‘Oh, no,’ he says, looking at Cindy and his mother in turn but pointedly ignoring me. ‘Has she told you…’

Cindy says nothing, but merely raises her eyebrows.

‘Fine,’ Luke says with a sigh. ‘I’ve tried to keep a lid on this, but I can see it’s gone too far.’ He turns to address me. ‘Tilly, you need to get help, OK?’

What? It’s all I can do to stop my mouth dropping open in shock, but Luke is evidently warming to his theme as he turns back to Cindy, holding his palms out in a ‘you can trust me’ kind of gesture.

‘Cind,’ he begins. ‘I can see how this might look, especially after what happened before, but I haven’t done anything. The fact is that, much as we admire Tilly’s nursing skills, everyone in the department knows that she sometimes struggles to separate fantasy from reality. I’d barely finished my first set of shifts with her before I could see that she was starting to latch on to me as some kind of hero figure, and Dr Patel, one of our senior consultants, warned me to be careful around her. Apparently, there have been incidents in the past.’

My mouth is full-on open now. What the bloody hell is this?

‘Now, I have no idea how she tracked down this address, or what story she’s spun you, but what I can categorically tell you is that it’s pure fiction. It’s what she would like to have happened, not what happened.’

To my amazement, I can see a flicker of doubt in Cindy’s eyes. Is she actually believing this horseshit?

‘Cind, love,’ he continues, sensing her hesitation. ‘I know I hurt you before, but I promised not to do it again and I meant what I said. It’s you, me and the baby. Nobody else, especially not a love-struck, deluded nurse like Tilly.’

This is too much. ‘I’m sorry?’ I ask incredulously.

‘You heard me,’ he says, hardening his voice as he turns to me. ‘I’ve tried to be kind. I’ve tried to explain that you and I can never be a thing, but you’re not listening and this is a step too far. You leave me no option, Tilly, and I have to protect my family. As soon as I get back to work, I’ll be raising a sexual harassment complaint against you with HR. I know you’re sick, but you can’t do this to people. Can’t you see how much this fantasy of yours has upset Cindy? She’s pregnant; she doesn’t need this stress. And as for stalking my mother, or whatever you did to find her address, you’re lucky I don’t report you to the police.’