Only one visitor was allowed at a time into the ICU, and Jill had to keep her visits brief. Each time she arrived, her breath would catch at the sight of her daughter-in-law’s bruised face, sunken cheeks and the square patch where they’d shaved her hair on the side of her head.

‘I found out today that Violet’s going to be okay,’ Jill told her now. ‘She’d taken opioids . . . must have been right before the accident. She told the doctors that she thought they were her mum’s sweets. Scary stuff. But she’s recovering well. The drugs are out of her system and she’s only been left with a few broken ribs and some nasty bruises from the accident. Kids can be very resilient, thank goodness. Apparently Heather has gone into rehab and Violet’s been placed in the care of her grandparents. So that’s good news. She’s safe and well.’

Jill looked at Andrea’s face, hoping for some sign that she could hear her, that she was going to come back. But there was nothing.

‘Will you forgive me?’ Jill went on. ‘When you wake up and hear about the horrendous things Tony’s done? When you hear that a part of me always suspected something wasn’t right? Will you forgive me for not speaking up sooner? Pete and Mimi haven’t, and I don’t blame them. But could you?’

She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see a nurse walking in.

‘It’s hard having that one-sided conversation, isn’t it?’ the nurse said as she headed around to the other side of Andrea’s bed and started checking her vitals. ‘But it’s good that you’re doing it. You just never know what she might be able to hear and take in.’

Jill nodded and tried to give the nurse a friendly smile. She wanted to say that a one-sided conversation was no problem at all for her. She’d been doing it all year in her letters to Frank with no chance of a reply. But she didn’t say anything. She just waited quietly until the nurse had finished her checks and left.

Once they were alone again, Jill gave Andrea’s hand a sudden and tight squeeze. ‘Just wake up,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t care if it means you have to face so much tragedy. That you’ll have to learn you’ve lost your husband. Or about the terrible things Tony’s done. I want you to wake up.’

There were more footsteps then and this time Jill turned to see Darren standing in the doorway watching her.

‘Hey Mum, sorry to interrupt.’

‘You’re not interrupting,’ said Jill. ‘It’s good to see you.’ And a relief to have someone in this family who’s still talking to me. ‘I’ll leave if you want to come in. We’re not supposed to both stay in here together.’