‘The thing is …’ he paused again. ‘Well, you were so kind to say I could phone you … and I didn’t know who else I could tell … but, well … the thing is, I finally threw Irene’s toothbrush out yesterday. And today it isn’t in the bathroom, and I really feel she is never coming back …’ I could hear his voice breaking with emotion, and I remembered his bewildered face, back on the ward the morning she died.
