‘Can I have a quick word in my office? I know you’re eager to see your mother, so I won’t keep you long.’

‘I’m not about to discuss Mom’s treatment without my father present,’ I say, stalling her speedy progress down the corridor.

‘Oh this is not about your mother’s treatment,’ she says, continuing to walk to her office. ‘This is about you.’

Now I’m really confused. I feel obliged to follow her even though I haven’t actually agreed to talk to her.

‘And how is your mother?’ she says while punching a code into the keypad beside her office door. One-nine-nine-one, the year I was born. Please don’t tell me this doctor is only twenty-five years old. What the hell have I been doing with my life?

‘She’s okay,’ I say, because what else is there to say about Mom? Surely a doctor knows more than me.

‘Good, good.’

Slipping in behind her oak desk, she sits down and indicates that I should do the same.

‘Rebecca, I’ll come straight to the point. We’re looking for volunteers to take part in a clinical trial.’

A clinical trial? Should I know what that’s supposed to mean? Will I sound stupid if I ask?

‘And we’re looking for the children of people suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s to participate,’ she says.

‘You’re asking me to take part?’

‘Well, yes.’

‘But…’

Is this woman for real? I really do not need any more drama in my life right now, and even though I’d never admit it to him, Danny is right. I don’t want to know if I’m at risk of developing Alzheimer’s, not yet anyway.

‘Let me assure you,’ she says, ‘it will all be very discreet and you don’t need to receive the results if you don’t want to. They can be used anonymously for the trial.’

‘Erm…’ Jesus, Becca, don’t just sit here with your mouth open, say something. ‘What would I have to do?’

‘Very little,’ she says. ‘Give a blood sample to get started. There will be an information meeting to explain everything and to answer any questions you have. Don’t worry, Rebecca, you can pull out at any time if you feel you don’t want to continue. It’s a terrible disease, but these trials help us make progress for the next generation, whom we hope won’t have to endure what your mother and family are.’

Well, she certainly knows how to blackmail a girl.