

“No.” Warren said. “Cason and I have looked at the same woman many times, but never competed.”

“I have no problem looking at a pretty girl, but I don’t date straight women, period.” Cason said. In fact, she had gone against her rule with Adler and trusted another basically straight woman with her heart. She fell head over heels in love with her and it was too late by then. She had no defenses against the beautiful blond.

“So, do you guys dance or just sit here and check everyone out?” She raised an eyebrow and grinned. A Michael Jackson song was playing loudly and many people were grinding together on the dance floor in front of them.

“Hey you guys.” A bubbly redhead stepped up to the table and spoke before Cason and Warren had a chance to reply. “I haven’t seen you here in forever. Are you dancing for us tonight? One of my friends just requested your song.”

“I don’t think we will be dancing tonight. Sorry.” Cason said to her.

“Why not? What dance?” Adler said curiously.

“You haven’t seen them dance?” The girl asked. When Adler shook her head she continued. “There was a dance contest here about two years ago and you could enter in pairs or groups of three. The winners won a couple grand I think. Anyway, these two did the ‘Soulja Boy’ dance from the Crank That song and blew the competition away. Every now and then they do the dance again when they are here.”

“Oh really,” Adler looked a Cason questioningly with a raised eyebrow.

Cason bit her lower lip and shrugged. “We did it for the hospital. We were bored on a particularly slow night and this song was the hottest thing out so we watched it on YouTube and taught ourselves how to do it. We entered the competition kind of as a joke, but when we won we matched the winnings and gave it to the children’s center at the hospital as a donation.”

“Wow, you amaze me every time I’m with you.” Adler said as she squeezed Cason’s hand lying on the table.

“They’re really good.” The woman said.

Warren raised his eyebrows and Cason shrugged. “I guess we’re gonna do this.” He said as they walked to the dance floor and slapped hands when the song started. Adler knew the song from the radio and was completely in awe watching Cason and Warren dance back and forth doing every move almost perfectly and in unison. The floor cleared out quickly and a few people stayed in the back to follow along but they couldn’t keep up. Adler felt goose bumps rise on her arms and a puddle formed between her legs, she had never been so turned on in her life. The whole room was cheering for them. She was amazed to see Cason out there in front of the large crowd doing this crazy dance like it was second nature. When the song ended they came back to the table breathless.

“That was fucking awesome.” Adler said.

Warren made a gesture like he was wiping dust off his shoulder as he grinned. “Not too shabby. It’s been at least a year since we’ve done that here.”

“Yeah,” Cason agreed. “But, every slow night we are working together, which only happens maybe once a month in that busy place, we take over the doctor’s lounge or ER hallway and get down.”

“No wonder the nurses all want you.” Adler laughed.

“No they don’t.” Cason shook her head and downed half of her drink. She was sweating and her adrenaline level was finally coming back down to normal.

“Stop lying to this girl.” Warren said. “Half of the damn hospital has tried to get with her, but she won’t date anyone in the medical field. I guess it’s a good thing you’re an athlete.” He grinned.

“Oh really?” Adler looked at Cason.

“It’s not that bad, he’s exaggerating. A few nurses and one other doctor have showed interest and I’ve never been interested. I already told you I don’t date people I work with.”

“Maybe you need to transfer to Aspen General.” She teased.

“I’d go tomorrow if they could find it in their budget.” Cason said seriously. Adler squeezed her hand under the table. Warren was a little surprised at the statement, but he had never seen Cason so happy in all of their years as friends.

