The Fire, the Twit, and the Headboard

Let us take you on a journey, weaving through 2/3rds of the emergency services, culminating in a resolution to never sleep with our heads to the wall again...

G had a job interview on Friday morning, leaving C at home, unattended. As C got up, she managed to hit her head pretty hard on a corner of the bed's metal headboard, but thought no more of it and got on with her uni work. G's interview lasted the morning, and on her way back, she took her first NZ train journey, which was a far less exciting prospect after a 45 minute wait.

At around 4:30 in the afternoon, our noses picked up on a smoky, plastic-y aroma. It became gradually stronger, until we could no longer ignore it. Around this time, just as C was about to get into the bath, the fire alarm in the apartment went off. We were reassured by our other flatmates that this was a normal occurrence, and that we did not need to vacate, so we uneasily stood around as the smell of smoke became stronger. Peering our over our balcony, we could see some smoke coming from the far side of the apartment building next to us, so we decided that it didn't seem serious enough to leave the building. 

A couple of minutes later, the alarm changed to a louder, more urgent sound, involving a man's voice on repeat saying "Please leave the building now, follow the fire wardens to the nearest exit". This was becoming a little scary, so we grabbed our bags and left (even had we wanted to stay, the alarm was way too annoying for our ears to bear). The corridor stank of smoke, and we made our way to the fire exit. Being on the 13th floor, we had many fights of stairs to make our way down. Eventually we emerged into the open, into a crowd of people standing outside the hotel. There were fire engines and ambulances going past, and there seemed to be a lot of activity on Hobson Street, the street parallel to ours. 

We tramped over to Hobson street, where around ten fire engines were parked. Firefighters were emerging from a smoky building, and some were in a cherry-picker hovering above. As the smell of smoke subsided, we made our way back to the flat, where the fire alarm had thankfully stopped. C finally had her bath, but afterwards started feeling unwell. At around 8pm she started complaining about feeling sick and dizzy, experiencing a painful headache, and pain around her left eye. She was very unsteady on her feet, so G gave the hospital a quick call, and was told to bring C in.

C was seen by a lovely nurse in A&E. We explained that C had hit her head earlier in the day, and about her symptoms in the evening. C was very unsteady on her feet, but wasn't too unwell to cheekily ask the nurse for room service (she took it well and brought us some juice!). Three hours later, after being thoroughly checked by the lovely nurse and doctor in A&E, C was discharged with a diagnosis of concussion. G was given some info on what to look out for, and we were home just after midnight. C was forbidden from sleeping with her head to the wall to avoid the horrible headboard, and we both went to sleep, safe and sound in the knowledge that a typhoon is supposedly headed our way tomorrow.