‘Get her home without me, and without any more questions. Wait for a car accident to come in or something, then grab her and run. No one’s going to bother chasing you if someone else is dying on the table. And then do as Rach tells you. I mean it. Just do as you’re told. And don’t call me again. You’ll see me soon enough, and we’ll talk then.’

My hand slips on the receiver as the line goes dead in my ear. I drop my head into my chest, arms limp by my sides, the blood rushing back into my hand making me feel giddy.

‘Carly?’ My head swims, cracks in the tiles on the floor moving like worms.

‘Help me with her,’ I hear the doctor say, arms looping around my sides, folding me into a nearby chair. A hand rakes my hair over my head as it lolls onto my chest.

‘Come on, girl,’ he says, patting my cheeks, pushing my head back on to my neck. I open my eyes to find him and the nurse staring down at me, heads cocked together in a heart shape. I drift for a moment. Maybe this is what having two parents would look like. Maybe…

‘Did you get hold of your sister, love?’

The nurse’s face hangs soft and pillowy over my head.

‘There’s a sister?’ From this angle, the doctor’s eyebrows are up in his hair.

‘Yes,’ she says. ‘Rachel, isn’t it?’ I gaze up at her. ‘Perhaps she’s able to come help with Kayleigh. If your brother is stuck?’

The doctor gapes, looking back and forth between us. I clear my throat as Nurse Govern nods at me. 134

‘She’s … she’s been at work all day,’ I say slowly. The nurse keeps nodding as I look between them. ‘She works in a shop, I didn’t think I’d be able to get hold of her. I’ll try her now. She’s … she’s seventeen…’

‘Good,’ she says, head wagging. ‘And I’m sure she’ll be straight over, won’t she?’

She holds out a hand to help me up, like last time it’s both warm and cool as it closes over mine.

The doctor sighs, hands on his hips as he looks at the floor.

‘You’ll let me know when she’s here, will you?’ he says as the nurse pulls me to my feet. I keep my hand in hers as we look at him.

‘Of course,’ she says, squeezing my hand. ‘I’m sure she won’t be long.’

I don’t dare look back at him as she leads me over to the phone again.

‘How did you find me?’ I say as she passes me the receiver with her free hand, still holding on to my other one.