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Without his jacket Jed didn’t look so tough and cool; he looked almost like a family man in his black jeans and check shirt, especially the way he looked at Finn, as he might bend down in concern over a very small child. Finn gulped and shook his head and looked hard at the beach, blinking.
    ‘Have a rest, mate, then we’ll go on,’ said Jed, sitting beside him and tactfully watching the horizon.
    Finn sat up straight and took a few deep breaths. The air was clean and good, even if his chest did wrinkle and stretch and threaten to split open. He was sweating, but that felt good, too, as if the toxins that had found their way in via his wounds were pushing out through his healthier skin. He spent a few more moments feeling his body fight back. ‘Okay, let’s go.’
    ‘Well, guys, your guess is as good as mine.’ Dr Jennifer Schwarz smiled sympathetically. Finn, through a mist of pain, wondered whether it was wise for a doctor to leave so much cleavage open to view. When she bent over him he could see the white lace trim of a low-cut camisole against her tanned skin.
    ‘There’s all sorts of muck out there,’ she said. ‘You wouldn’t catch me swimming in it if I had even the tiniest cut.’ She came at him with her scalpel and lanced another blister.
    Finn yelped, bit his lip hard and groaned loudly throughhis teeth as she squeezed the poison out. ‘Feels like you’re burning holes in me!’
    ‘I’ll give you some cream to help it heal and reduce the scarring,’ Dr Schwarz said calmly, as if she hadn’t heard him. ‘Only one more,’ she added, tossing a loaded swab into a bucket with a skull and crossbones on it.
    ‘Is it a prescription cream?’ Finn got the words out hurriedly to make way for another yell of pain.
    ‘Yes, but there’s a chemist just next door. You can pop in there as you leave.’ She was squeezing again. Her fingers felt as if they were right down near Finn’s backbone.
    ‘No, what I meant was,’ he said when the pain receded a little, ‘scrips cost fifteen bucks now, and I haven’t got—’
    ‘Don’t be a chump, Finn.’ Jed, sitting against the wall of the surgery, had to peep around the doctor’s behind to meet Finn’s eye. ‘I’ll get it for you.’
    ‘But you can’t keep paying for things! I feel terrible—’
    ‘Look, it’s my fault, if you think about it. You wouldn’t have gone in to swim if I hadn’t suggested it.’
    ‘Ooh, he’s a bad influence, that one,’ joked Dr Schwarz, bending over to open a little cabinet on the floor. Jed and Finn looked at one another, studiously pretending to be unaware of the doctor’s short skirt and long, tanned legs.
    ‘You shouldn’t . . .’ Finn said distractedly.
    ‘Forget it, mate. I’m loaded.’ Jed waved a hand airily.
    ‘I won’t put a dressing on it,’ said Dr Schwarz as she gently spread cream on Finn’s wounds. ‘Better to let the air get at it.’
    Depends on the air, thought Finn. The doctor smiled warmly into his gloomy face. She was wearing a perfume that made her smell like ripe peaches. ‘All done,’ she said, handing him his T-shirt.
    Jed had to see someone about some work, so he dropped Finnoff in the Cross. Finn reluctantly gave him his jacket back. He felt lightweight and unprotected without it.
    ‘How about I meet you at the fountain tonight, round seven?’ Jed said. ‘Just to see how you’re getting on. I wouldn’t want you to crawl off and die on me.’
    ‘Sure,’ said Finn casually. The miserable feeling of wanting to go home and be looked after lessened a little. He could hold out until seven. He was much better already. His chest was sore and stiff, but the inflammation was dying down. The other aches and pains seemed to have dissolved, and Jed had insisted on buying him a breakfast so huge that he wouldn’t need to eat again today. He felt reasonably well bolstered against the general seediness of the Cross.
    He watched Jed glide away down the street, then turned away