She smiled, showing her teeth. She had a little chip on the right front tooth. Had I noticed that before? ‘OK, don’t worry. I know what it’s like.’ I must have looked confused because she said, ‘I mean, I’ve been there. When I first took Temazepam. Oh, that’s what was in that little jar.’

It took my brain a few seconds to work out what she was talking about. ‘Not codeine?’

‘No. I put them in that jar for safekeeping. They’re sleeping pills. I’ve been carrying them round in my bag for a long time . . . a couple of years at least. I got them when I was having trouble, well, sleeping when I lived in Birmingham.’

‘You lived in Birmingham?’

‘Yes. For a short while. I had a contract there. But that’s not important. The point is that the pills came in a huge box, in foil . . . and I popped them all out and put them in an empty jar I had. I guess they must have fallen out along with that other stuff – the shampoo and whatnot. How many did you take?’

I thought about it. ‘Two.’

She shook her head. ‘No wonder you were out for so long. One is enough to knock you out for a whole night.’

‘How long was I out?’ I looked towards the window. It was light.

‘Well, I don’t know when you took them exactly, but it’s two p.m. on Friday now.’

I had taken them on Thursday afternoon. ‘Oh . . . shit. I’ve been asleep for nearly twenty-four hours.’

I sat up, my body creaking like a geriatric’s. My bladder felt like it was on fire.

‘And I’ve been here,’ she said. ‘All the time. Looking after you.’

Charlie ran me a bath and sat on the edge while I let the hot water bring my limbs back to life.

‘I called in sick,’ she said, trailing her hand through the water. ‘I didn’t want you waking up with no one here, wondering what the hell had happened.’

‘Thank you. God, I think my brain evaporated while I was asleep.’ I splashed my face and rubbed it. ‘Why did you have those pills?’

She looked away. ‘I told you. A couple of years ago, I was having trouble getting to sleep.’

I waited for her to continue. When she didn’t, I said, ‘What was wrong? Why couldn’t you sleep?’

She shrugged. ‘It was just a phase. No big deal.’

But this hoarding of her past was beginning to bother me. For once, I pushed her.

‘Come on Charlie, there’s more to it, isn’t there?’

She fidgeted. Looked all around the room like she was seeking an escape route.

‘Can you look at me?’

She drew a breath and looked at me, tight-lipped.

‘I broke up with someone,’ she said.

‘Oh.’

‘It was a difficult break-up. Very . . . unpleasant.’ Her hand in the water was motionless.