AFTER SEVERAL HOURS of intense work, she was disturbed by a vibration from her pocket. She pulled out her mobile and saw that Kerstin had sent her a message. “Want to talk?” it said. Sandra glanced at the clock on the wall and saw it was just after eleven. She went over to Erik, who was sleeping deeply in his bed. His ribcage rose and fell, the connections from the two bags on the drip stand producing small shiny drops of fluid that fell down their drip chambers at a stately pace, making a sound akin to crystal being tapped. Everything looked fine, but she still felt ill at ease. She sat back down on her bed and rang Kerstin.

“Hi Sandra,” said Kerstin. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Oh, is word out already?” Sandra said with a smile.

“It may well be,” Kerstin replied. “How is he?”

A nurse stepped into the room, crossed the short distance to Sandra, and proffered a tray with glasses on it. Sandra picked bilberry soup, something she never drank these days, but that she had loved as a child. She had a long night ahead of her, and even though she wasn’t all that thirsty she took the opportunity to help herself to a glass of apple juice as well. She needed energy both to write and to watch over Erik. Maybe she was overreacting, but if his condition changed at all, she wanted to know straight away. The nurse smiled benevolently at her from behind a pair of oversized spectacles with thick rims that didn’t seem to belong in this millennium.

“Given the circumstances, he’s well,” said Sandra. “He was cold, dehydrated, and malnourished, but he’ll recover quickly. And his memories are pretty hazy, so I think that if we handle this situation right he’ll be okay mentally too.”

“That’s good,” said Kerstin.

Sandra placed the glasses on the bedside table and thanked the nurse, who disappeared back into the corridor with her tray.

“How did things go with the cash?” she asked Kerstin.

“It went well.”

“You found the money?” Sandra said with a laugh. “You really did?”

“We did. I said I had a good feeling about this.”

“That’s wonderful, Kerstin. Well done, really!”

“It was more luck than anything else, but we had to work hard. The bags were in the tanks under the outdoor privy, covered by . . . Well, you can probably imagine that yourself.”

“How on earth did you think to look there?”

“Well it was exactly that which gave me the idea,” Kerstin replied. “The fact that no one would think of looking there.”

“Impressive,” said Sandra, and she really meant it. “Where is it now?”

“At my flat,” said Kerstin. “You can pick it up when you’ve got time.”

The door opened and another two nurses appeared. One was pushing a trolley in front of her.

“I have to go,” said Sandra. “Let’s talk again tomorrow?”