I worked solidly, almost in a trance as I recalled the qualities of Grace’s face back then: the freckles that danced across her nose after her summer holiday to Thailand; the messy tendril of hair that she shoved impatiently behind her ear when it escaped her ponytail; the shadow that fell at her temples and in the hollow below her cheekbones; the spark of sun glinting on her earrings. It was only when I had to get up to switch on the light that I realized how late it was. I’d come to a natural break in my work, much of the base acrylic laid, so I cleaned my brushes and went downstairs, flicking on lights as I went. Light already spilled from under Grace’s door. I knocked and waited.

‘Grace? Are you there?’

I knocked again, then opened the door slowly. ‘Hello? Grace?’ but the room was empty bar the scent of her perfume. I flicked off the light and pulled the door to as I continued on my way downstairs.

In the kitchen, I googled ‘kale chips’ and made them as nibbles before a dinner of roast salmon and stir-fried veg. For dessert, I’d sliced a load of fruit – well, she wanted healthy. We ate at eight.

‘This is really good,’ Grace said with her mouth full as we ate off plates balanced on our knees. We were catching up on the latest series of Cold Feet – a series we’d last watched back when we lived together. Grace pointed with her knife to the screen. ‘I don’t know why that guy can’t just get a job in a supermarket. I would if I were him. Anything to get an income.’

‘Yeah, I know, right,’ I said. ‘Speaking of jobs, tell me all about yours.’

‘Ah, right, well I’m going to be a GP in an Urgent Care Emergency Department,’ Grace said, and that sounded interesting, so I paused the show.

‘Like, critical care stuff? Road accidents, stabbings and…?’

‘Yes, I guess.’ She shrugged. ‘Whatever comes through the door. But there’ll also be walk-ins – probably a lot of those. You know: chest pains, strokes, falls, broken bones.’

‘Interesting.’

‘Yeah. No two days the same.’

‘And you get to save lives.’

Grace gave me a funny look. ‘Well, yes. That’s why I went into medicine. But you can save a life in the GP’s office as well, by diagnosing something like high blood pressure and treating it; or by getting someone to change their habits to beat diabetes. It doesn’t all have to be blood and guts to be life-saving.’

‘I guess,’ I said, nodding. ‘How many lives do you think you’ve saved already? In your career to date, I mean?’ I asked.

Grace laughed. ‘I couldn’t say.’

‘I mean, like, hundreds? Thousands?’

‘Well, in an indirect way – like I said just now – thousands for sure. Maybe tens of thousands.’