‘Sort of. Not really,’ I say. I want to be magically transported home to my bed and not have anyone look at me or be near me while I crunch in pain under a doona and cry. Which is how I often feel on the first few days of my period, but this pain is sharper and more intense than anything I’ve ever had before, and my period isn’t due.

‘Do you know what a stitch feels like?’ Jesse asks, which I find to be a very condescending question.

‘Yes, I know what stitch feels like. I played netball for years,’ I say. He’s not the only sporty one here. He doesn’t need to know my chief contribution to the team was making sure we had substitute players when people didn’t show up and paying the team fees on time.

He blinks and makes a noise in his throat in response to this, or maybe in response to my tone, which was snappy, and for a second I think he’s going to turn and continue on with his run, and panic fills my chest. But he squats down next to me.

‘I’m trying to help you,’ he says, in a gentle voice. ‘I know you said you never wanted my help again, but I think you need it.’ Now he kind of sounds like he’s talking to a frightened dog.

‘It’s not a stitch,’ I say to him. I am trying to sound firm and authoritative, but my voice has an edge of desperation now.

‘Is it a sharp pain or a dull pain?’ he says.

‘It was dull when I woke up this morning and now it’s sharp,’ I say. Kneeling isn’t giving me enough relief, so I lie down and press the painful side into the grass, and the pressure helps a bit.

Maybe it’s a UTI. A kidney stone. A blockage or a rupture in the small intestines. I remember reading an article where a man swallowed an Airpod in the night and I panic for a second until I remember that I don’t own Airpods. But could I have swallowed something else? Every medical show I’ve ever watched comes screaming into my mind. Maybe I’ve given myself a stomach ulcer through stress. How embarrassing. I’m still in my first semester of my first year. I haven’t even had any exams yet.

The pain is getting worse.

‘You look really pale. I think I should call someone,’ Jesse says, pulling out his phone.