Although it’s never been directed at me, I’ve heard that tone a few times before and I know exactly what is about to happen. Luke has evidently done something he shouldn’t have, and Dr Rogers is going to take him to one side and hand him his arse on a plate. I’m obviously not the only one to have noticed, if the eerie silence that has fallen over the unit is anything to go by. We’re all straining our ears to see if we can pick up any of the conversation.

It’s over surprisingly quickly; barely ten minutes pass before they’re both back in the unit. Dr Rogers is his usual affable self, although I notice Luke is looking rattled, and is carefully running every decision past him.

‘I’m parched,’ I tell Luke when my break time comes around. ‘I’m heading to the canteen for a cup of tea. Do you want me to bring you anything?’

‘I’ll come with you, if that’s OK. I’m due a break as well.’

‘Sure. I’ll be glad of the company.’ Although he’s clearly trying to put a brave face on it, I can tell the encounter with Dr Rogers has upset him as he seems distracted.

‘Do you want to talk about it?’ I ask after a while, putting on my best sympathetic voice.

‘So you know, then?’ he replies with a sigh.

‘I don’t know what the problem was, but I know you had a conversation with Dr Rogers and, given the way you were summoned and the way you’ve behaved since, it’s pretty clear it didn’t go well.’

Luke says nothing, sipping his tea and staring at me in that intense way he has. I’m just starting to wonder if I’ve said the wrong thing when he finally speaks.

‘I don’t understand why he was so upset,’ he says eventually. ‘All I did was try to keep everything running while you were all dealing with Spike, and he tore me off a strip because I hadn’t asked him about a couple of things first.’

‘Spike?’

‘The guy with the railing sticking out of him. That’s what we called him.’

‘I see. Good name. Can I give you a piece of advice?’

‘You can give it,’ he tells me, taking another sip of his tea. ‘I don’t have to follow it.’