Unable to sleep all night, Evie was up and dressed at dawn and asked Benny to drive her to the car ferry and on to the hospital in Butterworth. When she arrived, she found Arthur Leighton sitting in the corridor outside Doug’s room. Seeing Evie, he rushed towards her and wrapped her in his arms.

Evie stood rigid as a pole. To give in to her emotions, break down and be comforted by Arthur, would feel like an act of disloyalty to Doug. To be embraced, however innocently, as her husband lay dying a few feet away, was not something she could allow, no matter how much she longed to.

‘Have you seen him?’ she asked, pulling away.

Arthur shook his head. ’The doctors are in with him now.’

‘How did you know? When did you get here? I thought you were in Singapore.’

‘The bush telegraph travels fast. As soon as I heard what had happened, I drove up. I was in Klang so it wasn’t so far. I drove through the night. I got here about ten minutes ago. No one’s told me anything yet. Is he all right?’

‘No. He’s not all right,’ she snapped, nerves frayed. ‘If they don’t amputate his leg he’s going to die. He’s refused to let them. And it may already be too late.’ She crumpled into a chair and Arthur sat down beside her. He took her hand but she jerked it away. Seeing him there, his long legs whole inside their light flannel trousers, his skin tanned and healthy, made Evie want to scream.

‘Have you talked to him?’ Arthur asked.

‘Yes, but he won’t listen. Seems to think it’s better to die than to be without a leg. Never mind his children. Never mind me.’ She gave a groan of exasperation.

‘Would you like me to have a go? Maybe I can talk some sense into him.’

Evie was irritated. Why did he think he would have more influence than she had, when she was Doug’s wife? But anything had to be worth trying. And arguing with Arthur, who was, after all, Doug’s only friend, was not going to solve anything. She nodded, helpless and angry with the world.

The door opened and Dr Van Den Bergh emerged with another doctor. Evie jumped to her feet.

‘Mrs Barrington, can we have a word? This is my colleague Dr Fabian. He’s our expert in tropical medicine and infectious diseases.’ Seeing Evie hesitate, he added, ‘It won’t take long and afterwards you can see Mr Barrington.’

‘Would you like me to come with you?’ Arthur’s voice was tender and concerned.

She shook her head and followed the two medical men down the corridor and into an office.

It was Dr Fabian who spoke. ‘You need to prepare for the worst, Mrs Barrington. Your husband has deteriorated during the night. While we can’t confirm septicaemia until we have time for the blood cultures to show it, he has the symptoms. His breathing is rapid, he has a high fever and his blood pressure is dangerously low. He’s passing no water and there are signs that organ failure is beginning. It’s also possible that his kidneys were crushed in the impact of the fall and that is contributing to their failure.’