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Someone knocked on the door. The doctor answered and the door opened. A nurse leaned in.

‘Mrs. Shapton’s been taken back to the ward,’ the nurse said. ‘She’s awake and asking for someone called Roy.’

‘Is that you?’ the doctor asked.

Jacob shook his head, then opened his bag and took out the toy dog.

‘This is Roy,’ he said.

The doctor just sighed. ‘That poor woman,’ he said.

Nora was sitting up in bed. As the doctor led Jacob in, she looked up and frowned. Jacob, starting to sweat, started to back away, worried that his presence was upsetting her. Then her eyes suddenly widened, and a smile appeared on her face.

‘Roy! Oh, Roy! You’re here!’

Jacob came forward, gently placing the dog into Nora’s arms. She leaned back in the pillows, cradling the dog, fingers running over his back. The doctor exchanged a look with Jacob, then waved him to a chair.

‘Why don’t you sit with her a bit?’ he said.

‘Sure.’

Jacob sat down, pulling the chair a little out from the bed, still nervous about being too close. After all, he knew next to nothing about this woman, and to her, he was a stranger. He watched her as she cooed over the dog, the way her prior confusion seemed to pass as she found comfort in something familiar.

In his pocket, his phone buzzed, and he suddenly remembered Aunt Marjorie’s request for milk. He pulled out his phone, only for the battery to die halfway through typing her a message.

A clock on the wall said a quarter to one. The wake was due to start at one o’clock.

‘I just need to pop out for a bit,’ he said to Nora, who gave him a sleepy nod. ‘I’ll be back later, I promise.’

‘Roy will need to go out,’ Nora muttered. Then, to Jacob’s relief, she drifted off to sleep.