The nurse was called Helen and on their first meeting she had talked about her father into the night, which made Joey embarrassed. She would say something about how grand her old fella was and then she’d look over at Joey as if he was supposed to say something similar about his father. It was never going to happen, though, come hail, rain or high water. He had nothing good to say about Emmet Driscol, that was for sure and certain.
The weeks had flown by with him staying in the infirmary’s spare bed and only venturing out to eat a couple of times a day. With so many happy people about, he didn’t want to put his miserable features on display for any longer than he had to.
Helen became Joey’s one source of proper contact for the remaining weeks of the voyage. He felt like a prisoner in a ce
