Doctor:

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Hello Thomas, how are you today? Good, good. Please take a seat. There we go. Right, I’ll just jump straight to why we called you in today if that’s okay with you Thomas? We’ve had your blood test results back following your visit to us last Tuesday, and there are a few things we just wanted to discuss with you. Now, before we go any further, I just want to reassure you - nothing to be alarmed about. These things happen. And what’s important is that we catch them early, and then they can be dealt with swiftly and efficiently, wouldn’t you agree Thomas?

 

Firstly, I just want to confirm that your blood test results are coming back the same as usual, everything matches up perfectly and is behaving as it should. So, my main concern, that I wanted to get your thoughts on, is this: over the past six years, you have been to see us one-hundred-and-ninety-eight times. This averages at one visit every eleven days. Does this seem normal to you, Thomas? No, no, I’m fully aware that you don’t think this is the case, but it is nonetheless. Your last recorded visit, before last Tuesday, was the Monday before, for example. That’s odd, isn’t it, that you don’t remember? Because I distinctly remember speaking with you. We discussed… what was it? Your trouble sleeping. Does that sound right? You said the dreams were getting worse. You don’t recall that? That’s alright, memories can be tricky. Especially with the kind of stress you’re under. Yes, stress. You said work had been getting on top of you, you were looking to make a career move. Yes? And I remember you mentioning that sometimes you wake up in places you don’t recognise. You don’t remember that either?

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…That is strange, isn’t it?

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I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for all this Thomas, and I don’t want you in any way to feel concerned or distraught because that would just serve to make everything worse wouldn’t it? And I’m sure you understand why I have to ask, just to be absolutely sure, there hasn’t been any… confusion, has there? No sudden head injuries? No… moments where you’ve felt unlike yourself, like another person entirely perhaps? I understand that Thomas, and reason would lead me to also say that you have always been yourself, but you must realise that I have seen you many times, Thomas, and yet here you are saying that you don’t remember. That puts me in a difficult situation.

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But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s work through this calmly, shall we?

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Just to confirm, you are Thomas Gregory Wright? Born April 17th, 1992? Mother’s name, Threadwald?

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Yes, good, and you said your birthday is correct also? Perfect.

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Now, don’t panic. Lapses in memory, confusion with surroundings, these things happen more often than you’d think. It becomes more and more common as we get older.

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Here is my concern though, Thomas: just a few months ago, I stood where I am now and looked into the eyes I am looking into now. I had many conversations with this man about his sleep pattern, his hallucinations, his mental health deterioration and his memory loss. My rational mind leads me to believe that this was you, Thomas. This man spoke as you do, sat how you do, and even walked in as you did just now.

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And yet that man was admitted to hospital, severely ill, just two months ago and was pronounced dead in the early hours of the following morning.

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In the past six years, Thomas, you have been admitted to hospital one-hundred-and-ninety-eight times, and have died thirty-three of those times, each occasion being placed in a cremation oven and burned at nine-hundred-and-eighty-two degrees until nothing but ash remained.

 

So tell me Thomas…why do you keep coming back?