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"Can he get better?"
"Yes Even a lot better The first threshold was hard, but noe’re seeing progress every day He has lost almost two years of his life In a few months, by the summer, I hope he’ll be able to walk in the park"
"And his speech?"
"His problem is that both his speech centre and his ability totime Since then he has been forced to learn how to control his body and talk again He doesn’t always reain But it’s not like teaching a child to talk - he knows theof the word, he just can’t articulate it Give him a couple of months and you’ll see how his speech has improved coet around Nine ht, or up froht about this for a minute She discovered that she liked this Dr A Sivarnandan with the Indian looks and the Finnish accent
"What does the A stand for?" she asked
He gave her an amused look "Anders"
"Anders?"
"I was born in Sri Lanka but then adopted by a couple in Åbo when I was three months old"
"OK, Anders, how can I help?"
"Visit him Give him intellectual stimulation"
"I can come every day"
"I don’t want you to be here every day If he likes you, I want hiet bored with them"
"Could any type of special care improve his odds? I can pay whatever it costs"
He smiled at Salander "I’m afraid that we’re all the special care there is Of course I e had more resources and that the cutbacks didn’t affect us, but I assure you that he’s getting very competent care"
"And if you didn’t have to worry about the cutbacks, what else could you offer hiren, of course, would be if I could offer him a full-time personal trainer But it’s been quite a while since we had resources like that in Sweden"
"Hire one"
"Excuse me?"
"Hire him a personal trainer Find the best you can Please do it first thing to he needs in the way of technical equipment I’ll see to it that the funds are available by the end of the week to pay for it"
"Are you pulling ave Dr Anders Sivarnandan her hard, steady look
Johansson braked and pulled her Fiat over to the curb outside Gamla Stan tunnelbana station Svensson opened the door and slipped into the passenger seat He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek as she dreay behind a bus
"Hello, you," she said without taking her eyes off the traffic "You look so serious Has sohed as he fastened his seat belt
"No, nothing major A little problem with the manuscript is all"
"What problem?"
"Two months till the deadline I’ve done only nine of the twenty-two confrontations we planned I’ trouble with Bjorck at the Security Police The bastard is on long-ter his home telephone"
"Is he in hospital?"
"Don’t know Have you ever tried getting information out of Sapo? They won’t even admit that he works there"
"Did you try his parents?"
"Both dead He’s not married He has a brother who lives in Spain I just have no idea how to get hold of hiated across Slussen to the tunnel leading to Nynasvagen
"Worst-case scenario, we jettison the section on Bjorck Blo to exposeout to dry"
"But it would be a shame to miss out on a representative of the Security Police who runs around with prostitutes What are you going to do?"
"Find hi? Nervous?"
He poked her carefully in the side
"Actually, no In two months I have to defend ed doctor, and I feel as cool as a cucumber"
"You know the subject backwards Why be nervous?"
"Look behind you"
Svensson turned and saw an open box on the backseat
"Mia - it’s printed!" he said in delight He held up a copy of the bound thesis
Froanized Crime, and Society’s Response
by Mia Johansson
"It wasn’t going to be ready until next week Da to have to crack open a bottle e get horatulations, Doctor!"
He leaned over and kissed her again
"Calm down I won’t be a doctor for another two months And keep your hands under control while I’hed Then he turned serious