Oliver hesitates. His head and his heart battling it out. His heart wins. ‘Not today, we need time to settle Adam in.’ They don’t, but Anna looks fit to drop. He knows she’ll push herself through it but he really wants her to get some rest. ‘In the morning though.’

On the way to the hospital, Anna dozes, her head resting against Nell’s shoulder. Nell keeps a palm pressed to Anna’s cheek so her head doesn’t loll when the car turns a corner. The Institute’s private ambulance follows them. Oliver feels his excitement beginning to brew.

But that’s until they reach the hospital.

Until they walk into Adam’s room.

Chapter Forty-One

Anna

My glare is steely. ‘Dr Acevedo, what do you mean I can’t take Adam? He’s my husband!’

‘And my patient.’ Dr Acevedo doesn’t look away. ‘I don’t think it’s in Adam’s best interests to be moved.’

‘You think he’s going to wake up imminently then?’

‘In my experience Adam’s chance of recovering is—’

‘3 per cent, yes, I know. It shouldn’t matter if I move him then, should it?’

‘Anna—’

‘Mrs Curtis.’

‘Mrs Curtis. I’m familiar with Oliver—’

‘Dr Chapman,’ I correct. I’m behaving terribly but I can’t help it.

‘I’m familiar with Dr Chapman’s work and while I commend his research into neurological disease, I can tell you now what’s in Adam’s mind. Nothing.’

He’s always been more pessimistic than I’d like, but his opinion is still a punch to the gut.

I glance at Adam. When I had sat by his bedside talking to him, I had longed for him to be able to hear me but now I hope he isn’t listening to this.

‘Dr Acevedo.’ Oliver steps in. ‘I can return with the Institute’s solicitor if you’d prefer, but can we perhaps talk outside?’ He pushes his glasses nervously onto the bridge of his nose. I don’t hold out any hope that he can talk Dr Acevedo around but when they come back into the room, Dr Acevedo has Adam’s release papers and a pen. My hand is quivering. It takes me three attempts to scrawl my signature.

‘You’re doing the right thing,’ Nell says.

Adam is wheeled along the corridor, with me once again trotting at his side. This time the doctors from the Institute are speaking in English, chatting to me, trying to put me at ease. It’s so different to when we arrived, but the fear… the fear is still the same.

Am I going to lose him?

Once Adam is settled at the Institute, I return to the apartment to pack our things.

‘You do think I’m doing the right thing?’ I ask Nell for the hundredth time as we eat our last dinner together.

‘Absolutely. I was reading this thing online—’