The Chronicles of Medic Bob

When Everything Began

They both looked up as he approached and the injured one quickly dropped his hands and the two fell silent as they watched him get closer.

"I couldn't help but overhear" Bob started, keeping his tone light and smiling kindly at the two men - who looked more like boys to him, neither of them could be older than 25, he guessed. "I just wanted to come over and see if I might be able to help."

The dark-haired man shifted uncomfortably so that he put the sandy-haired man between himself and the newcomer, green eyes watching Bob with wariness and a degree of uncertainty.

The smaller man bumped up against him, as if in a reassuring gesture, letting his taller friend know that it was alright.

"Thanks, but we're fine" the shorter man replied, seemingly forcing a smile onto his face, despite the flicker of pain that Bob could see in his hazel eyes.

Bob's own gaze traveled down to the man's grazed palms and he raised his eyebrows. "Have you at least got a first aid kit with you?" he asked, frowning in concern. "Those should be cleaned and wrapped up properly to stop them from getting infected."

They both shared a look at that, before the taller man shook his head sheepishly.

"We just got off the plane a few hours ago, so we don't have many supplies or anything" he admitted, shooting his friend a concerned look.

"And we certainly don't have a first aid kit" the smaller man agreed, wincing as the stinging in his palms climbed further.

Bob smiled reassuringly back at them, holding out his hand for the taller man to shake.

"In that case, would you like me to get my kit and help you clean those up?" he asked, seeing the boys shoot each other another look. "I'm a paramedic, don't worry - I'm not here to try anything" he assured, smiling when the two Brits in front of him chuckled sheepishly.

The taller man took Bob's hand in his own and shook it, returning his smile.

"I'm Ant by the way" he introduced, before nodding down to his friend. "This accident-prone numpty on my left is Declan" he laughed, prompting the smaller man - Declan - to elbow him in the ribs.

"Most people just call me Dec" Declan corrected, smiling at Bob as well.

Nodding in understanding, Bob's smile widened as he returned the introduction. "Bob McCarron" he replied, before something about the two men's names struck a sense of familiarity into his mind.

"You're a long way from home, aren't you? May I ask what you're doing out here in Australia?" he asked, gesturing for them to follow him back to his room - where he kept his personal first aid kit.

"Yeah" Dec replied, short legs struggling to keep up with Bob's longer strides, and the medic forced himself to slow down a bit. "We're presenters, and we're shooting a show at a place called Mission Beach - starts next week actually."

At that, Bob's head swiveled back to face them in surprise - if that was true, then these were the two hosts of the show he'd been briefly told about.

Going out on a limb, he answered with "Uh, is that show called I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here?"

Ant and Dec's heads snapped up in unison, and the response would have been very amusing to Bob if he hadn't been so taken aback by it. But it did confirm the feeling he had in his gut, and he felt a smile starting to quirk at his lips.

"Soo....you guys are the hosts they told me about" he confirmed, to identical nods from the still rather surprised boys at his side. "Well, haven't we gotten off to a flying start?" he joked, shooting them an amused look, and he was pleased to see them grin sheepishly back at him.