Jamie wondered. Maybe it wasn’t so complicated at all. All he trying to do was build a home with his girlfriend – his future wife – and their unborn child. And the Newtons were, for whatever reason, trying to spoil it. Maybe it was a simple issue. Maybe Mike was right, even if he did term it in such an outmoded way. It was his duty to protect Kirsty and their nest. So far he had failed. Although Kirsty seemed calm now (too calm?) and happy about their forthcoming wedding, she had been through a lot recently, from the day of Paul’s accident onwards. Jamie didn’t buy into all that macho crap, but maybe, sometimes, there was a need to.

He looked up at Mike, who, apparently reading Jamie’s mind, said, ‘I know what I’d do.’

He slammed his fist into his palm.

Jamie left work early and headed straight to the hospital. He wanted to talk to Paul, to see what he thought. After his chat with Mike, his concentration had been shot: all he could of think of was Mike saying, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ and the way he had punched his palm. He wanted to ask Paul his opinion.

He found his friend sitting up in bed, flicking boredly through a copy of FHM. He put the magazine down when Jamie entered the room. He looked much better than he had the day he had woken up. A shade of colour had returned to his cheeks. Doctor Meer had told Jamie that Paul’s recovery was the quickest and most complete he had ever seen. He was responding well to physiotherapy, he appeared to have suffered no memory loss and all his mental faculties were intact. It was all good news.

‘All alone?’ Jamie asked, pulling up a chair.

Paul frowned. ‘Heather’s just gone to the loo. She needed some tissues to dry her eyes.’

Jamie looked at him quizzically.

‘We just split up. I told her I thought it was for the best.’

Jamie was shocked. ‘Why?’

‘She was getting on my nerves. She’s here all the time, fussing and carrying on. God, the other day she even mentioned the possibility of us getting married. We were only together for a few days before my accident, for Christ’s sake, and from what I remember it wasn’t that great anyway. She’s pretty crap in bed. Just lies there and expects you to do all the work, if you know what I mean.’

‘But you seemed really happy together. That day at the go-kart track…’

‘Did we? I don’t remember.’

‘And you’d fancied her for ages. You said she was really sexy and lovely and that you wouldn’t stand a chance with someone like her.’

‘Well, I changed my mind. She was getting on my tits, so I chucked her. She’ll get over it.’