The introductory interview took place in a Gordon Square basement, where the walls were solid and thick like rocks, and the rooms shaped like caves.

I am leaning forward, my right leg caught on a bramble. The thorns scrape across my dungarees, which are wet and heavy with melted frost. Rooks fracture the silence.

Yes, that’s a small number, a very small number you’re talking. Her white blood cell levels have risen. I know that’s not good.