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  “Yes…I’m sorry, Kate. All I can say is I realise I have to do something I should have done the first time. It didn’t impact on me back then.”

  “And what does that mean?” she cried out.

  “Calm yourself, Kate, and let me explain. Would you like a drink?”

  “No…please Felix, I want to get back to Martin. Just tell me what all this mental episode business is about.”

  Felix closed the folder and returned to his earlier position in the chair. “All right. My initial mistake was allowing the conventional procedure of the brain to take over the trauma by blocking it out of his memory. I was a junior doctor at the time and I should have referred Martin to a Senior Psychologist before I cleared him to be signed off and returned home. I was only clearing his physical injuries.”

  “You mean this is a standard practice?”

  “I wouldn’t quite put it like that. It’s not standard, it’s natural. When a person is involved in a serious accident or mental trauma, the brain often has an automatic tendency to cancel out the memory of that incident to negate any further anxiety. As I say, it is a natural process. You ask anyone if they can remember the instant of that incident and they will say their memory is a blank. They can remember the period before the incident and the period after, but not the instant itself.”

  “So why is Martin’s incident any different?”

  “Because, Kate, he was involved with a death.”

  Kate went silent for a moment. She remembered the crash site. Martin’s crumpled car standing in the middle of the road junction and the wreckage of the other car on the opposite verge. It was so clear to her. The medic on the scene rang her on Martin’s mobile. The firemen were struggling to cut him out of the heap of mangled metal, expecting him to die any moment. The other driver was already dead. There was no point in ringing his next-of-kin.

  “I remember the other driver died, but I was so terrified Martin would die also, I didn’t think of him. And when the police told me at the hospital that it was his fault, I simply wiped him from my mind.”

  “Just as Martin did. And if I had done the right thing at the time, I would have attempted to bring that memory back.”

  “Why? It hasn’t done him any harm. It was proved that the other driver jumped a red light. He could well have killed both of them.”

  “Because the part of Martin’s brain that stores all these hidden memories, could well have hidden that fact as well. Has he discussed the other man’s death with you since he’s recovered? Has he acknowledged his own innocence?”

  Kate had to cast her memory back to that time. “No, he hasn’t.”

  “What has he said of the accident?”

  “He admits he can’t remember whenever it comes up in the conversation. As you said, he recalls driving up to the crossroads and nothing else until he came out of his coma. But why is this so significant now?”

  “It’s his reaction to the pilot’s death that concerns me.”

  “But he still thinks Joe is alive.”

  “Exactly… That’s what makes both these incidents so significant.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Look, Kate, by all accounts Martin should be able to remember his pilot’s death after a few days following the plane crash. In this instance his brain did not wipe the crash out of his memory. Maybe because it needed him to survive the ordeal, I don’t know. So why is it messing with his memory now? The pilot died after a long struggle with his injuries. Martin knows he was badly injured; he told the doctor on the cattle station—”

  “Sorry,” Kate interrupted. “Martin told the Aborigine boy who rescued him and took him to the cattle station. The Aboriginal boy was the one who told the doctor.”

  “Oh…so we have a conflict of information. That’s significant, Kate. When the Aborigine suddenly entered Martin’s disoriented state, he may well have transferred the pilot’s existence to the Aborigine. That’s why he still thinks he’s alive.”

  “It sounds very implausible to me,” Kate said. “He knows the Aborigine in his own right. He knows his name…Willy, and calls him by that name.”

  “The memory can be a very convoluted thing at times, Kate; I don’t have any explicit knowledge of why it does that. That’s why I have to make sure Martin knows his pilot is dead. And while I’m doing that, also make sure his subconscious doesn’t hold any alternative outcomes to his crash three years ago.”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  “There is only one thing I can do; try hypnosis. I have to take him back through both accidents to make him understand what actually happened; not what his subconscious has fabricated.”

  “Will that be dangerous?” Kate asked, becoming anxious.

  “What’s the alternative, Kate? Do you want him to keep asking where Joe is? If you’re lucky he might just forget him, like the other driver, but sooner or later it will crop up again. I guarantee that.”

  Kate knew the decision was not hers to make and to discuss the problem with Martin might well make the situation worse. “How do you propose treating Martin with this hypnosis? And how long is it going to take?”

  “I would like Martin in a relaxed state, preferably after a week or so of home surroundings. I’d like him to think he’s coming in for a final check-up, in accordance with AMINCO’s insurance clearance.”

  “Won’t they have something to say about that?”

  “They already have. The paramedic, Chris Isles, was a little too detailed in his report. As you may know, they are paying for Martin’s treatment and want to make sure he will be free of any side issues when I sign his clearance papers. In the meantime they drew my attention to Martin’s previous accident and the possibility that it may have a connection with the disorientation in Isles’ notes.”

  “I knew he was making notes with Dr Fitzpatrick, but I never realised they were so detailed. It never dawned on me that the insurance people would be so thorough. Is this a problem?”

  “They must have consulted their own psychiatrist, because reading this young man’s notes I can’t see any obvious connection. As for being a problem; I don’t think so. They’re only covering themselves against any future litigation. So, I have their permission to delve more closely into Martin’s mental state.”

