"I'm still not sure why we need a social worker," the woman said, clutching at her daughter's hand.
"Mrs Hepburn, I assure you, I'm not the kind you're thinking of. I'm not child welfare, but medical. My job is to make sure you understand what the doctors are telling you, and that they understand what you're telling them." Harding tries to smile through her irritation. "Perhaps intermediary is a better word than social worker. Think of me as your ambassador to the hospital."
The girl lying in the bed groans, and clutches her stomach. Her face is ashen, hands trembling.
"Wendy, love, you all right?" Harding crouches by her side.
The girl speaks weakly. "Sorry, I'm not trying to be dramatic, but -"
"But it's like the period from hell?"
"Yeah, a little."
The mom runs off to find a nurse.
"Well, I'm sure the doctors will get you on something soon, but until then -" she winks, "swearing always helps."
"Nah, I prefer to keep my mind off it."
"You want me to sit here and tell you embarrassing stories? Other people's pain is medically proven to be the best remedy."
"Okay, so I'm from this place called Wollongong, right?" Harding grabs the stood and straddles it in an unladylike manner. "Boring as all shit, but there are some great beaches when tourists aren't everywhere. So it's the middle of goddamn tourist season, like, right after Christmas, and I'm in the water. You ever hear of kitesurfing?" Wendy shakes her head. "So basically, I'm in a bikini, with a harness wrapped around me that's attached to, like, a parachute, and my feet are on a board. Keep in mind, that it's my first time ever doing this. I'm fucking fourteen."
She continues to tell the story in a hushed voice, abbreviating the less professional words once a nurse and the mother return. By the time she reaches the point where fourteen year old Bo is skipping across the surface of the water with her tits hanging out, Wendy is laughing so hard, tears fill her eyes.
"Oh God. Did he finally get you down?"
"Yeah, thank eff. But not before half the country got a good look-see."
Wendy falls into laughing again.
"Wendy?" Chase appears behind Harding. "I'm Dr Chase. I'm just gonna get you started on some painkillers, okay?"
"Only thing better than other people's pain is actual medicine," Harding says, squeezing Wendy's hand. "I'll see ya later, all right?"
She brushes by Chase, her face flaming once more. Wendy's voice continues, speaking to Chase as he hooks up her IV.
"So, are you from Australia too?"
"Yeah, from Sydney."
"Is that why you have different sounding accents?"
"Australian accents aren't regional; she's from only eighty kilometres south…"
Harding speeds her pace, pausing once she's turned the corner to lean agains the wall and breathe hard, to try and get the splotchy red around her eyes to go away.
In. Out. In. Out. She concentrates on her breathing. Closing her eyes, she pictures the ocean, the waves, the wind trying to pull her hair from her bun as it tugs her along, that feeling of flying as you bend your knees and let the sail pull you up.
"We need to talk."
The feeling dissipates with his voice. She opens her eyes only to battle the anxiety once more, the feeling of nails chewed to the quick.
But at the same time she can't help but stare at him, too take in his face like a long drink. He looks like a school boy: sloppily done tie, long hair, straight nose, lips that are just too pink.
"Wally, did you hear me?"
"Yeah. Yeah, ya right." she bites her lip at the absence of kindness in his voice. "It's a bit overdue."
"D'you want to get some coffee tonight?"
"I can't, I've got to- Well, that's something we've got to talk about, I guess. D'you have lunch off?"
"I do if no one's dying."
"Well, we'll hope no one is then." She gives a watery smile and tries to move past him, but he stops her.
"Wally, don't let House see you upset. He's not…the most understanding person."
"Well we both know I'm a bit of a c-nt too, so I think I'll survive." She pauses, eyes scanning his face. "Thanks, though. I'll keep that in mind."
She doesn't notice they way his hand twitches as she walks away, as if he wants to reach out into the past and never let her go.