‘The gentleman’s name is Jonathan Barwell,’ the paramedic informs us. ‘He was discovered by a neighbour, who noticed that the porch light was on during the daytime and raised the alarm when nobody would answer the door. Time of ingestion could therefore be anywhere from nightfall yesterday to this morning. However, his vital signs would indicate that it was fairly recent.’

‘Thanks,’ Dr Patel replies. ‘Given the uncertainty over the timing, I think activated charcoal is too much of a risk. We’ll go straight in with Acetylcysteine and hope he responds. Tilly, prepare an intravenous dose, would you?’

‘Yes, Dr Patel,’ I reply clearly. Dr Patel is a stickler for people answering when we’re in RATS, so she knows we’ve understood her instructions.

As I turn away, I hear her address Luke. ‘Dr Milne, I’m going to be tied up here for a little while, so if you wouldn’t mind attending to the next person on the list, I’d be grateful.’ She doesn’t wait for him to leave before issuing her next instruction to the team. ‘The patient’s breathing is a little more laboured than I’d like it to be. Let’s get him some oxygen to help him along for now, Amrita, and get a ventilator ready in case we need it. Right. Any questions, anyone?’

Dr Patel takes the silence as a no, and we set about our allocated tasks. Luke disappears off, and I soon forget our tense exchange as I focus on the tortuous process of trying to save this man’s life.

‘We’ll be using the twenty-one-hour regimen, Tilly,’ Dr Patel tells me as Amrita rigs up the oxygen mask and the antidote begins to drip into our patient. ‘Hopefully, that will be enough to do it, but let’s see. Whatever happens, he won’t be going anywhere for a while. If he stabilises, we’ll move him into Majors once a bay comes free, but you need to let admissions know he’ll be coming in. If this turns out to be a suicide attempt, as suspected, the mental health team will want to assess him too.’

‘Yes, Dr Patel. I’ll phone admissions as soon as we’re confident that he’s stabilising,’ I tell her.

She looks down at the man and sighs. ‘I know we’re not supposed to make assumptions, but what on earth do you think made him so utterly miserable that he couldn’t face living any more? I don’t often have time to worry if I’m doing the right thing, but situations like this do bring me up short. Will he thank us for saving him, do you think? Or will he simply bide his time until he’s alone and do it better next time?’