by Garth Wade
She had been punched in the forehead and fallen backward, probably suffering a mild concussion. She would stay in a ward bed for observation after she also had a CT scan.
Sonia and Syd stayed with Cameron as he was wheeled into the CT room to see if he had sustained any damage to his brain.
‘I really hope he’s okay,’ Syd said to Sonia as they both peered through the great glass window that flanked the CT room.
‘He’s a thick-headed Scot! I’m sure he’ll be okay,’ Sonia said, knowing full well it was a futile comment.
‘This is seriously the single most fucked-up night of my life. Hopefully it’s not for Cam,’ Syd spoke dully, ‘he’s been a paramedic for a long time, and seen so many different—’ Syd stopped himself, realising his words sounded like a speech at a wake. ‘I just … really hope he’ll be okay.’
Sonia’s phone rang and she answered while the two of them strolled slowly back to the ED. It was management. Although it had been a tough night, they were down a crew and needed Syd and Sonia to be back on the road as soon as possible. Sonia conveyed this to Syd as they entered the write-up room where Wesley, a managerial officer, was waiting.
Wesley was, like Sonia, an ICP but had been working for the company for much longer. While he somehow maintained his skills as an ICP, he rarely did jobs on-road, and was more comfortable being in the office with the other staff who had had enough of paramedic work. Wesley was the type of person who had put so many years into the job that he was now completely burnt out, angry about it, and simply seeing out his years to maximise his long-service leave. He was heavy-set and had a permanent scowl on his face. The previous year, at forty-five years old, - while on a six day holiday in New York - he thought it a good idea to have one of his whole arms tattooed with Native American patterns and designs. The young, newly graduated paramedics loved fussing about where he got his ink done. Not many people knew that Wesley was actually his surname.
He spoke in a dull mumble. ‘Hi. Sorry, but we’ve gotta get you guys back on-road, there’s jobs pending and—’
‘Would it be okay if we discussed the events that just occurred?’ Syd was trying not to be angry, but it was obvious.
‘But there’s jobs pending,’ Wesley muttered officiously and then turned his back.
‘Do you think you could hold the phone for five minutes Weez-ley, and let me process what has just happened to my partner?’ Syd snapped.
Sonia grasped his elbow to calm him.
‘So, as a student, you’re refusing the direction?’ Wesley asked as though holding out the bait as he spun around with wide, animated eyes.
Syd looked at Sonia and saw her gently shake her head, signalling caution. Syd ignored it.
‘I’m just having difficulty with the fact that my partner is pretty much in a fucking coma right now and your biggest worry is getting me back on-road and working your pathetic stats spreadsheet, rather than giving some concern to not only his condition but also my mental health by maybe pretending to give a shit.’ Syd advanced and stood less than a hand span from the overweight manager. ‘You may have been around lots of humans opened across the chest but I have not, and I probably don’t need joke management hassling me after a night like tonight.’
‘So, it’s all too much for you? The jobs tonight? And, I heard about the stabbing. But are you refusing a direction? I know you’ve been having difficulty with the assessments too, Sydney—’
‘Not the time, nor the place, Wesley,’ Sonia cut in, then spun Syd by the elbow to face her. ‘You can go home if you like Syd. It has been a massive night for you. I understand. Just go home and relax. Take the rest of the shift off on sick leave.’
Wesley hissed behind him.
Syd turned his head to one side so Wesley could see one eye glare.
‘I’ll be okay, Sonia. I just think management needs to start treating us with care rather than reckless abandon. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen it in the short time I’ve been working here,’ he said, speaking to Wesley through Sonia.
Syd’s eyes met Sonia’s. ‘So will it be you and me working together? Out of the truck or your Forester?’
‘You’ll both be in the truck. Sonia can get her drugs out of her car,’ Wesley snapped.
Syd turned his head half towards Wesley again and gritted his teeth.
‘I’ll see you at the truck Sonia,’ Syd said and walked out. As he passed the triage desk he asked if there had been any word on Cameron. The triage nurse shook her head, and said she had just got off the phone with Cameron’s wife Claire, who would be in directly.
