Hanna is already quite drunk. ‘I’m going to miss you, grumpy Kerry.’ She’s off to Birmingham, hoping to become a paediatrician, though we both have ten more years ahead before we lose the junior doctor label. I’ll still be a junior when I’m forty.

‘I’ll miss you too. Who else is going to remind me not to be rude to the consultants?’

‘You know it’s for your own good.’

‘Ugh.’ I hate the sycophantic side of medicine. It’s partly why I’ve got my eye on emergency medicine as a specialty, because status doesn’t matter so much in A & E. It’s all hands to the pump – and the defib – when a patient is on the brink.

‘Don’t think of it as creeping, think of it as . . . an investment in your future.’ She tops up her glass. ‘Here’s to you, Dr Smith.’

‘Back atcha, Dr Chang.’

My sister stands up, evidently fed up of me being in the limelight. ‘I still can’t believe that my clumsy, awkward little sister is going to be let loose on real people.’

Tim stands up too and turns to face her. There’s a smile on his face to soften his words, but no mistaking the steel in his voice as he comes to my defence. ‘Your sister has never been awkward or clumsy. She just pushes herself further and harder than anyone else I’ve ever met. No wonder she occasionally gets herself into scrapes.’

‘Occasionally gets herself into scrapes,’ I repeat. ‘I think I’d rather like that as my epitaph.’ And I smile at Tim, the person who knows me best in the world.

Everything is going to be OK.

Chapter 52: Joel

31 December 2012

‘Are you nervous?’ I turn to my co-presenter as the floor manager counts down.

‘I can’t bloody wait,’ Mum replies.

My mother’s first presenting job in three years has come about because the BBC realized she was the only person in the world qualified for this particular role. We’re being featured as a mother-and-son duo and it really matters to both of us.

I’m aware that most presenters would kill for a guest slot reporting on Hospital Live. If this works out, I might become a regular.

I’m buzzy but in a good way. This year has been totally nuts – I’ve done behind-the-scenes reporting gigs at the Olympics and Paralympics, plus stuff on the Titanic centenary and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The television industry is full of people my age and we have a laugh, though sometimes they make me do stupid things on camera. And when the drugs come out after hours, being a dad gives me the perfect excuse to leave. I’m a total lightweight and I love it. Coke could never compare with hanging out with Leo.