Contents
Part One — Chapter Six
Overview
Theo visits Professor Diomedes’s music-filled office, glimpsing his therapeutic philosophy and the Grove’s financial strain. Diomedes claims Stephanie aligns with the Trust and admits his failed attempts to treat Alicia. Theo proposes a different transference dynamic and secures permission to meet Alicia, moving his quest forward.
Summary
Theo enters Professor Diomedes’s decrepit office and is struck by the array of instruments, revealing Diomedes’s passion for music as therapy. Diomedes invites Theo to join his musical group and jokes about patience, framing his eclectic identity as musician, priest, and doctor.
The conversation shifts to the Grove’s precarious finances and scrutiny from the Trust. Diomedes suggests manager Stephanie Clarke is aligned with the Trust’s cost-cutting, likening therapy under such oversight to practicing in a burning building. Theo withholds judgment but notes Diomedes’s weary defensiveness.
Theo asks about Alicia’s therapy. Diomedes explains he tried individual sessions: Alicia refused his office, so he went to her room; she stared out the window and never spoke, leading him to abandon treatment as futile.
Theo posits a transference issue—that Alicia might experience Diomedes as authoritarian and relate better to someone younger. Diomedes teases Theo’s rescue fantasy, calling Alicia a silent siren who wrecks therapists’ ambitions, but Theo remains determined.
After a pause, Diomedes authorizes the next step: Theo should ask Yuri to arrange a formal introduction to Alicia and report back, turning Theo’s intention into concrete action.
Who Appears
- Theo FaberPsychotherapist; visits Diomedes, probes Alicia’s failed therapy, argues transference, and secures permission to meet her.
- Professor DiomedesClinical director; music enthusiast; voices concerns about the Trust and Stephanie; admits failure with Alicia; authorizes Theo’s meeting.
- Alicia BerensonSilent patient discussed; previously refused Diomedes’s sessions; subject of Theo’s planned first meeting.
- Stephanie ClarkeHospital manager mentioned; suspected by Diomedes of aligning with the Trust’s cost-cutting.
- YuriStaff member to arrange Theo’s formal introduction to Alicia.
- IndiraTherapist referenced as a prior possibility; not Alicia’s individual therapist.