‘More like the other way round, actually.’ She explained how he had pushed her out of the way of the oncoming bike and taken the brunt of the hit himself. It was funny, but at the time she wasn’t sure she was even fully aware of what had happened; of course she’d helped the police as best as she could at the time, but it was only sitting here next to him that it had all become clearer in her mind. ‘You won’t remember any of it, probably.’ Which she knew was just as well.

‘Well, apart from the raging headache,’ he said, making a joke, ‘I’m glad we’ve met.’ He looked at her intently for just a moment and she felt herself blush. Oh God, she realised, she was falling under his spell, and it was so easy. No wonder he had Estelle and M and who knows how many more women fawning over him.

‘Anyway.’ She spoke now with as much authority as she could muster. ‘You were carrying this, when, you know…’ She reached down into her bag and pulled out the gift with the tiny card attached.

‘Oh?’ He looked at it and she knew he had no memory of buying it.

‘It’s obviously a gift,’ she prompted. ‘To M? Perhaps you had just picked it up before the accident?’

‘Yes, yes of course,’ he said shaking his head, but all the same, there was something of embarrassment about the way he looked at the gift. ‘Would you put it into the locker for me?’

‘Of course.’ She wasn’t sure that he was meant to have anything in here that wasn’t completely sterile. ‘Actually, would you rather that I hold on to it, for now? I’m not trying to keep it or anything, but they can be a bit funny in here about people’s personal belongings – they don’t even allow patients to have flowers in case they contaminate the sterile environment,’ she explained. ‘Or I could give it to Estelle?’

‘No, no – that’s fine; tell you what, the best thing is if you could hold on to it for now and as soon as I get out of here, I can take it back and give it to…’ He began to smile thinking of whoever the lovely M was, no doubt. ‘You were very good, to hold on to it for me.’