Sixth Sense of a Sixth Officer

Chapter 7

The Titanic had finally reached New York, and at the command of Captain Smith, Officer Lightoller and Lowe were sent down to the pier to meet up with the psychologist. "Do you think this will really help Mr. Murdoch?" Lowe asked as he and Lightoller walked onto the pier. "We can only hope. This is our last lead. As we've already been told, we cannot bring the authorities in on this at all in any way." Lightoller replied. The two kept their voices low. Looking from the bridge, Moody kept his eyes on Charles and Harold. Murdoch did the same. Moody's heart was racing and he didn't really know why. He wanted to run down to the pier and catched up with the two officers, but he wasn't requested to go along, so he stayed at the bridge. In a flash, it was as if he was thinking about everything that had transpired, starting with Moody's bathroom discovery. With quick movements, Moody turned to look at the First Officer, who met his gaze before looking back down at the pier. Moody turned his head back down, spotting the two adventuring officers, now with a third party. In truth, Moody wasn't sure if his Scottish superior was looking at the crowds of passengers and people or at Lightoller and Lowe. With a breath, Moody left the bridge, heading to the Mess Hall to get a cup of tea for their coming guest. Murdoch stayed behind at the bridge. Oh, just what was he thinking? Walking through the corridor, the two officers talked quietly with the psychologist. "So what has been going on with Mr. Murdoch exactly?" She asked. "Well, it's as if he's blacking out in a way." Lightoller began. "He has another personality that lives in his mind." Lowe commented. "What is this other personality like?" She asked. Miss Ada Florence was a psychologist, who had quite a set of skills. Ada had skills that not many people had. It was like she could enter into other's minds. (*Historically, Ada Florence was Will Murdoch's wife. They married in 1907.*) "Well to begin with, his other counterpart is quite violent." Lightoller added. He then continued. "You know, Mr. Murdoch doesn't mean any harm. He's a very kind man; a kind person. But I do know that he can't really control what's been happening." "Are there any specific things you can tell me?" Ada asked. "Well... we've lost two officers recently because of what's been happening. That's kind of how this whole mess started, aside from a bit of a bathroom situation that our sixth officer had discovered, but that's not really in any importance anymore." Lowe said. Arriving at the bridge, the three saw Mr. Murdoch, Captain Smith and Mr. Moody, who had a cup of tea. When Ada saw Mr. Murdoch, and when he saw her, well, could there be a possible flickering flame beginning to come to life? "Mrs..." Moody began, looking for a name. "Florence. Ada Florence." She finished. "Miss Florence, I have made a cup of tea for you." Moody said, holding out the filled cup and its saucer. "Thank you..." She replied, now looking for his name. "Moody, ma'am." "Thank you, Mr. Moody." She kept her eyes on Murdoch as she took a sip of the tea. He kept his eyes on her. "And you must be Mr. Murdoch." She then said. "That is correct, Miss Florence. It's a pleasure to meet you." He replied. "It's a pleasure to meet you, too." She said. "Captain, may I speak with you alone? There's something I have to tell you." "Of course." As the two talked in private, the other officers joked with each other. "Has poor little William Murdoch fallen for his new psychologist?" Charles joked. "Aye, shut up." William replied.
"Captain Smith, I would like to tell you that I have certain abilities beyond other psychologists."
"What kind of abilities do you have, if I may ask, Miss Florence?"
"I have the ability to see into the minds of those I am treating. And I would like to be able to do that with Mr. Murdoch, if you don't mind, to see what is really going on."
"Go right ahead, Miss Florence. But may I ask, have you dealt with anything this severe?"
"I'm not really able to answer that question because I'm not really sure what I'm dealing with until I can see it for myself. But I got a small bit of information from Mr. Lowe and Mr. Lightoller, and I've come to know that what is happening has very severe consequences in the real world, but I'm still in need of getting a hold of the full and bigger picture. Is there any available time I can be alone with Mr. Murdoch?"
"I see. If you would like, you can pull him aside now if you would like."
"Alright, thank you, Captain."
The two came back out to the bridge, reuniting with the still joking officers. "Mr. Murdoch," Miss Florence began. She immediately got his attention. "I would like to have some time alone with you to be able to get a good diagnosis for what is troubling you. Is now okay?" "Yes, of course. Is my cabin alright with you?" Murdoch replied. Lightoller's smug smile widened. "Cabin, eh?" He joked. Lowe smiled as well, always glad to join in on a joke and a tease, especially if it was Charles Lightoller who was behind it. While James Moody would never say he was a part of the teasing joke, he couldn't help the small grin he had, taking joy in the less stressful events of the past few days. "~Have a good time, you two! Don't get too crazy!" Lightoller joked. Lowe let out a moment's laugh at the obviously inappropriate-yet funny- joke. Even Moody had a silent laugh at it.. "Mr. Lightoller!" Captain Smith said. Lightoller couldn't suppress his grin. Biting his lip, he uttered a small apology.
