The Silent Patient

After the community meeting, Theo goes to see Lazarus. He is shocked to find the professor’s office is full of musical instruments. Lazarus explains that he runs an informal music group for patients and staff, believing music can be an effective therapeutic tool. He quotes William Congreve, saying “Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast” (34).

Lazarus reveals to Theo that The Grove is in danger. There are too few patients and the operating costs are too high. He suggests to Theo that The Grove’s new manager, Stephanie, is there as a last-ditch measure. If The Grove doesn’t improve its efficiency in terms of operations under Stephanie, it may well shut down.

Theo turns the conversation towards Alicia, asking if she has ever received individual therapy. Lazarus says he tried it, without success. Theo suggests that Alicia might find it easier to relate to a younger psychotherapist like himself. If Alicia had a troubled relationship with her father, opening up to Lazarus (30-plus years her senior) might be difficult. Lazarus warns Theo that failure is likely. He relents, however, and says the first step is to have Yuri arrange a meeting between Theo and Alicia.

Theo and Alicia have their first meeting. His own insecurities surface as he awaits her arrival: “I tried to silence the negative voices in my head—my father’s voice—telling me I wasn’t up to the job, I was useless, a fraud” (38). Alicia arrives. Yuri plans to stay in the room as Alicia is a patient who is specifically meant to have one-on-one contact supervision from a nurse at all times—but Theo asks him to leave, reassuring him that he has his attack alarm at hand. It doesn’t seem that there is any cause for concern as Alicia is just as passive as she was when Theo first encountered her in the community meeting. He describes her face as “a medicated mask. I wondered what lay beneath” (39). After introducing himself, Theo stays quiet, and the two sit together in silence.

After his one-on-one meeting with Alicia, Theo goes through her file. He only pinpoints one incident of note. A few weeks after Alicia’s admission, Alicia attacked Elif in the canteen, smashing a plate and trying to slash Elif’s throat with the shards. Theo decides to ask Elif about the incident.

Theo also decides he needs to know more about Alicia’s childhood; her file lists her next of kin as an aunt, Lydia Rose, who brought her up following the death of her mother, Eva, in a car crash. Alicia was also in the accident but survived. The only other contact listed in Alicia’s file is her solicitor, Max Berenson. Theo calls Max Berenson and learns he will be out of the office for the rest of the week. He then calls Lydia. When he explains why he’s calling, Lydia responds with “Fuck off” and hangs up (46).

Theo further determines to reexamine the self-portrait Alicia painted after the murder: “This painting was Alicia’s sole communication, her only testimony. And it was saying something I had yet to comprehend” (44).

Theo is leaving The Grove for the day when Yuri approaches him. Yuri found Theo’s pack of cigarettes at the nurse’s station; it must have fallen out of Theo’s pocket. This is lightly embarrassing, given that Theo self-consciously tried to conceal the fact that he had smoked a cigarette before entering The Grove that morning. Yuri offers to buy Theo a drink and they go to a pub.

Yuri asks whether Theo is married and Theo admits that he is, to a woman named Kathryn—Kathy. Yuri reveals that he, too, was once married. Now, he’s divorced. He fell in love with a woman on the street, who he essentially stalked—he tells Theo how he would stand outside her house and watch for her at the window. When Yuri finally got the courage to talk to the woman, she rejected him. The experience made him realize he no longer loved his wife, so he divorced her. Yuri concludes their meeting by advising Theo to go home to his wife and to leave Alicia alone.

Theo goes to meet Kathy at the National Theater Café. She’s an actress, an American born and raised in Manhattan. Her mother is English, so she has dual citizenship. Theo finds her sitting with some women from the production she’s currently working on, telling the story of how she and Theo met. Although it’s a story of double infidelity, Kathy tells it with a humor that makes the tale funny and sweet, eliciting laughs.

Kathy was dating a man, Daniel. Theo was dating a woman, Marianne. The four of them met at a pub one night due to some loose social connection. Kathy and Daniel got in an argument and Daniel left. When Marianne wanted to go home, Theo refused—and she left without him. He and Kathy ended up talking—and sleeping together. Theo broke up with Marianne the next day. He and Kathy had a whirlwind romance and she moved in with him in December of that year. That Christmas, Theo proposed.

After their engagement, Theo brought Kathy to meet his parents in Surrey. “I wanted them to see how happy I was: that I had finally escaped; that I was free” (57). The visit went poorly, as Theo’s father was surly and critical, and his mother depressed. Kathy took it in stride, however, and—having seen how difficult Theo’s childhood must have been—gained a deeper appreciation for him. The two were married in April in a small registry office, with no family present.