When we get back to the Heart Heroes ward, a smiling nurse directs us down the corridor to a private room. The late afternoon sun is shining through the window and onto a very smiley Tabby. Athena’s sitting beside her, looking entirely at ease, while between them are scattered most of a deck of playing cards.

I stop just inside the doorway and gape. These four walls represent a space so quiet, so peaceful, that they may as well house a Tibetan monastery. Sure, Tabby’s still hooked up to her machinery, so we still have to suffer through some beeping, but we’re alone. We’re alone!

‘Hello, ladies,’ I say, looking around in amazement. ‘You’ve been busy. Look at this!’

‘Hi Mummy!’ Tabby practically shouts. I haven’t seen her this animated since her operation. ‘We have a new room!’

‘Your boss has been busy.’ Athena brandishes her mobile. ‘He put me on a three-way chat with the hotel concierge and he was bossy. Only the best for his assistant.’ She winks at me, and I spin around to Brendan for clarification.

‘When could you have possibly done that?’

‘When you were asleep,’ he says, looking sheepish.

‘I thought you slept too!’

‘Not with that snoring.’ Tabby giggles, the little traitor, and he shoots her a grin over my shoulder. ‘Anyway, I had a clear vision, and I wanted to make sure Athena was executing it fully. Which she has, obviously,’ he adds hastily.

‘We’re a good team,’ Athena says blithely. ‘His Amex and my bullying tactics work together like a charm.’

‘Look at your bed, Mummy!’ Tabby cries, pointing over towards the window.

‘Oh my God.’ I set down my bag and go to check out the full-sized divan on the far side of Tabby’s bed. Now this really must be a mirage. It’s beautifully made up with white linen and piled high with fluffy pillows whose cases I could swear bear the same monograms as the ones in Brendan’s hotel suite. The top of the duvet is turned back with all the precision of a hotel turn-down service. I swing around. ‘Is that…?’

‘A lady came and maked it for you, Mummy,’ Tabby pipes up.

‘Brendan strong-armed the concierge into selling us an entire set of linen and then sending it over in a cab with one of the maids who set the whole thing up,’ Athena clarifies. ‘Right down to the memory foam mattress topper. Oh, and get this. He made the concierge send through a PDF of the pillow menu. He went for Norwegian goose down, if you must know. It seems our Brendan is the real life equivalent of the princess from The Princess and The Pea.’