‘It’s okay. He’s here at St Columbanus’s hospital. He’s in the very best of hands. I was next to him when it happened. I’m a nurse here in A&E. I was just coming off duty when…’

‘Oh, thank God. But how is he? Is he going to be all right?’

‘It’s too early to say; he’s just going down for a scan now,’ Liv said, keeping the details light. She could tell Estelle the rest when she arrived to be with him. ‘He really is in the best of hands. Are you his wife?’

‘Huh? No. I mean, we’re not…’ Estelle stopped for a moment. ‘That is, we’re…’

‘Are you his next of kin?’ Liv had to ask directly, because for all she knew, this woman might be his cleaner… or his mistress. She eyed the bag that she’d dropped down on the floor next to Finn O’Connell’s gurney. He’d spent a lot of money, probably, on a gift for M. And Estelle was certainly not an M!

‘I’m on my way now,’ Estelle was saying on the other end of the line. ‘Don’t worry; I’ll let everyone know who needs to. Just take care of him for me.’ And then, she ended the call and Liv was left staring at her phone, not quite sure what to do next.

‘Oh. Thank God, Liv, you’re here.’ Francine looked like she’d aged about a decade in the little over an hour since she’d seen her last. ‘How are you? Have you been checked out? Are you…?’

‘I’m fine, really, not even a scratch,’ Liv said although her legs still felt wobbly and she could feel nerves jangling on ends that she’d never noticed before, but that was just shock – nothing compared to what had happened to Finn. Even beyond herself though, there was no missing the fact that the Emergency Department had filled up considerably since she’d left; there was no mistaking the fact that her colleagues were under pressure. ‘Anyway, I’m here now, I might as well stay on if you need an extra pair of hands.’ She would have to change back into her uniform; it was definitely all hands on deck for the rest of the night. ‘I was there when it happened. The motorcyclist?’ She looked towards one of the junior doctors who’d just popped his head through the curtains.

‘It’s cuts and bruises mostly; he’ll be aching for a few weeks, at worst a couple of cracked ribs,’ the doctor said, then he looked towards the empty space where Finn O’Connell had just been moved from.