‘Well,’ he said, his eyes twinkling, ‘I’ve just landed the job of my dreams and met this intriguing woman all in the space of an afternoon and I was wondering if she’d fancy joining me for a celebratory drink.’

I could feel myself blushing. Nobody had ever called me intriguing before. I didn’t know what to say.

‘So, are you up for it?’ he said as the lift doors opened and we stepped outside. ‘I know this great pub just behind Waterloo.’

‘That would be lovely,’ I said, and as we made our way towards the pub I knew deep down inside me that this beautiful man with eyes the colour of the night sky was going to become a big part of my life.

How could it have gone so wrong? How could Sean have changed so much? I think back over the last few years, the late nights at the office, the constant checking of his phone, the almost involuntary turn of his cheek if I tried to kiss him. Our marriage had been in trouble for years but as usual I ignored it. I became absorbed in writing the novel, tried to pretend that the growing chasm between us would somehow rectify itself, but it just got worse.

As I lie here I try to remember the good times, try to focus on that image of us walking out of the offices of Jacob & Stanley towards our future, but it’s replaced with a flash of memory. I’m pulling into the car park outside the Plough Inn. As I slow the car down, Elspeth asks why we’re there. I turn round in my seat to answer and then everything goes blank.

I take the heel of my hand and hit the side of my head once, twice, three times, as though I can somehow dislodge the memory and the answers will come down like the winnings from a slot machine. But there is nothing, just a black void. What were we doing that night? Where were we going?

As I try to order my thoughts I’m startled by a loud knock at the door.

I lie there not daring to move, my body cold with fear. I don’t feel safe in this place. I think back to the ICU, the security, the nurses there for me twenty-four-seven. What if it’s Hutchinson? I pull the covers up to my face. If I stay quiet, maybe whoever it is will go away.

But there’s another knock, harder this time.

‘Maggie,’ a voice calls through the door. ‘Are you there, love?’

Relief floods through me as I recognize Amanda’s raspy voice.

I get out of the bed and make my way across the bedroom. My back has seized up after a night on a sagging mattress and I wince as I undo the latch and open the door.

‘Morning,’ says Amanda. ‘Sorry to wake you.’