‘Not great. The physical injuries are bad enough, but the worst thing is how scared she is.’

‘And the children? Do they understand what’s happening?’

‘Don’t know. They’re so little and Aylin seems to be in the habit of hiding the truth from them. You know, like, Mummy fell down and hurt herself . . .’

‘And they pretend to believe her, to not make her even more sad. Children understand more than we think.’

‘Yep. But at least they’re asleep now. Sigrid showed them a bunch of new video games, stuffed them full of leftover Christmas chocolate and kept them distracted. They seem to think she’s the bee’s knees.’

‘They might be right about that,’ Karen says with a smile.

Before she can react, Leo puts his arm around her neck and pulls her close. He holds her tight for a few seconds before he lets her go.

‘I’ve never been so happy to see the fuzz,’ he says.

*

Aylin is lying on her side with her arm around her two children, and Karen is struck by how long it’s been since she’s seen them. Mikkel must be four by now and Tyra five. With a sad smile she remembers how desperately Aylin had wanted to become a mother after countless miscarriages in her previous relationship. How Bo Ramnes had turned her world upside down and knocked her up in less than six months. And how his appearance on the scene had meant Aylin gradually disappearing from their daily lives. They’d watched her struggle to keep in touch with them. They’d listened when she pleadingly explained that Bo did want to see them, but he was just so busy with work. Then she had stopped calling, stopped coming out for coffee or drinks, stopped going on weekend trips to Copenhagen or Edinburgh. Party invitations were politely turned down and more and more calls went straight to voicemail.

Even so, no one could have mistaken Aylin’s joy when Tyra was born and Karen, Eirik, Kore and Marike had visited her in the hospital without asking permission. That time, even Bo had been friendly, proudly showing off his daughter.

There had been other attempts at keeping their friendship alive after that. A couple of coffee dates in Dunker with Tyra in her pram, a harbourside lunch. And one dinner party at their house in Glitne, an awkward affair during which they all made polite conversation while pretending not to notice Bo’s disapproving looks at Kore’s tattooed arms against the white damask tablecloth. They had tried. And then Mikkel was born, an unexpected bonus just a year later. At thirty-nine years old, Aylin finally had everything she’d ever wanted.

Now, as she wakes up with a start, she looks as if she’s lost everything.