Chapter 36

"You've improved! You're walking unaided!"

Johnny smiled. "I still use the stick to go for a walk, but, yes, around the house I don't need it most of the time. I still need Tilly to get up and down the stairs."

"And the arm?"

"No improvement there, I'm afraid. I suspect we left it too late. I still do the exercises every day but it doesn't seem to do anything."

Johnny had obviously resigned himself to being disabled, but Dr Jarman thought he saw a gleam in Tilly's eye that meant she hadn't given up yet.

"Well, we'll see." Tilly said. "Early days yet." And she went off to make the tea.

He imagined she was an excellent nurse. Just the right balance of sympathy and practicality.

It was so comfortable and such a pleasant atmosphere in Keeper's Cottage that he found himself reluctant to leave.

Eventually he forced himself to stand up and make his goodbyes.

"It'll be Kim next week," he said. "You won't see me again till long after the experiment is over."