‘I left an urgent message, but she hasn’t got back to me,’ he said tiredly.

‘Try her again. She should be here.’

Dr Stott referring to Michael as ‘your husband’ had been unsettling. Yes, he was technically that, but Anezka – whom Romy had yet to meet – was really the person they should be talking to about his treatment. Or Leo … Rex if he were in the country. Because by leaving Michael, she had pretty much abdicated all responsibility for him.

Leo pulled his phone from his pocket, punched in a contact. After a moment with the mobile pressed to his ear, he shook his head. ‘It’s Leo again, Anezka. Please ring me. It’s really urgent.’

He clicked off, but his phone rang immediately.

‘Hi …’ He frowned, clearly taken aback by what he was hearing. ‘OK, no, I understand … No … Anezka, listen, for God’s sake. Dad’s had a stroke. He’s in hospital. They say he’s critical.’

After a further short exchange, Leo clicked off and widened his eyes at his mother. ‘Bloody hell.’

‘What?’

‘She and Dad had a terrible row yesterday evening, apparently. She says she dumped him. When she saw I’d called, she assumed Dad had asked me to mediate.’

‘Like your father would ever do that,’ Romy muttered. Then she realized what her son said. ‘She dumped him?’

Leo nodded. ‘Sounded really upset … But she’s coming in now, anyway.’

Romy wasn’t sure what to do. ‘Maybe I should go, if Anezka’s on her way.’ She saw her son’s look of alarm and hurried on, ‘She’s his partner now, Leo … This row they had, it’s probably nothing. Won’t it be a bit weird, both of us sitting by his bedside?’

‘You can’t leave us, Mum. Please. Don’t you want to be here for Dad?’

‘Yes, of course I do,’ she said wretchedly. Which was true. She couldn’t imagine leaving him when it wasn’t certain he would live. And she would never leave her son to cope alone. But she was apprehensive.

‘Anezka won’t mind,’ Leo was saying. ‘She’s cool … Well, she’s very far from cool, actually. She’s feisty and takes no prisoners – leads Dad a proper dance, is my guess. But I’m sure she won’t mind you being here.’

Romy was not convinced, but she wasn’t going to argue. ‘We should get back,’ she said, finishing her coffee.

Leo nodded and they rose to their feet.