On the way to the hospital, I had such grand visions of all the things I wanted to say to Carly because, at that point in my life, I'd only been faced with death in the movies. Teary-eyed viewings of The Notebook, watching an elderly couple say their last goodbyes together in a hospital ward. I would ask her about my niece and nephew, what she might want for their future without her in it. What I could do to look after them and to make sure they remember her. But when I arrived at the ward, her form was fading and she could only just accept the ice cube the nurse applied on her lips, let alone any last wise words. After arriving home on Sunday, we lost Carly the following Tuesday.