At Karolinska Hospital, he was diagnosed with severe cirrhosis of the liver. The chronic cell damage was so serious that, after the usual medical tests, he was placed on the waiting list for a liver transplant. He was in blood group O and his tissue type was unusual, so the number of possible donors was fairly slim.
His younger brother could have donated a partial liver if he hadnt suffered from such severe arrhythmia that his heart could not have endured an operation.
The hope of finding a liver donor was nearly nonexistent, but if Axel refrained from drinking and using sleeping pills, he would not die. As long as he took regular doses of Konakion, Inderal, and Spironolakton, his liver functioned and he lived a normal life.
Except that he never slept more than an hour or two at night. He was admitted to a sleep clinic in Gothenburg and underwent a polysomnography and had his insomnia officially diagnosed. Since medication was out of the question, he was given advice about meditation, hypnosis, self-suggestion, and sleep techniques. None of this helped.
Four months after his liver collapsed, he was awake for nine days straight and had a psychotic episode.
He had himself voluntarily admitted to the private psychiatric hospital Saint Maria Hjarta.
There he met Beverly. She was just fourteen years old.
As usual, Axel had been lying awake and it was about three in the morning. It was totally dark outside. She just opened his door. She was like an unhappy spirit who walked all night through the hallways of the psychiatric hospital. Perhaps all she was looking for was a person she could be with.
He was in bed, sleepless and disconsolate, when the girl came into his room and stood in front of him without a word. Her long nightgown brushed against the floor.
I saw there was light in this room, she whispered. Youre giving off light.
Then she crawled into his bed. He was still sick from lack of sleep and he didnt know what he was doing. He grabbed her tiny body hard, too hard, and pressed her to him.
She said nothing. She just lay there.
He buried his face in the back of her neck. Then he fell asleep.
It was as though he had plunged deep into the waters of sleep and found dreams. He slept only a few minutes that first time. Every night after that, she came to his room. He would hold her tightly and then, covered with sweat, hed fall asleep.
His psychological instability slowly dissipated like condensation from a mirror. Beverly stopped wandering through the hospital hallways all night.
Axel Riessen and Beverly Andersson left Saint Maria Hjarta Hospital with a silent and desperate agreement. Both of them understood that this close-knit arrangement had to be a secret. As far as the outside world could see, Beverly Andersson was temporarily housed in one of the apartments in Axel Riessens mansion until a student apartment opened up.
Beverly Andersson is now fifteen and had been diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder. She has no sense of boundaries between herself and other people. She also has no self-defense mechanism.
In past eras, girls like Beverly might be locked up in mental institutions permanently or they might be forced to undergo sterilization or a lobotomy to control their lack of morals and unrestrained sexuality.
In past eras, girls like Beverly might be locked up in mental institutions permanently or they might be forced to undergo sterilization or a lobotomy to control their lack of morals and unrestrained sexuality.
Girls like Beverly often still follow the wrong people home and trust people who are not worth their trust.
Beverly is lucky she found me, Axel Riessen would reassure himself. I am not a pedophile, do not want to harm her or make money off her. I just need her next to me so I can sleep. Without sleep, Ill be destroyed.
She often talks about their getting married once shes old enough.
Axel Riessen lets her spin her fantasies of marriage because it makes her happy and calm. He convinces himself that hes protecting her from the outside world, but he also knows that hes using her. Hes ashamed, but cant figure out any other alternative. Hes afraid of returning to relentless insomnia.
Beverly walks out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in her mouth. She nods toward the three violins hanging on the wall.
Why dont you ever play them? she asks.
I cant, he replies with a smile.
Are they just going to hang there? Why dont you give them to someone who can play them?
I like these violins. Robert gave them to me.
You hardly speak about your brother.
We have a complicated relationship.
I know he makes violins in his workshop, she says.
Yes, thats what he does he also plays in a chamber orchestra.
Maybe he can play for us at our wedding? she asks as she wipes toothpaste from the corner of her mouth.
Axel looks at her and hopes that she doesnt pick up on the mechanical way he answers as he says, What a good idea.
He feels exhaustion flowing over him like a wave, over his body and his brain. He walks past her and into the bedroom and sinks down on the edge of the bed.