"Now, I have an unusual gift, William, if I'm allowed to call you by your first name," Ada began. "That is perfectly fine, Miss Florence." Will replied. "Alright, then you can call me 'Ada'." She responded with a grin. William smiled back. "I have the ability to see into the minds of others." "Quite extraordinary!" William remarked. "If it's alright, I would like to see into your mind to get an idea of what I'm going up against." "Certainly." He replied. "Good. I'll need you to lay down as if you were sleeping." Ada instructs. Nodding, Will lays his back on his bed. "Close your eyes, relax and take a few deep breaths." Murdoch does so, and Ada rests her fingers against the sides of his head. Closing her eyes as well, she concentrates. In the next moment, she was taken to a completely different place. The smell of blood was thick and the place was unrecognizable and it was as if everything around was made of bloodstained wood. She was laying on the ground and she then got up onto her feet. "Mr. Murdoch?" Ada called out. There was no response. "Mr. Murdoch?" Ada called out again. "So you're the psychologist they brought in?" Said a voice from behind her; Mr. Murdoch's voice. Ada turned around and saw a man who indeed looked like Mr. Murdoch. "William." She began, but when she really took a look at his face, Ada realized something was wrong. "Will?" She asked once again. Who she believed was Will Murdoch leaned up against the wall. Ada observed what she found questionable; his eyes were red as blood; but weren't they blue? There was splattered blood on his face. Where did it come from? Nevertheless there was something that pulled Ada towards him. "Will?" She said a third time. "I'm not the William Murdoch that you met." He finally replied. "You're Murderous Murdoch. I was told about you." "As I'm sure you were. Good ol' Will Murdoch can be quite the talker sometimes!" Murderous replied. "I didn't hear it from him, I heard it from a few of his work colleagues." Ada stated. "Still, figures you might have. But I suppose the real question to ask here is what your plan is?" Murderous said. Ada's silence spoke for itself; she had no plan. "No plan, huh?" Murderous then said, breaking the silence. "I need to assess what I'm facing before I make any plans." She then said. "Understandable. But even after you get an idea, what's your plan likely to be?" Ada bit the inside of her mouth; she had no idea about how to plan everything out. "I don't know yet." She then said. "You're most likely thinking you can tame me into behaving. That's not likely to happen anytime soon, if at all." "But doesn't Will keep you tame somewhat?" She asked "Well, after dealing with me for just about his whole life, he knows a few tricks, and I can remain dostile when I want to, but Will's mind is my domain, which I long to control; why should I not be in control of my own domain?" "Well, for one, your control can have real life effects in the real world." Ada replied. "How else can I take control? I'm the dark mindset; I set out for homicide; that's how I operate." Murderous replied. That same draw surrounded Ada, causing her to take another step closer to Murderous; he looked just like William. Was that the reason for those same feelings she feels with the real Murdoch? "You are quite the pretty one. Maybe with enough practice you may be able to somewhat tame me." Murderous said. In truth, Ada didn't know if she was attracted to him or if she feared William Murdoch's counterpart. "See you soon, darling." Murderous whispered, stabbing the knive had been holding the entire time into her stomach. Ada's eyes opened and she was taken back into reality. She took her hands off Will's head and he opened his eyes. "What did you see?" He asked. "I saw your other personality." She replied. "What do you take from it?" He asked. "Well, it's another identity, so my intuition tells me that you have what's called Dissociative Identity Disorder, also known as Multiple Personality Disorder." She replied. "You're not the first one to tell me that, truly." William replied "So you were given a proper diagnosis in the past?" Ada questioned. Cocking his head to the side a bit and nodding, he replied. "Yes, somewhat." "Were you ever given medicine in the past for it?" She asked. She wanted to know about his medical past and the best way for her to do that was to ask him directly. "In the past, yes, but I'm not currently taking any medication. There's times where my other personality just seems to disappear and it can stay like that for years, so," Murdoch explained, trailing off at the end. Ada nodded. With a pencil and a pad of paper in her hands, she wrote down some medications that are used in the treatment of Personality Disorders: antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, antipsychotic drugs. "I assume there's a doctor's cabin on Titanic?" Ada then asked. "Yes, Dr. O'Loughlin." Murdoch replied. "Do you think you could make a trip down to him with me? I would like to see if he has the kind of medication I can get you." Ada replied. "Of course, madam. If you forgive my prying, psychologists cannot prescribe medication, correct?" "Well, yes, but I have dealt with medication before, and as I've told you, I'm not really the average psychologist." She replied. "Right on that point, I guess." Wordlessly, William exited his cabin, following behind Miss Ada. "I would like to have another small talk with Captain Smith before we head to get any medication. Is that okay, Mr. Murdoch?" She asked. The two of them were now out on the bridge, standing just in front of the doorway to the Officer's Quarters. "Fine by me, whatever you have to do." He replied.