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drive off on your own, especially given the bad condition of the roads. I'm off duty now, so it's no problem. I can take you home.'
    Her senses were too numbed for her to be able to think clearly, but she managed to ask, 'What about my car? I'll need it for work.'
    He held the door open for her and ushered her through into the corridor. 'You don't need to think about that now. You should take some time off so that you can be with your sister.'
    'Thank you for that.' She frowned. 'But I'll need my car. I'll need to get back here.'
    'I'll pick you up and bring you. Are you going to be staying at your father's house?'
    She thought about that. 'I'm not sure,' she said at last. 'It could be unsettling for Jamie if we move him yet again, but it might be better for my father to have company for the next day or so.'
    He nodded. 'I imagine that you'll all want to be together.'
    They walked out of the hospital and a few minutes later they approached his car in the parking bay. It was a gleaming silver model, streamlined and expensive-looking, and she guessed that it reflected all the effort and ambition that had brought him to his position as consultant. It just went to confirm her view of him. They were worlds apart. She would never be in his league.
    He helped her into the passenger seat and then went around to the driver's side and started up the engine. She leaned back, encouraged by the luxury of the upholstered interior and comforted by the cocoon of warmth and elegance that surrounded her.
    She didn't speak. She was in denial, refusing to accept any of this. Words dried up in her throat and she felt as though she was choking on the sheer futility of what had happened. None of this was real. It wasn't possible that her life could change so much in the blink of an eye.
    Mark's voice cut into the silence. 'Have you thought about what you're going to say to Jamie when you see him?' He sent her a sideways glance.
    She shook her head. 'No. I don't know how I'm going to break it to him.' She pressed her lips together to stop them from trembling. 'How do you tell a child that his parents have been in an accident and they might not survive or that if they do, they might not be the same as they once were? I can't bring myself to do it. He's only four years old. He's too young to have to go through this.'
    'You'll need to think it through, though, won't you?' he persisted. 'We'll be there soon. He'll be asking questions.'
    Why was he provoking her this way, making her think of things she would rather push to one side? A hot tide of rebellion rose up in her. 'Do you think I don't know that?' The words came out more sharply than she had intended and she instantly regretted her tone, but she felt as though she was lacerated inside and every innocuous word became a criticism or a comment on her unworthiness, her helplessness. 'You have to understand. . .this has all happened so quickly. I'm still struggling to take it all in.' She didn't want to think. She wanted to let all of this pass over her as though she were caught up in a dream and in the morning none of it would matter.
    'I know it must be hard for you,' he said, his grey eyes probing her face, 'but I think you need to prepare yourself. You need to start thinking about how you're going to tackle the problem. Jamie is very young, as you say, and he'll soon pick up on any nuances.'
    He drew up outside the nursery-school building and Sarah sat for a moment, willing herself to move, to take those few steps that would take her to Jamie. Mark said nothing more, giving her time to get herself together, and after a while she released her seat belt and made to clamber out of the car.
    'Do you want me to come with you?' he asked.
    'No. Thank you, but he might be confused if you do that.'
    She walked into the building and found Jamie getting himself ready to go home, shrugging into his coat and gathering up the pictures he wanted to take home to his mother.
    'Nantie Sarah,' he said, his face