The Sandman

68

Anders Rönn is sitting at the big conference table, waiting. It’s already half past five. The pale, impersonal room is full of the usual members of the hospital committee, two representatives from general psychiatry, Senior Consultant Roland Brolin and head of security, Sven Hoffman.

The hospital manager, Rikard Nagler, is still talking on the phone as he is given a glass of iced tea by his secretary.

Snow is falling slowly from the low sky.

All conversation in the room ceases as the hospital manager puts his empty glass down on the table, wipes his mouth and opens the meeting.

‘It’s good that you could all come,’ he says. ‘I had a call from the Prison Service Committee an hour ago.’

Silence falls as people sit and wait for him to go on.

‘They’ve decided that the secure unit is going to have to admit two new patients at short notice,’ he continues. ‘Obviously we’ve been very spoiled, with just one patient... and an old, quiet one at that.’

‘Because he’s biding his time,’ Brolin says gravely.

‘I called this meeting to hear your opinions about what this means in terms of security and the general medical situation,’ the manager goes on without taking any notice of Brolin’s comment.

‘What sort of patients are they thinking of sending?’ Anders asks.

‘Naturally they’re both high risk,’ the manager replies. ‘One is in the secure unit at Säter, and the other is in the psychiatric unit at Karsudden after—’

‘It’s not going to work,’ Brolin says.

‘Our secure unit was actually built to house three patients,’ the hospital manager says patiently. ‘Times have changed, we can’t—’

‘Yes, but Jurek is...’

Brolin falls silent.

‘What were you going to say?’

‘It’s impossible for us to handle any more patients,’ Brolin says.

‘Even though we have a direct obligation to accept them.’

‘Find some excuse.’

The manager laughs wearily and shakes his head.

‘You’ve always seen him as a monster, but he—’

‘I’m not scared of monsters,’ Brolin interrupts. ‘But I’m smart enough to be scared of Jurek Walter.’

The manager smiles at Brolin and then whispers something to his secretary.

‘I’m still fairly new here,’ Anders says. ‘But has Jurek Walter ever caused any direct problems?’

‘He made Susanne Hjälm disappear,’ Brolin replies.

Silence descends on the room. One of the doctors from general psychiatry takes his glasses off, then puts them back on at once.

‘I was told that she was on leave of absence... for a research project, I think it was?’ Anders says slowly.

‘We’re calling it a leave of absence,’ Brolin says.

‘I’d very much like to hear what happened,’ Anders says, feeling a vague anxiety growing inside him.

‘Susanne smuggled out a letter from Jurek Walter, but regretted it,’ Brolin explains, with his eyes closed. ‘She called me and told me everything. She was completely, I don’t know... she was just crying and promising that she’d burned the letter... And I believe that she had, because she was frightened, and kept saying she wasn’t going to go in to see Jurek again.’

‘She’s taken leave of absence,’ the hospital manager says, shuffling his papers.

A few people laugh, while others look troubled. Sven Hoffman, head of security, projects an image of the secure unit on the white screen.

‘In terms of security, we have no problem accepting more patients,’ he says sternly. ‘But we’ll maintain a higher level of alert to start with.’

‘Jurek Walter mustn’t meet other people,’ Brolin persists.

‘Well, he’s going to have to now... You’ll just need to ensure that security isn’t compromised,’ the manager says, looking at the others.

‘It won’t work... and I want it in the minutes that I’m abdicating responsibility for the secure unit. It will have to come under the umbrella of general psychiatry, or become a separate—’

‘Don’t you think you’re exaggerating now?’

‘This is exactly what Jurek Walter has been waiting all these years for,’ Brolin says, his voice breathless with agitation.

He gets up and leaves the room without another word. Shadows of falling snowflakes drift slowly down the wall holding the whiteboard.

‘I’m sure I could take care of three patients, regardless of their diagnoses,’ Anders says calmly, leaning back in his chair.

The others look at him in surprise, and the hospital manager puts his pen down and smiles amiably.

‘I don’t actually understand the problem,’ he continues, glancing at the door through which Brolin disappeared.

‘Go on,’ the manager nods.

‘It’s merely a matter of medication,’ Anders says.

‘We can’t just keep them sedated,’ Hoffman laughs.

‘Of course we can, if it’s absolutely necessary,’ Anders says with a boyish smile. ‘Take St Sigfrid’s, for instance... we were so stretched that there wasn’t the capacity to deal with lots of incidents.’

He sees the intent look on the hospital manager’s face, raises his eyebrows and throws out his hands, then says lightly:

‘We know that heavy medication is perhaps... uncomfortable for the patient, but if I was responsible for the secure unit, I wouldn’t want to take any risks.’