Read Online Survival of Thomas Ford, The by John A. A. Logan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: John A. A. Logan
Tags: Literary, Psychological, Literature & Fiction, Thrillers, Crime, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, Murder, Literary Fiction, Thrillers & Suspense
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eh?” said Jimmy. “You’ll be educated men eh? I’m an educated man too, like, self-educated, at the library and on the internet and BBC4 and that. An autodidact, in the Scottish tradition eh? But my old man wouldn’t let me stay on at school like. He wanted me on the building sites.”
Jimmy stared at Dr Radthammon.
“Aye aye, Dr Radthammon, how’s your house coming on? I was there yesterday, man, carrying bricks for you, helping those Poles!”
Dr Nissen stared at Dr Radthammon sharply. Karen was undoing the strap on Jimmy’s left ankle.
“Oh, Karen, give a wee scratch there eh? I think I’m getting some skin condition or something, itchy everywhere. Funny thing though, my guts feel better. Hey docs, what do you think of all that physics eh? Atoms and particles eh? Hey, what do you think about those quarks? Those up and down quarks, and charm quarks? It’s great eh? Fucking chaos eh? Man, I should have stayed in school. Karen! No go on, a wee scratch eh?”
When Jimmy and Dr Radthammon were gone from his ward, Dr Nissen walked into his small office, sat in his chair, and held his head in his hands. There was a strange feeling in him. It took him fifteen minutes to recognise it from the summer holiday the year before, with Anna, to Florida . They’d chartered a boat and gone out into the deep fishing waters. It had all gone well until Dr Nissen got something heavy on the line. After what seemed hours, with raw hands despite the hide gloves, Dr Nissen had eventually pulled a long silver-finned shark half out of the water. The boat’s captain had come running over and cut the line. He had explained to Dr Nissen and Anna that the law protected this rare shark in those waters, even though the shark could be a decimation machine, consuming and disturbing the rest of the fish population there. But the law was the law.
So the shark had to be released. Just as it had vanished back into the water, Dr Nissen’s brain had taken a clear and indelible mental photograph of its gaping mouth, the snaggled teeth, and above, the blank, black eyes.
Nissen rubbed at the skin by the edge of his forehead. Maybe he should have resisted Radthammon. There was the feeling in the belly, like acid working in there, the knowledge that this boy had been released back into the world.
Just before Karen had undone the first wrist strap she had looked at Dr Nissen for confirmation. The girl had known what they were doing was wrong. Nissen could have acted then, told her, no, don’t undo it, let’s get him tied up again.
He could have helped her with it.
Instead, he had done nothing. He had let Radthammon bully him and now something terrible that could have been contained has not been.
It wasn’t what the boy said, or what he did.
It was the dead, blank, black eyes that watched you, waiting.
Chapter Ten
Thomas Ford has been alone at his house for three hours now. Finlay had offered to stay longer, but Thomas told him he wanted to sleep. He had not slept though. He just stared ahead, alone for the first time since the accident. The house no longer made sense. It had only made sense with Lea there. For a while, Thomas tortured himself, expertly and creatively, staring for minutes at the space above a chair or cushion, imagining Lea sitting there, drinking tea from a mug, or looking back at him, or watching television with sleepy, hooded eyes. Then he learned not to imagine her; instead, he went through a series of memories, snapshots of Lea in time and space in this room, stored images Thomas had never been aware of until now. He saw her by the living room door, her back to him, a black satin dress hugging close to her waist and hips. He was remembering the night of the launch of her gallery. They had argued that night. The tension in her at the culmination of the new project that had absorbed her for months, it had brimmed over that night, just before they left the house.
Thomas sniffed and looked down at the carpet, a
Jimmy stared at Dr Radthammon.
“Aye aye, Dr Radthammon, how’s your house coming on? I was there yesterday, man, carrying bricks for you, helping those Poles!”
Dr Nissen stared at Dr Radthammon sharply. Karen was undoing the strap on Jimmy’s left ankle.
“Oh, Karen, give a wee scratch there eh? I think I’m getting some skin condition or something, itchy everywhere. Funny thing though, my guts feel better. Hey docs, what do you think of all that physics eh? Atoms and particles eh? Hey, what do you think about those quarks? Those up and down quarks, and charm quarks? It’s great eh? Fucking chaos eh? Man, I should have stayed in school. Karen! No go on, a wee scratch eh?”
When Jimmy and Dr Radthammon were gone from his ward, Dr Nissen walked into his small office, sat in his chair, and held his head in his hands. There was a strange feeling in him. It took him fifteen minutes to recognise it from the summer holiday the year before, with Anna, to Florida . They’d chartered a boat and gone out into the deep fishing waters. It had all gone well until Dr Nissen got something heavy on the line. After what seemed hours, with raw hands despite the hide gloves, Dr Nissen had eventually pulled a long silver-finned shark half out of the water. The boat’s captain had come running over and cut the line. He had explained to Dr Nissen and Anna that the law protected this rare shark in those waters, even though the shark could be a decimation machine, consuming and disturbing the rest of the fish population there. But the law was the law.
So the shark had to be released. Just as it had vanished back into the water, Dr Nissen’s brain had taken a clear and indelible mental photograph of its gaping mouth, the snaggled teeth, and above, the blank, black eyes.
Nissen rubbed at the skin by the edge of his forehead. Maybe he should have resisted Radthammon. There was the feeling in the belly, like acid working in there, the knowledge that this boy had been released back into the world.
Just before Karen had undone the first wrist strap she had looked at Dr Nissen for confirmation. The girl had known what they were doing was wrong. Nissen could have acted then, told her, no, don’t undo it, let’s get him tied up again.
He could have helped her with it.
Instead, he had done nothing. He had let Radthammon bully him and now something terrible that could have been contained has not been.
It wasn’t what the boy said, or what he did.
It was the dead, blank, black eyes that watched you, waiting.
Chapter Ten
Thomas Ford has been alone at his house for three hours now. Finlay had offered to stay longer, but Thomas told him he wanted to sleep. He had not slept though. He just stared ahead, alone for the first time since the accident. The house no longer made sense. It had only made sense with Lea there. For a while, Thomas tortured himself, expertly and creatively, staring for minutes at the space above a chair or cushion, imagining Lea sitting there, drinking tea from a mug, or looking back at him, or watching television with sleepy, hooded eyes. Then he learned not to imagine her; instead, he went through a series of memories, snapshots of Lea in time and space in this room, stored images Thomas had never been aware of until now. He saw her by the living room door, her back to him, a black satin dress hugging close to her waist and hips. He was remembering the night of the launch of her gallery. They had argued that night. The tension in her at the culmination of the new project that had absorbed her for months, it had brimmed over that night, just before they left the house.
Thomas sniffed and looked down at the carpet, a
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