“I just hate it,” she says, her voice now tight with tears. “I nearly lost you.”

“Hey,” I say, hugging her and kissing the top of her head. “Where’s this coming from, Troll Doll? You saw me in the hospital. You know I’m fine.”

She gives a wet chuckle at the old childhood nickname that stems from a particularly bad haircut she had once. My mother had decided to save money and cut her children’s hair on one of our holidays. The end result was that Lennie didn’t come out of the caravan for the week and the rest of us scattered every time my mother brought out her hairdressing scissors.

Lennie sniffs and hugs me tighter. Footsteps sound and I look up and smile at the sight of Chris, her husband.

“Help,” I say.

He smiles. “No help for you,” he says, throwing his arms around the two of us and adding his own crushing embrace.

After a few seconds, I cough. “Can’t breathe,” I choke.

“Oh my God,” my sister says shrilly as she jumps back. “Is it the injuries from the accident?”

I stare at her. “Jesus Christ, no. It’s your husband. He’s got a grip like a gorilla.”

Chris gives a hearty laugh. “I’ve got a cock like one too. Come on, the two of you. We’ve got a room full of fucking guests. No time to wallow in emotion.”

My sister rolls her eyes and reaches out to pinch him. He dodges and draws her under his arm, where she instantly relaxes.

“We should have just had dinner with the three of us,” she says. “But it’s a celebration, and I wanted you here.”

“I know.” I hand Chris the bottle of champagne I’m holding. “Congratulations. You made partner.”

He shrugs. “Meh, it’s fine.”

I roll my eyes. “Don’t even try to contain your joy.”

He does a strange robotic celebration dance as we laugh, and then he pats my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here,” he says sobering up. “For a while there, I didn’t think we’d be able to have this again. I can’t tell you how happy I am that you proved everyone wrong.”

I smile. After all the years he’s been in the family, Chris is more brother than brother-in-law. He’s older than me and Lennie. He met her in her first week at uni when he was doing a postgraduate degree, and she walked into him and made him drop a tray of beer. They’ve been inseparable ever since.

“I’m fine,” I say once again.

“You’re too thin,” my sister interjects.

“It’ll come back,” I say blithely. “I’m putting on weight, but it’s slow. You know how I’ve got a fast metabolism.”