Syd had never met Claire, but felt fond of her after hearing so many life stories from Cameron.
One at a time
02:30 hrs – Lorraine
The flashing red and blue lights had been gone for around twenty minutes, and the street had returned to its normal tree-lined tranquility. Exactly 355 digital photos had been snapped of Ken and the surrounding area by the police, and the coroner had taken his body to the morgue to be examined.
Heather sat on the water feature, still sobbing. The bustle of the police, their constant careful questions, the speed and accuracy with which the paramedics had moved; it all felt like a lifetime ago to Heather, and yet it all hung in the space around her. Blood drops spattered the tiles between the house and front door.
Lorraine stood up and held her mother’s shoulder. She noticed idly that her blonde bob was still neat. ‘Mum, we should try to do something about this house.’
Heather, her face in her hands, said nothing. Her eyes were now void of tears. She could not think of anything sensible to say, and certainly didn’t care about the house.
‘You know who I think it was?’ she glanced up through swollen eyes, ‘that fucking Neville Nelson! It’s all because of Ken’s fucking arsehole politician of a boss!’ She began to sob again.
Lorraine turned back to Heather, bent down to her, and stroked her face. ‘Come on Mamma, get up.’
Heather gingerly stood. Lorraine supported her with an arm around her slender waist. When the two women were side by side, their shared genes were undeniable. Despite the twenty-five years separating them, their size and shape were almost exactly the same.
They walked up the stairs and onto the porch, peering through the front door. They both stopped and noticed each other in the massive mirror. ‘God I hate that mirror,’ said Heather, ‘except that you’re in it. I love that bit.’ They both fashioned a smile.
The Cagney and Harlow images looked murky, as though now coloured by the dark puddle of dried blood on the floor nearby. Heather’s face was pale, and she felt her stomach starting to lurch.
‘No. No. I can’t go in there! Not like that!’ she cried, but only Lorraine was there to hear her.
‘Just come through to your bedroom, Mum, and try to get a couple of hours’ sleep. You’re exhausted. Frazzled. Just lie down. I’ll take care of you,’ Lorraine said reassuringly as she led her mother through to the bedroom.
‘He was a good man, your father,’ Heather spoke softly.
‘Ken was not my father, Mamma. I know you’re upset, but are you feeling okay?’ Lorraine drew the heavy curtains.
‘You know what I mean, honey. He was good to you … good to us, for those years.’
‘I suppose,’ Lorraine said uninterested.
‘What do you mean “suppose”? You love Ken, I know you do,’ Heather started to sound annoyed.
‘I know, Mamma,’ Lorraine’s tone now mimicked her mother’s, as she pulled a sarcastic face. ‘Anyway, Mamma, the curtains are closed and the doors are shut. No chance of being seen or heard. We can talk now.’
‘Okay, honey.’ Lorraine slipped off Heather’s shoes as she lay down and closed her eyes.
Lorraine looked calmly at her mother. ‘I followed Bradley out to Morningside earlier. I knew he was selling to Ken.’
‘How did you know that, love?’
‘I heard Bradley on the phone months ago speaking with
him. The words he was saying, the details. I just put two and two together. Then I started paying special attention. And I learned that Ken was buying for his boss. You’re right, Mamma; it was for that Neville Nelson.’
‘I fucking knew it. And because of him—’ Heather gulped and sniffed.
Lorraine turned to her mother. ‘I don’t know if tonight had anything to do with Bradley.’
‘I don’t know either, honey. I’m just upset.’ Heather’s eyes scattered around. ‘Jesus Christ, why didn’t you tell me he was buying drugs for that politician dog?’
‘I wasn’t one hundred per cent sure about any of it until tonight. They were both very careful, so I studied and prepared, but I only saw the deal tonight by fluke, I promise Mamma.’
‘So it was that Bradley then?’
‘I’m not sure Mamma. But don’t you worry about him. He’ll be getting his soon enough. Next time he shoots up.’ Both women now spoke in a clear, placid whisper. Heather sat up, red eyed but enthusiastic, ‘So you switched it?’
