‘What kind of episode is it, though? What’s going on?’

‘Well, the good news is that Dr Bakshi is fairly certain that it’s only temporary.’

‘Oh, that’s great,’ I said.

‘Something has clearly traumatised him.’

‘Not what happened to Kevin, though. I mean, this happened after Kevin was killed, so . . .’

‘Yes. We can only assume it’s a direct result of what happened in the television room the night before last.’

‘Really?’ Fucking . . . really? Like that wasn’t blindingly obvious.

‘When a patient becomes extremely disturbed, something . . . shuts down and they just switch off. They retreat into themselves, into their shells. It’s a defence mechanism.’

‘Defence against what?’

‘Everything,’ Malaika said.

I nodded, as if I was thinking it all through, which I was. Shaun had been trying to tell me something, but had been so scared that the whole dying thing had kicked in. That’s what had started it and I remembered only too well what it was that had finished him off.

‘I suppose you had some sort of meeting afterwards,’ I said. ‘You always do, right? After an alarm or whatever.’

‘A debrief, yes.’

‘So, what did everyone think had happened?’

‘Well . . .’ Malaika seemed a little uncomfortable and looked back over her shoulder. To check that nobody was watching through the window? To make sure the door was shut? ‘It’s always very difficult to diagnose these things on the spot. What’s important is that we follow correct clinical procedure, which, of course, we did.’

‘What did Debbie think? She was right there when it happened.’

‘Debbie was extremely upset.’

‘Yeah, I bet. I mean, she’d obviously been trying to help.’

‘Of course. When someone is as manic as Shaun was . . . stuck in a loop almost . . . often the best option is to shock them. To do whatever you can to snap them out of it.’

‘Snap’ was the right word for it.

‘Dr Bakshi assured Debbie that it had certainly been something worth trying.’

‘You heard Dr Bakshi say that?’

‘That’s what Debbie told me she’d said.’ She shifted her chair back. ‘I shouldn’t really be telling you any of this, Alice. It’s a bit naughty of me, and it’s only because I can see how distressed you are.’

‘I won’t tell anyone,’ I said.

Malaika stood up. ‘So, are you feeling a little better, now?’

‘Yeah, yeah . . . I’m good.’ I got to my feet and wandered out through the door she was holding open for me. I didn’t look at her or even say thank you, but that’s only because I was suddenly struck as dumb as poor old Shaun had been.