  A glimmer of recognition crossed Kate’s face. “And you want my permission? That’s what all this is about…isn’t it?”

  “I’m afraid so, Kate. I was trying to be as subtle as possible, just as I have to be with Martin. And that means you and your family. He must not know the true purpose of my examination.”

  “Very well, I agree. Where do we go from here?”

  “As I said, I want him relaxed and ready for his treatment. I suggest you take him home when I release him tomorrow; I need to run a few tests and I shall explain that AMINCO want a thorough, top-to-bottom medical. Then you can bring him back into hospital for a few days, it shouldn’t take any longer; sometime after Christmas should be fine. Is that all right?”

  Kate’s expression must have said it all. She was going to have Martin back home again for Christmas, doing what he liked best. He loved watching Adam and Jennifer opening their presents in the morning, carving the turkey and strolling along Cable Beach after lunch. It was going to be a happy time. It had to be; once the therapy began he might never be the same again.

  CHAPTER 28

  It was two days before Christmas and to everyone’s surprise, despite his arm still being in a sling, Martin was back to his old self. Kate had set boundaries for Adam and Jennifer before they brought him home. There was to be no mention of anything to do with the crash, AMINCO or his return to the hospital.

  It had been a rush, but they managed to dress the tree, buy a nice plump bird and wrap all the presents. Then a frown crossed Kate’s face. “I wonder what your father’s going to say when he realises he hasn’t got any presents for us.”

  Adam checked the time. “You could dash out now. I’ll tell him you forgot s
omething. We’ll keep him occupied.”

  Kate thought for a moment. “No, Adam…it’s a lovely idea, but it’s just going to be another lie. I think we have to draw a line. I think he’ll understand he couldn’t be expected to remember Christmas presents under the circumstances.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Adam said. “We’ll get round it.”

  Kate suddenly looked surprised. “That reminds me…I forgot all about his birthday present, Jennifer.”

  “What birthday present?” Adam questioned.

  As Kate rushed upstairs, hoping she wouldn’t disturb Martin in the bath, Jennifer enlightened Adam. “It was Dad’s birthday when he was missing.”

  “Good grief; will it never end?” Adam said. “I completely forgot.”

  “Join the club.”

  Kate crept back down the stairs with Martin’s present and dropped it amongst the others under the tree. “I’ll give it to him when he comes down.”

  “What’s with the drummer boys?” Adam asked, squatting down by the tree.

  “Never mind,” Kate said, leaving the room again. “It’s a long story.”

  Martin had been some time in the bath and she began to worry. She knocked on the door. “Are you all right in there? Do you want any help?”

  “Who’s that,” he called back.

  “It’s me…Kate.”

  “Come in, for heaven’s sake.”

  Kate opened the door and slipped inside. “Sorry,” she said.

  “What are you doing knocking on the door?”

  She laughed, “I don’t know…I suppose it’s because the kids are here.”

  “It never bothered you before.”

  She noticed he had removed his sling and was able to use both hands getting out of the bath, but that was the extent of his movement. He was unable to manipulate the towel and passed it to her.

  “Dry me down, will you? I’ll be glad when I can use the shower again.”

  “Well, you don’t want to get that plaster wet.”

  Martin glanced over his shoulder as Kate rubbed his back. “Oh, I’m glad it’s you and not that gargantuan Balinese maid or whatever they call them. I used to ache after she mauled me.”

  “Did she wash you?”

  “Either her or the Taiwanese woman…I preferred her. She was only small and she was so gentle; I thought she was one of those women in the bathhouse.”

  “What bathhouse…when did you go to one of those places?”

  “I was only using it as an example.”

  As Kate continued drying Martin, her curiosity got the better of her.

  “How did they wash you? In the hospital I mean.”

  Martin avoided the question for the moment, trying to think of a simple answer. “Why the third degree; it was just the usual bed bath.”

  “Then you wouldn’t mind telling me how they performed this bed bath.”

  Martin knew this would crop up sooner or later and hesitated before he finally answered her. “I don’t know what all the fuss is about; it was over and done with before I got a chance to object…they had it down to a fine art.”

  “You mean there were two of them?”

  “Yes…they changed over each day. While one removed my pyjamas, the other took out a large damp towel from a steam cabinet on a trolley. They then stretched it out across my body and that was when one of them massaged me. Then they turned me over and did my back and legs. Finally they changed to a dry towel and you know the rest.”

  “And this happened every day? It’s a wonder you wanted to leave.”

  “Of course I did…it was embarrassing.”

  “I bet it was,” Kate exclaimed, laughing her head off.

  With that out of her system Kate looked back at Martin trying to cover his nakedness with the towel. It was a side of him she hadn’t seen since the early days of their marriage. Since then he’d thought nothing of his nudity. She could kick herself for embarrassing him; he looked so vulnerable.

  Kate kneeled down beside him and placed her arm around his shoulders. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” she said, kissing his cheek. “Come on…let’s get you dressed. Adam and Jennifer are waiting for you downstairs.”

