‘The good news is that his vital signs are getting stronger. It’s too early to call it for sure, but I’m feeling hopeful. There’s a fair chance the overdose will have damaged his liver, so that will need to be assessed, but we can check all of that once he’s stable and we’ve admitted him.’

‘How long will he be in for?’

‘I don’t know. They’ll want to run lots of tests and the mental health team will want to have a chat with him. Is there someone who can be with him when he’s released? I’m sure that will speed the process up.’

Now it’s Will’s turn to sigh. ‘That’ll be me then.’

‘Do you have siblings who can help?’

‘Nope. There’s just me. It’s fine, I should have spotted what was going on earlier so this is partly my fault. It’s only fair that I should take some of the responsibility for it. I never realised things had got so bad. It’ll take a couple of days to sort out, but I can move down to be with him for as long as it takes.’

He looks crushed and my heart goes out to him a little bit. The parallel between his situation and Luke’s is not lost on me, but there’s a quality in Will that is curiously absent in Luke, now I come to think about it. I can’t pin it down exactly, but I can almost feel how heavily the weight of responsibility is sitting on Will and I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in Luke.

Mr Barwell opens his eyes again, obviously disorientated for a moment before he fixes his gaze on his son once more.

‘I’m sorry, Will,’ he says. ‘I’ve been a stupid, selfish old man.’

‘Yes. Yes, you have,’ Will replies, tears pouring down his cheeks again. I’m struggling to contain my own tears, but the tender moment is interrupted by the arrival of Luke, with a face like thunder.

‘Dr Patel sent me to check how the patient is doing,’ he says. Hopefully Will and his father don’t notice the surly undertone to his voice.

‘Good progress,’ I tell him, keeping my voice light. ‘Mr Barwell is conscious and his vital signs are greatly improved.’

‘Great.’ He turns to Mr Barwell. ‘Mr Barwell,’ he says very slowly and loudly, as if talking to someone twice his age, ‘my name is Dr Milne, and I’m one of the doctors here. I’m just going to examine you, and then we’ll see about admitting you to a ward.’

‘Can’t I just go home?’ Mr Barwell asks. ‘It was a mistake. It won’t happen again.’