‘What was his name?’ I asked.

Another long hesitation. ‘Leo.’

‘Was he a lion?’

She smiled at last. ‘No, he was a rat. A love rat.’

‘He cheated on you?’

She stood up, went over to the basin. The mirror on the cabinet was steamed up and, as she spoke, with her back to me, she traced lines in the steam: jagged lines, slashes in the condensation.

‘He was a bastard. A total fucking bastard. He was one of those guys, always eyeing up attractive women, like I’d be sitting with him in a restaurant and his eyes would be roaming about the room, perving over anyone with a bit of cleavage showing or legs on display. Very early on in our relationship he slept with someone else when he was on a business trip. But his excuse was that we’d only been seeing each other a few weeks, he didn’t know we were exclusive, it was a meaningless shag. So I gave him another chance.’

The condensation was all gone now, so I could see Charlie’s face in the mirror, frowning.

‘That was the worst mistake . . .’

‘You ever made?’

Her eyes had gone blank, and I knew she’d gone deep inside her head, had left my bathroom and withdrawn into her memory. The tap dripped. Plink. Plink. Plink. I counted. After eleven drips, Charlie came back into the room.

‘Are you all right?’ I said.

‘Yeah. I’m sorry.’ She shook her head and smiled, like the whole topic was forgotten, like we’d been talking about our favourite chocolate or childhood TV shows. ‘Want me to join you?’

Before I could answer, she had stripped off, chucking her clothes on the floor, and jumped into the bath, and while I wanted to ask her about her ex, Leo, and the worst mistake Charlie had ever made, yet again my body took over, told my mind to shut up, stop worrying. Enjoy the ride.

I leaned on my crutch by the front window, dried and dressed. Maybe it was because of the long sleep, but my leg felt less painful today, nothing a couple of normal painkillers couldn’t cure. And although I had mild cravings for codeine, I was able to distract myself, not think about it too hard.

‘The snow and ice have all gone,’ I pointed out to Charlie, who had been in the bedroom drying her hair.

‘I know. The thaw finally arrived.’

‘I want to go out,’ I said.

‘Are you sure that’s a good idea?’

‘I’m going completely stir crazy here. If it’s not slippery, it will be fine. You’ll just have to catch me if I fall over! Come on, I’m not going to be dissuaded.’