‘And given your sister is nearly seventeen, that puts us on the right side of the line, doesn’t it?’ Her pen hovers over her clipboard.

‘Yeah,’ I mutter into my shirt, shivering as I look down at my legs, white stumps poking out below the hem of my skirt. If I couldn’t feel my feet I’d look like Captain Perv himself. I jump as the nurse’s chair squeaks, on wheels too for some reason, even though she’s still got her own legs.

‘Would you roll up your sleeve for me? I’ll just need to check your blood pressure.’

I shrug off my blazer and unbutton my cuff, staring at the little silver wheels on the bottom of her chair legs. She can’t honestly believe Rach is my sister, can she? The machine on my arm hisses and sighs as she opens a drawer full of small, white cardboard boxes.

‘You can put that back on now,’ the nurse says, pointing at my blazer as she rests a box in her lap.

I look up at her as I finish doing up my buttons. She’s just sitting there, waiting.

‘Thanks,’ I mumble, trying not to meet her eyes. ‘Is that it, then? You’ll give it to me?’

‘Are you sure you feel well enough to take it? Your sister says you’ve had a nasty stomach bug. It’s like the pill itself, it won’t work if you throw it up. When’s the last time you were sick?’

I stare past her at the files stacked against the wall, willing them to just crash over.

‘Carly? Are you sure you’re OK, love?’

I jump as she rests a hand on my leg. I can’t speak, words thick and stuck in my mouth, tears pricking at my eyes as I hang my head. My stupid, useless throat. No one could put anything that far down without it making them sick, could they? Half the girls in school use their own fingers, for fuck’s sake. So how am I supposed to manage other people’s pieces?93

‘Not since yesterday morning,’ Rach says. I don’t dare look up. ‘Right, Carls? She was awful sick but she’s OK now.’ Her chair scrapes as she fidgets.

‘Could you give us a moment, Rachel? There’s a chair down the corridor outside where you’ll be comfortable.’

‘She’s alright, aren’t you, Carls? Nothing you can say to her that you can’t say to me—’

‘It’s just down the hall,’ the nurse interrupts, hand squeezing my leg, somehow warm and cool at the same time. ‘She’ll be out in a moment, don’t worry.’

I hold my breath, clock ticking into the silence before a particularly big scrape, then a slamming door. My leg stays warm even as the nurse takes away her hand.

‘Would you like some water, Carly?’