Page 56 of In Sheets of Rain

20

Throwing Us Together And Tearing Us Apart

The Waiheke ambulance was parked up at the ferry terminal; Sean leaned against it and looked bored. I bounced on my feet as I waited for the ferry to dock, my eyes taking in his casual stance, hands in pockets, head tilted to the side as he watched a group of people waiting to board the ferry back to Auckland CBD.

I walked off with all the other passengers, one of many, lost in the throng. Sean didn’t spot me until I was just a few feet away, close enough to surprise him.

“Ky? What are you doing here?” He seemed pleased.

“Gregg suggested I surprise you.” I couldn’t stop grinning.

Sean pulled his pager out. “So there’s no patient requiring a transfer home then?”

“Nope. Just me.”

Sean smiled. “Exactly what the doctor ordered.”

I climbed up into the passenger’s seat and waited for Sean to start the truck.

“Want a tour?” he asked. I nodded. “I wouldn’t mind living here, you know,” he added, as we pulled away from the terminal.

“It’s so expensive,” I pointed out.

“We could make it work.”

“And sell the house in the bay?”

“Why not?”

“I like that place. It’s our first real home.”

“But think about it,” he said, navigating the narrow streets leading up to Oneroa township. “Island life. Sandy beaches. No gridlock. And you could catch the ferry across to Pitt Street.”

“And you could get a roster here,” I added, starting to warm to the idea.

He grimaced. “Nah. I like Warkworth, and Waiheke is fully staffed. Even with my experience, should a roster come up, I wouldn’t get it.”

“So why suggest moving here then?” I asked.

Sean scowled at pedestrians as they meandered across the street.

“Change of pace. You need it.”

“What does that mean?”

He sighed. “Nothing,” he muttered, pulling the ambulance into the station’s garage.

“What about my tour?” I pressed.

“Maybe later,” he said, and slammed the truck door.

I sat in the passenger seat of Waiheke Island’s ambulance and watched the jandal wearing, shorts sporting, sunhat toting tourists wander down towards the beach.

If there’s one thing I know about working for the Service, it’s this; make time for yourself, for your relationships. Make time for them because the firm sure as hell won’t do it for you.

I wasn’t so sure it was the firm who kept stealing time from me.

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