Greg has broken all ties with his family and refuses to see them. I continually registered my concern with Nat that sleeping on park benches, or indeed in squats, between treatments is not conducive to complete recovery. Nat fully agrees with me and, much to Greg’s dismay, he still sees Greg’s distraught parents, who firmly believe that their son’s “anarcho cronies” are “signing his death warrant”. As he did with the band, Nat has set himself up as a type of middleman, not fully trusted by either side, but the only person with access to both parties.

Greg is convinced that it was his parents’ attitude which elicited his illness in the first place. This sudden, devastating unleashing of anger is very common and understandable with life-threatening illnesses. It is a particularly ubiquitous occurrence with “the big C”.

Nat simply cannot fulfil the self-appointed dual role of consoling Greg’s family whilst remaining loyal to his friend. He seeks advice but I cannot offer any. And what of his life outside these embroilments? Nothing.

SUN DEC 19

Nat’s band have been rehearsing music for an album, under Greg’s brave insistence. Fortunately, the new material is a lot slower than usual, but Greg still needs a great deal of rest between songs. Gigs, of course, are out of the question, which is a little sad as the band have been offered some choice concerts of late. Nat believes this to be out of a morbid interest in Greg’s condition which, many rumours would have it, is dead. It is Greg who is the most alarmed by his own appearance. Many people cope admirably with the side-effects of chemotherapy; hair falling out etc. Greg, however, seems to find them more distressing than the disease itself.

SUN JAN 23

Greg has been in and out of hospital, conforming rigidly to the regime of chemotherapy. He was glad he did not have to spend Christmas on the ward. Nat speaks of Greg’s life as if it were his own. One has to pry with unremitting fortitude in order to unravel the barest glimpses of his own daily routine. Nat is doing artwork for the proposed album, which he says the anarchist studio will be releasing. I am not so confident since reading about the studio’s latest offering in The Times: apparently it was a vicious condemnation of the government’s handling of the Falklands crisis. Questions pertaining to the “obscene phonographic recording” were raised in the House. Who will issue Nat’s records if the anarchist studio gets taken to the cleaners, I wonder? Philips? It was good to see Nat laugh.