‘Yep. But only his personal supply. Bradley, that piece of shit; the man is truly an idiot, but I could never work out where he stored the clients’ stock. I would’ve loved to have been able to get the right stuff into that politician’s veins.’ She leant forward to her mother’s ear. ‘I miss Dad, Mamma.’
Heather smiled. ‘Me too baby.’ The two women shared a reminiscent stare. ‘He’s why we’re doing this.’
‘I want them all to get what they deserve.’
Heather’s eyes creased maliciously. ‘One at a time, honey. One at a time.’
Rain, hail or. . .
02:55 hrs – Alpha 989
‘Does this mean you want me to drive?’ Sonia’s normally perky voice sounded a little broken.
‘Yeah, I don’t mind doing patient care,’ Syd replied, ‘if I make it through tonight, I will have ticked off a few predicted and inevitable stressful work situations.’
‘Hmm ... okay,’ Sonia said as she climbed into the driver’s seat of the ambulance. ‘Hey, have you seen the city at night?’
‘Not yet, but I’m pretty tired—’
‘Well, let’s go for a quick drive to the river. It’s really pretty, and there won’t be anybody hanging around tempting us with their luscious-smelling barbecues or picnic lunches.’
‘Ah, okay then. Are we allowed to just drive there?’
‘Already covered. I told Wesley that we needed to talk about tonight. It’s all about the student’s positive mental health you see,’ she said speeding off.
‘Why is that guy such an arsehole, seriously?’
‘Wesley? He’s always been like that to students. He thinks he knows everything. He’s been in the job for too long.’ Sonia drove quickly. ‘And it’s as though he lives in a state of constant depression. In fact, that’s exactly where he is.’
‘Well, that’s no reason for everybody else to have to deal with it. Get some help. He’s a bully, and not only to me.’ Syd paused as the shops whizzed by. ‘Fuck him. Fuck his depression. After Cam got hurt tonight, he didn’t give a damn, just couldn’t wait to swing his dick around to make us get back on-road. He didn’t even ask how Cam was.’
‘I know you don’t like him, but it’s probably better for you to play nice. He is one of the senior assessors at the SDU, you do understand that right?’ She looked over at Syd. ‘He could make your life very difficult.’
Syd chose to keep quiet for a while, his body loose and lurching around with the bumps in the road as Sonia zipped the ambulance towards the river.
After a few minutes of silence, Syd said, ‘Yeah. Maybe. Still. Fuck him. Karma will look after Wesley. I don’t know what’s going to look after Cam though, but I hope it’s something good.’
‘I hope so too,’ Sonia said. ‘So! Onto bigger and brighter things. How long have you been here in Brisbane?’
‘I moved here from New South for the job about nine months ago.’
‘What did you do before ambulance?’
‘I was a jackaroo and station hand then did a bit of travelling, and then got this job. Is this like another job interview?’
‘A country boy, hey? So, you used to make food for people, and now you’re saving people’s lives, oh, you melt my heart,’ Sonia said cheerily as she drove on autopilot. Syd smirked at her, but was unsure how to take her comment.
‘Um, well, thanks, I suppose. And I know your story, well, everyone does really. You are quite the record breaker and child genius I believe?’
The ambulance arrived at Kangaroo Point, a cliff top by the Brisbane River that offered an amazing view. Over the other side, the city was alive with bright lights and made for a spectacular skyline.
Sonia parked, taking up two spots; there were no other cars or people around.
‘Well, I definitely am not a child genius, I can tell you that for sure,’ she said, hopping out and walking around to the river-view point as Syd did the same, ‘and I can also say that nobody knows my story, well, not the full story anyway. I’ve made a point of it. Too many gossips in this business.’
‘That sounds a bit lonely,’ said Syd, leaning onto the stone wall and looking over the city.
Sonia turned to him and inhaled deeply. ‘Yeah, maybe it is,’ she said.
‘So, what’s the full story?’ asked Syd. ‘Where did you come from?’
