Drawing in a ragged breath, Jason nods slowly. ‘I … was lonely,’ he admits, now sounding as defeated as I feel. ‘I didn’t know how to be without my family. Didn’t want to be. Don’t want to be. Please… climb down. I’m begging you.’

‘Seems to me that you did,’ I point out. ‘You were going to teach me to skydive, do you remember?’ I add pointedly. ‘And sail and windsurf and abseil. We were going to go on adventure holidays. Didn’t you tell me we would always stay invested in each other; that we were going to scale mountains together, you and I?’

Jason swallows hard. ‘Yes,’ he says ashamedly.

‘I like the idea of the Andes, in Peru.’ I fix my gaze hard on his. ‘Do you?’

‘I do.’ Jason kneads his eyes with his forefinger and thumb. ‘I’d very much like to climb those mountains with you. You’re my wife, Karla. The mother of my children. Please come down. Holly and Josh would very much like to see you.’

‘Would they?’

I doubt this. Poor, sensitive little Josh is scared of the monster, and Holly positively hates her.

‘They would,’ Jason says, his voice tight with emotion. ‘They don’t want to wake up crying in the night any more, Karla. Please, for them, climb down.’

I focus on him, my heart thrumming wildly as I try to read his expression – to see whether he might really want me, his imperfect wife – and then I tear my gaze up sharply.

‘Mummy!’ Holly screams, staring aghast at me from the street. ‘Come down, Mummy – please.’

She’s crying. My baby. She needs me! ‘I’m coming, sweetheart.’ I push my hands against the ledge, the heels of my shoes scuffing for purchase as I attempt to lever myself up. ‘I’m—’ But my words are lost on the wind. My heart flips as my hand slips, and my scream is drowned out by the sudden wail of a siren.

I feel my bones move jarringly as I land. The thud, it’s softer than I thought it would be. I feel nothing at first, and then a tingling sensation through my body, but it doesn’t hurt as much as I imagined it would. I can’t see very much past the blinding white light. Snapping teeth with sharp, jagged edges dance across my vision.

Concussion, Sarah whispers.

I hear, though, my husband weeping; feel his warm breath next to my cheek. He has me, his strong arms gently encircling me. ‘You caught me,’ I whisper, incredulous, because somehow, I realise, he must have.

‘I let you fall,’ Jason murmurs. ‘I should never have… I am so sorry. So, so sorry.’

Shh. ‘I know.’ I try to reach out to him, but things don’t quite seem to be functioning. ‘So, would you swim the Irish…’ I stop, emit a short, sharp cough, and swallow back the metallic taste in my throat.