‘Leave the safe search off,’ John said, after a moment. His tone had turned flat. Kate couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. ‘Life doesn’t have a filter, so why should the internet?’

‘Wonderful,’ Kate said. ‘Well, tonight I can show her The Exorcist and tomorrow we’ll watch all the Rambo movies.’

He didn’t laugh.

‘We try to protect the people we love from certain truths,’ he said. ‘But I’m not sure that’s always right, or fair. If we don’t talk about the monsters in this world, we won’t be ready for them when they jump out from under the bed.’

Kate had wanted very badly to reach through the screen and touch his face. What kind of monsters?

‘Are you alright, John?’ she asked.

‘I think so,’ he said. ‘I think I’m just ready to come home.’

‘Kate?’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Kate Keddie.’

‘Oh, Kate. John’s wife. Oh, jeez, it’s been a while, how are you?’

Chatveer Sandhu was the administrative assistant at the Trinity Health Centre for Palliative Care, where John worked as a physician.

‘I’m sorry to bother you,’ Kate said. ‘But I’m having a little trouble getting a hold of John and thought you’d be the best man to ask. I’m assuming his flight from London got changed or his schedule moved around and someone forgot to contact me?’

There was a pregnant pause, and Kate had to fight hard against the urge to fill it. She looked over at Mia, who was sitting in a plastic chair next to the information booth. Her eyes were desperate and sullen. Tears were welling in them.

‘Are you still there, Chat?’ Kate asked.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Sorry. I’m just … I’m not exactly sure what you’re asking.’

‘I’m at the airport and my husband isn’t.’

It seemed fairly straightforward to her, but after another brief moment of silence, Chatveer said, ‘I’m going to transfer you over to Holly. Hold the line for me.’

‘Transfer me? No, Chat, I just need—’

Too late. She was on hold. While she waited, she continued to bite her nails. She chewed too far, winced at the pain.

Classical music drifted down the line: Henryk Górecki’s ominous Symphony No. 3. One of John’s favourites. A neglected masterpiece, he called it. Before they were married, Kate had been happy to leave classical music to the pretentious intellectuals. She had felt far more comfortable in the company of Mariah Carey than of Claude Debussy. But after John spent a good part of their first date discussing Wolfgang Amadeus–this and Ludwig van–that, she had gone out the next day and bought a best-of-classical deluxe double CD collection and forced herself to listen to it. She liked it now – at least, she thought she did.