She drew back the bedding, allowing Jem to manoeuvre herself to the edge of the mattress, a task of Herculean proportions, given that she was toting various attachments and still as weak as a kitten. Had Rosie called her bluff and left her to it, she would have ended up flat on her face.

“Is Katya going to kick my arse for this?” Rosie asked, wheeling a drip stand into position.

“No.” Jem clung to Rosie’s arm and lowered her feet to the tiles. “She was in your shoes last time.”

“I’m not wearing any bloody shoes.” Rosie wiggled her toes. “SOCO confiscated my boots, and Kash brought me a bra but no trainers.”

“Don’t…don’t make me laugh,” Jem said, already flagging with half the distance remaining.

Rosie tightened her hold. “We’re doing great. I can probably drag you from here if you peg out.”

“Sod off.” Jem dropped into the chair with an audible thud and leaned her head back, her chest heaving.

Alerted by the clang of a monitor, Katya rushed in seconds later, muting the alarm and standing with her hands on her hips. “Again?” she said, but her stance softened as Jem nodded. She opened the window a crack and wrapped a blanket around Jem’s shoulders. “Half an hour and then back to bed with a neb. Yes?”

“Absolutely,” Jem said. The air smelled of fresh rain and spices from the local kebab shops, and it felt wonderful, as if it was rushing to fill her lungs. It was a fallacy, she knew, but there was a reason so many of her respiratory patients were sitting on their doorsteps when she arrived in the RRV.

Rosie pushed her own chair alongside Jem’s. “Are you warm enough?” she asked.

“Mm-hm.” Jem nudged her foot against Rosie’s. “Stop fretting.”

“Your dad left me here to fret! He thought I was responsible and well behaved, and instead I’m marching you over to the window and parking you in a draught.” Rosie tucked her hair behind her ears and then curled one strand forward again, undecided. “Sorry, I’m not very good at this,” she muttered.

“At what?”

Rosie gestured around herself. “All this. Any of it. It’s like everyone’s talking in a foreign language, and I haven’t the foggiest idea what’s going on, and you’re in the middle of it, taking it all in and coping.”