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Authors: Lars Kepler
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him.
Erik exhales, then rubs his eyes with his fingers. “I really want to get out of this.”
“If you don’t mind my saying so, your reluctance to use hypnosis seems to go beyond your prudent concern for the patient’s well-being,” says Joona.
“I have no intention of discussing the matter, but I promised ten years ago never to use hypnosis again. It was a decision on my part that I still think was the right one.”
“Is it right in this case?” asks Joona.
“To be honest, I don’t know.”
“Make an exception,” implores Daniella.
“Hypnosis, then.” Erik sighs.
“I’d like you to make an attempt as soon as you feel the patient is in any way receptive to hypnosis,” says Daniella.
“It would be good if you were here,” says Erik.
“I’ve made the decision with regard to hypnosis,” she explains, “on condition that you then take over responsibility for the patient.”
“So I’m on my own now?”
Daniella looks at him, exhausted. “I’ve worked all night,” she says. “I’d promised to take my daughter to school, I blew that off, and I’m going to have to deal with that tonight. But right now I have to go home and sleep.”
16
tuesday, december 8: morning
Erik watches Daniella Richards walk down the corridor, red coat flapping behind her. Joona looks in at the patient. Erik goes to the bathroom, locks the door, washes and dries his face. He takes out his phone and calls Simone, but there is no reply. He tries his home number and listens to the phone ringing, but when the answering machine kicks in, he no longer knows what to say: “Sixan, I … you have to listen to me, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but nothing’s happened, maybe you don’t care, but I promise I’m going to find a way to prove to you that I’m—”
Erik stops speaking. What’s the point? He knows his assurances no longer have any meaning. He lied to her ten years ago, and he still hasn’t managed to prove his love, not sufficiently, not enough for her to begin to trust him again. He ends the call, leaves the bathroom, and walks over to where the detective is gazing into the patient’s room.
“What is hypnosis, actually?” Joona asks, after a while.
“It’s just an altered state of consciousness, coupled with suggestion and meditation,” Erik replies. “From a purely neurophysiological point of view, the brain functions in a particular way under hypnosis. Parts of the brain that we rarely use are suddenly activated. People under hypnosis are very deeply relaxed. It almost looks as if they’re asleep, but if you do an EEG the brain activity shows a person who is awake and alert.”
“I see,” Joona says hesitantly.
“When people think of hypnosis, they usually mean heterohypnosis, where one person hypnotises another with some purpose in mind.”
“Such as?”
“Such as evoking negative hallucinations, for example.”
“What’s that?”
“The most common is that you inhibit the conscious registration of pain.”
“But the pain is still there.”
“That depends on how you define it,” Erik replies. “Of course the patient responds to pain with physiological reactions, but he experiences no feeling; it’s even possible to carry out surgery under clinical hypnosis.”
Joona writes something down in his notebook. “The boy opens his eyes from time to time,” he says, looking through the window again.
“I’ve noticed.”
“What’s going to happen now?”
“To the patient?”
“Yes, when you hypnotise him.”
“During dynamic hypnosis, in a therapeutic context, the patient almost always splits himself into an observing self and one or more experiencing and acting selves.”
“He’s watching himself, like in a theatre?”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to say to him?”
“Well, he’s experienced terrible things, so first of all I have to make him feel secure. I begin by explaining what I’m going to do, and then I move on to relaxation. I talk in a
Erik exhales, then rubs his eyes with his fingers. “I really want to get out of this.”
“If you don’t mind my saying so, your reluctance to use hypnosis seems to go beyond your prudent concern for the patient’s well-being,” says Joona.
“I have no intention of discussing the matter, but I promised ten years ago never to use hypnosis again. It was a decision on my part that I still think was the right one.”
“Is it right in this case?” asks Joona.
“To be honest, I don’t know.”
“Make an exception,” implores Daniella.
“Hypnosis, then.” Erik sighs.
“I’d like you to make an attempt as soon as you feel the patient is in any way receptive to hypnosis,” says Daniella.
“It would be good if you were here,” says Erik.
“I’ve made the decision with regard to hypnosis,” she explains, “on condition that you then take over responsibility for the patient.”
“So I’m on my own now?”
Daniella looks at him, exhausted. “I’ve worked all night,” she says. “I’d promised to take my daughter to school, I blew that off, and I’m going to have to deal with that tonight. But right now I have to go home and sleep.”
16
tuesday, december 8: morning
Erik watches Daniella Richards walk down the corridor, red coat flapping behind her. Joona looks in at the patient. Erik goes to the bathroom, locks the door, washes and dries his face. He takes out his phone and calls Simone, but there is no reply. He tries his home number and listens to the phone ringing, but when the answering machine kicks in, he no longer knows what to say: “Sixan, I … you have to listen to me, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but nothing’s happened, maybe you don’t care, but I promise I’m going to find a way to prove to you that I’m—”
Erik stops speaking. What’s the point? He knows his assurances no longer have any meaning. He lied to her ten years ago, and he still hasn’t managed to prove his love, not sufficiently, not enough for her to begin to trust him again. He ends the call, leaves the bathroom, and walks over to where the detective is gazing into the patient’s room.
“What is hypnosis, actually?” Joona asks, after a while.
“It’s just an altered state of consciousness, coupled with suggestion and meditation,” Erik replies. “From a purely neurophysiological point of view, the brain functions in a particular way under hypnosis. Parts of the brain that we rarely use are suddenly activated. People under hypnosis are very deeply relaxed. It almost looks as if they’re asleep, but if you do an EEG the brain activity shows a person who is awake and alert.”
“I see,” Joona says hesitantly.
“When people think of hypnosis, they usually mean heterohypnosis, where one person hypnotises another with some purpose in mind.”
“Such as?”
“Such as evoking negative hallucinations, for example.”
“What’s that?”
“The most common is that you inhibit the conscious registration of pain.”
“But the pain is still there.”
“That depends on how you define it,” Erik replies. “Of course the patient responds to pain with physiological reactions, but he experiences no feeling; it’s even possible to carry out surgery under clinical hypnosis.”
Joona writes something down in his notebook. “The boy opens his eyes from time to time,” he says, looking through the window again.
“I’ve noticed.”
“What’s going to happen now?”
“To the patient?”
“Yes, when you hypnotise him.”
“During dynamic hypnosis, in a therapeutic context, the patient almost always splits himself into an observing self and one or more experiencing and acting selves.”
“He’s watching himself, like in a theatre?”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to say to him?”
“Well, he’s experienced terrible things, so first of all I have to make him feel secure. I begin by explaining what I’m going to do, and then I move on to relaxation. I talk in a
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