Danny brushed Janine’s shoulder (harder than necessary), crushed the remnants of the ceramic fish vase head under the heel of his shoe, and slipped through one of the aluminium side sliding doors that flanked Doctor Shepherd’s desk. The air-con contributed to the tense atmosphere by cutting out and draping the entire office in a cloak of silence.

A shiver of apprehension rippled through Janine’s body; the thought of seeing Amy—of holding her in her arms, and feeling her daughter’s scent—had taken on a dark sense of discomfort. Although Janine knew that she would never do anything to hurt Amy, there had been real venom in Doctor Shepherd’s accusatory tone of voice, which now bubbled like hot tar in the pit of Janine’s stomach.

What have I done to her? These words echoed through Janine’s mind at eighteen syllables a second, and there was no distinction between the clinician’s voice and her own.

When Danny reappeared carrying Amy in his arms like an infant, using his elbow to slam shut the sliding door (again, harder than necessary), that darkish discomfort which plink-plinked inside Janine’s heart like a leaking tap, morphed into a river of lunacy. Janine let out a shriek, and pulled back so hard in the wheelchair that the stitching in the leather strap over her left wrist ripped loose.

Danny rushed forward but Doctor Shepherd’s right hand shot up in a Halt! ‘She’ll be fine, Danny. Won’t you, Janine? Violent behavior is not tolerated here at all. You don’t want me to make a tick next to this box that says … let me see—’ Doctor Shepherd pushed up her glasses, ‘—ah! VIOLENT BEHAVIOR. Any idea how bad that will look on your MSE?’

Janine didn’t answer; she tried getting a better look at Amy, whose face was turned away, resting on the orderly’s shoulder. There was a fresh bandage over her throat, and her legs flopped up and down as Danny walked towards Doctor Shepherd's desk. Amy had on only one pink Barbie sneaker (the other foot looked cold and pale), and her matching (Barbie) jeans and T-shirt were ripped, and, in places, covered in mud and grass.

‘Put her down, Danny.’ Doctor Shepherd pointed at a red leather sofa, which, to her left, took up two thirds of the wall.

Danny nodded, walked around the back of Doctor Shepherd’s chair, and placed Amy on the sofa. Janine was eyelevel with the surface of the desktop, and tried getting a better view by pushing down on the armrest with her free hand, straightening her arm, and kicking down with both feet on the footrests. Her arm gave way to fatigue, and the wheelchair seat cushion sighed when Janine slumped back into the wheelchair. She put her hand over her eyes, and her mouth stayed open as if she was about to vomit.

‘You can open your eyes now, Janine—take your hand away from your face. I’ll make you a deal: if you promise to sit still and hear me out for a minute or two—’ Doctor Shepherd opened the desk drawer again, and took out two Velcro straps, ‘—I won’t put these on you. That’s a promise. What do you say? Let’s have a session, darl.’

Doctor Shepherd mistook Janine’s shivers and shakes for a nod.
‘Good. You look a little shaken, Janine. Let’s leave Amy alone for a few minutes—as you can see, she’s been through quite a bit during the last forty-eight hours. In the meantime I’m going to ask you a few questions—and let me stress, that it is of vital importance that you answer them to the best of your ability.’ Doctor Shepherd turned her head, and asked: ‘Danny, is Clive ready?’

‘My pardner will be here in a few minutes, Doc.’

‘Excellent.’ The clinician took out a Polaroid camera and handed it to Danny, who bowed, and took it with two hands like he was receiving a business card in Japan. He stood behind Doctor Shepherd fidgeted with the camera.

‘Janine Wilkinson, how many days are there in a week?’

‘Sebem.’

‘How many things are there in a dozen?’

‘Twelb.’

‘How many pounds are there in a ton?’

‘I-I … we dom’ … poumb? Kilograbs, dom’ we?’

‘Slurred speech.’ Doctor Shepherd ticked another box on the MSE form, ‘What’s the plural of ox?’

‘Ogzeb.’

‘Good. I’m going to name a few things that are the—whoohoo! Janine! I’m over here; please stop trying to see if Amy’s okay; I assure you she is. Where was I? Right. I’m going to name some things which are the same or alike in certain ways; I’d like you to tell me in what way you think they are alike or the same. Ready? Cat and mouse.’

‘A gabe.’

‘A game? Interesting. Piano and violin.’

‘Sab mubic.’

‘Lake and mountain.’

‘Wobe amb de sabe.’

‘One and the same?’

‘Yeb.’

‘Good. Okay, Janine. A few more questions: Why do you think it’s better to give money to an organized charity than to a beggar?’

‘Wobe amb de sabe.’

‘If you couldn’t have children—let me just remind you that your medical record clearly states that you can’t—would you ever consider carrying a doll around with you at all times, and call it your child?’

‘Absurb. I dom’ unbersta—’

‘Thank you for your time, Janine.’

‘Bu—’

‘I said thank you, Janine. That will be all. Danny, put Amy back in her box; it would seem to me that our new patient is going to spend quite some time here with us. Here, Danny—’ Doctor Shepherd held out two Velcro straps over her head like trophies, ‘—just in case; she’s a strong one. You should’ve seen what she did to her husband at the Kruger National Park. You and Clive give her the usual … welcome treatment—and please get in a few better shots than you did the last lime, Danny. My clients weren’t amused. In the meantime I’ll go and have a word with Nurse Tomoko.’

Doctor Shepherd got up, straightened her white coat, and walked passed Janine whose left hand shot out like a King Cobra, grabbing the clinician by the sleeve. No more than three inches from each other, their eyes met, and Janine spat in Doctor Shepherd’s face, ‘I rebeber you, you olb bibch. I rebeber you!’

‘Danny! Danny!’

Like a cloud over the sun Danny’s fist exploded over Janine’s face, shattering the cartilage in her already-broken nose. There were a few moments of sheer terror as pain, so intense that it felt as if someone was inserting slivers of glass into every pore of her skin, was spreading over her entire face, until reaching the top her head.

The pain subsided, and the last thing Janine saw was the blur of a rainbow over Danny’s greasy head. He was standing on the clinician’s desk, pants were around his ankles, cock in hand—wearing the Polaroid camera like a face mask, and blinding Janine every time Clive’s stubby fingers dug into her neck as he forced himself into her.

Through tears in her eyes Janine counted the colours of the rainbow over and over again while listening to the rat-tat-tat of the air-con that muffled both orderlies’ clownish laughter.