CHAPTER ELEVEN

"Dear Dad

It's good here but I miss you. Mum says I can have a weekend with you when I come home. I got scared in the Haunted Mansion but it was fun scary. We're going to the Film studeos tomorow.

Love you

Kerry

Xxx"

Ben smiled, and put the postcard on the cork board with all his other photos and souvenirs of Kerry.

Dom wandered in.

"Was that the postman?"

"Yeah. A postcard from Kerry and the usual lovely bills."

Dom kissed Ben's cheek.

"If you're short for cash, sweetheart-"

"No" Ben replied gently but firmly, "Look, I love you for offering but I pay by direct debit so it's easier."

"Okay" Dom said lightly. They were silent as Ben got on with making their breakfasts – full English for Dom and Granola and banana for Ben.

"I might need to go home tonight, Ben. I need a change of clothes and I've a few boring financial bits to sort."

"Well, I'll miss you, but you know where I live."

Silence for a while, as Ben finished cooking.

"That website didn't say 'hanged', Ben. It said Laurent died in prison. If he'd been hanged they'd have made a point of saying so. And if he wasn't hanged, the charge wouldn't have been murder."

"Some killers were transported."

"It didn't say 'transported' either. It sounds like self-defence to me."

Ben sighed.

"I'd like to step away from it all for a while."

Dom couldn't help blurting out:

"Till you wake up shivering and sweating from the next dream."

"I'm sorry my dreams are disturbing you."

"Ben, come on, I didn't mean it like that."

"Maybe not, but it's true isn't it? How many times has it happened now? How long before I mess up both our careers because of my dreams? And are you really going home tonight to sort out some financial bits?"

"Come on, calm down."

Ben's eyes were distraught, and his chest was rising and falling rapidly.

"Dom… what if I turn on you like Laurent turned on Alex? I've had enough of this whole damn thing. If I stop looking on the net, I get the dreams. If I look on the net I get freaked out anyway."

"Look, moron, you're too kind and compassionate to hurt anybody. Now, let's go to work, eh? A trip to the wonderful world of organ transplants and faecal impactions will soon take our minds off this."

Ben sat stony-faced.

"You're smiling."

"Do I look like I'm smiling?"

"That gorgeous mouth of yours is quirking up at one side… there it goes, look!"

"Stop it!"

But Lofty was indeed smiling again.

They just scraped into work on time.

Dom brooded on the situation later, while Lofty was looking after a young woman who was afraid of injections. As usual his kindness and patience was winning her round, and she put her arm out and said "Just do it!". Lofty knew what it had cost her to joke like that, and was at his most gentle. The woman went away saying in disbelief "I hardly felt a thing."

Dom brooded on the situation again while he was sorting out his bank documents. Even though he had to force himself to switch off and concentrate on his direct debits, he kept thinking about the doomed romance that Lofty seemed to be reliving.

He thought he had come up with a solution. If Lofty was hypnotized one more time, that might bring up the answers and might be all they needed to put this reincarnation cr*p behind them.

Afterwards he blamed himself for contacting Sarah Riordan without consulting Lofty. But he'd written down her answers as she spoke to him. Yes, normally she charged a fee for a session, but Lofty's situation was so challenging that she would happily waive that fee. Yes, of course she'd stop the session if she saw him becoming too agitated. No, she wouldn't try and push Lofty into taking things further if the session revealed no answers.

All good, thought Dom.

The only thing now is for me to tell Lofty what I've arranged for him and hope that he doesn't kick off.

Famous last words?

"What the hell? Dom, why did you do such a stupid thing? I never want a session with that woman again. Right now, I'm not sure if I want to see you ever again."

"Ben, sweetheart, please. I never ever want to see a look on your face like the one when you were outside the Old Bailey. It scared me, if you must know."

"Then why couldn't you let things be?"

"I wanted to help, Ben. How do you think I've felt, knowing the man I love was going through his own private nightmare? One session with Sarah Riordan and you could be free of all that."

"Or I could decide it was all too much for me and walk into the bl**dy canal with a few stones sewn into my pockets."

"Ben, please."

Lofty held his hand up abruptly.

"Enough. I'm going back in to work. I'd appreciate it if you didn't attempt to speak to me for the rest of the day."

Dom suddenly felt an anger filling him. An anger that he didn't know he was capable of.

"**** you, Ben! Do you know what you are? You're a useless, spineless coward. Just get in to work and try and keep out of my way from now on. You can stew in your own juice, because I've had it up to here with you!"

"Good!"

And, turning on his heel, Lofty strode into the hospital.

I can't work with him again, he thought, rage filling him. I don't want to see him again. He's gone too far. If Sacha has a spare moment, I'm going to ask for a transfer. Maybe St James has a vacancy for a nurse. I want Dominic Copeland out of my life for good.