‘Charlotte, there you are,’ says Dr Jack, just when I thought I’d escaped undercover. ‘I didn’t mean to chase you off earlier, but Matthew and I have a lot to get through. He’s had a rough ride. It must have been a huge shock to you all.’

I rub my forehead, and nod my head in agreement, afraid of saying the wrong thing again.

‘He’s very lucky,’ is as much as I can think of to say. ‘We’re all very lucky to have him still with us.’

Jack glances at an empty table beside us.

‘I’ve fifteen minutes before my next appointment, then I’m done for the day,’ he says to me. ‘Could you manage another coffee? I’d love to chat to you more if you’ve time. About Matthew, of course.’

I take a seat and within minutes he is sitting across from me with two steaming hot coffees between us. The canteen is quiet at this time of the early evening, as the staff prepare for the rush of staff and family members in for dinner. Soon we are knee-deep in an emotional talk about my brother and I find myself opening up to him in ways I never thought I could.

‘We had a row over a mutual friend,’ I confess to Jack, who looks like he has heard it all in his job. ‘Matthew couldn’t bear the sound of his name and he stormed off. I tried to stop him, but it was too late. I’ll never forgive myself.’

Jack stirs his coffee and adds more milk, listening to me without interruption as I pour my heart out to him, the night in Pip’s Bar so irrelevant now. Once again I regret even mentioning it to him.

‘Matthew has made it clear to me he doesn’t want to discuss that friend,’ he says to me, drawing a line under it from the get-go. ‘He’d been receiving some counselling before, dealt with it then and was advised to try and move on from what happened, so the work I’m doing with him now is in respect of that. We’re focusing very much on where he is now, what he has to look forward to and the acceptance of his new identity.’

‘Of course.’

‘He’s had a lot to deal with in his own head and letting go of the past will hopefully help you all move on – as hard as that may be.’

‘I’m trying to,’ I say to him, trying not to choke on my emotion. ‘I’m really trying to but thank you for bringing me up to date. Matthew is the most important one in all this. If he needs to just move on, then that’s what we’ll do with him.’