Fanshawe stood and with a brief sympathetic smile for Molly, he and Carstairs left the room. Edel shut the door firmly behind them, took a handful of paper tissues from a box and put them into Molly’s free hand. ‘I’ll be back in a jiffy,’ she said and vanished.

When she returned, there was a metal tray in her hand. ‘This will help,’ she said, putting it down on the bedside locker and injecting something into the intravenous bung in Molly’s left hand. ‘There you go,’ Edel said, soothingly, adjusting the drip and standing back. ‘You’ll feel better in a minute.’

Molly hoped the nurse was right.

When Molly woke, the hypnotic beep from the monitor was once again reassuring. She opened her eyes slowly and glanced around the room, half-expecting to see Jack, unsure whether to be relieved or upset to see she was alone. A sigh made her wince slightly and reach a hand to hold her chest. Ah yes, she’d a vague memory of being told she’d broken a rib. She moved all her limbs one by one, feeling a lot of aches especially on her right side, but no severe pain. Whatever the nurse had given her had worked. Apart from the monitor, the room was quiet. Molly felt calm and drifted back to sleep.

When she woke again, she lay with her eyes shut, wondering if she could stay where she was until everything was sorted and her life had returned to normal. Expecting the room to be empty, she was surprised when she eventually opened her eyes to see Jack sitting in a chair beside the bed. He was slumped down, tie askew. She took in the pallor, the dark circles under his eyes, the angles on his cheek that were becoming more noticeable.

He looked worse than she felt.

When she saw the stubble on his chin, she wondered how long she’d been there and looked around for the time. It was on the bottom right corner of the monitor screen. 7am. She’d slept the afternoon and night away. Whatever the nurse had given her had worked; she wished she could take it with her, she hadn’t felt so good in a long time. Drug-induced euphoria, it probably wouldn’t last for long. She frowned. Everything was a blur, but she had a vague idea that the police had called to see her yesterday. She was still trying to puzzle it out when Jack opened his eyes and saw her awake.

‘Thank God,’ he said, moving over and taking her hand.

She squeezed his fingers and managed a reassuring smile. ‘Have you been sitting there all night? I’m okay, Jack, honest. A broken rib, and lots of bruises, that’s all.’