Twenty Nine

Adler was tired of traveling. Over the last three months she was home for a week in October, Thanksgiving week in November, and the week of Christmas in December. The start of the snow season meant so much more than snowboarding every day. She was spending most of time meeting with current sponsors, signing new sponsors, dropping old ones, shooting commercials and magazine ads, and everything else that came with being a pro athlete. She was exhausted and more than anything she missed Cason. She had seen her a total of ten days out of the last ninety and she hated the separation. She wondered why the distance never bothered her when she was married, but then again, she had never experienced the kind of companionship and unbridled passion that she shared with Cason during her marriage. She was looking forward to Cason’s arrival in Aspen for the next two months. She was contemplating asking the sexy doctor to stay with her at her townhouse during her rotation stay in town. Those thoughts made her nervous. Her own husband didn’t even live with her, yes he stayed with her obviously when he was in town, but usually she was the one doing the traveling to see him. Everything about her relationship with Cason and her life now that she was dating Cason was so completely different and she felt like a new person. She was happy before, but many people had asked her recently if something had changed in her life because she seemed so different, so cheerful. Winter X Games would begin in three and a half weeks and all eyes would be on her once again because she was the hometown favorite that seemed to dominate the event, but also because that’s where her marriage fell apart literally in front of hundreds of people. She couldn’t wait to show off the new Adler Troy, hopefully with another gold medal to boot.

***

Cason was packed and ready to leave for Aspen when her shift ended at Denver Medical Center. She was so excited about seeing Adler again that she could barely contain herself. Everyone was starting to notice the pep in her step during the week leading up to her rotation for the Interim Team. Warren was the only person that knew she was dating anyone in general, much less a beautiful pro snowboarder that lived in Aspen. He worried she might not return after the last time Cason saw Adler. She walked around sulking for weeks until she saw her again. She was in way over head and spending two months with her and then leaving was going to tear her apart. He felt bad for his friend, he’d never seen anyone so in love.

“T minus two hours.” Warren teased when Cason walked by him.

“It’s crawling by.” She smiled. “Do you think anyone would notice if I left now?” She joked somewhat seriously. She knew she couldn’t leave, but oh man did she want to.

Warren patted her on the back. “I wonder if that hot blond of yours is pacing the floor like a caged animal too.” He grinned.

“It’s not that bad.”

Warren raised his eyebrows. “The nurses keep asking me if you’re drinking too much coffee. They offered to switch you to decafe secretly.” He said seriously. She laughed and smacked him for teasing her. “At least invite me up one weekend so I can meet a hot snow bunny too. Adler promised she would introduce me to some girls.”

Cason laughed. “They don’t all look like her trust me.” She raced down the hall behind him when they were both paged for an incoming trauma with multiple victims.

***

The trauma turned into two surgeries that lasted a few hours each and Cason didn’t get into Aspen until late that night. She didn’t have to be at Aspen General Hospital for the rotation change for two more days thankfully, so she went straight to Adler’s townhouse.

“Hey stranger,” Adler smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around Cason’s neck. “I missed you so much.” She whispered into her neck.

“I missed you too. I’m sorry I’m so late.” Cason pulled back enough to kiss her. She meant for it to be soft and slow, but they were so hungry for each other the kiss was much deeper and led to clothes being pulled off piece by piece.

There was no time to climb the stairs to the bedroom. Adler pulled Cason down on top of her as she fell back onto the couch. Their naked bodies slid together easily. Cason teased Adler’s nipples licking and biting back and forth. Adler pushed Cason’s hand down, she was so wet she couldn’t take it anymore she needed to feel her. Cason took the hint and slipped her fingers inside of her as her thumb rubbed against her clit. Adler spread her legs wide and wrapped them around Cason digging her heels into the couch cushion for leverage to thrust her hips up meeting Cason stroke for stroke. Cason moved her lips from Adler’s chest to her neck and then her mouth. She kissed softly, pulling her fingers back to slow her pace. She followed the same pace with her fingers that she used with her lips and tongue. Adler gripped her hair with one hand and her back with the other. Cason was relieved her nails were short and just sharp enough to make her wetter than she already was. She was so close already. She clinched her pussy as tight as she could when Adler tightened around her fingers and shuttered under her with a heavy moan and hot breath on her neck.

