Page 19 of Falling for His Best Friend

Despite his ordeal, Toshi was able to transfer himself from the stretcher to the examination bed, and Joe smiled at Kitty as he wheeled the stretcher from the room. If he’d noticed her less than friendly attitude towards him it didn’t appear to bother him. He wouldn’t imagine he’d done anything to upset her and, in reality, she wouldn’t normally have been upset by his behaviour. He was just being regular Joe. It was hardly his fault she was a hormonal mess.

Kitty hung up the bag of saline and attached leads to Toshi’s chest and finger to record his vital statistics. Anna connected him to the oxygen as a precaution but Joe’s assessment seemed accurate. Toshi seemed physically in quite a good state, although Kitty wasn’t sure what a night spent drifting in the Pacific Ocean would do to a person’s mental state. She knew she would have been terrified, imagining sharks circling and all sorts of deadly sea creatures just waiting to pounce. It was just the sort of thing that could lead to PTSD, but there wouldn’t be much discussion about Toshi’s mental health until the interpreter could be contacted.

‘Can you organise some food for him?’ Anna asked Kitty when she’d finished her physical examination and declared that he was, indeed, in remarkably good shape. ‘Something simple to start with, perhaps soup, a salad and some juice?’

‘Sure,’ Kitty replied.

‘And then we’d better see if we can get an interpreter on the phone if one doesn’t turn up shortly. He can have half-hourly obs once he’s eaten, providing he keeps something down.’

Kitty organised a tray of food and then took her scheduled break while she waited for it to be delivered. The television in the staff kitchen was on the news channel and Kitty recognised the hospital ED entrance in the background of the shot. A reporter stood in the ambulance bay, speaking to the camera. Kitty wondered if this was the same news crew that had followed the ambulance bringing Toshi. She supposed it was an interesting story.

The emergency doors slid open behind the reporter and Joe stepped outside. Kitty increased the volume when she saw the reporter turn to Joe, thrusting the microphone towards him. Joe stopped, and Kitty wondered if he’d been asked to speak to the media. If so, he was a good choice—after all, he had been one of the paramedics who had transferred Toshi to hospital, and the camera loved him. The angles of his face were thrown into sharp relief by the fluorescent overhead lights of the hospital entrance but his skin still managed to look tanned and healthy and his blue eyes were clear and bright.

‘I’m speaking now with one of the paramedics who brought the Japanese surfer here to North Sydney Hospital after his harrowing ordeal lost at sea for sixteen hours,’ the young reporter said to the camera, before turning to Joe. ‘Mr Harkness, what can you tell us about the man’s condition? Is he going to be all right?’

The reporter knew his name, so Joe must have been asked to speak and from past experience Kitty knew it was the only way to get them to move on. You had to give them something otherwise they’d be hovering around all night.

‘He was very dehydrated and sunburnt but in remarkably good spirits considering his ordeal. He’s understandably relieved to be back on dry land,’ Joe replied.

He looked fresh and relaxed. No one would guess he was nearing the end of his twelve-hour shift. The dimple in his chin appeared as he smiled at the young news reporter. Kitty just knew the effect his smile would be having on the young woman. She’d be surprised if she could remember her next question.

‘How did he come to be on his surfboard in a shipping lane six kilometres off the east coast of Australia?’ the reporter asked, and Kitty was sure she could see a blush colouring her throat as Joe looked directly at her.

‘As far as we know, he got dragged out to sea in a rip and was unable to paddle back in as the waves were too big.’

‘And how did he end up in your ambulance?’

‘He was spotted by the crew of a container ship and they were able to pick him up. It was fortunate his surfboard was yellow as they may not have seen him otherwise. The coastguard retrieved him and we met them and transferred him here. He’s a very lucky man.’

The reporter asked a couple more questions, but Kitty’s mind wandered as she watched Joe. She could tell he’d had enough of being interviewed. He was still being pleasant but the set of his shoulders had changed. He was angled away from the reporter now and although Kitty couldn’t see his feet she suspected he had shifted his weight. He’d be getting ready to move. She could read his body language, knew his movements. She had spent so much time with him, watching him, she knew the set of his head, the curve of his cheek, the exact position of the dimple in his chin. She didn’t want to be cross with him. She acknowledged that it stemmed from being irritated with herself. It wasn’t his fault she was hormonal.

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