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'Yes, you're right.' She nodded, a faint, almost imperceptible movement of her head. 'I know I must go and fetch him. I just wanted to be with Hannah for as long as possible.'

'I understand.' He patted her hand, an abstracted, instinctive gesture. He looked devastated, as though his world had collapsed. 'I'll stay here with her in case she should wake up. I'll call you if there's any change.'

'Thanks.' Sarah pressed her lips together in an awkward movement. How on earth was she going to tell Jamie what had happened to his parents? Her eyes blurred with the sheen of tears. 'This is all a nightmare. I keep thinking that I'm going to wake up at any minute.'

'You're in shock,' her father said. 'We all are.'

She nodded bleakly and started to move away from the bed. Hannah was in the best of hands, she knew that, but it was a wrench to leave her all the same.

As for Ryan, he was in Intensive Care, still unresponsive after his surgery, and it weighed heavily on her that he might not pull through. She hadn't been skilled enough or quick-thinking enough as a doctor to ensure the outcome. The surgeon had done his best, but Ryan had slipped into a coma, and she couldn't help feeling that it was her fault. Was there something she had missed, something that she could have done to ensure his recovery? His head injury had seemed innocuous at the time, but the surgeon had removed a clot that had threatened his brain. Should she have acted sooner?

In a daze she started to move away from the bed. She needed to find her bag and her coat, but her brain didn't seem to be working properly and it felt as though a cold mist had infiltrated her mind and taken over.

She was aware of Mark speaking quietly to her father, explaining Hannah's condition to him and advising him of what was being done for her. Her father was a doctor, and he knew how bad the situation was, but even so it seemed to help him to have Mark carefully outline the steps that were being taken to look after his daughter.

After a moment or two Sarah started towards the door. Her steps were halting, as though her feet were unwilling to leave the room. Mark left her father's side and came over to her.

'I'll go with you,' he said, taking her by the arm.

'There's no need—' she started to say, but he took no notice of her objections.

'I don't think you're in any state to drive,' he said flatly. 'You're very pale and it's obvious that you've had a bad shock. I wouldn't feel that I was doing the right thing if I let you 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 lighting up as he saw her. He never could get his tongue around the word 'Auntie' and it had become his name for her, Nantie Sarah. She smiled at him.

'Where's Mummy?' he wanted to know. He looked around eagerly, frowning when he couldn't see her.

'She's.. .poorly,' Sarah told him. 'Mummy wanted to come and fetch you, but she's not very well. She has to stay in bed for a while.'

'Oh.' His lower lip pouted. 'Is it because of Daddy? Is that why she's poorly?'

Sarah stared at him, nonplussed for a moment or two. 'No, it isn't because of Daddy. What makes you think it was Daddy?'

Jamie shrugged. 'Daddy came to see Mummy at school this morning. Mummy was cross with him. She didn't want him to be here.' He looked at her, his blue-grey eyes wide and innocent. 'They were arguing. I 'spect she's got a headache now. She gets headaches a lot.'

Sarah guessed that Ryan must have persuaded Hannah to go with him that morning. Perhaps they had gone from the school to his house in order to talk things through. Then, when they had finished talking, he must have set out to bring her home. That would account for the direction in which they had been travelling when the accident had occurred.

She didn't think the accident had been Ryan's fault. Witnesses had said that it had been the icy conditions that had caused the cars to skid.

'Have you got everything you need to take home with you?' she asked Jamie as they prepared to leave.

He nodded. 'I want to show Mummy my work. We done numbers today. Look.' He waved a piece of paper under her nose, and she saw a series of coloured circles, squares and triangles, with numbers alongside. The teacher had drawn a smiley face on his work.

'That's very good,' she said, trying out a smile. 'You've been working hard, haven't you?' They walked outside, and she was aware that Mark had come to wait for them by the school gate.

She moistened her lips, all too conscious of him as she led Jamie over. 'Perhaps you can show Mummy your work another day. She isn't at home just now. She's had to go to the hospital so they can make her better.'

Jamie frowned. 'Is it the hospital where you work?'

'That's right.'

'Will you take me to see her?'

She nodded. 'Yes, of course I will...' She hesitated. 'But perhaps not today because Mummy needs to rest. She sends you lots of kisses.'

Jamie smiled. He put his hand to his mouth and made kissing noises and blew the kisses away with his mouth. 'That's what Mummy does when she's saying bye-bye.'

Sarah felt her eyes filling up with tears all over again. She blinked them away, and Mark stepped in and made his presence known.

