Sonia leads me towards the seating area, which is on the left-hand side of the room. We sit down and I look at the people around me. There’s an elderly woman with painfully swollen legs, a young man in his twenties with a bandaged arm, a mum reading a tatty cardboard-backed book to her pink-cheeked toddler who wriggles on her knee like a seal.

‘He’s teething,’ I say to Sonia, who catches me looking at the child.

‘How do you know?’

‘Look,’ I say, and we watch as he grabs the book and begins to gnaw it like a beaver.

‘Elspeth got terrible teething pains,’ I say. ‘I remember I used to hold a pack of frozen peas on her face. It was the only thing that seemed to soothe it.’

My eyes fill with tears but I blink them back. Swallowing hard, I turn my attention to the registration form. I read the first line that asks for my status: Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms. Taking the pen, I draw a circle round ‘Mrs’ but my hand shakes so badly I drop the pen on the floor.

‘Here, I got it,’ says Sonia, bending down to pick it up.

‘I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘It’s like my hands have forgotten how to use a pen.’

‘Listen, how about you tell me the answers and I fill it in?’ says Sonia, taking the clipboard from my lap. ‘Now, let’s see. Date of birth?’

‘10/03/74,’ I reply, glad to at least be able to remember that.

‘Ah, a fellow Pisces,’ says Sonia. ‘I’m the 15th.’

She smiles then carries on with the form.

‘Previous surname?’

‘Carrington.’

‘Home address?’

‘Larkfields, Rodmell, Sussex, R–’

‘I think it means current address,’ says Sonia. ‘Which would be the B & B. Don’t worry. I can fill that bit in. I’ve got the address here on my phone.’

She takes her phone out but before she can get the address up someone calls my name.

I look up and see Julia standing in the doorway of the consulting room opposite us. She’s wearing a pale-blue trouser suit with kitten-heel shoes.

‘Maggie,’ she says, her face beaming as I walk towards her. ‘Do come through.’

I turn to Sonia, who has also stood up.

‘I haven’t finished filling in the form yet,’ I say to Julia.

‘Oh, don’t worry. You can finish it after the consultation.’

‘Do you want me to come in with you, Maggie?’ asks Sonia.

‘No, it’s fine,’ I say. ‘It’s probably best if I do this alone.’

‘Okay,’ says Sonia. ‘But I’m right here if you need me.’

I smile then follow Julia into the consulting room.

‘Do take a seat, Maggie.’