‘I hope not. I know he’s an awkward, crusty old sod but I do care for him.’ She smiled. ‘He’ll kill me for saying this but do you know what he’s named after?’

‘No.’ Sam leaned closer to Evie as Gabe helped Troy walk slowly back to the waiting area.

‘He’s named after Sergeant Troy from Far From the Madding Crowd. His mum read the book in school and fell for the character. Then, when the film came out, I had a crush on Terence Stamp – have you heard of him?’

‘I think so. Wasn’t he in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert?’ Sam said, thinking of the outrageous elderly trans character in the movie. He was definitely a brilliant actor in that, but a sex symbol? She couldn’t imagine it.

‘Yes, but he was beautiful in Far From the Madding Crowd. Sex on legs. That scene where he gets his big sword out and charges at Julie Christie. Well …’ Evie fanned herself. ‘Then I met Troy at a dance and though he didn’t really look like Terence much, the two sort of got fixed in my mind and that was it. Bang. We were married within the year … I don’t know what I’d do without him.’

‘Eh?’ Troy said as he arrived back. He was breathing heavily and there were beads of perspiration on his forehead. For the first time, Sam thought he genuinely looked fragile, not the indefatigable committee member that she knew and loved.

‘We were just saying, we hope you’re called in soon because I can’t stand any more of your moaning.’

Troy managed a cackle then groaned aloud. His face was grey.

‘Oh Troy. Be careful.’ Evie tutted good-humouredly, but she looked seriously worried.

‘Mr Carman?’

‘Thank God for that,’ Evie said, picking up her stick as a nurse approached them.

The nurse led Troy and Evie to a treatment room, leaving Sam and Gabe alone together. She had noticed that all the time they were in the waiting room people stared at Gabe and sometimes the rest of them. Evie had loved it, whispering loudly that they were the centre of attention and ‘hanging out with a celebrity chef’.

Sam hated being looked at, but Gabe smiled and joked with Evie at his own expense. Sam knew he was trying to cheer Evie up and distract her from Troy’s pain, but she still didn’t know how he coped with the fuss. Once the Carmans had left, a young guy with face tattoos like a Maori warrior asked for a selfie, but a nurse intervened and said it wasn’t allowed and pointed out that ‘patient and visitor privacy had to be respected’.