Flux

interesting,” the policeman was scribbling in his notebook.
    “Any history of drug use?”
    Ah shit. “ No,” and then thinking better of it; “apart from the occasional smoke.”
    “Marijuana?”
    “Yes, not much though. Where is he now?”
    “Iain’s been taken to hospital in Cheltenham.”
    “Can I go?”
    “Yes, of course you can.”
    Gary didn’t run back to the hostel, rather he took a slow dazed amble, trying to process what he’d been told. As he approached, he met Dave coming out of the door.
    “What’s up?”
    “Iain’s gone nuts and been taken to hospital!”
    “Gone nuts?”
    “Yeah, don’t know what he’s done but they’ve sectioned him.”
    “Ah shit.”
    “We’d better go and find him.”
    With that they quickly returned to their room, packed their belongings and headed for the car.
    “They’re going to need time to sort him out.” Dave said. “Time for a quick smoke first?”
    “Yeah.”
    They returned to the field for a short while and with their heads feeling a little more relaxed, went back to the car and started on a steady drive to the hospital.

    Rebecca Goodman was just finishing her morning rounds when she got the message about Iain. After divulging the background information she had on her patient she wished she could perform the tests herself, but instead requested that any results be sent directly to her office.
    To say Iain was groggy when he came round would be an understatement; his vision blurred and unable to move his limbs he looked around at the white room. The ceiling, walls, the bed he lay on and even the floor was white, albeit a slightly darker shade. So this is it? This is where it happens? Confused, but still sure he was about to undergo some kind of experimentation, Iain found himself surprisingly unbothered; a result of the sedative.
    Eventually, Gary and Dave located the correct department in the hospital only to find visiting their friend to be more of a challenge than they’d anticipated.
    “I’m sorry, you can’t see him just now, we have to give him some tests,” the nurse at the station told them.
    They argued, telling her it was an emergency, imperative that they saw him and maybe they would be able to calm him down. In the end, with the intervention of a doctor they were allowed in for a brief time; the scanner was unavailable for half an hour so they had that long.
    “Providing he doesn’t become distressed,” the doctor added to the conditions of their admittance before showing them along the corridor and tapping a code into the keypad, letting them onto the ward. Further along the passage they came to a door marked ‘safe room.’
    “He’s just in here; I’ll wait in case he gets violent again.”
    Gary simply raised an eyebrow to him, unable to believe his friend would try to hurt him in any way.
    “Oh no, not you too?” Iain’s words slurred as they entered the room. Through the open door he could hear screams of agony coming from other experimentation chambers outside. He was the only one who could.
    “What do you mean?” asked Dave, keeping his voice as reassuring as possible, as he’d been instructed to.
    “Get out.”
    “Eh?”
    “Get out! NOW!” Finding the strength to scream, Iain had to warn his friends of the danger they were in, hoping they might be able to save themselves, although it was probably already too late.
    They misunderstood his warnings, thinking he didn’t want to see them. The doctor appeared and ushered them from the room, leaving Iain once again on his own, sobbing.
    “Jesus. He was fine last night,” said Dave shaking.
    “I can’t believe it,” replied Gary as they walked back down the corridor and through the locked doors.
    “I just hope he’s going to be OK.”
    “Me too.”

Chapter Nineteen
    Return Ticket

    The straps holding him were tight, not quite cutting the skin but rendering him immobile. Wide eyed and clammy he watched on helplessly as the doctor approached with the needle; as much as he tensed he couldn’t break free or put up even a token struggle.
    Iain was being taken for an MRI scan to determine whether any damage made itself apparent on his brain. The sedative was needed to stop him panicking and keep him still for long enough to get a good image.
    Although paralysed; panic was still evident as the machine encapsulated him; Iain wondered what they were going to do to him and why they’d placed him in the coffin. It was dark; he wanted to scream but his