Life could change so fast, thought Robyn later on, once she’d picked up Sam and Daisy from Paula’s and was driving them home. The last time she’d seen Bunny, she’d been the vibrant, fun-loving girl, giving it her all on a dance floor – and now today she was whimpering and despairing in a hospital bed, barely able to stop crying. One ill-timed spin of her front wheels, and her spirit seemed to have been as badly wrecked as the bonnet of her car.

‘I hope she’ll be all right,’ Paula had said worriedly when they came out of the hospital. ‘You hear such scary things about head injuries and brain damage, don’t you? She seemed all over the place.’

‘It must have been shock too,’ Robyn said, although she had been similarly alarmed by Bunny’s fragility. ‘And I bet they’ve got her on really powerful painkillers – they can make you over-emotional. It was all that stuff about Dave that took me by surprise, though; I’d always thought those two were rock-solid.’ Like me and John, she thought dully. Which went to show how little anyone really knew about someone else’s relationship.

‘Same,’ Paula had mused. ‘But Bunny obviously doesn’t.’ She hugged Robyn goodbye. ‘You okay, by the way? Sorry, we didn’t get much of a chance to talk about you. How are you doing?’

‘Hanging in there by the skin of my teeth,’ replied Robyn grimly, having made it through the weekend and now a day’s work, albeit with enormous effort. Stephen had dropped in the other evening with a massive bunch of flowers for her, and his commiserations. He’d done his best in Edinburgh, he’d told her, but John was still firmly convinced he was in love with this student, and that was that. I’m sorry, darling, he’d said, hugging Robyn. What can I say – he doesn’t deserve you. She’d been so touched by his kindness, she’d nearly burst into tears on him.

‘Well, you know I’ve got your back,’ Paula told her now. ‘So you just keep on hanging in there and ring me any time you want to chat. And I’ll see you soon, yeah? For Luke’s party?’

‘Yeah,’ Robyn replied. ‘Thanks. We’ll be there.’