Page 13 of Catch a Kiwi
Bossy again.
Unfortunately, I needed him. Or more exactly, I needed transport back to my van. My things. Mylife.
It was one night, and we’d be gone. I could handle one night.
6
LIKE A SNAKE
Roman
I pushed through the door to the Emergency Department’s waiting room with the two women behind me, and Summer said, “Wait.”
I did not sigh. I waited while she walked to the desk—straggly wet hair, mud-caked bare legs, white bandages, and all—and told the nurse, “I don’t have an address right now, or my purse, either. If I give you my email, can you send me the invoice for my cousin that way? I should be covered once I get my passport back and can provide my details, as I’m a British citizen, but I’ll have to set up a payment plan for her.” She said all that in a level voice while standing ramrod-straight, completely different from the shaking, scattered girl—woman—I’d held in my lap. I couldn’t help admiring it, even though she was, of course, wrong.
“We won’t be sending an invoice,” the nurse said. “It’s in the doctor’s notes. Covered by the ACC.”
“Iwill be,” Summer said again, “but my cousin’s American. She doesn’t have insurance.”
“None?” The nurse looked surprised, as well she might.
“Yeah,” Delilah said, because she’d headed over as well. “I was covered in the States, but it’s Medicaid. Insurance for poor people. Doesn’t apply in New Zealand. I guess they figure that if you’re so poor, what are you doing traveling to the other side of the world? I rolled the dice, because I didn’t have hundreds of bucks a month for coverage. Oh, well.” Said bravely, the same way Summer had done, but it took an effort.
“Oh.” The nurse looked like she had an opinion about that, but she didn’t provide it. “Covered by the ACC, as I said.”
“But—” Summer said. “I mean, she hasnoinsurance.”
This could go around and around for hours, so I said, “The ACC provides cover for anybody who has an accident. Tourist, citizen, whatever.”
“But the tests,” Summer went on, clearly not believing me, which was annoying. “Emergency care, too. What if we’d needed an ambulance? Or, worse, a helicopter? Itcan’tall be covered.”
“And yet it is,” I said. “Sprain an ankle or need a helicopter rescue, either way. Come on. The nurse probably has better things to do than explain our national accident cover to you.”
Summer said, “Excuse me. Did I sign a waiver appointing you as my guardian and not notice it?”
“No,” I said. “But you probably should’ve done. You need a hotel room, and I’m the one with the credit card. Let’s go.”
Summer
All very high-handed, you’ll agree.
First, there was a detour to a pharmacy for antibiotic tablets for me, plus first-aid materials and over-the-counter pain tablets—which Roman paid for, adding to our debt—and then a place called Shake Shack, because we were too dirty for anything but fast food eaten in the car, and anyway, that piping-hot, salty, greasy burger and fries was all I wanted in this world. When we got to Balclutha, though, he discovered that there were no rooms available down here at all. Not anywhere close, in fact.
“Sorry,” we heard over his car speakers at the last place he called. “It’s the storm, all the flooding. They’re doing an emergency shelter at the high school, though.”
All right. Life happened, and this was what was happening to me. I tried to resign myself to a mat on the floor in a school cafeteria, no clean clothes, and possibly no shower. That was obviously a far better answer than the jail idea, but my new positive outlook didn’t seem to have survived the day. Maybe because I hurt despite the pain tablets and was freezing cold again, even though Roman had the heat turned up so high that the sweat stood out on his forehead. It was also steamy in here from the humidity, despite a welcome pause in the rain. I drew a face on the passenger window. It was a frowning face. Even my doodles were dispirited.
“I guess you should’ve dumped us in Dunedin.” That was Delilah, not me. She was the one with the concussion, but she was bouncing back better than I was, even though she was half-lying down in the back seat. “At least we’d have a room. What now? Also, if this is our new start, it sucks.”
“We go to my house,” Roman said, sounding resigned. “For one night only,” he added.
“Don’t worry,” I said, trying to sound brisk and efficient and utterly failing. “The last thing I plan to do is depend on some random man. As soon as I have my purse and some clothes, we’ll be out of there. You aren’t going to be stuck with us any longer.”
“Can’t decide if I should be relieved or offended,” Roman said.
“I thought you said the houses were probably fancy down here, Summer,” Delilah said. “This is a nice car, too. Maybe weshouldbe worming our way into Roman’s heart.” Not likely. For one thing, the car was a mess, full of mud and, unfortunately, blood. I was going to have to vacuum and scrub it before we left, and it would be a job. Another thought to make you tired.
“If he has one,” I muttered, and heard a choking sound that may have been a laugh from beside me.
