LITMIR.BIZ

       11

       tuesday, december 8: morning

      Erik Maria Bark arrives home from Karolinska Hospital. As he quietly lets himself in, he thinks about the young victim lying there and the policeman so eager to question him. Erik likes Detective Joona Linna, despite his attempt to get Erik to break his promise never to use hypnosis again. Maybe it’s the detective’s open and honest anxiety about the safety of the older sister that makes him so likeable. Presumably somebody is looking for her right now.

      Erik is very tired. The tablets have begun to take effect; his eyes are heavy and sore; sleep is on the way. He opens the bedroom door and looks at Simone. The light from the hallway covers her like a scratched pane of glass. Three hours have passed since he left her here, and Simone has now taken over all the space in the bed. Resting on her stomach, she lies there heavily. The bedclothes are down by her feet, her nightgown has worked its way up around her waist, and she has goose bumps on her arms and shoulders. Erik pulls the covers over her carefully. She murmurs something and curls up; he sits down and strokes her ankle, and she moves slightly.

      “I’m going for a shower,” he says, but he leans back against the headboard, overwhelmed by fatigue.

      “What was the name of the police officer?” she asks, slurring her words.

      Before he has time to answer, he finds himself at the park in Observatorielunden. He is digging in the sand in the playground and finds a yellow stone, as round as an egg, as big as a pumpkin. He scrapes at it with his hands and sees the outline of a relief on the side, a jagged row of teeth. When he turns the heavy stone over he sees that it is the skull of a dinosaur.

      Suddenly, Simone is screaming. “Fuck you!”

      He gives a start and realises that he has fallen asleep and begun to dream. The strong pills have sent him to sleep in the middle of the conversation. He tries to smile and meets Simone’s chilly gaze.

      “Sixan? What is it?”

      “Has it started again?” she asks.

      “What?”

      “What?” she repeats crossly. “Who’s Daniella?”

      “Daniella?”

      “You promised. You made a promise, Erik,” she says. “I trusted you, I was actually stupid enough to trust—”

      “What are you talking about? Daniella Richards is a colleague at Karolinska. What’s she got to do with anything?”

      “Don’t lie to me.”

      “This is actually getting ridiculous,” he says, and despite her clear anger he feels a smile spreading involuntarily across his face. He is so tired.

      “Do you think this is funny?” she asks. “I’ve sometimes thought … I even believed I could forget what happened.”

      Erik nods off for a few seconds, but he can still hear what she’s saying.

      “It might be best if we separate,” whispers Simone.

      He snaps awake at this. “Nothing has happened between me and Daniella.”

      “That doesn’t really matter,” she says wearily.

      “Doesn’t it? Doesn’t it matter? You want to separate because of something I did ten years ago?”

       “Something?”

      “I was drunk, Simone. Drunk, and—”

      “I don’t want to listen. I know all about it. I … Fuck it! I don’t want to do this, I’m not a jealous person, but I am loyal and I expect loyalty in return.”

      “I’ve never let you down since, and I’ll never—”

      “Prove it to me. I need proof.”

      “You just have to trust me,” he says.

      “Yes,” she says with a sigh, and collecting a pillow and duvet she shuffles out of the bedroom and down the hallway.

      He is breathing heavily. He ought to follow her, not just give up; he ought to try to calm her down and persuade her to come back to bed, but right now sleep exerts the stronger influence. He can no longer resist it. He sinks down into the bed; feels the dopamine flood his system, the tension flow out of his body as relaxation spreads pleasurably across his face, his neck and shoulders, down into his toes and the tips of his fingers. A heavy, chemical sleep enfolds his consciousness like a floury cloud.