“Where is she now? Ok give me 10 minutes and I’ll be there” he said hanging up the phone.
“Is everything ok?” I asked
“No, it’s my neighbour. She’s elderly and she’s had a fall. That was her friend who has popped round to check on her. She can’t get up off the floor and her friend can’t get in. I have a spare key. I’m so sorry but I’m gonna have to go” he apologised.
“Oh no, no that’s fine. It’s totally understandable. You go. I’ll pay the bill. I’ll pop into work tomorrow to see you before you head off to Bali”
“No, no I can’t let you do that” he waved around for a waiter to fetch the bill over, grabbing some money from his wallet.
“Unless you want to come with me” he asked “not much of a date I’m afraid”
“Well it’s been pretty amazing so far” I replied
The waiter brought the bill and we dashed off to Itchy’s apartment building at Bronte. By the time we got there the ambulance crew was already there with the neighbour, Doris’ friend. They were talking to Doris through the letterbox.
“It’s ok Liam, she’s conscious but may have fractured her hip” the paramedic clearly knew Itchy, I guessed from attending to casualties at the beach.
“We were gonna break in until this lady said you were on your way with a key” the 2nd paramedic said
Itchy opened the door and we all went in. The neighbour’s friend and I hung back and let the guys do their jobs. I took the neighbours friend who I discovered was called Susan, into the kitchen and we sat at the kitchen table while the paramedics carried out some tests. After a few minutes Itchy came in with a less worried face on and said she’d be fine.
“They think she may have fractured her hip. They’re giving her some painkillers now and they’re going to take her to hospital for an x-ray” he said
“Are you ok? Thanks for calling me” he said to Susan.
“Oh, it was no problem at all. Doris gave me your phone number a while back just in case of emergencies. I wondered why at the time and now I’m glad she did. There was no way I could have gotten in. And the damage those ambo’s would’ve caused to get in” she shook her head
I think Susan was a bit shook up by the whole incident.
“Come on” Itchy said to her “I’ll drop you home on the way to the hospital. We’re going to follow the ambo up there to make sure she’s ok”
The paramedics were now loading Doris onto a chair and Itchy helped them. When the ambulance had left we packed a couple of essentials that we thought Doris might need, locked up the apartment and jumped in the car. We dropped Susan at her building which was only a couple of blocks down the road and said we’d keep her updated.
“I can drop you home if you want? You don’t need to come with me if you don’t want to. It’s gonna be pretty boring sitting round the waiting room for the next couple of hours” he said on the drive to the hospital.
“Its fine, I wanna be with you, wherever that is. And I’m sure you’ll need some company”
We arrived at the hospital and were shown to a relative’s room just at the side of the ward. They were still doing tests and settling Doris in. She was going to be sent off for x-rays soon. Itchy told the doctor that we’d wait until she was back from x-ray and make sure she was settled. We were allowed to quickly say hello before they took her off for the x-ray. We went and stood by her bedside. She was pleased to see Itchy but didn’t want to cause too much fuss. Watching him chat with her made me think of my grandparents back home. I felt a sudden pang of homesickness.
“And who is this pretty young thing you’ve brought to see me, Liam” she said peering round Itchy. I was standing a behind him.
“This is Alex, you remember I told you about her. I was teaching her how to surf today”
I stood forward and offered my hand for her to shake. She grabbed me and pulled me in for a hug. She was a lovely old lady. She whispered in my ear as she hugged me tightly “He’s smitten with you. He never introduces anyone to me”. I felt myself blush.
“Oh yes I remember now, You were right she’s a stunner” she winked at me and looked me up and down. The nurse then told us it was time to take Doris off for her x-ray. She said she’d let us know as soon as she could but the x-ray department was backed up so could be a few hours wait.
It was already getting quite late by this time
“Aren’t you at work at 6 in the morning?” I asked
“Yeah but I don’t wanna leave until I’ve seen she’s alright” he said “I’ll see if Maxi can cover for me for a few hours so I can go in later”
He grabbed his phone out and tapped a text message to Maxi. Almost immediately he got a reply.
“Maxi said he’ll do it” he told me.
There was no one else in the waiting room. Visiting hours were over long ago. We stared at the TV screen on the wall but not really watching it. I could tell that he was concerned about Doris, we knew she would be ok but it was touching that he cared so much. I snuggled up to him and he put his arm around me. I leant my head on his chest. The next thing I knew it was a couple of hours later and the Doctor had come back in. He told us that the hip wasn’t fractured just bruised quite badly. Doris would need a few days in hospital to recuperate.
“She’ll need some more clothes & toiletries bringing in” the Doctor said
“Oh ok, I can bring them tomorrow but it won’t be until late cos I’m working until 7. She has no family here. They’re all in Perth”
The doctor explained that visiting hours finished at 7 and they were pretty strict so not to disturb the other patients.
“I could come by with some stuff for her and visit for a few hours. I’m not doing anything tomorrow” I offered “we can’t have her with no visitors now can we?”
That was settled. I could tell Itchy appreciated my gesture. I didn’t mind. I really didn’t have anything else planned and I suppose with Itchy off to Bali soon it would be nice to have a new friend. I still didn’t know that many people in Bondi. We left the hospital and Itchy seemed more relaxed although I could tell he was tired. He dropped me back at Bondi and kissed me goodbye. I said I’d pop into the Tower in the morning to collect the key to Doris’s apartment. I would pop it back to him after I’d been and let him know how she was. As I watched him drive off from the window in the lobby, I felt sadness. That would be the last time I’d get to spend alone with him until he returned from Bali. I would only see him briefly tomorrow. The night had gone so quickly but it had been one amazing day.
