‘How long?’ Dexter said, finally breaking the silence.

‘What, how long have I had it or how long have I got left?’

‘How long have you had it. Dick.’

Caroline laughed. In one word, Dexter had both settled the atmosphere and cemented their friendship. ‘It was diagnosed a week before we moved up here. Stage two, so you’re not getting rid of me just yet.’

‘What… I mean, where…’

‘Ovarian. The lady bits.’

‘I know what ovaries are. In a parallel universe I’m a doctor, don’t forget.’ Dexter was silent for a moment. ‘That’s ages. Why didn’t you say anything?’

‘I didn’t think you were interested in my ovaries.’

‘I’m not, but I’m interested in you being okay.’

‘I’m fine.’

‘You’re not fine, you’ve got… You’re not well.’

‘It’s okay, Dex, you can say it. It’s cancer. I’ve got cancer. There you go. Said it. Done. It’s a perfectly normal thing, it’s being sorted, I’m going to be alright.’

‘Are they treating it?’

‘Paraplatin. Chemotherapy, basically. They did a few rounds of that to see if it’d shrink it enough to operate and remove the tumour, but it’s borderline apparently. They’re pushing for a bigger load of chemo and hoping that’ll do the trick.’

‘What about… I mean, I would’ve thought I’d notice the chemotherapy.’

‘Don’t worry, it’s not a wig,’ Caroline said, noticing his eyes flicking up towards her hairline. ‘Paraplatin rarely causes hair loss. I guess that’s why I… Christ, where is he? Maybe we should go inside and wait for him there.’

‘You didn’t tell Mark either, did you?’

‘What? That’s a crazy thing to say. Is this definitely the right pub? I spotted another one further up the road. Maybe we should check that one, just in case.’

‘That’s where you were the other day, isn’t it? When Mark came to drop off your lunch but you weren’t there. You had the day off and he didn’t know. You forgot your lunch because you weren’t going to work. You were going to the hospital.’

‘Dex, I think we should probably focus on the job in hand. This guy could turn up any minute.’

‘And that’s why you collapsed. You’ve been trying to carry on as normal so no-one notices anything’s wrong, but it didn’t work. You didn’t want people to think you couldn’t cope.’

‘I’m coping fine, Dex. In fact I’m the only one of us who’s focusing on what we’ve come here for.’

‘Why haven’t you told him?’

Caroline stayed silent for a few moments. There were no words that seemed right.

‘It’s not as simple as that,’ she said eventually. ‘I didn’t want to hurt them.’