  A broad smile crossed Martin’s face as he raised his good hand out of the towel and rubbed the stubble on his chin. “What about this?” he commented.

  “Can you use the electric razor with your left hand?”

  “I think so,” he replied.

  “Then why don’t you try after you get dressed?”

  After helping Martin Kate left him to get shaved and returned to the lounge. Jennifer was finishing off the decorations and Adam was watching the news on television. He turned round in his chair as Kate walked into the room and stood looking at the tree. Jennifer switched the lights on.

  “Everything okay upstairs?” Adam asked.

  “Yes…your dad’s just shaving; he’ll be down soon. I just want everything to look like Christmas for him.”

  Before anyone else had a chance to say anything the doorbell rang.

  “Who could that be?” Jennifer said, standing up.

  “I’ll go,” Kate said. “It’s probably another neighbour asking after Martin.”

  As Kate opened the door her first impression was that the young man in a leather jacket and jeans was a stranger, but on closer inspection she recognised the clean-shaven face of her cattle station companion.

  “Chris, I didn’t recognise you at first without your uniform. What a lovely surprise. Come in and meet the family.”

  He hesitated in the doorway. “It can only be a short visit, I’m afraid; I’m on my way to the airport.”

  “Oh, what a shame…never mind, you can have a longer visit later,” she said, and then taking hold of his elbow she hesitated. “Before you see Martin, I must warn you not to mention anything about Joe or Martin’s mental state.”

  “I understand. I made a follow-up call to Mr Grossman, just to finalise my report before I presented it to the American insurance company; so I’m aware of the situation.”

  Jennifer walked out of the lounge. “Who was that at the—” she said, looking surprised at seeing Chris in the hall.

  “This is Chris, Jennifer. You remember me telling you about the young man who accompanied me to the cattle station?”

  “Yes…hello Chris. Thank you for looking after my dad,” she said, shaking his outstretched hand and holding on to it a little longer than she should have.

  “Come on now,” Kate said, breaking them up. “Come into the lounge and you can meet my son Adam.”

  Adam must have heard her; he was already out of his chair and walking towards the door. “It’s all right, Mum. I heard,” he said, when they walked through the door. He lunged for Chris’s hand and shook it vigorously. “I’ve been waiting to thank you, Chris. Mum told us how you smoothed the way for my dad.”

  “It’s all right,” he said, a little flustered at all the attention.

  “Sit down, Chris,” Kate said. “Would you like a Christmas drink?”

  “Just a white wine, if you have it. I’ve got to drive to the airport soon and I don’t want to get caught. Did you know the police have got a blitz on over Christmas; booze-buses are on all the major routes out of Broome.”

  “Get Chris a drink, Jennifer, please; that’s a dear,” Kate asked her. “So where are you flying to Chris?”

  As Jennifer returned with his drink, he nodded his head. “AMINCO have given me a month off, so I’ve decided to fly over to Sydney and spend the time with my mother. I’ve neglected her a bit lately. Anyway, since it might be some time before I see you again, I thought I’d call in and wish you all a Merry Christmas on my way to the airport. Is Martin about?”

  “Yes…he’ll be down in a minute. He’ll be so pleased to see you.”

  It was not a long wait. Martin made a grand entry, scuffing through the door with a large plastic bag. Kate was already standing and she rushed over to help him. She took hold of the curious bag, dropped
it just inside the doorway by the tree and pointed out that he had a guest.

  “Look who’s popped in to see you on his way to the airport.”

  Martin stared at Chris for a few moments just as Kate had, until his face fitted that of the young man in the uniform at the medical clinic.

  “It’s Chris…isn’t it? You were at the cattle station,” he said, as it all began to filter through. “Yes…and again at the hospital here.”

  “That’s right, Martin,” Chris replied. “You look a lot better now.”

  Martin walked over to the couch and sat down opposite. “I feel a lot better since I’ve come home; I hate hospitals,” he said, still trying to place why he knew him. “Why were you there again?”

  Chris glanced in Kate’s direction, and then returned his gaze to Martin. “I thought you knew. I’m a paramedic and AMINCO sent me to bring you home.”

  There was a look of comprehension in Martin’s eyes. “Oh yes! AMINCO, good old AMINCO; you can rely on them to look after you.”

  The conversation painfully came to an abrupt end and everyone for some reason looked uncomfortable, except Jennifer. She seemed to be taken by this new young man who had entered her life. Kate was not sure about the atmosphere she was creating. He was a few years older than her and she still had to finish her term with university. Maybe it was a good thing he was going away.

  “What has AMINCO got in store for you when you return?” Kate asked.

  “Indonesia, I understand. It was only a hint. I’ll find out when I get back after the Christmas holidays. I’ll pop in and let you know if I’m off again.”

  Kate looked pleased. “Well, it’s all more experience, Chris.”

  Chris was true to his word. After answering a few of Kate’s questions about his mother and finishing his drink, he left for the airport. Kate went into the kitchen to make Martin a cup of tea to go with the mince tarts and Jennifer followed her.

  “What was that all about?” she said.