“Those flowers outside in the hall, the fragrance. So distinctive. They’re narcissi.” Lucy had returned her attention to them. “Do you know if a friend left them for me? I can’t understand how they can be there. Spring jonquils in autumn? Although they used to come out under my bedroom window in the middle of winter, in Sydney.”

“You’ve a good nose! They come from Liberty’s florist. They always have things out of season. They’re just a small apology for missing the show. You can’t have them in here, but I’m pleased you like them. They’re a token of a new spring, Lucy. They can follow you back to your room in a day or two. Now I must let you stop talking and get more rest. I’ll try and come back—unless I’m called to the other hospital.”

And he too was gone. Lucy thought over the significance of him buying her the flowers, and she labored through the haze of her drugs to understand why it meant so much to her. Was that a bit out of the ordinary? But she cautiously retreated from this dangerous zone. She was his patient; he was just one of her consultants. He was exactly as charming and kind to every patient, which she knew very well. He’d brought her roommate, Mrs. Morris, a book last week, and a senior nurse a Cymbidium for her birthday the week before. And Lucy rarely risked her feelings for anyone, in any case. If she weren’t in control, she’d walk the other way. But she let her senses swim in the scented air, in a dreamlike web of semisleep, at the end of a rainbow.

THE MOOD IN THE FLAT SEEMED SOMBER AND HEAVY, BUT A LIGHT BREEZE moved the curtain in front of an open window. It was an incongruously beautiful late September day with sunshine streaming in, and the fragrance of some white peonies placed on the piano carried to Siân, inert on the couch. She covered her ears as the phone rang again and Calvin, coffee mug in hand, quickly crossed the floor from the small kitchen to answer.

“Hello? Look, I’m sorry. Thanks for your condolences. I’ll tell her you called. She’s just not up to coming to the phone yet.” He listened for another moment and then interrupted the caller. “Yes, if you want to know the arrangements for Friday, you could call his brother.” Calvin reeled off a phone number and said goodbye in record time.

Siân’s blotched face looked up gratefully. “You’re sweet to handle all this for me. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe it’s knocked me this hard. How does word get out so fast?”