Carrie Pryor's Visit 20th - 22nd March

I arrived on Friday and have seen Paul for three afternoons. His bed is situated by a large window so he is showered in natural light and sunshine. There are photographs of Charlotte, Will and the Isle of Mull on the wall. There are signs of progress, but these are painstakingly slow and small. Paul is able to follow you with his eyes, squeeze his left hand in response to questions (not always), and when asked 'did he love Penny', I got a big squeeze.

On day two, the cute young blond nurse innocently asked 'was I Paul's Mother', which made me laugh and I am sure Paul would have done the same had he been able. Penny tells me that his brother, Mark, was asked whether he was Paul's Father on Monday. He was not quite so amused.

I have met the weekday and Saturday doctors and both were very caring, intelligent and competent individuals. Paul also has a team of excellent nurses, both male and female, including one who has trouble in distinguishing ages evidently! Tonight the head nurse said that they are pleased with his progress.

You also may be interested to know that Feldkirch is a beautiful medieval town and the Hotel Alpenrose couldn't be more charming. It is owned by a sister-brother team, Claudia and Clement, both in their 20's. The food is excellent and the rooms have been all be modernized. The town is well worth a visit as there are very pretty shops and restaurants and tonight we are going to check out an Italian restaurant as the hotel chef is off duty.

The town is surrounded by 1000's of meters of small mountains, but in the distance are classic snow capped alps which inspire an American visitor!

Keith arrived from France today and he and I went to see Paul together. Keith proceeded to tease Paul about events we don't wish to know the details, on Mull, in Buenos Aires, at The Salen Inn and others. Paul tried to smile, i.e. his muscles tensed and moved.

Penny has been remarkable during my time here, she is on her second course of antibiotics for a nasty upper respiratory infection; this hasn't stopped her from waking me up at 0900 hrs and telling me to get downstairs for breakfast! She then proceeded to critique my buffet plate wondering how I could eat cheese, fruit and salami, all on the same plate. She insists on a proper cooked English breakfast, not on the menu, which the chef personally delivers, quaking, to the table. In the meantime, Penny has been accused of being the Manager. She has a skill of 'obtaining' linen table napkins when we are supposed to be using paper ones for breakfast. She has also managed to ban smoking this week, both behind the bar and in the bar (the staff smoke behind the bar) when she is in the room, as this makes her cough.

Despite our efforts to be in good humour, Penny has not been able to visit Paul since Tuesday. Each day she waits to see how she feels, but her infection is still too contagious to visit a high dependency unit. I admire her ability to stay back at the hotel, which must be very trying for her under the circumstances. Each time I arrive back from the hospital, she is waiting for the details of my visit.

I am leaving 0415am tomorrow because the only direct flight to New York on American Airways is at 0900am from Zurich. The train departs Feldkirch at 0445am. I plan to hold this over Paul Hilton's head forever.

With love, CARRIE PRYOR