‘Well, one day, my mum met my dad, and fell very, very much in love, and, later, when they had been in love for the appropriate length of time and—’
Syd shot raised eyebrows and a grin her way. ‘You’re joking right?’
‘Of course I’m joking. I’m being hilarious and getting away from answering the question,’ she grinned. ‘You don’t want to know too much, Sydney.’
‘Good one. You are hilarious,’ Syd said sarcastically, paused, then spoke out to the river in a different tone. ‘And you don’t have to tell me, that’s okay, but I would like to know.’
Now Sonia paused and considered, then said, ‘So, pretty much, I never had a place that I would call home until I came back to Australia and was fostered at fifteen, over in Perth to start with.’
‘How come no location until fifteen? Did you know your folks?’
‘Yeah, I did. We travelled the world spreading the word of the lord our saviour,’ Sonia waved both hands mockingly. ‘Well, I didn’t, but my parents did. I couldn’t actually get into it. Ever, really. My parents didn’t mind though. I never spouted on about how I thought differently than they did, even when I finally fully understood my feelings. They were okay with me just keeping busy. I think that’s probably what kept my head in the right place after they died.’
Syd turned to Sonia silently. She was already looking at him, her face half lit by the orange of the street lights and the other half by the moon’s white light. The city glow on her blonde hair, shining, gleaming, was brilliant and bewitching. Her eyes were clear, and he could see little full moons in them when she faced him.
‘So, I came to Brisbane after Perth, with an aunt and uncle actually, who had been estranged from my mum and dad before their death. They had always liked me and they really looked after me. Quite amazing people. I love them both very much.’
Syd and Sonia stood about a metre apart, looking towards the city. No people were walking the street, and they could hear no cars, only the river gently lapping, one hundred metres away from the top of the cliff on which they stood.
A quiet city of two million. No unruly sounds. The faint scent of Sonia’s perfume and a background of pretty city lights. Syd forgot his fatigue and felt energy surround them. The night’s suffering and stress drained away.
‘So, yeah, I suppose, that’s where I came from,’ said Sonia.
‘Well you do have a reputation for being a child genius, just so you know, because of the whole youngest ICP in history thing.’ Syd changed the subject.
‘You hardly need to be a genius to run this gig,’ she said, smirking, ‘and I just get bored easily, that�
�s why I applied for it.’
‘I can’t even get through the beginning of the ACP Diploma! How stupid do I feel?’ Syd said.
‘Hold on, I thought we were talking about my life,’ said Sonia.
Syd raised his eyebrows and waited for her to laugh, which she did.
‘Yep, well, back to me,’ he said, ‘now I’m stupid and selfish.’
‘You are definitely not stupid, Sydney. You don’t actually think you are, do you?’
‘No, I don’t. At all. But I’ve never had a self-confidence issue until I started at SDU. The teachers made me feel pretty useless because I failed some initial exams in the start-up program. It really threw me. It was as though they actually wanted me to quit. Cam has been helping me a lot with it all. He’s a legend. I really hope he’s doing okay.’
‘I’m pretty sure he’ll be alright, I’ve got a good sense for these things.’
‘I hope so, he’s a good human.’
‘Sure is.’
‘So, what else do you do besides hold the youngest ICP title? Anything fun?’
‘Well, okay, so it’s my interview now is it? I read a lot. Lots of fiction. I have about six books on the go right now. I have three dogs who I run every day, rain, hail or shine—’
‘Is that their names?’
‘Wha’? No. I run them, no matter the weather. Derr!’
Syd pretended to recline on a sofa, put his hand on his chin and said in a calming voice, ‘Hmm, now how does that make you feel, Sydney?’ then replied, ‘Well I started to feel very, very, extremely, life-changingly stupid after I had a conversation with a colleague named Sonia.’
They both laughed.
‘That is a pretty good name for three dogs though! C’mon!’ he said.
‘Yeah I suppose it’s okay if you’re a weather nerd,’ said Sonia, still beaming.
‘Do you play any sports? You keep pretty fit.’