In resus, Jack was helped onto a bed and his rucksack, which had been hanging on the back of the wheelchair, was put into a transparent property bag and placed underneath. He was then cut out of his clothes, while nurses attached various machines to his body. The doctor came out with a slew of letters that meant very little to Jack. He understood ‘ECG’ and ‘BP’, and he’d heard ‘GCS’, ‘FBCs’, and ‘U&Es’ said numerous times whilst watching Casualty with Maggie, but he had no clue what any of it actually meant. He wished she was here.

A male nurse wearing John Lennon glasses, who looked to Jack to be about 13 years old, leant in close by the side of Jack’s head, as everyone else worked above him and around him. ‘My name’s Noah. So, what we’re doing is we’re making sure there are no obvious worries, such as internal bleeding. Then, we’ll take you to CT to get a scan of your head. I need to ask you some questions, Jack. You up for that? Can I call you Jack?’

Jack had no idea how many hands were on him, but it felt like dozens. Someone was definitely pressing his abdomen and saying there was ‘guarding on the left’ and someone else was trying for a third time to insert a needle into the crook of his arm. He looked over Noah’s head to Ridley who was wiggling his mobile in the air and mouthing ‘Maggie’. Jack gave him the thumbs-up and Ridley left resus to make the call. Jack then heard Noah ask him if there was any history of medical problems in his family and Jack realised that he didn’t know. He could hear himself saying, ‘My dad died of cancer . . . no, no he was shot. My old mum was killed by a brain tumour. But my new mum’s alive.’

At this point, Noah gave up. ‘The morphine’s kicked in. I’ll get his notes instead.’

Ridley spoke so quietly and calmly that Maggie didn’t feel worried, because he wasn’t. ‘Take your time, Maggie. He’s in resus at the moment, and needs to go to CT before anyone will be allowed to see him, so . . . sorry, I forgot you work here. All you need to know is that he’s fine and I’ll not leave his side until you arrive.’ Maggie asked nothing about Jack’s injuries or how he acquired them. She didn’t want to burden Ridley with the responsibility of trying to explain.