Kira follows in Jake’s wake, collecting up the glasses before they both disappear through the living-room door. Thirty seconds later I hear the clunk of the dishwasher door being pulled over and the clash-clang of plates, glasses and saucepans being roughly stacked. Since Mark and Jake’s argument they’ve pretty much avoided each other. They’ve been cordial but any warmth between them has gone.

‘Good dinner, love,’ Mark says as the stairs creak under the weight of Jake and Kira’s steps as they disappear up to their bedroom.

I wait until the sound of footsteps on the landing fades away before I speak.

‘Mark?’

He grunts in reply. Neither of us has mentioned the fact that I went to Wilkinson & Son earlier today. When he got in from work I was peeling veg in the kitchen. He gave me a perfunctory kiss on the forehead and then, just as I was about to tell him about my day, he went upstairs to get changed. We haven’t had a moment alone since.

‘I heard back from the doctor’s today.’

His eyes remain fixed on the flickering screen directly in front of him. ‘Did you?’

‘The test results are back. From my blackout.’

The programme he’s watching freezes onscreen as he hits the pause button. ‘Oh?’

‘The receptionist couldn’t tell me whether they’re good or bad, just that I need to discuss them with the doctor. And I’ve got to wait until next week for an appointment.’

‘Next week? Bloody hell. Well, it can’t be anything serious. I’m sure they’d see you quicker than that if it was something to worry about.’ He studies my face. ‘You’re worried, aren’t you?’

‘I’m scared it’ll happen again.’

‘Oh, love.’ He grunts as he pushes himself up and out of his armchair. I half-rise, hoping he’ll give me a hug. Instead he slumps onto the sofa beside me and rests a heavy hand on my knee. ‘You haven’t said anything about it so I assumed you were coping.’

I almost smile. It won’t have crossed his mind to ask me how I feel about what happened. Once the A&E doctor gave me the all-clear and Mark realized I was in no immediate danger he filed the experience away in a box in his head marked Claire amnesia episode and then went to work the next day. Because I haven’t mentioned it since there’s been no need for him to reopen the box. It must be so nice to live in his black-and-white world where you only have to react when people tell you there’s something to react to, when you don’t spend your whole life second-guessing how the people you love feel.

‘I didn’t want to worry you.’