Luke dressed in silence, pulling on his clothes as fast as he could, then let in the pair from Porton Down and brought them into the kitchen. He sat stiffly on a chair, his left sleeve rolled up, watching them unpack their bag of tricks from a medical holdall. He looked straight ahead at the fridge as they checked the temperature on his forehead, studying the reading intently. He glanced away as the needle punctured the flesh on his forearm and they drew out two test tubes full of his blood. One man kept humming the theme tune from Game of Thrones, over and over again. Luke said nothing, but it only added to his dark mood. What if he was infected? He thought of that poor bastard Skeet, staggering around on the frozen street at this time yesterday, clutching his forehead in pain. Is this how it ends? he wondered. I get carried off and quarantined, screened from public view in some nameless isolation unit, coughing up blood and bile until I finally throw a seven and check out?

He opened his mouth wide as they swabbed the back of his throat. Finally, he felt their gloved hands probing the glands beneath his ears.

‘Checking for buboes?’ he asked them.

The humming stopped abruptly.

‘I can’t comment on that, sir,’ one replied.

‘I feel fine, by the way,’ Luke told them. ‘Just in case you’re wondering.’

‘Right, well, you’re all clear for now, Mr Carlton. The tests are showing up negative, but we’ll need your contact details.’

‘Good.’ Luke stood up and rolled down his sleeve. ‘I’ll see you out.’

‘We’re not quite done yet, sorry. We need to screen the other occupant in the flat. We understand she’s your RCP, yes?’

‘My what?’

‘Your registered current partner. That’s according to Service records.’

Luke looked from one to the other, their faces inscrutable behind their masks. ‘Guys. You’ve just told me I’m in the clear. So how could she possibly be infected if I’m not?’

‘Sorry to inconvenience you,’ one of them shrugged, ‘but it’s standard protocol.’

Biting his bottom lip, Luke went and tapped gently on the bathroom door. Elise answered, her voice steadier now. ‘Have they gone? Can I come out now?’

‘Nearly. They just need to screen you too. Won’t take a moment.’ He tried to make it sound as casual as possible.

Silence. Then the bathroom door opened. Elise stood frowning up at him, still in her dressing-gown, her face perplexed. Even in that tense moment, Luke couldn’t help thinking how lovely she looked, but her words brought him right back to reality.

‘Screened?’ she said, in a worryingly calm voice. ‘Why on earth would I need to be screened? Luke, what the hell have you brought into this flat? What are you going to tell me next? That you’ve brought home a fucking STD?’