Story [Doctor Who] Frontier Psychiatry--OC-centric spinoff of "Family of Blood/Human Nature"

Author's note: So, a while ago, I was reading on notalwaysright.com. There was a quote in which three little girls came into a store. One started talking about her twin sister, Emily. Another referenced Emily and when the salesgirl asked the third girl about Emily, the third girl asked the first where Emily lived. The answer was "In the mirrors!" I laughed a lot at that, but then I got this plot idea. Remember sister of mine? This will be five chapters in total and the lovely Kateydidnt is my beta.

Chapter 1
Dr. Malcolm

Child psychiatry is a tricky field. There are, of course, recognized disorders that can explain the peculiarities of a growing child. They range from Social Anxiety Disorder to Histrionic Personality Disorder, from mild depression to eating disorders. Even in a small town such as Leadworth, there?s no shortage of atypical children. The problem here, as it is everywhere, is teaching parents to tell the difference between the terrible twos and Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

I have been a child psychiatrist for seventeen years and I have seen my fair share of everything I read about in medical school, but more often than not, it is my duty to chase parents? fears away rather than putting a name to those fears. Every month, I will consult with a father who is worried that his energetic five-year-old has ADD or a mother who has convinced herself that her fastidious child is obsessive-compulsive.

And then I have days like today. Laura Amos called a few days ago on a referral from her family physician to have her eight-year-old Maya treated. My original notes from the phone call left a variety of options open, but after a half hour spent with the little girl, I was not convinced that we had an abnormality on our hands. She spoke to me openly of her friend Lucy, the imaginary little girl of whom her mother had spoken in the phone call. Lucy, she said, spoke only to her, sometimes out loud, sometimes not. Lucy was kind and needed a friend. As far as I could tell, this Lucy was not the only one who needed a friend.

As usual, I let my receptionist entertain Maya while I had a brief chat with Mrs. Amos. Maya had an assignment to draw a picture of her and Lucy while I chatted with Mrs. Amos. I left plenty of crayons and paper for her to use.

?Your daughter is a charming girl,? I commented as soon as Laura had taken a seat.

Mrs. Amos twisted the strap of her purse between her hands, her knuckles white and her expression that of someone in the midst of a long vigil. ?What do you think is wrong with her??

?Wrong?? I tried to offer a reassuring smile, but that only seemed to put her on edge. ?Mrs. Amos, were you never an imaginative child??

?Of course. But this is different.?

?Every child is different,? I reasoned. ?My sisters crafted wild adventure stories set in our attic. My mother says that I entertained an imaginary friend named Nigel for half a year. Children daydream. It does not necessarily mean that there is anything wrong with Maya.?

I glanced at my notes. Our original phone call had me leaning towards a Schizotypal Personality Disorder. Delusions of telepathy, bodily illusions, vague or metaphorical speech and eccentric behavior as well as her social isolation all pointed to that diagnosis. Then again, it would be ill-advised to jump to conclusions and my initial interview with Maya had put those things into context. I would tread very carefully before putting any diagnosis with the prefix of schizo- into a mother?s mind. Mrs. Amos didn?t deserve that kind of grief unless there was concrete proof that it was the appropriate diagnosis.

?I had an imaginary friend myself,? Laura interrupted my thoughts. ?I was an only child and invented someone to accompany me when I went exploring. I never sat for hours, staring into a mirror and claiming to see something there.?

?It may be a different manifestation??

?Too right it?s different,? she interjected again. ?A thousand times I?ve told her ?don?t touch Mummy?s makeup.? Two weeks ago, my compact disappeared from my things and I found it on her vanit

 

Wow!
I saw a link to this in the NSWFF OC index and indulged my curiosity because I like dr who.
Ish this is fantastic. Are you still planning on posting the other 4 chapters 'cause I'd love to read them.

 

This is wonderful. I can't wait to see hwo this develops!

 

Fanficfan--Thanks, Fanficfan! I got into Dr. Who a while ago and was really interested by the girl trapped in the mirror. I do plan on posting the other four chapters. As soon as I can figure out the tone of them. Thanks!

Lilith Demodae--Thanks, Lilith!