Read Chapter 3: — THE WOMAN AT ARRIVALS

The woman outside the car was in her early thirties, wearing a wool coat over scrubs and pulling two suitcases with a third balanced badly on top.

"Sorry," she said when Ethan lowered the window. "Are you going into the city? I've been trying for a cab for nearly an hour. I'll pay double."

"We're heading north," Maya said quickly. "We're sorry."

The woman's shoulders fell.

"Of course. Sorry to bother you."

She stepped away and answered a ringing phone.

"Claire? Yes, I'm here. No car yet. Tell ICU I've got the masks and the face shields. I brought everything I could find. I know. I'll get there somehow."

Ethan's hand froze on the gearstick.

Maya saw his expression and whispered, "Don't."

"She's hospital staff."

"Ethan."

He put the car into drive, moved twenty metres, then braked.

"I hate you," Maya said, already unfastening her seat belt.

"You don't."

"At this exact second, I do a little."

They reversed.

The woman's name was Dr Claire Morgan, a respiratory registrar at St Anne's. Her son, Noah, was eleven weeks old. She had been staying with her parents in Cornwall while on maternity leave when colleagues began messaging that the hospital was overwhelmed.

"You left an eleven-week-old baby?" Maya asked, unable to hide her shock.

Claire looked down at her hands.

"My mum has him. There was enough formula at home. I expressed milk for as long as I could before the train. I cried most of the way here."

"Where's his father?"

"Royal Navy. Deployed."

Maya stopped asking questions.

Halfway into the city, she made Ethan stop at a petrol station and came back with three hot drinks.

"I didn't know if you're breastfeeding, so I got tea, coffee and hot milk."

Claire chose the milk and held the cup between both palms.

As they drove, she told them what she knew and, more importantly, what she did not know. Cases were increasing. Staff were sick. Protective equipment was being rationed. Nobody could yet say how wide the outbreak was.

"Don't panic," she said. "Panic makes people careless. Be boring. Wash your hands. Keep distance. Ventilate. If either of you develops a fever or persistent cough, isolate and call the health line."

The hospital entrance was surrounded by barriers. A temporary respiratory assessment area had been set up under white tents. Staff in visors moved between queues.

Maya went very still.

"This is real," she whispered.

At the kerb, Claire reached for her purse.

"How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing," Ethan said.

"You turned around. You lost at least an hour."

"You said thank you. That's the fare."

Claire stared at him, then laughed for the first time.

"You're ridiculous."

"Frequently. Ask my wife."

Maya managed a smile.

Claire lifted her suitcases and headed towards the entrance.

Ethan watched her go.

Behind him, the boot was still full of Christmas presents.

Ahead of him, the hospital doors kept opening.