When Cason rolled to the side Adler kissed her again, then she moved off the couch to the floor and motioned for Cason to sit up straight on the couch. She crawled up between her knees with light kisses leading towards her center. Cason spread her legs and sat back to watch as Adler ran her tongue up and down around the sides of clit before sucking it in softly then starting over again. The bright bluish-green eyes stared up at her as Adler sucked her harder driving her straight over the edge. She ran her hand through the long blond curls, threw her head back, and rode her face as she came wildly.

Thirty

Adler was at the top of the halfpipe waiting to drop in for the first run of the halfpipe finals. She knew Cason was standing at the bottom watching and cheering as a spectator. She set her I-Pod to play her one of the songs from her pipe playlist and she pushed off.

The feel of the board sliding under her feet was like the adrenaline rush from hell. She dropped in and rode up the opposite wall into a huge air-to-fakie and back down perfectly carving back across and into a back-side-nine spinning backwards nine hundred degrees. She was in the zone, riding better than she had in recent months. Her spins were clean and her grabs were long. She finished the run with a front-side-nine, a rodeo, and a front-side-five-forty. She pumped her fist into the air at the bottom.

“That was a sick run.” Amy said when she came to a stop next to her.

Adler smiled. “I feel better than I have in a long time. I’m riding better than ever and I’m stoked!”

“Just bring it on your next run. We’ll see what you’ve got.” Amy teased. She won both of their competitions in Canada and won two out of the five International Tour events. Adler wound up winning the tour because she had more points from three wins and two second places.

“Go big or go home baby.” Adler high-fived her and got back in line to ride to the top when her score came in and she was sitting in second place. Amy was on top with three more points. They had one more run to go.

When she got to the top she sat in the tent going over her run in her head while the other competitors had their final runs. She knew she’d have to go before Amy who would be last since she was leading. She stood and stretched her back when there were only two riders in front of her. Amy hugged her before she sat on the bench outside of the tent to strap her board to her feet.

She started her I-Pod song and sat in the snow until the green light lit up signaling the judges were ready. She stood and pointed her board towards the pipe and dropped in with massive speed. She caught more air coming out of the pipe with her air-to-fakie than the other riders on their first wall and scored major points with the judges. She immediately went right into a front-side-nine followed by a back-side-nine and she was still flying high out of the pipe. She lined up perfectly and spun a front-side ten-eighty that she landed just a little shaky, but she still carried enough speed to finish with a back-side-seven with a perfect grab. She threw both hands in the air before sliding to a stop. She unsnapped her bindings and pushed her helmet and goggles back as she ran over to the barrier full of spectators. Cason was standing up front with black ski pants and a dark grey ski jacket on. Her short dark hair was covered by Adler’s bright blue ski cap and she also had her bright blue scarf on. Adler wanted her to stand out in the crowd so she could find her easily among the thousands of people.

Adler ran up to Cason, threw her arms around her neck, and kissed her thoroughly. Cason held her and kissed her back. Adler pulled back slightly and looked into Cason’s blue eyes.

“I love you.” Adler said with a bright smile. “I’m sorry it took me so long to say it. I’ve loved you for so long Cason.”

“I love you too.” Cason kissed her again.

Amy had a great run going behind them, but she slid out on one of her landings towards the bottom and it was all over. Cason won. When they were setting up the podium to quickly move on before the men started their final the ESPN reporter pulled Adler aside for an interview.

“First let me say that was an awesome run, another gold medal for your wall, and a fourth gold here at X Games.” She said. “Now, we all want to know who you ran to for a not so quick kiss when you finished your winning run.” She smiled.

Adler looked over at Cason, the one person that meant the world to her. She smiled. “That’s my girlfriend. I love her so damn much.” The interview was live and playing over the loudspeaker for the crowd to hear. She smiled brightly and looked at the shock on the reporters face. “I just came out didn’t I?” She grinned and laughed.