Read Chapter 20: — THE NIGHT RUN

A consultant named Dr Shah needed transport to a partner hospital thirty miles away and back before dawn.

The request appeared at 11:17 p.m.

Ethan accepted.

Maya called him within two minutes.

"You are not sleeping in some stranger's spare room."

"Good evening to you too."

"I'm serious."

"I'll stay in the car."

"That is somehow worse."

"It's three hours."

"Take the thick blanket from the boot. Fill the tank first. Text me when you arrive. And if you feel tired, pull over. I would rather have an angry surgeon than a dead husband."

"Romantic."

"I contain multitudes."

Dr Shah and a junior doctor travelled in silence. The consultant slept for most of the journey.

At the destination, he gave Ethan a proper disposable protective gown.

"Wear it," he said.

"Hospital supplies are short."

"So are volunteer drivers. Wear it."

Ethan spent the waiting hours in the car beneath Maya's blanket. At four he woke to his alarm, stiff with cold.

Three doctors returned with him.

Dawn found them entering Ravensbridge beneath a line of red signs that read WE'LL GET THROUGH THIS.

For once, Ethan believed them without effort.