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smashed up.’
    She had a thin face like him, and he thought that she was quite attractive, although he couldn’t really tell for sure if there was any family resemblance. She had very large pale-blue eyes with sleepy eyelids, a straight Pre-Raphaelite nose and full, bow-shaped lips. As attractive as she was, he had no feeling at all that he knew her, even from her voice.
    â€˜You’re Sue,’ he said.
    â€˜That’s right, baby brother.’
    â€˜I’m sorry, I’m not going to pretend that I recognize you, because I simply don’t. They showed me your Facebook picture, and they told me you were coming to visit me, but that’s the only way I know who you are.’
    She dragged over another chair from the opposite corner of the room and took off her coat. Underneath she was wearing a long red knitted dress with a wide red patent-leather belt. She sat down next to him and laid her hand on top of his. He noticed her wedding-band and her engagement ring, white gold set with a large solitaire diamond.
    â€˜I know you don’t recognize me,’ she smiled. ‘Doctor Connor has told me all about your condition – what you can remember and what you can’t, which is pretty much everything. But she’s very optimistic. She thinks that given enough time, it’ll all come back to you.’
    â€˜Well, I’m glad she’s optimistic, because I’m not. I can’t even remember my own name.’
    â€˜You’re Gregory.’
    â€˜That’s what everybody keeps telling me. But I don’t
know
I’m Gregory. It’s really hard to explain.’
    Sue gave his hand a squeeze and said, ‘When you were very small, you used to call yourself “Weggy”. You used to have a bright blue teddy bear and for some reason you called him “Numby”. Mom used to see you coming up the path and say, “Here they come, Weggy and Numby.”’
    Michael shrugged. ‘Sorry, it means absolutely nothing. It doesn’t bring anything back at all. I know all kinds of irrelevant stuff, like facts and figures and random bits of general knowledge. I knew how long it was going to take you to drive here. But the rest of my mind … it’s like an empty room, with the light off.’
    â€˜You don’t even remember Gemma?’
    â€˜Unh-hunh. Who’s Gemma?’
    â€˜Your very first girlfriend. She was the love of your life – well, the love of your life until you met Rhoda. And then Rhoda was the love of your life until you met Holly.’
    Michael shook his head. ‘No. You didn’t bring pictures of them, did you?’
    â€˜I will next time. But listen, I have an idea. Why don’t we call Mom?’
    â€˜You can call her, sure. But what am I going to say to her?’
    â€˜Just say, “Hi, Mom, it’s Greg … I’m calling from the clinic. I just want you to know that I’m getting better every day, and that I’ll come to see you pretty soon.”’
    â€˜OK. If you think it might cheer her up. But I don’t like the idea of lying to her.’
    â€˜It’s not
her
I’m concerned about. It’s you. If you hear Mom’s voice, maybe it’ll bring something back.’
    She took a cellphone out of her big red purse and prodded a number. She lifted it to her ear for a moment, and then smiled and said, ‘Mom! Hi, Mom! It’s Sue! Guess who’s sitting here right next to me?’
    She passed the cell over. Michael reluctantly took it and said, ‘Hi, Mom! This is Greg!’
    â€˜Oh,
Greg
!’ said a quavery voice. ‘It’s so good to hear from you, my darling! How are you feeling?’
    â€˜I’m still in the clinic, Mom, but I’m very much better. I should be out of here before too long and then I’ll come see you.’
    â€˜Make sure you get out of there by July second.’
    â€˜Oh, yeah? What’s so special about July