"Here is my mobile number. The initial days can be
disconcerting, so please feel free to call at
any time. Although I have not yet embraced the
mobile phone, so you may need to leave a
message."
And so much for the mysteries of the Orient, she thought later as
she settled into her familiar spot in the bar. That
little dry spot at the back of her tongue felt swollen
with thirst that water wouldn't satisfy but,
strangely, Pinot Grigot would. Live and learn. She
took a deep grateful swallow of the chilled wine
luxuriating as it slipped d own her throat, and
screamed.
Fire flamed through her, setting muscle and bone burning.
She twisted to her feet before falling forward into
the table. The glass smashing into a shower of
jagged prisms, as she fell she saw through a yellow
aura, dived through rainbows of colour caught in
the air. Rolling off the table onto the floor, she
started beating at her arms. Not fire. Knives. Red hot
pokers. Needles! She thought before being sucked
into unconsciousness. And the last thought that
ever went through her mind was, "What the fu … "
Except it wasn't her last thought at all. And in her time in
the ambulance and the hospital - after they cleaned
the urine and faeces off her - and when they sent
her home in a cab after the doctors had cleared her
36