‘Live non-related donors aren’t that common in Britain, but it happens a lot in America. I’ll put some information in the post for you.’ She continued, ‘The first step would be to have a blood test to see if you’ve the same blood group as Krista. Make an appointment later on if you want to move things on.’

I found the card from the Blood Transfusion Service in an old wallet full of bits and pieces. Before the whole AIDS thing, I’d given blood regularly but then they started advising those of us in high-risk groups against doing so. O positive. Then I went to the top floor of the Royal Liverpool Hospital to meet Beryl. Rhun pooh-poohed it all as a waste of her time and mine, but she took me very seriously. There was me thinking I was going for a bit of a chat and she says she might as well check me out. Weight… height… blood pressure… medical history… and some blood tests, just to check for a hundred and one things as well as any infectious diseases.

‘Do you mean AIDS and stuff?’ I asked.

‘There’s no point raising your friend’s hopes if you’re unsuitable from the word go because of things like CMV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C or HIV.’

She gave me a couple of two litre containers and an instruction sheet to take away with me.

Rhun was hostile: ‘Are you going through a mid-life crisis? Why else would you want to do something so fucking crazy for someone who’s practically a stranger?’

I answered him cautiously, ‘Once upon a time, in another life, I loved Krista. Perhaps, if you’ve loved someone once, they stay a bit special, you know?’ It sounded trite and untrue, especially when I thought of all the men in my life. But that was the first time Rhun knew that Krista was more than just someone I’d known in Aber.

Beryl phoned to say that all the blood tests had come back and they were fine. I’d passed the first hurdle and it was now an appropriate time to put my offer to Krista. I looked them up in our Christmas card address book and wrote her a letter. She phoned me less than an hour after she’d torn the envelope open. She was O positive too… and did I really know what I was letting myself in for?