He nodded. There was a cup in the sink; he rinsed it out and poured a coffee from a pot on the hob.

‘God,’ he said. ‘I feel awful.’

Vicki tapped her cigarette ash on to a saucer. ‘It’s a hangover. It’ll pass.’

‘Doesn’t do it justice.’ He swallowed half his coffee. ‘Thanks for letting me crash. I should get going.’

He reached for his phone. There were a lot of messages. The most recent was from his dad.

Hi. Let me know if you need a lift home. I’ve got work but can dip out.

His dad would be worried. He always was. He typed a reply.

I’m OK. Can take a bus.

He scrolled through the others. Toby, Mo. Andy. Asking where he’d got to, if he was with Vicki. If he’d got some action.

He felt sick. He didn’t want to talk to them about last night. Didn’t want to have to explain what had happened when he’d seen the girl who looked like Maggie.

He wanted to forget, but everything was a reminder.

‘Are you leaving?’ Vicki said. ‘You have somewhere to be?’

‘Not really,’ he said. He gestured to the door of the flat. ‘And I can’t face it anyway. I want to disappear.’

Vicki stood up and opened a cupboard. ‘I can’t help you with that,’ she said. ‘But I do have this.’ She took out a bottle. It looked like whisky. Cheap whisky; there was a picture of a boat on the label. She poured a slug into her coffee. ‘Want some?’

James looked at her, then shrugged.

‘Why not?’ he said.

6

Sandra sat in the treatment room at the hospital and wished she’d told Martin so he was with her now. She was sure this was going to turn out to be nothing, but right at that moment she was terrified.

A nurse opened the door to the treatment room.

‘Mrs Cooper?’

Sandra stood up.

‘Come with me. I’m Jazz. I’ll get you prepped for the procedure. It’s quite straightforward. We’ll pop a line in for the sedative and get you settled to wait for the doctor.’

Jazz took her into a room and indicated that she should lie on the bed. She took her hand and rubbed the skin until she had found a vein. Then she inserted a needle and taped it down.

‘OK,’ she said. ‘All ready. I’ll be back in a moment.’

She left the room. Sandra reached for her phone and checked her messages. Maybe Martin had figured out what was going on and was on his way.

Nothing.

Jazz came back into the room. ‘We’re ready. I’ll take you down.’ She pulled the bed through the door and pushed it down the corridor. Sandra felt like saying she could walk, but she lay back.