Curly Fries

Despite the obviously overworked central heating, the chilly winter’s air still managed to elicit goosebumps in a spine tingling sensation down her back as the front doors seemed to continuously open and close...the waiting room becoming almost suffocatingly full. Hugging her handbag closer to her chest she chose to focus on the intricate tribal based pattern of the hippie style bag rather than attempting to stop the tears that pulsed at her raw eyes, it had been a long day. 

In fact, it had been another long day at the end of another long week, after the end of an exhausting couple of months and she was clearly paying the price for it now. They had all seemed to care when she had collapsed halfway through her waitressing shift...narrowly missing getting a faceful of risotto according to her colleagues.

Yet, they didn’t seem to care enough to stay with her as she sat by herself in the emergency department, not allowed to leave yet well enough to be deemed a ‘non urgent emergency’ and be left to sit and await medical treatment. The tired yet firm looking nurse had taken a few of her statistics before instructing her that she couldn’t leave until she had been signed off by a doctor due to her low blood pressure and heart rate. 

So there she sat, a little cold, lonely and left to stew in her own bath of thoughts and emotions as she stopped for the first time in what felt like months. She had finally stopped to breathe and all it took was her collapsing. Deep down she knew why she had, it was no secret to herself that she probably hadn’t been looking after herself as best as she should have. It wasn’t that she was harming herself, or neglect.

 It was more just life got in the way, she got busy. With the full time uni load, her demanding job...often working double shifts and on her feet all day. After this she would head home to a container of ice cream and instant noodles or take away before collapsing onto the couch and watching cringey comedies to all hours of the morning until she fell asleep only to repeat the process again, and again...day in and day out for months.

With her parents currently vacationing in Europe and her older brother having moved out to live with his fiance a few months ago, she was left house sitting all on her lonesome...not even any pets would miss her which only added fuel to the pity party currently taking place inside her head. She was so lost in her thoughts and negative spiral that she didn’t notice the young man sit down beside her until he addressed her directly.

“ Hi, are you alright? I mean, I know it’s a stupid question to ask considering we are both sitting in the emergency department. It’s just you look so sad, like your expression...not that you look like crap. Anyway...I’m Nick. I know I’m going to be waiting here awhile, it’s not my first rodeo in this place and I learnt early on that it’s good to make friends. It really helps the hours fly by, especially when you are in pain and want nothing more but to be somewhere else.”

Sarah looked up at the young man who was smiling at her in a surprisingly soothing way. While she normally avoided crowds and only had a few close friends she spoke to, there was something comforting about this young man’s confidence. He couldn’t have been much older than her yet held himself with a non arrogant confidence that she felt like she could only dream of. Here he was...with half of his typical aussie golden boy features bruised in colourful shades of purples and greens, his arm in a temporary sling and his track pants cut off on one leg revealing a seeping bandage yet he was treating the whole experience as if it was a casual lunch date rather than two strangers waiting in the local public hospital’s emergency department at half past 10 on a thursday night.

As he continued to look at her expectantly, her cheeks flooded crimson in embarrassment as she realised she’d been studying the man before her instead of actually replying to his attempt at conversation. Mentally spurring herself onward out of her introverted tendencies she attempted to remember what she knew of the English language as her native tongue seemed to have deserted her after 23 years.

“ Hi...ahem hi sorry I’m Sarah. It’s nice to meet you Nick, even if it is in emergency and under less than ideal circumstances.”

“ You’re sorry you’re Sarah or you’re sorry you are here.”

The man before her replied with a knowing smirk. He reminded her of her brother, Nick did...well her brother before he got engaged. He too had been what could be described as a ‘ ladies man’. Classic blonde hair and blue eyed look, an easy demeanour that proved that he knew how to woo the ladies and somehow the knowing confidence they exacerbated based upon this came across as charming rather than arrogant.

Sarah simply chuckled for the first time in what felt like a millennia as she settled back in her chair. It felt good, as if she had almost forgotten how to laugh...it had been a long time since she felt exasperated with someone...in a comedic way.

A petite middle aged woman barged past their chairs as she pushed through the packed, unhygienic masses. In the midst of the  bleeding, coughing,sneezing,limping, groaning and half asleep masses that currently were occupying the too small room she seemed to think her needs were the most urgent as she angrily snapped at one of the exhausted looking nurses on duty who had begun to explain to her that ‘yes, there was a long wait and she apologises for that’ but ‘no her son hadn’t been bitten by a funnel web spider as the paramedics would’ve known’. Considering the fact that the 8 year old who was apparently ‘suffering from a lethal spider bite’  was shaking the nearby vending machine...they clearly had different definitions of emergency.

For the next couple of hours, the two young adults discussed their surroundings with surprisingly astute observations considering it was almost midnight on a week night and they both weren’t in the best of health. The way the crowd demographics shifted throughout the night...it was enough for a fully fledged sitcom. It shifted from the worried parents and accident prone children to potential food poisoning and then the late night car accidents, drunks and druggies.

 It was at this point that they had both realised that they had skipped dinner which had Sarah ducking over the road to the nearby late night food outlet strip to pick up some basic fast food. Despite Nick’s insistence that he be the one to go get the food, one stern glance from the nurse on duty had him sitting back down almost like a naughty school kid.

20 minutes later they had both settled back into their easy banter they had developed throughout the night. Except now, they had the benefit of deep fried food in the form of the most average of cheeseburgers, curly fries and thick shakes that were either fantastic considering they were so thick and syrupy that you couldn’t use a straw to drink them but rather used it as a spoon or they were horrendous.

As they were both finally called behind the reception desk to get their various treatments they both paused for a moment as they collected their belongings...both oddly silent for the first time in a while. Sarah was amazed she had actually conversed with someone for hours at a time while Nick was clearly shocked he had been speaking to the same girl for an extended period of time without getting her number, flirting...in fact they had been actually having an interesting conversation.

They both were silent as they stared at one another, their eyes conveying more than words could...more than half hearted conversation or mumbled goodbyes. How do you say goodbye to someone after experiencing such a unique connection but having to rush off?

Instead it was a feeling within Sarah that urged her onward, a intuition that seemed to shine through her.

She nodded towards him with a small smile as she was gently guided towards the emergency department by a couple of nurses. 

“ See you for the next adventure Nick.”