Dr.

Adeyemi came back at about one o’clock and pulled the curtain and sat down, which is the thing they do when they are about to say something.

He said: “Esme has a fracture of the left femur.

It’s a transverse fracture of the shaft.

It’s recent and it’s acute.”

I said something like: how.

And he said the thing that I have repeated to about nine people since, and I am giving it as close to verbatim as I can.

“I want to explain what happens next, and I want to explain it before you ask, because otherwise it will feel like something is being done to you.