‘Oh God, me chest, it’s so tight, can’t breathe.’

‘You can breathe, Grace, it’s just muscle tightness. The implants have been inserted under the pectoralis muscle – it’s stretched, that’s all. Just slow down, take gentle breaths and open your eyes slowly.’

Grace barely opened her eyes, saw a blurry face and screwed them shut again.

‘My name is Alison, I’m your recovery nurse.’

‘Alison, the pain, oh God the pain.’

‘OK, all right, I’m going to give you some IV morphine for the pain. Do you feel sick, Grace?’

‘No, no, just pain, real pain, oh God the pain.’

‘Give it a second or two or three or four . . .’ Alison said, and Grace felt a little relief like a small wave washing in some comfort.

‘The good news is blood pressure, respiratory rate, pulse and oxygen saturation are exactly where we want them,’ Alison said.

‘What about my breasts?’

‘You can look down if you like.’

Grace was afraid to move a muscle, any muscle; tears filled her screwed-up eyes. Not ready.

‘Can’t.’

‘That’s OK, there’s no rush, they’re looking good, though.’

‘Still in pain, like, real pain. I had a wave of relief but I need a fuckin’ tsunami,’ Grace said.

Alice laughed. ‘Stick with me, Grace, I’m giving you the maximum allowable. OK?’

‘OK.’

‘Do you feel sick?’

‘No.’

Alison fixed a sticky dot on Grace’s chest. ‘One’s trying to get away,’ she said.

Grace looked up, alarmed. ‘My tits?’

‘No, your monitor sticker.’

‘Oh, thank God. I thought it had fallen out, feels like they’re falling out.’

‘They’re not falling out.’

‘Has one ever fallen out?’

‘No.’

‘Sure.’

‘Positive.’

Grace was still really out of it. The world around her was murky and surreal and only the pain felt real. Her thoughts ran away from her and were hard to pin down; in her head she was running around trying to catch them with a net.

‘How’s your pain?’

‘Painful. Can I ask you something?’

‘Ask me anything.’

‘Could Jurassic Park really happen?’

‘I’m going to say no.’

‘Good, because that would be a worry.’

‘Yeah?’

‘I have four boys – I can’t have them living in a world full of fuckin’ dinosaurs.’

‘That would be a problem. Any nausea?’

‘Wha’?’

‘Do you feel sick?’

‘No. Ryan would be fine, he’d probably find a way to work with them. Bernard could probably outrun them, Stephen, he’d go underground – he was hide-and-seek champion two years in a row. Jeffrey’d get eaten on day one – even with the weight loss, he’s slow on his feet.’

‘I’m sure the other boys would help him. How’s your pain?’

‘Warm.’

‘Your pain is warm?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Do you feel sick?’

‘Nope.’

It was then the oxy sat probe attached to Grace’s finger alerted Alison to a problem. The alarm went off. Jingle bells, jingle bells . . .