Yowzah Oneshot Collection (1)

20(M)

though my eyes stare inward now at where you were

"Professor! Professor!" Melody sighed as she heard the call, turning with a strained smile as a young, harried looking woman ran across the hall toward her. "Hi - I'm Doctor Martha Jones," she stuck out a hand, smiling brightly and Melody shook it firmly, studying the young woman's face carefully. Not a student then. And judging by her clothing and the lab coat peeking out of her bag, she was a medical doctor - not even a psychiatrist. Melody frowned in greeting.

"Dr. Jones, lovely to meet you. However - I'm off to-"

"I'm really very sorry for just ambushing you like this," Dr. Jones apologised as she waved a hand and indicated they could continue walking. "But I couldn't think of anything else, I swear. I'm normally much more professional than this, but this is a special case."

"You're running out of time Dr. Jones, so perhaps less apologising and more explaining, hm?" Melody glanced over at the girl who looked so relieved to even be allowed to walk and talk - the strain on her face showed that she was clearly driven by whatever she'd come for.

"It's about a patient. I've tried to get in touch with Bethlam, but my requests keep getting rerouted or - or - I don't know, lost in the cracks. John Smith, twenty-nine. Really brilliant guy, and I mean really brilliant. High-functioning, has tested very high on standardized tests. We're talking an IQ in excess of a hundred and sixty. A year ago, he was involved in an MVI, the other two passengers died on impact. I treated him when he came in." Martha spoke quickly, digging in her bag and pulling out a file as she hurried along beside Melody.

"None of this explains why you're here - I'm a professor of psychiatry, I don't deal with MVIs Dr. Jones." Melody spoke kindly, her hand reaching up and clutching the locket that hung around her neck as she frowned at the other woman and Dr. Jones shook her head.

"Thing is, after the accident, he had severe head trauma. Took him months to recover - ages - had to relearn fine motor control, speech therapy - everything. But when he did recover, he - he wasn't right. He doesn't remember anything. No memory at all except that he kept insisting things that couldn't possibly be true. We referred him to our psychiatry unit, and they diagnosed him as bi-polar with signs of dementia." Martha frowned and Melody halted, turning to the other doctor with a frown.

"You disagree." It wasn't a question, Melody could see the disapproval radiating off of Martha Jones, like a palatable wave.

"I'm a medical doctor; I'm not a trained psychiatrist. But the thing is, I treated John Smith for seven months after his accident. And he was alert - even once he regained speech - never once did he have a report of an auditory or visual hallucination. He would take about - talk about this world he's from with absolute, unwavering conviction. We had several incidents when nurses or other doctors tried to dissuade him."

"You think he has delusional disorder?" Melody asked, sighing and dropping her hand from her necklace, she held a hand out for his file, which Martha handed over with a relieved sigh. "What type?"

"I'm not sure, but I'd say mixed with a focus on grandiose. I've been to see him since they've started treating him - and it's - it's horrid. He's barely lucid, and heavily medicated. He's not a danger, honestly - not to himself and not to others- except for when-"

"They challenge his delusions, yes," Melody was scanning the file. "No family?"

Martha shook her head. "Not that we could find. We looked - good and hard too. No records in other mental hospitals - it's like he just appeared out of nowhere. The two people who died in the accident - a Jane and Jack Whitehall - seemingly have no relation whatsoever to Mr. Smith. Family and friends don't understand why he was with them and had never met him before."