Forgotten: a truly gripping psychological thriller Read Online Free PDF

have circulated your description. They have asked for witnesses,’ he sounded desperate to give Kai some grain of hope. ‘They wanted to take a photograph but I refused to allow it until you were able to give permission.’
    She turned back to look at him. ‘I take it no-one has come forward?’
    Ekachai shook his head and lowered his eyes.
    ‘No-one who knows anything of importance. We had one visitor who thought he knew you but, sadly, when he saw you he realised that he was mistaken.’
    ‘He saw me? You mean you let people in here to have a good gawp?’
    ‘I’m sorry, a good…?’
    ‘You let people come in here and look at me while I was unconscious. Jesus!’
    He shook his head and held his hands out to her in a what was I supposed to do? gesture. ‘I’m sorry but we needed to do anything possible to discover your identity. There was only one man; he came in under my supervision and, when he realised that he was mistaken, he left.’
    As he explained she studied the lines on his palms. They were deeply carved as though his life and destiny were more important than those of others. She wondered if all doctors had hands like that; was it a sign of their vocation?
    ‘So who was he?’ she demanded.
    ‘A teacher from England. He’d been working here in Thailand and thought he recognised you from your description. Sadly, he was mistaken. However, he has called on the telephone several times to find out whether you are awake. He said he would like to see you when you regained consciousness. Perhaps a visitor would be a good idea. He might be able to help you remember your home as he is an Englishman. I have a telephone number. Perhaps you would like me to contact him on your behalf.’
    She thought for a minute. How would it be to get to know a complete stranger when she had nothing of herself to offer in return? At the moment, her life was made up of visits from Ekachai and various other hospital staff, most of whom couldn’t speak English. It was easy to relate to them within the hospital situation, but an outsider… She was convinced it would be awkward, but anything had to be better than staring at the grey walls of her room. She’d even been tempted to ask if she could be put in a ward with other patients – anything to break the monotony and emptiness – but she didn’t feel in any position to make any requests or demands. Meeting a stranger wouldn’t be too awful because everyone was a stranger; she was even a stranger to herself. She clenched her fists in front of her face and nibbled her thumb nails, a hundred responses flickering in out of her consciousness like fish in a cramped pool.
    ‘Okay,’ she decided. ‘Why not? I could do with some different company.’
    Ekachai smiled and she could see that he’d been wanting her to agree. ‘So my visits are not company enough?’ he teased.
    She smiled back at him, the movement of her muscles feeling unfamiliar and awkward.
    ‘Ah, now you can smile at me. It is a change from all this sighing and frowning. I’ll call this Mark and ask him to come tomorrow. How is that?’
    ‘Whatever. I mean, whenever he can make it. No hurry.’ She could hear herself waffling as she became aware of a growing excitement. A new face, someone from outside. The potential visit made her feel different somehow, more alive, more relevant.
    Ekachai left with a smile.
    Kai hauled herself from the bed and wobbled to her private bathroom, one of the boundaries of her world. A room within a room. The mirror confirmed what she knew inside, that the change wasn’t outwardly visible. Her hair still looked greasy and uncared for and it was difficult to determine its natural colour. She decided she would make a small request for some decent shampoo to improve its condition because she’d run out and was using hand soap which just seemed to dry it out for a day or so. There was an angry cut above her partially closed left eye, its clean edges held together by a row of neat