Kelly knew when she was beaten. This break was happening whether she liked it or not. And the thought of Joyce as a traffic light did make her smile.
Eli nodded appreciatively. ‘Excellent choice. Now that inanimate objects are in play, it’s your turn, Raj.’
‘I’d be a dart,’ Raj answered without hesitation.
‘Like a dart you throw at a board?’ Amber said.
‘Exactly.’
‘But you wouldn’t do anything.’
‘Exactly! But you’re still part of the victory if you hit the bullseye.’
‘That makes absolutely no sense at all, but I love it,’ Eli said, his eyes alight.
They were all chuckling now and Amber didn’t even wait to be asked. ‘I’d be the mechanical arm of a rubbish truck. One job, super powerful. So satisfying.’
Everybody laughed.
‘And you, Kelly?’ Raj said.
She thought for a moment. Something repetitive. Soothing. But still functional. ‘A tumble dryer.’
They laughed even louder. Eli shook his head. ‘You want to spin other people’s wet underpants around all day long?’
‘Fair point. Ryan Gosling’s tumble dryer, then.’
Eli screwed up his face in mock disgust. ‘That’s disgusting. He’s like a hundred.’
‘I’m with you, Kelly,’ Amber said. ‘I’d be there for that.’
‘What about you, then, Eli?’ Kelly said with a challenging smirk.
‘I’d be a GPS system. To have all that knowledge and be able to get people to their destinations would be extremely satisfying.’ The room went silent. Eli sighed with satisfaction.
Raj leaned forward. ‘That is the lamest shit I have ever heard.’
This triggered explosive laughter that continued so long, Kelly recognised this was more than just a reaction to a few stupid jokes that weren’t even that funny – this was an outpouring of stress. A purging of anxiety. And, in some little way, a desperate cry for help. Kelly herself was on a knife edge. She knew the laughter could turn to tears of desperation in a heartbeat.
This bloody exam.It’s turning me into a complete nutcase.
She stood up and wiped her eyes. ‘I need a drink,’ she said, still chuckling. They’d been to Joyce’s apartment so many times, Kelly felt comfortable heading into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. She took a moment to gather herself, expelled the last of her laughter and sucked in a deep breath. Time to get back to work.
When she re-entered the lounge room, she nearly dropped her glass. Eli, Raj, Amber and Joyce were all sitting where she had left them, but their faces were obscured by cut-outs of Kelly’s own face. They’d blown up the picture from the paper, stuck them to cardboard and attached them to sticks, which they held like Venetian masks. Amber’s chest shuddered with suppressed laughter and Kelly could hear Raj gagging on his held breath as he tried to stay composed.
A wave of joy washed over her as unexpected as her enjoyment of the day of adulation, but she played it cool. ‘Very funny,’ she said.
They all burst out laughing and dropped their masks.
‘Can I have your autograph?’ Joyce said with a cheeky smile.
Eli stood up and shimmied to her side. ‘May I have a selfie please, Dr O’Mara?’
Kelly batted him away. ‘Stop being ridiculous.’
But he wouldn’t stop. Instead, he put his arm around her shoulder, leaned in and extended his other arm. The phone screen had them both in the frame and Kelly turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him as his phone clicked.
Eli drew away from her and held his camera in front of him as though he was admiring a Rembrandt. ‘The future of medicineandhighly photogenic,’ he said.