I finished my tea and we sat in silence, but it was a companionable one. It had a degree of comfort to it, for both of us, I hope. I gazed out. The drizzle I’d arrived in had abated and the sun was just about to make an appearance: to peep out around a bank of cloud above the roof of my house. Not quite, but the rays were there, gathering strength.

At length I sighed and got to my feet. I gathered up my keys and my bag. She got up too and walked me silently to the door. Before she opened it, though, we looked at each other, and then we hugged. I don’t think either of us instigated it, neither of us opened our arms, it just seemed like a natural thing to do. We held on to each other for a few moments, in silence. We’d been so close, separated by only a slim brick wall. But we’d both been in our living hells.

‘Good luck,’ she whispered, as we stood back, blinking a bit.

‘And you too, Ingrid. I can’t begin to thank you for what you’ve done, what you’ve—’

‘Shh.’ She stopped me. ‘Don’t. I didn’t, remember?’

I smiled. Nodded. ‘No. You didn’t.’

‘Don’t let me down.’

‘Never. I’ll never tell a living soul,’ I told her fiercely, and I knew I wouldn’t. Not to anyone. And she knew it, too.

She opened the door and I went down the steps. At the bottom I turned, remembering something. Something she’d said which tapped me on the shoulder now, but which I’d previously passed over. I’d been so absorbed by her version of events that night.

I looked up at her. ‘By the way, what did you mean about sirens and blue flashing lights? Having them out again the other night?’ I asked.

‘Oh.’ Her face cleared. ‘Didn’t you know? I assumed you would. The guy in your house was rushed to hospital. Peritonitis, apparently.’ She made a face. ‘Which I gather is pretty serious.’ She sighed bleakly. ‘It’s all happening in our neck of the woods, isn’t it?’

I stared at her. My voice, when it came, sounded unfamiliar. ‘I had no idea.’

She shrugged. ‘Other people’s lives. They pass us by, don’t they? When we have only one perspective. When we’re so caught up with our own.’ She gave a wry smile and closed the door.

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