Scheduled to stay the night in London, because the Eurostar got in too late for the connection home, she only had to make it to the hotel in Great Russell Street and then she could sleep. Sometimes she overnighted with Caitlin when she returned from a trip and couldn’t get back, but she had a meeting with her boss the following morning in the hotel – just a yearly catch-up – so it was easier this way. I’ll be fine tomorrow, she thought. I just need a good night’s rest.

The next thing Connie was aware of was waking up in the bath in her hotel room. She was shivering, her skin blue and mottled, the water long since gone cold. But when she tried to pull herself up, her limbs wouldn’t obey and she thudded back hard on her bottom, chilly water sloshing up and over the side. What’s happening to me? she wondered dizzily. Taking a deep breath, she tried again, but her arms were like string cheese and she failed to get any purchase. She began to panic, her heart thumping double speed in her chest. But the adrenalin gave her dazed brain a window of clarity. Must get warm and dry …

Galvanized, she heaved herself head first over the side of the tub, crawling forward until first her torso, then her legs slid onto the bathmat. For a moment she lay there, the effort rendering her wheezy and breathless. She just wanted to stay where she was and sleep. But she knew she couldn’t. Get up, she urged herself. Get up, Connie, you must get up.

Using every ounce of strength left to her, she pushed herself onto her knees, managing to grab the lip of the basin. Muscles screaming, she heaved, flopped back. Tried again. On the third go, she found herself wobbling but upright.

Snatching the large white towel from the rail, she huddled in the folds, feebly rubbing herself dry as best she could before staggering unsteadily through to the bedroom. With shaky hands, she put on all the clothes she must have stripped off earlier – although she had no recollection of doing so – including her jacket. Throwing herself onto the bed, she rolled the duvet round her until there was nothing free but the top half of her head. Then she lay there and shivered until she began to feel the warmth seeping back into her body.

But with the warmth came fever. One minute she thought she might die of cold, the next she was burning up. Think, she exhorted her pitching brain. Think. Do something. But what she should do was not clear. Phone … The word came and went. She knew it was important, really important, but the thought kept slipping away, like soap in the bath, before she had a chance to catch it. She gave up and closed her eyes again.