Symbiosis - Are we alone?

Chapter 5 - Straight Ahead

The metallic sound of key in lock broke the silence of the apartment.  The door gently opened.

“Mike, what took you so long?  I’ve been trying to ring you”? Kirsty protested, moving instinctively towards him.

“Hi Kirsty.  The battery went dead on my phone.  We got to the....”

His sentence was interrupted by their long embrace and a kiss that time apart only served to increase the intensity of.

“We must have got to the medical centre just after you had left, then I came straight here. Where’s Grant and Michelle?” enquired Mike.

They are in their bedroom”. Kirsty pointed to one of the internal doors. “I think she’s resting and Grant’s on-line to family”.

“How is she?”

“She seems fine, but Grant thinks there is something not quite right.”

They walked over to the lounge area, arms wrapped around each other like climbing plants.

"You want a drink Mike"?

“I could murder one.  What have we got?”

“Well......there’s, Tea, coffee, I think there is some beer in the fridge, and there’s half a bottle wine on the worktop left over from last night”.

“So, do you know exactly what happened”, asked Mike as he took a beer from the fridge and downed half the bottle.

“Well, only what Grant told me.  It was all kind of weird.”

“It sounded it,” Mike said, without interrupting his search for some food to go with the beer.  “Crabs up your nose, not nice.”

“It’s not funny Mike, it was really serious. She had to remove her mask to get rid of it.”

“Really, down there.  Never a good idea.”

“Anyway, the doctor said we have all got to really look after her for a couple of days until she’s feeling herself again.”

Now that, I’ve gotta watch!

Mike realised Kirsty was still really concerned, and in no mood for his flippant humour, by the glare she was giving him.

“Well I guess it must have been a real shock for her.  How deep were they?” said Mike, trying to recover the situation.

“Don’t know, but Grant said that decompression was not really an issue.  He’s worried about her though Mike.  He really thinks that she’s acting strangely.”

Mike didn’t say anything, but, pulling a packet of nuts from a cupboard, he reflected on the fact that he thought that she had always acted a little strangely.  She was such a prude, but in a pleasant way.  He liked her. In fact, he really liked them both. 

“Maybe I should take Grant out for a man-to-man chat later, just for an hour though.  He might need to talk it through." 

“See Mike, you can be thoughtful when you try,” said Kirsty planting another kiss on his lips.

Just then Grant came out of the bedroom.

“Hi Grant, how is she”, asked Mike, reaching for his hand.

“Hi Mate. Oh, she's asleep. Good to see you again".  Shaking Mike's hand.

"Good" said Kirsty, "probably do her good".

Mike passed Grant a newly opened beer.  Grant hesitated, then accepted. 

Mike saw the concern in Grants face.

“Come on mate, she’s going to be fine, she just needs a bit of time to get over the shock". Mike tried to re-assure.

“Well, I hope so.  You know, she was really scared at first, and then she seemed totally... well....unfazed by it all.”

“Let’s go find a bar.” Said Mike  “We can grab a takeaway to all share when we get back. OK, by you Kirsty?”

“Yes, that's fine by me.  Don’t be too long though.  I know what you guy’s are like.  I’ll check-in on Michelle every 20 minutes or so.”

“I’ve found a bar just down the lane, it’s called Eduardo’s”. Said Grant.

“Any good”.

“Not really, but it’s near.  We can get back quickly”.

“You ARE really concerned about Michelle aren’t you?” Said Mike stopping Grant in the street.  “What’s eating you?”.

“Well”, said Grant, “this is gonna sound stupid, but she seems really different, like it’s all affected her personality or something.  I’m wondering if she had a lack of oxygen for too long.  I tried to get my mouthpiece in her mouth, but she was struggling and clawing at her face and nose. So I just pushed her to the surface as fast as I could.”

“How long did all this take,” asked Mike.

“Oh, seconds.  A minute at the most.”

“Then you know she will be fine.” Mike ushered to Grant to keep walking.

“That’s really no time at all, and if she didn’t swallow a lot of water?”

“No, no, she didn’t, said Grant, feeling more at ease now. He carried on walking down the cobbled street.  “It’s just that I’d never forgive myself if something happened to her. You know I even looked up all the families of crabs in this group of islands on the internet.  None are known to be dangerous to man. Not even Munidopsis polymorpha.”

“Money polly what !.   Look, chill Grant, she’s going to be fine”.  They were approaching the bar.

“As you’ve been studying those white crab things, I’ve got an important question for you.” Mike said looking grant straight in the eye.

Grant looked at him seriously.

“When Crabs are pissed, do they walk straight ahead?”.

Grant laughed and pushed him into the bar. They were both still trying not to laugh ordering drinks at the bar, when Mike’s mobile buzzed, signalling a message.

“Was that Kirsty,” said Grant, “Suddenly concerned again”.

“No, don’t worry”. Said Mike, looking at his screen. “Just someone who helped me out earlier.”