at?"
"She just called me a 'cocksucker' and hung up the phone."
Recounting the incident to Dr. Klein, Chris explained that when Regan had finally awakened, she had no memory whatever of either the telephone call or what had happened on the night of the dinner.
"Then perhaps she wasn't lying about the moving of the furniture," Klein hypothesized.
"I don't get you."
"Well, she moved it herself, no doubt, but perhaps while in one of those states where she didn't really know what she was doing. It's known as automatism. Like a trance state. The patient doesn't know or remember what he's doing."
"But something just occurred to me, doc, you know that? There's a great big heavy bureau in her room made out of teakwood. It must weigh half a ton. I mean, how could she have moved that?"
"Extraordinary strength is pretty common in pathology."
"Oh, really? How come?"
The doctor shrugged "No one knows.
"Now, besides what you've told me," he continued, "have you noticed any other bizarre behavior?"
"Well, she's gotten zeal sloppy."
"Bizarre," he repeated.
"For her, that's bizarre. Oh, now wait! There's this! You remember that Ouija board she's been playing with? Captain Howdy?"
"The fantasy playmate."The internist nodded.
"Well, now she can hear him," Chris revealed.
The doctor leaned forward, folding his arms atop the desk. As Chris, continued, his eyes were alert and had narrowed to dart points of speculation.
"Yesterday morning," said Chris, "I could hear her talking to Howdy in her bedroom. I mean, she'd talk, and then seem to wait, as if she were playing with the Ouija board. When I peeked inside the room, though, there wasn't any Ouija board there; just Rags; and she was nodding her head, doc, just like she was agreeing with what he was saying."
"Did she see him?"
"I don't think so. She sort of had her head to the side, the way she does when she listens to records."
The doctor nodded thoughtfully, "Yes. Yes, I see. Any other phenomena like that? Does she see things? Smell things?"
"Smell," Chris remembered. "She keeps smelling something bad in her bedroom."
"Something burning?"
"Hey, that's right!" Chris exclaimed. "How'd you know that?"
"It's sometimes the symptom of a type of disturbance in the chemicoelectrical activity of the brain. In the case of your daughter, in the temporal lobe, you see." He put a hand to the front of his skull. "Up here, in the forward part of the brain. Now it's rare but it does cause bizarre hallucinations and usually just before a convulsion. I suppose that's why it's taken for schizophrenia so often; but it isn't schizophrenia. It's produced by a lesion in the temporal lobe. Now the test for clonus isn't conclusive, Mrs. MacNeil, so I think I'd like to give her an EEG."
"What's that?"
"Electroencephalograph. It will show us the pattern of her brain waves. That's usually a pretty good indication of abnormal functioning."
"But you think that's it, huh? Temporal lobe?"'
"Well, she does have the syndrome, Mrs. MacNeil. For example, the untidiness; the pugnacity; behavior that's socially embarrassing; the automatism, as well. And of course, the seizures that made the bed shake. Usually, that's followed by either wetting the bed or vomiting, or both, and then sleeping very deeply."
"You want to test her right now?" asked Chris.
"Yes, I think we should do it immediately, but she's going to need sedation. If she moves or jerks it will void the results, so may I give her, say, twenty-five milligrams of Librium?"
"Jesus, do what you have to," she told him, shaken.
She accompanied him to the examining room, and when Regan saw him readying the hypodermic, she screamed and filled the air with a torrent of obscenities.
"Oh, honey, it's to help you!" Chris pleaded in distress. She held Regan still while Dr. Klein gave the injection.
"I'll be back," the
"She just called me a 'cocksucker' and hung up the phone."
Recounting the incident to Dr. Klein, Chris explained that when Regan had finally awakened, she had no memory whatever of either the telephone call or what had happened on the night of the dinner.
"Then perhaps she wasn't lying about the moving of the furniture," Klein hypothesized.
"I don't get you."
"Well, she moved it herself, no doubt, but perhaps while in one of those states where she didn't really know what she was doing. It's known as automatism. Like a trance state. The patient doesn't know or remember what he's doing."
"But something just occurred to me, doc, you know that? There's a great big heavy bureau in her room made out of teakwood. It must weigh half a ton. I mean, how could she have moved that?"
"Extraordinary strength is pretty common in pathology."
"Oh, really? How come?"
The doctor shrugged "No one knows.
"Now, besides what you've told me," he continued, "have you noticed any other bizarre behavior?"
"Well, she's gotten zeal sloppy."
"Bizarre," he repeated.
"For her, that's bizarre. Oh, now wait! There's this! You remember that Ouija board she's been playing with? Captain Howdy?"
"The fantasy playmate."The internist nodded.
"Well, now she can hear him," Chris revealed.
The doctor leaned forward, folding his arms atop the desk. As Chris, continued, his eyes were alert and had narrowed to dart points of speculation.
"Yesterday morning," said Chris, "I could hear her talking to Howdy in her bedroom. I mean, she'd talk, and then seem to wait, as if she were playing with the Ouija board. When I peeked inside the room, though, there wasn't any Ouija board there; just Rags; and she was nodding her head, doc, just like she was agreeing with what he was saying."
"Did she see him?"
"I don't think so. She sort of had her head to the side, the way she does when she listens to records."
The doctor nodded thoughtfully, "Yes. Yes, I see. Any other phenomena like that? Does she see things? Smell things?"
"Smell," Chris remembered. "She keeps smelling something bad in her bedroom."
"Something burning?"
"Hey, that's right!" Chris exclaimed. "How'd you know that?"
"It's sometimes the symptom of a type of disturbance in the chemicoelectrical activity of the brain. In the case of your daughter, in the temporal lobe, you see." He put a hand to the front of his skull. "Up here, in the forward part of the brain. Now it's rare but it does cause bizarre hallucinations and usually just before a convulsion. I suppose that's why it's taken for schizophrenia so often; but it isn't schizophrenia. It's produced by a lesion in the temporal lobe. Now the test for clonus isn't conclusive, Mrs. MacNeil, so I think I'd like to give her an EEG."
"What's that?"
"Electroencephalograph. It will show us the pattern of her brain waves. That's usually a pretty good indication of abnormal functioning."
"But you think that's it, huh? Temporal lobe?"'
"Well, she does have the syndrome, Mrs. MacNeil. For example, the untidiness; the pugnacity; behavior that's socially embarrassing; the automatism, as well. And of course, the seizures that made the bed shake. Usually, that's followed by either wetting the bed or vomiting, or both, and then sleeping very deeply."
"You want to test her right now?" asked Chris.
"Yes, I think we should do it immediately, but she's going to need sedation. If she moves or jerks it will void the results, so may I give her, say, twenty-five milligrams of Librium?"
"Jesus, do what you have to," she told him, shaken.
She accompanied him to the examining room, and when Regan saw him readying the hypodermic, she screamed and filled the air with a torrent of obscenities.
"Oh, honey, it's to help you!" Chris pleaded in distress. She held Regan still while Dr. Klein gave the injection.
"I'll be back," the
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