There is a tugging at my neck. ‘Mrs Roberts,’ Ellie says, trying to prise the woman away from me. ‘I realize this is a very emotional time for you, but it is also a very difficult time for Anna … Laura. She has been … away for a long time and will need to get used not just to you but life in general. Please …’ She gently lifts her off me and guides her back into her chair. ‘We all need to take things very slowly. For everyone’s sake.’

Mrs Roberts takes out a tissue and she wipes her eyes and nose. She seems a little calmer now. ‘Of course. I’m sorry, Anna, it’s been so long, I thought I’d never get you back, I thought I’d …’

She starts sobbing again.

I look at PC Oaks, who is standing by the door looking totally bewildered.

‘Laura? Do you have anything you want to ask or anything you want to say?’ Ellie asks. ‘Do Mrs Roberts or Jesse look familiar to you?’

Jesse. That was the boy’s name. When I was first told it, I thought he must be a girl.

Mrs Roberts looks up at me. The expression on her face sends a bolt through me. It’s a desperate mix of hoping and pleading. All she wants is for me to say yes. All she’s probably hoped for since her daughter went missing is to have her back. I wonder if I should pretend. After all, if these people aren’t my family, with Dad gone, who is? What will happen to me when I leave the hospital? With a stab of loneliness I remember that not only do I have no family, I have no friends either – at least none I remember. Did I have friends? Why has no one come to see me at the hospital? Why has no one come to claim me?

With Dad gone, if I ceased to exist, maybe the only people who would notice are the people in this room and some of the hospital staff.

Mrs Roberts is still staring at me. She reaches out to touch my knee again but gently this time. ‘Do you remember me … at all?’

I stare back at her. I figure it’s best to be honest and slowly shake my head. ‘No. I’m so sorry. I don’t.’

She leans back in her chair. ‘But that doesn’t mean anything, does it?’ she gabbles. ‘After all, you don’t remember anything? Isn’t that right? Isn’t it?’

I nod. ‘Not much, nothing specific. And nothing at all from … when I was very small.’ I mean from before I was with Dad, but I don’t want to say that.