She Faints, He Catches-3
300 Words
THE SAVE IS FOLLOWED by a flurry of activities. Pippa retakes control from Josh, not to mention her emotions, senses, and mental faculties, which inexplicably abandoned her a moment ago.
She asks the responding EMS, ‘Where are you taking the child?’
Far from finished, she still has to collate all the notes, gather all the incident recordings, and coordinate with other emergency services.
Josh stays back, making himself comfortable on a chair next to Pippa. Picking up a pen, he doodles cute little flowers as he eavesdrops on the conversation, then secretly hides the daisy doodles in her pen holder.
Sitting by her side, he realises she does her job without so much as a pat on the back; whereas the squad, working as a team, at least get to backslap each other for a job well done. He resolves that from here on he will acknowledge her and say, ‘Well done’ when they wrap up.
‘Copy that,’ she says when told to send crime technicians to process the crime scene. Everyone has wound down except Pippa. She is still tying up loose ends. Respect forms in Josh’s consciousness for this delicate-looking young woman. He is pleasantly surprised at her efficiency. Notwithstanding the fact she fainted at a crucial point during the emergency; her dedication to her job and to her fellow emergency workers is still to be commended. He looks at his wristwatch. It’s nearly time for Pippa to clock out, too.
He voices the first thing that comes to mind, ‘Would you like to debrief that call with me?’
Pippa turns and looks as though she has only just realised that he is still sitting next to her. She searches his eyes and translates the question. ‘Are you asking me out for coffee?’
‘Yeah, I am,’ he replies. He hasn’t noticed it before, but now he is acutely aware there’s a certain loveliness about her.
- Writer
