‘They’re going to move her to the psych ward.’

Amber looks at him in horror. ‘What the hell?’

‘The beds up in the children’s ward are desperately needed with it being the busiest time of the year,’ he says gently. ‘Anyway, Lumin’s problems relate to her psyche, specifically her issues with memory. The staff in the psych ward are the best equipped for helping with that.’

Amber sinks onto a nearby bench. ‘It just sounds so horrible, that she’s going to the psych ward.’

Jasper joins her. ‘I know. It’s not a good long-term solution really. But hopefully it will really help jog her memory. Combined with the media appeal, she might not even have to go.’

Amber bites her lip. ‘I hope so.’

Jasper puts his hand on her arm, giving it a reassuring pat. For a moment, she thinks about asking him back for dinner. Not just because she misses him but also because she’s dreading going back alone tonight after growing so used to being here with Lumin.

But then Jasper’s pager buzzes. His shoulders drop and he stands up. ‘Duty calls. Keep me posted, all right?’ Then he jogs off down the corridor.

Amber stays where she is for a few moments, watching as people pass by. Many of them are parents coming from the children’s ward, some even walking out with their children, balloons in their hands and wide smiles on their faces, happy to be finally bringing their kids home. Amber imagines bringing Lumin home if she doesn’t find her parents. How much laughter and activity she’d bring into her little quiet flat. She yearns for it.

But when Amber returns to the flat later, her thoughts turn to Katy as they always do. She imagines coming back with Katy all those years ago from the hospital. Her weak but happy little girl. Counting her blessings that she was recovering, planning some fun things to do over the coming days and weeks as she regains her strength. Amber looks at her bare white walls and imagines them lined with the dandelion wallpaper they had in their old home instead. She sees their wellies lined up by the door, the specks of mud still visible on their wooden floors from the walk they’d enjoyed in the forest just before Katy was ill. She smells the hot chocolate Jasper would be putting on for them, the sound of the TV in the distance. Katy’s chatter, Jasper’s laughter.

A car beeps outside and the images float away as Amber slides down the wall, the silence and emptiness of her flat crowding in on her.

The next day, Lumin is all over the papers, local and national, her big blue eyes wide as she looks out from the photo they must have taken the day before.

Teenager found barefoot on Winterton Chine beach.