It didn’t take long without all the stops, and the man dropped him on the corner, and drove straight off. When the others got in they foraged about in the kitchen for their tea. The TV went on and there was the usual fight over the remote. Brookie made some toast, spread with the last of the peanut butter. Nobody said anything about him not being on the bus. They probably hadn’t even noticed.

Five

Still January, but the damp mild air had given way to a northeast wind that cut down the lanes and sent Saturday shoppers looking for warmth so that even at ten minutes past ten, Cat could not see a seat in the brasserie, until Rosie waved to her from a table in the window.

They had not met since well before Christmas. Sam had come home but Rosie went to her own family in Manchester, partly to get down to work – her med school final exams were this year. Cat made her way through the packed tables, thinking how neat her son’s girlfriend always was, tidy, well presented and stylish, even on little money. She was wearing a navy-blue jacket with large, tangerine-coloured buttons, which she would have found and sewn on herself, in place of whatever uninteresting ones had been there.

Rosie started speaking before Cat had settled herself, a girl who was always focused, never wasted the moment.

‘Can I ask you about a big specialty recruitment drive that’s going on?’

‘There’s always one. What is it this time? In my day they wanted everyone to go into infectious diseases.’

So far Rosie had not been able to settle on a career direction once she had qualified, though she was very sure of what she did not want to do – any form of surgery, anything that would keep her in a research lab, or general practice. The last time she had talked to Cat about it, she had been veering in the direction of neonatal.

‘I went to a great session – this consultant was really inspirational, encouraging us to widen our horizons, look beyond the obvious.’

‘I’m not sure anything in medicine is obvious, not even A&E.’

Rosie smiled. ‘We haven’t had a catch-up for so long you wouldn’t know, but I’ve been thinking seriously about A&E.

‘It’s a killer.’

‘I know, but this is a different bit of A&E and there aren’t enough going into it.’

‘Which is what every spokesperson for every specialty will tell you.’

‘When people have spent six years being involved with bodies they tend to look at – well, bodies. I was too, but after this talk – not so much.’

‘Ah, you’re talking about psychiatry – I’m slow on the uptake this morning.’

Rosie gave one of her rather infrequent, sudden smiles. She was not a miserable or gloomy girl but her default facial expression was thoughtful and rather serious.