Page 70 of The Sleepwalker (Joona Linna #10)

‘I know you would rather not look inside the caravan, but you’re safe here, and you can tell—’

‘I don’t want to,’ he whispers, panting for air.

‘That’s enough now,’ says Grind, his voice low. ‘Let’s stop this before—’

‘I know what I’m doing,’ Erik cuts him off. ‘This fear is bound up in what he saw, but it isn’t as traumatic as it might seem.’

‘Agneta?’ asks Grind.

‘Keep going. Let’s keep going a bit longer,’ she says, swallowing hard.

‘Are you sure?’

She nods.

‘Hugo, you’re standing at the back of the caravan, looking in through the window,’ says Erik.

‘The man is lying on his back,’ Hugo whispers between shallow breaths.

‘One of his legs has been cut off .?.?. It’s on the floor, with a plaster on the knee and a black sock on the foot .

.?. under the kitchen table .?.?. He’s trying to shuffle back, but there’s blood pumping out of the stump . .?. I don’t want to see this, I .?.?.’

Joona realises that Erik has finally managed to get Hugo to completely bypass the nightmare. The boy has gone from being able to see nothing but his dream, full of bones and skulls, to a confusing double exposure, to this: what he really saw that night.

‘He’s screaming, trying to stop the blood with both hands,’ Hugo goes on, close to tears.

‘Can you see the killer?’

Hugo’s back arches in a convulsion, and he slumps against the mattress, gasping for air.

‘I really do need to put my foot down now,’ says Grind.

Erik takes a stethoscope out of his pocket, puts it on and presses the diaphragm to Hugo’s chest. He listens to three different spots, then returns the instrument to his pocket.

‘He’s stressed, but he’s just fine,’ he says.

‘Maybe we should wrap up now,’ says Agneta.

Hugo is still panting, and his body tenses again.

‘I really would like to keep going a little longer,’ says Erik.

‘I’m not sure .?.?.’

Grind tries to reach Hugo, but Joona holds him back, shaking his head with a smile.

‘Hugo, you’re looking straight at the killer,’ says Erik.

‘Her blonde hair .?.?. the blood on it is glistening, and—’

‘Hugo?’ Grind cuts him off.

‘Go on,’ says Erik.

‘She grabs the man’s hair and pulls his head back, then lifts the axe .?.?. There’s blood running down the handle, over her knuckles .?.?. She twists around so she can hit him and—’

Another convulsion takes over Hugo’s body. His head jerks back, and his legs begin to shake, making the bed creak.

‘You see her face from the side,’ says Erik.

Without warning, Lars Grind rushes forward, grabs Hugo’s arm and pulls him up into a sitting position.

‘God, what’s happening?’ Hugo gasps.

‘Lay him down again,’ Erik says sharply.

‘You’re OK,’ says Grind, hugging Hugo. ‘You’re still here at the lab. They hypnotised you, but I’ve just put a stop to it. I’m putting a stop to this right now.’

Joona helps Erik to prise the agitated doctor’s arms away from Hugo. The boy’s body is red-hot as they gently lower him onto his back.

‘What are you doing?’ Hugo asks in confusion.

‘Just try to lie still,’ says Erik. ‘Breathe in through your nose and out through—’

Hugo rolls over onto his side, pushes back his hair and vomits onto the floor. The liquid spatters across Agneta’s shoes and lower legs.

‘God .?.?.’ Hugo pants. ‘That was the worst, the most horrible—’

‘Lie on your back and breathe slowly,’ says Erik.

Joona hands Hugo a piece of tissue, and he wipes his mouth and chin before slumping down on the bed.

‘Seriously, I didn’t want to see that,’ he says after a moment.

‘I’m sorry, but if I’d been able to wrap up as planned, you wouldn’t be feeling this way,’ says Erik.

Lars Grind holds out a paper cup of water and a triangular yellow pill.

‘I don’t want it,’ says Hugo, turning away.

‘Do you take Atarax regularly?’ asks Erik.

‘No, just if I’m having a total panic attack .?.?. which isn’t very often.’

‘What other medication are you on?’

‘What?’

‘I’d always assumed that your susceptibility to hypnosis had something to do with your parasomnia, but I’d like to make sure it isn’t down to your medication or any interactions .?.?. Because your memories from sleepwalking are just so precise,’ Erik explains.

‘You don’t have to answer that,’ says Grind. ‘He isn’t authorised to see your records without your dad’s permission.’

‘When I’m having an episode, I take zopiclone and a bit of Mirtazapine and Tramadol,’ Hugo replies.

‘What?’ Erik sounds surprised, and he turns to look at the doctor.

‘In small doses,’ Grind explains.

‘OK, but why? I don’t understand. Surely they just make him sleepwalk more?’

‘Recent research from La Salpêtrière suggests otherwise.’

‘Is that so?’ Erik asks, holding the doctor’s gaze.

‘We try new things. It’s called research.’

‘Hugo, talk to your dad,’ says Erik. ‘If you and he don’t mind, I’d really like to review your medication.’

*?*?*

Agneta stays behind with Hugo once the others leave the suite. She wipes the vomit from her shoes, sits down in the chair Erik was using and pushes a few strands of hair back from his forehead.

‘How are you feeling?’

‘I’m OK now.’

‘That was pretty intense.’

‘Could make a good chapter in your book, though.’

‘Remember, it’s up to you what we include.’

‘Can we scratch the part about me puking on your shoes?’ Hugo asks with a grin.

‘It’ll be tricky .?.?.’

‘OK.’

He smiles and closes his eyes for a moment. Agneta strokes his cheek.

‘I’d feel much better if you came home with me,’ she says.

‘I will, later. But I’ve got a few things to do first.’

‘Things?’

‘Someone here, who I .?.?.’

He trails off.

‘What’s her name?’ Agneta asks.

Hugo blushes, and she laughs fondly and gets up. Before she leaves, she reminds him about the snowstorm approaching from the Baltic Sea.