‘Would you be able to keep my name off the test? Could you get it analysed anonymously?’ Adrian asked.

He wanted to know who had done this to him, but he still didn’t want anyone to know what had happened.

‘I could process as a John Doe. All you would be is a serial number. I can process the kit through the crisis centre.’

‘You would do that?’

‘I would.’

‘OK, then do it,’ Adrian said.

He didn’t have to use the evidence right away. There might not even be any, but if there was, he instinctively wanted to preserve it. So many victims of sexual assault change their mind about prosecuting after allowing themselves time to heal. He would hate to think he destroyed any evidence and any chance of catching the people who did this to him. Even if he couldn’t face going after them this week or even this month, it could happen and if it did, he wanted to have as much information as possible.

She opened a drawer in her desk and he heard the rustling of a plastic bag before feeling her hand on his hip again. The swab didn’t hurt, even though he had braced himself for pain.

‘You can get up now,’ Dr Hadley said when she was done.

Adrian got up and put his trousers back on, every breath a struggle.

‘What’s the verdict?’

‘I’ll prescribe you some lidocaine ointment. Things should ease up after a couple of days. Although you have sustained a lot of injuries there, none of them are going to require anything more than time to heal. The lidocaine should help, but for the most part you just need to be careful for a while.

‘The fissures in your anus are mostly superficial, even if there are a lot of them. I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but you got lucky. Those injuries are as close as it gets to serious without being anything other than painful and inconvenient. A little more force and you could have needed emergency surgery.’

‘So, I just keep using the ointment?’ he said, blocking out the rest of her words, still struggling to believe he was even in this situation.

‘Yes, they should be completely healed in around four weeks, but you should regain full mobility a lot sooner. I’ll also prescribe you some proper painkillers.’

‘You’ll keep this between us?’ he asked.

‘I’ve put something innocuous in the file to explain the treatments I’m prescribing. The medication really needs to be documented on your records, in case you have an adverse reaction or need to take any other medication that may not be compatible with it. It’s for your safety.’

‘Thank you.’

‘I’ll get that sample processed as soon as I can. It could take a while,’ she said. ‘How are you feeling?’