An Odd Kind Of Wonderful

Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR
THE NIGHT
"Hearts and thoughts, they fade away." (Pearl Jam)

I get a call from a private number at three in the afternoon, just as I'm starting to find where my sketchpad is. "Nathan," Mum comes into my room, "Telephone for you." I nod and follow her back into a corner of the family room, where a phone hangs on the wall. Mum's dressed like it isn't even New Year's Eve; like it's a normal day for her and she's just back from a hard day's work stacking baked beans for a supermarket display. I thought her and Dad would have a fancy dinner, like they always do on New Year's.

Mum wanders off and I press the phone to my ear.

"Nathan?" says the voice at the reciever; female, young, familiar.

"Georgia?" I say. "Is that you?"

"Hi, Nathan!" Georgia says, in that fake-happy tone I've come to be so familiar with. It's sad in a way I don't think a 'happy' voice is meant to be. "I know I said I'd call you once I got, you know, home, but the nurse said I could have a phone call."

"And that was me?" I say, confused. Wouldn't she have phoned her parents, or her friends? Does she have friends?

"Yes, of course it was you." Georgia replies, and from the way she said it, I can tell that there is to be no further questions on the subject. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," is my first response. I comb through my mind to find if I have something to feel bad about, but for the first time in a while, I don't find anything worth reporting. "How are you doing?"

Georgia makes some kind of disapproved noise, like a grumble. I can't really hear her properly—the reception in the hospital was always dodgy. "This morning I went for my bi-weekly assessment, and they're thinking of transferring me."

"To a different hospital?"

"No, a different ward, or something..." Georgia's speech seems to wander off. "What are you doing for New Year's Eve?"

I can tell she doesn't want to talk about it so I go along with her. I scratch at my chin; I remember all the boys in my year at school had at least some variation on manly teenager stubble, but I must have missed out on that, somehow. "I was hoping to swing by the Bridge at some point," I say, and it's not a lie. I've been thinking about it for a while.

"Which bridge? You don't mean—," says Georgia.

"No," I say. "The Balmain Bridge pub. It's legendary."

"I thought they took your fake I.D when you were admitted?"

Oh. Of course, she's right. I used to go out all the time to R-18 gigs, maybe have a few drinks while I'm at it, before the incident. I never got really drunk, per se, but it was apparently detrimental enough to my health that Doctor Joseph took my fake I.D. He would've anyway, since my wallet was handed in on my first day, and it's just a tiny bit illegal. "I completely forgot!"

"Hmm," says Georgia. "I'm sorry, Nathan, I don't know what to do. Could you get a new I.D by tonight?"

"No." I pick at my fingernails. "I guess I'll work something out. How's New Year's looking at six south?"

Georgia hums again. "It's actually pretty cool. They're setting up some fairy lights, like, super-safe ones that you put up if you have a toddler in the house," she giggles, "I guess that's the extent of the safety precautions here. Nurse Katherine said we could have pizza at midnight if we pay for it ourselves. I've accumulated two dollars seventy. I'm thinking of buying a slice for Josh, he's been really lonely since you left."