“He doesn’t have convulsions. Not that I’ve seen.”

“Epilepsy doesn’t always have generalized tonic-clonic seizures—that is, convulsions. Sometimes it manifests as blackouts: you’ve described them, but Gaspar doesn’t remember. Sometimes the episodes are similar to night terrors. Epilepsy can also be accompanied by complex visual hallucinations. In general, hallucinations tend to be very simple, but we could be looking at an exception.”

“Is it curable?” Luis wanted to know.

“It’s treatable,” she said. “Gaspar told me about an accident and a blow to the head. He had amnesia, he says. They did some examinations and I’ve sent for them. I have a good friend who’s a neurologist, with whom I often work. I was surprised those examinations hadn’t been sent for before, but Gaspar didn’t mention the accident or his memory loss to the other doctors, and I assume not to you either. I understand, there’s no reason you would know. Sometimes epilepsy is the result of a lesion. It’s true that there don’t seem to be any signs of that in the examinations they’ve done so far. But, again, some cases of epilepsy are difficult to diagnose, and each one is different.”

“I don’t know what was going on with my brother. Gaspar told me very little. He did mention a car accident, but he didn’t seem to give it much importance.”

“He’ll tell you what you need to know. Everything he tells me, what goes on between the two of us, is confidential. I don’t think there is anything, yet, that you need to hear from me. When a person remembers the past, their autobiographical memories are verbally accessible, which means they can relate them in words. In trauma, memories are isolated and the person cannot access them voluntarily; that’s why Gaspar relives them in nightmares and flashbacks. It’s not just his friend’s disappearance. His father’s death took away his structure: they were very close. My job is to try to get some of those memories to become biographical, to get him to integrate them so he can tell them as stories.”

“And that’s possible?”

“Not always. I’ve seen patients after years of abuse who barely suffer a slight depression. Others collapse. Gaspar was very vulnerable. But we’re going to try.”

And she gave him instructions regarding three things: establish a routine—four meals a day, schedules, outings, movies—monitor Gaspar’s medication, and have him exercise. Luis wanted to know if Gaspar could see his friends again: the kids had called to ask. Not yet, said the psychiatrist. We can’t risk them being a trigger. When he asks to see them, we’ll consider it.

“He likes to read.”

“That too, then. Get him a library card. That way he’ll leave the house, and he’ll have a commitment to return the books. I need him to establish ties, to have simple responsibilities.”