I had to tell the whole story all over again to Dad when I got home. Mum left me at the front door and drove off to the clinic to check on Aiden. I asked her to send him my love and she promised she would.

I tried swimming a couple of laps, but I wasn’t in the mood and anyway, it wasn’t as much fun by myself. So I tried playing with Z, but he wasn’t in the mood for that. He just stared at the front door as if willing Aiden to walk through it.

‘Hey, mutt,’ I said. ‘What about me, huh? What about some loving for me?’

But apparently there wasn’t enough to go around. I video-called Charlotte instead and she wanted to go over the whole fight again, so I pretended I had to go to dinner and got off the tablet as quickly as I could. Her hologram seemed disappointed when it puffed into nothingness.

Mum got home about dinnertime. Dad had made a vegetable lasagne, but none of us were very hungry, so we picked at the food and left most of it. Mum normally wouldn’t let that happen, so I knew she was really worried. She’d told me and Dad that Aiden was being examined and that he’d be staying overnight at the clinic again.

‘He’s starting to spend more time there than here,’ I pointed out. I was trying to lighten the mood, but Mum and Dad didn’t say anything and just continued toying with their pasta. I asked if she’d sent Aiden my love and she said she had, but I think she must have forgotten because she didn’t look me in the eyes when she said it.

I spent some time in the library before bed, but once again I couldn’t seem to concentrate. I wanted to video-call Aiden but Mum said he was under general anaesthetic and anyway, I knew that I was to leave him alone when he was in there. The mood in the whole house was pretty foul. At one point I heard Mum and Dad arguing in the kitchen. Their voices were raised, but it sounded like they were trying not to raise them and failing. I heard Dad say something about being devastated and I wondered if they were finally having that talk about him going back to work and if Mum was putting her foot down.