Feeling a surge of sadness, which he swallowed back, he asked the consultant, ‘Is it going to make any difference if we agree to it now or in a few hours’ time – or tomorrow?’

‘There is some time pressure for you to consent, Mr Grace. With every hour, as Bruno becomes increasingly unstable, the blood supply to his heart and kidneys, in particular, will lessen and the quality of the organs will suffer. Those organs only remain viable for transplant for a short while, so we always try to arrange transplants for as soon as possible.’

Williams looked at his two colleagues. They both nodded.

‘So,’ Grace said, ‘if we were going to consent to organ donation, the sooner we did it, the more valuable it would be?’

‘That is correct,’ the consultant said.

‘Can we go back and see my son?’ Grace asked.

‘We’ll take you to him now.’

‘May I suggest one thing,’ Grace said solemnly. ‘Out of respect, we don’t talk about Bruno’s condition, or anything to do with possible transplants, in his presence.’

‘Understood,’ said Williams quietly.

58

Wednesday 4 September

They remained at Bruno’s bedside for twenty minutes before returning to the Relatives’ Room with Williams and the two women.

After some moments, Grace asked, ‘If – if we did agree to donating some – or all – of Bruno’s organs, what would the process be?’

The counsellor, Imelda Bray, then said, ‘We would give you all the time you need to sit with him. What we could do is dress him in his favourite clothes: does he have a cap or a T-shirt, or something like that, which he loves to wear?’

Grace nodded. ‘Yes, he does.’

‘Perhaps you could bring them. We could play his favourite music. If he’s into computer games, bring one in, something like his iPad, if he has one?’

‘He does, yes,’ Cleo said.

‘Then the best thing for you,’ the counsellor said, ‘is to say goodbye to Bruno on the ward before we take him down to the operating theatre.’

‘If we agreed to donate everything that could be helpful,’ Grace asked, ‘what would be left? What I – I mean – is that his mother is buried here in Brighton and I’d like to bury him near her grave. Will there be something to bury?’

‘Of course, plenty, darling,’ Cleo interjected.

Imelda Bray gave her a knowing smile. ‘You’re the expert on this.’

‘But not on my stepson – I – couldn’t . . .’

‘Please don’t worry, we wouldn’t dream of that,’ Charlotte Elizabeth said. ‘Our own team are very experienced in this. You would be able to give him a proper funeral.’

Roy and Cleo sat in silence for a long while. Finally, Roy stood up and held out his hand to Cleo. Addressing the three hospital staff, he said, ‘You’ve been incredibly helpful, I’m very grateful. If you could give my wife and I some time to go away and discuss this . . . who should I call when we’ve come to a decision later today?’