Robert had, indeed, fallen asleep in the chair by Alice's bedside – it was a folding chair, as opposed to an armchair, because the hospital had run out of more comfortable chairs and gave their staff the worst options possible. He had really appreciated that, loudly, to the supervisor.

He had been asleep in the chair for about an hour and a half before Alice woke and picked up their baby – their baby, he could scarcely think it – and that was when he began to slide sideways out of the chair, still while asleep.

When he hit his head on the wall, he woke up abruptly, tossing his head about and whispering a violent 'ow' under his breath, not aware that his lover and child were awake after all.