The Game - 27. Chapter 27

Andrea couldn’t get Daniel out of her mind. She had never met anyone like him before. The first time she had seen him she had almost gone into shock... he was incredible. Even though she could see from the very first moment that he was more than half switched off, submerged in the half world inhabited by those on strong medication, even then she could see the fire in him, the spark of something unique, something very special.

And then there was that feeling, that strange insistent nagging thought that she knew him, that he was familiar in a very particular way. She had seen him before... somewhere. Someone like that you just didn’t forget.

Through the day she had become more and more confused. He was clearly not dangerous. Even drugged as he was it was possible to see that he was a gentle soul, so why was he being treated as he was?

She had enjoyed the day she spent with him, more than enjoyed it, she had had a great time. As the day passed and the drugs wore off she had enjoyed his company more and more and, above everything she enjoyed the fact that there was no need to be anything but herself with him. He was not demanding in any way. He seemed to find real pleasure in the smallest things, chopping onions, stirring sauce, staring out of the window at the rain falling.

There was one point when he opened the back door and just stood there breathing in the fresh smell of the wet garden in the rain and then he had turned to her with shining eyes and smiled a smile that was so bright, so disarming that she was shocked again and had to stare at him with her mouth open until his face had shown such confusion and anxiety and she had to pull herself together to reassure him.

All day she had looked at him. From every angle, in every situation, at every time of the day, even in the semi darkness of the living room watching television with the curtains closed and the lights off, she couldn’t keep her eyes off him. It wasn’t as though he was easy on the eyes, he wasn’t....he was shocking, in so many ways. She had never seen anyone with hair like that, with eyes so big and deep, with a face that would make angels cry.

She had never let anyone get under her skin like him.... and when she heard him sing....!!! She had gone home that night and dreamed of him, waking in a cold sweat with his name on her lips, his scent in her nostrils, his voice in her ears and her mind full of his sweetness. It had shaken her. She had never been affected by a patient like this before and she was afraid of what it meant where it was leading.

Thinking about the telephone conversation with Professor Bowen and the effect it had on the others she was shaken again. There was something going on, that she was absolutely sure of, something that they all knew about. Ben had gone storming off, ranting about some conspiracy and the other two had gone quiet and Andrea had left feeling somehow in the way and out of place.

And now...and now.... here she was at three in the morning thinking of him... thinking that she had just handed him over to.... to.... what? What exactly were they afraid of.... what were they suggesting?

Surely if..... surely.... He was going to the hospital tomorrow... today... and it was because of her. Surely .... surely no one there would hurt him? So why did they have him on a punishment drug.... someone who so clearly neither needed nor deserved it? And why was Shaun asking about the ‘white room’? Surely he hadn’t.... couldn’t have....? But what if......?”

Quite suddenly she knew that she would have to go to the hospital herself. It was never an idea... it was always a realisation, an absolute knowledge. She was going to go... she knew it... why fight it?