Free Burn Patterns by Ron Elliott

a bed has come up at Fieldhaven. I’m going to have him moved to a secure room in Park Wing. I’ll put him on a neuroleptic, see if he responds, once toxicology comes back and I know if there’s anything else in his system.’
    â€˜I’m not sure he’s schizophrenic.’
    â€˜I can find that out, given time.’
    â€˜Don’t drug him.’
    Frank didn’t say anything.
    The swimming pool light came on. The pool shimmered blue in a breeze. Iris noticed her reflection on the window: Iris holding the phone.
    Frank finally said, ‘So you are going to take another crack at him?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    More silence.
    â€˜So do you want to talk about the school yet?’
    â€˜The flashbacks of Georgina and the fire at my old practice have returned. I’m also getting flashes of the station officer. I was looking at him when … He was trying to order the pumpers to back up when he was … vaporised. Although I closed my eyes, I see two fire appliances burning. It was on the news.’
    â€˜How awful, Iris. Shall we meet?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Any other symptoms of distress?’
    â€˜Just the usual. On a scale of anxiety pain of one to ten, I’m down at a three.’
    â€˜Ah, lower than the rest of us.’
    â€˜Hmmm. Except the rest of you are all self-medicated.’
    â€˜Do you need something to sleep? I think you were on Triazolam … after the fire at your practice.’
    â€˜No. I want to work.’
    â€˜We probably need to discuss whether that’s a good idea.Whether this is a new problem.’
    â€˜It’s not a problem. When it was, I took time off. Now it’s not.’
    â€˜Are you sleeping?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Tell me, Iris. Do you blame yourself for this school fire?’
    â€˜How could I possibly …?’
    â€˜Exactly. Good. The first fire wasn’t your fault either.’
    â€˜Goodnight, Frank. Don’t put him on anything.’

Chapter six
    In the morning, Iris rang Mathew before she left for the practice.
    â€˜Good morning.’
    â€˜Morning, Mathew.’
    â€˜I’m sorry, I should have left a message. I stayed until stumps. Came back to the office and dossed on the stretcher in the sick room.’
    â€˜I supposed. It went well?’
    â€˜So hard to tell. Everyone important is still my friend or so it seems.’ He paused, or was reading something at the other end. ‘Everyone asked after you.’
    â€˜Good. Maybe next time.’
    â€˜Yes. Okay, well, onwards and upwards, once more into the breach.’
    Iris rang Mary at the practice. ‘I’ll be out at Fieldhaven this morning, Mary, assessing a patient for the police.’
    â€˜Dr Hampton is trying to get in.’
    Paul Hampton was a veterinary surgeon with drinking problems, one of the first patients to come to her at the practice who was not a Dr Chew leftover. He was a difficult narcissist and one of the patients she liked least.
    â€˜I thought I had today clear. Can you put him off?’
    â€˜I have. He’s been trying since yesterday.’
    â€˜Okay. Afternoon.’
    *
    Park Wing was a maximum-security complex within the Fieldhaven psychiatric facility. Although Fieldhaven’s remit was to assess, treat, rehabilitate and resocialise the mentally ill,most of the patients in Park Wing were referred by the courts or prison system. Its thirty beds were in high rotation. No one could park in Park for very long. It was the pointy end of mental health care where the failures were locked up after they had erupted into crisis with often catastrophic results to the patient or those nearest to them.
    The only reason James had a place was because of the high priority the police placed on him as a suspect in the school bombing. Whether James was the school bomber or not, he was dangerous. His compulsive firelighting made monitoring in a safe cell vital. He needed to be isolated from