My thoughts turned to Sasha, and the way she had acted around Charlie. It was a side of her I’d not seen before. She and Harriet got on really well and were still in touch. But the way she had behaved last night, and the stuff she had said about Charlie on the doorstep, made me not want to talk to her, not until I was less angry. I decided I’d give it a few days and then call her. I wasn’t sure what I would do if she didn’t warm to Charlie. Could I still be friends with her if she hated my girlfriend?

I dozed off and when I woke my knee was throbbing. My packet of codeine was in the bedside drawer and, to my horror, when I opened it I found I only had three left. Stupidly, I shook the packet. Three left? I was sure there were around ten, enough to get me through a couple more days. This meant I would run out before the end of the day. My skin prickled with anxiety.

I grabbed my crutches, limped into the bathroom and washed at the basin, having first gulped down one of the remaining tablets with water straight from the tap. In the living room I checked the weather outside – no snow but there was still ice on everything – then dug out the notes I’d been given at the hospital, including the phone number for the ward where I’d been treated.

I got straight through to a nurse and explained who I was.

‘Let me just find your notes.’ She had a soft Irish accent.

The line went quiet for a little while until she finally returned.

‘So, you were prescribed forty 100 mg codeine tablets, to be taken four times a day for ten days. That was eight days ago.’

‘I know. But I’ve almost run out.’

A silence at the other end. ‘You do know you’re not supposed to exceed the stated dose?’

‘I know.’ I was aware of how pathetic I sounded. I laughed nervously. ‘But the pain has been awful. I think I took too many in the first few days.’

‘Hmm. I’m sorry, but we can’t prescribe you any more.’

Cold goose bumps rippled across my flesh. ‘What?’

Her Irish accent didn’t sound so soft anymore. I had been a bad patient and she wanted me to know it. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Sumner, but we can’t let you have any more. Codeine is addictive.’

Tell me about it, I thought. ‘But . . . what am I supposed to do?’

‘If you’re still in pain I recommend Paracetamol or ibuprofen. I think ibuprofen would be better.’

‘But that’s not strong enough.’

‘I’m sorry, Mr Sumner. When are you due in to see us?’

‘In just over two weeks.’

‘And how’s the leg?’

‘It hurts.’