When we reached the hospital, my shift was over. I thanked Aidan for the lift and headed inside to collect my things. I lifted the bag onto my shoulder, without pausing, and turned on my heel to head out the way I came.
Aidan was talking to one of the receptionists at the front desk when I stepped into the entrance lobby. Tired and unwilling to engage in further conversation with the intern, I crossed the lobby as quickly as I could to the front door.
The automatic doors slid open to reveal darkness and rain. I didn’t mind water falling from the sky, but I did mind the way my clothing stuck to me when I was drenched. Environmental water and clothing is a bad combination. It seemed far more practical to me to go naked in the rain.
I braced myself for the uncomfortable restriction of my wet pants clinging to my legs when a hand touched my arm. Aidan was beside me, screwing his nose up at the rain.
“It’s times like this that I realise why I left Ireland for Australia,” he told me with a big smile.
“Why did you leave Ireland, then?” I asked.
“For the beautiful sunny Australian climate!” He laughed and started to slide his umbrella open, again reminding me of an octopus. This time, the octopus appeared to be jetting through the water to evade something unpleasant, unable to find a rock cleft to hide in. I knew how it felt.
After two or three tries, Aidan managed to keep his umbrella open. He waved his hand toward the raindrop-free zone created under its expanse. “It’s a golf umbrella, with room for two. I’ll walk you to your car, if you like.”
For the second time that day, I permitted the gangly intern to do me a favour. He didn’t say anything on the walk to the car. He waited until I sat in the driver’s seat of my car and I was about to shut the door.
“Come to dinner with me?” he asked, in a rush.
I raised my eyebrows, but didn’t reply.
His face turned red, making his fiery red hair look pale for the first time. “I mean, if you want to, it would be really nice if you came with me to the pub to have dinner tonight. After a long day like this, the last thing I want to do is cook, and your day was harder than mine.”
For a moment, I wondered if this strange man could read my mind. I had intended to stop for some takeaway fish and chips on my way home. Perhaps it might be pleasant to eat in a restaurant for once, instead of in my small house by myself.
I stared at him a moment, before I heard the word spoken with my voice. “Okay.”
His face faded from red to pink to white and he smiled, looking slightly stunned. “So, meet you at the Tanglehead?”
It took me a moment to remember this was the name of a brewery near the water. For the third time, I replied, “Okay.”
YOU ARE READING
Water and Fire - A Short Story
ChickLitWorking as a student midwife in an Australian country hospital is never easy, but Belinda finds more trouble than most. There's the intern doctor who follows her around like an overgrown puppy, the dangerous local wildlife and her own secrets she m...
