As she reached the main road, she stopped and wondered where she should go first. Five years was a long time not to be behind the wheel, and yet she was easing back into the driving seat seemingly with no problems. The controls made it so much easier, and she found that there was no need to rely on her stiff prosthetic hand. Ricky had been on her mind for a few days. Gloria had kept her up to date with all that had been going on. Zara made it clear she didn’t want to talk about Mike, and Gloria, ever the diplomat, just stuck to conversations regarding Ricky. Now, with the news that Ricky was recovering, Zara felt the urge to pay him a brief visit to let him know she was thinking about him and not ignoring the dreadful ordeal that he’d endured.

With the aid of the on-board cameras, she reversed the Mercedes expertly into a fairly tight space in the hospital car park and made her way over to the ward. Inside her bag was a small sentimental gift, a gold signature bracelet that had the word ‘BRAVE’ inscribed on it.

The ward was quiet as it was too early for visitors, yet Zara knew Ricky had a private room and hoped the nurses wouldn’t mind her just popping in. The staff were too busy to notice, though, so she made her way along a well-lit corridor, carefully checking the names on the last two private rooms located at the end of the hospital wing.

Ricky was propped up, looking through his phone. The tablets hadn’t kicked in, and he was busy on the internet trying to find out how to speed up his recovery.

‘Hello,’ she whispered from the doorway.

Ricky’s face lit up. ‘Come in, Zara.’

He put the phone away and gestured for her to take a seat. Looking her up and down, he was surprised to find her wearing a pink soft woollen tracksuit and trainers. It was a very different look from her normal dark fitted clothes that always gave her an edge. Today, she looked more mumsy. It actually suited her to a T.

‘Oh no, I won’t stay. I just wanted to see how you were doing, and I’ve brought you something.’

‘It’s good to see you, Zara. You can’t guess how much I’ve missed you.’

Zara felt a lump in her throat. She hadn’t really had a chance to get to know Ricky, even though she’d spent years trying to track him down. Unbeknown to her, he’d been carted off by that bitch of a mother. But, in a way, the experience had made the connection between them all the more special.

‘Here, I thought you might like . . . well, it’s just a little thing. Maybe it’s a bit old-fashioned, really, but, anyway, I wanted you to have something from me.’