THE SIXTH GUEST: Chapter Three - Part Five

Beside Clare in his grubby little Fiat, Joey almost didn’t fit behind the wheel. It made her wonder how he managed for long journeys and wish they’d taken her Peugeot so that they could have had the top down. But it was too cold for that. She thought again about the heat in the kitchen, the slowly climbing numbers on the digital thermometer. The gears ground as the tiny car rattled through the night-time streets of Boscombe and Pokesdown, dropping over the dip of the hill into the more upper market Boscombe East in the general direction of the hospital.

“I feel fine,” said Joey. “I don’t know why we’re going.”

“To get checked out,” replied Clare.

“But I’m fine!”

Clare sat quietly, disarmed by the petulance he was exhibiting. The young man kept to himself most of the time, taking meals upstairs with his computer games. His shift work meant he was usually out or sleeping. This was probably the longest period she’d spent with him in one space. Eventually she said, “Something happened to us all and we should get it checked out.”

“Do you feel okay?”

“Yes.”

“Well so do I. We shouldn’t bother going. And I have work to get to. I’ll be late.”

He was getting irate. It was weird. “It really isn’t a big deal Joey. We go down, get bored for half an hour or so then see a doctor. He tells us we’re alright and we go home.”

Joey remained silent this time, mouth shut like the door of a furnace, fumes practically pouring from his ears. “I don’t like hospitals. Never have.”

Clare risked a tentative “Why not?” but Joey ignored her, clamming up tight again.

Regardless of his reticence he made a left onto the diagonal road that cut through toward the hospital, shoulders hunched, huge head jutting forward. Clare touched him on the thigh, not realising the chemical effect it had on him and patted him gently before withdrawing. “Don’t worry Joey. We’ll just be in and out, tout suite. You’ll be able to catch up on back issues of Woman’s Own from twenty years ago; it’ll be great!” She giggled and watched hopefully for a response but Joey didn’t show any sign of good humour. He just drove.

Clare sighed. “I know you don’t want to go Joey but people don’t just pass out for no reason. We have to get this looked into so that we can work out what happened to us and why. For all we know it could be widespread.” She thought of the drifting invisible thing; the dog barking up at it. “I mean what are the chances that it would only come to our house?”