'Hello,' he said, looking at Jamie. 'I've come to take you and your auntie home. I'm Mark. You must be Jamie, is that right?'

Jamie looked up at him, his head to one side as he studied Mark. 'Yes,' he said. 'Does my nantie know you?'

'Yes, she does. She works with me.'

'At the hospital?'

'Yes, that's right.'

'Have you seen my mummy there? Nantie says she's poorly. I think she's got a headache,' he confided. 'She gets them when Daddy conies to see us.'

'Does she? I'm sorry to hear that.'

Jamie nodded solemnly. 'I wish Mummy and Daddy would live together, and then Mummy's head wouldn't hurt any more, would it?'

Sarah lightly tousled his fair hair. 'Perhaps not.' She sent him an affectionate look. 'Would you like to come with me to Grandad's house? Kingston can play in the garden there, and it will be fun for him, won't it?'

Jamie nodded. 'Can we?' he asked eagerly.

'I'll phone Grandad and find out. He might say that we can stay over there tonight. We'll have to see.'

Jamie started to jump up and down in excitement. 'I like going to Grandad's house,' he confided in Mark. 'He's got a big, big garden. He's got lots of trees at the back, and I play hiding.'

'That sounds like fun.' Mark smiled at him and helped him into the car. 'We'd better sit you on a cushion and make sure that you're strapped in safely.'

Sarah was already making the call. She dialled the hospital's number and she asked a nurse to bring her father to the phone. Perhaps distracting Jamie this way was the best idea. He might be less aware that his mother wasn't around.

'What did he say?' Mark asked a minute or two later, glancing her way when she seated herself beside him in the front of the car.

'He thinks it's a good idea.' She paused and then added on a low note, 'He says there's been no change in Hannah's condition, or in Ryan's.'

'I doubt there will be for some time yet.' He started up the car. 'Do you need to pick a few things up from your house first?'

She nodded. 'Please. If you don't mind.'

He drove her there, and when they arrived at her street she pointed out the house to him and he drew the car to a halt by the pavement opposite her front door. Mark stepped out of the car and sent a quick glance over the cottage.

It fronted onto the street, but there was just enough room for a narrow border, and she had planted it with shrubs to provide colour all the year round. She had fixed up a trellis, too, and when spring came it would be bright with flowers.

She helped Jamie out of the car and once they were inside the house she sent him to play in the garden for a while.

'I don't think he'll come to any harm out there,' she murmured. 'I'll just go and get a few bits together.'

'I'll keep an eye on him for you,' Mark said. He was looking around the small kitchen, and she wondered what he thought of her tiny cottage. It certainly wasn't what he was used to, she guessed, but at least the walls were painted a fresh sunshine yellow and she was pleased with the clean lines of her kitchen units.

She went upstairs and hurriedly pushed a few things into an overnight case, some clothes and toiletries for herself and the same for Jamie, and then she went into the living room and gathered up some of his favourite toys.

When she returned to the kitchen, Mark was at the sink, rinsing out a tumbler and a plate. 'I gave Jamie a drink of milk and a couple of biscuits,' he said, glancing her way. 'Are you all set?'

'Yes. I think so.' Looking around, she pulled in a quick breath. When she had left here that morning she had been exasperated, annoyed because Hannah appeared to have let her down. Right now, she would give anything to have Hannah shrugging off her concerns, telling her that it had just been one of those things.

'Sarah?'

She looked up and saw that Mark was watching her closely. He seemed to understand what she was thinking.

'I'm all right,' she said, straightening. 'Perhaps we should go. Kingston will be pining for company by now.'

Mark drove them to her father's house. Kingston greeted them enthusiastically when Sarah brought him out from his pen, but he seemed to recognise that something was wrong. He followed them into the kitchen and sat down, watching them with a curious expression. Mark went over to him and stroked his silky ears. 'It's all right, lad,' he said. 'Good boy.'

Mark stayed long enough to make sure that there were no problems and that they didn't need anything more, but after a while he seemed to realise that Sarah wanted to be alone.

He said, 'I'll leave you to get settled.' He glanced around. 'I expect you'll want to get yourself something to eat. You need to keep your strength up, and having some food inside you will help you to cope.' Perhaps he thought that she would forget the basic necessities of life. He looked at her carefully. 'I can come by tomorrow if you want a lift to the hospital.'

'Thanks. I'll ring you and let you know,' she murmured. 'My father might be able to take me there. I imagine he'll want to go and see Hannah again. He can probably get his partner to take over the practice for a while.'