Free Capcir Spring by Jean de Beurre Page A

supposed to. But at this time she wanted to be looked after like a small child and not to have to cope with the pressures of everyday life. There was also so much to be sorted out. After a couple of days she felt much stronger and having got the address of the special hospital from the police, she persuaded her mother to drive her out to the hospital.
     
    It wasn't like any hospital that she had seen before. A high wire fence, topped with barbed wire surrounded it, and there were security guards on the gate. The buildings looked like a collection of army barrack huts, all with grills at the small windows. The doctor who met her in an anti room was young, perhaps not yet thirty, but his face was lined and he looked tired.
     
    "I will take you to see your husband but I warn you to be prepared for a shock. He is very ill. He has been living a life for a long time now suppressing certain tendencies. Our initial diagnosis is that he is schizophrenic. This on its own is not that serious and can be treated with drugs. We don't know what brought it on? May be some trigger, maybe just a build up of pressures from various sources over a long period of time. It is much more worrying to note that he is showing psychotic and psychopathic tendencies. I don't know if we will be able to find the right drug combination to keep these dangerous elements under control. He is at the moment under sedation so it is perfectly safe for you to see him."
     
    "What would happen if he were not sedated"
     
    "We would have to put him in a padded cell for his own protection and perhaps even use a straight jacket. He is, you must realise very seriously disturbed. Have you ever seen an animal in a zoo which is in a highly disturbed state. It rushes from side to side, throwing itself into the walls and bars of its cage, often inflicting serious injury on itself. People are capable of similar reactions when they are disturbed and unrestrained. Come."
     
    He led the way through an enclosed walkway into an adjacent Nissan hut. Every door was unlocked before them and locked behind them. At last she was taken into a small single room. It was all white and very bright. On a bed under a white sheet lay James. He looked pale but his eyes were open and were darting rapidly around the room.
     
    "Hello James " she begun, unsure of what to say "How are you?"
     
    The eyes that had been wide open, staring at the white ceiling, fixed on her face and the mouth issued a growl and he pulled back his lips to bare his teeth.
     
    "Bitch" he spat "You've put me here. Bloody bitch"
     
    He moved as if trying to sit up and get closer to her but as Mary looked she could make out the wide straps showing through the sheet that kept him lying on the bed.
     
    "I'd not finished with you. I only started. One day I'll get the job finished. Teach you to do this to me. I'll get my knife again. I'm sorry that it hurt you but next time I'll be quicker and you won't feel a thing. It's for your own good you know."
     
    Mary didn't know what to say or think. She had definitely not expected a continuation of the verbal abuse from the night of the attack.
     
    "You are ill. They will make you better here." She said softly, wondering though as the words passed her lips if she really believed that recovery was possible.
     
    Before she had finished speaking he screamed. "I really hate you and all you stand for, and your friends and your secrecy, locking me out of part of your life. I hate everything but you are not beyond redemption. And I am the one to redeem you. I am the one to bring you the release and freedom that comes from getting rid of the bad parts. Getting rid of what holds back our relationship from truly blossoming."
     
    "Oh James, you are ill. You don't know what you are saying. I still love you." These words that in her heart she was beginning to doubt had no calming effect. In her anticipation of the visit she had been sure that by telling James that she loved him would have