Living in the Different World

Copyright 2021 by Kat Thomas

All rights reserved.

Cover design by Canva Kat Thomas

Book design by Kat Thomas

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Due to many thefts of online work This copyright notice will be there on every online posting from now on. I will also say I will take action on any person or company who posts my work without permission. This is a first draft. When I post I do a quick review before posting. Grammar and punctuation are a secondary edit that will be corrected later during the review/editing process that will happen after the story is complete. if you will have a major issue with this please stop and wait for it to be completed and edited.

Reviews are always welcome but please remember that unless stated this is a first/rough draft. There will be mistakes until corrected which will be done at a later time. Reviews should be on the storyline/plot before anything else.

The building loomed out of the woods as it stood in front of the small group of doctors that had been called in. The brick square building was five floors high and within the walls held some of the most wrapped minds in the area. The doctors all knew why they had been called in. The doctors there had run into an issue with one person. This one person was a source of confusion in so many ways.

As they approached to gain access to the building the two doctors who had been the ones to reach out to these five were standing in front of a window. “Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” Jim Johnston asked as he looked at the other man in front of him.

“They might be the only hope we have of finding the true diagnosis. They have fresh eyes and aren’t biased like we are.” Calvin Grimes responded, “They are closer to her age as well. It may be a part of this as well.”

“just as long as you think this is the only way.” Jim said as he shook his head. “She might get to them as she has so many others.”

“I doubt she could break one of them.” Calvin responded with a deep laugh. “We can’t figure her out with our nearly forty years of practicing. She hasn’t cracked us though.”

“You do have to explain to them of her ways though. The men should never be left alone with her.” Jim said.

“We will have to have a run down the rules that are in place for her.” Calvin said with a smile.

The two watched as the five younger doctors reached the last gate to get into the building. They hoped together maybe with their help they would finally get some answers from the troubled woman. One of the doctors might be able to get access to the woman’s brain somehow and could see what was really going on. She was a puzzle all on her own and they couldn’t figure it out. They could place one piece of the puzzle only for it to fall apart as she moved on to something else. She was nothing but a conundrum that no one could understand.

The group of five went through the metal detectors and the screening process to be issued their id cards for the place. The building was impressive with it’s ability to keep people in. There had never been an escape from within these walls. The youngest of the group who was also the smallest looked around. Lottie Franklin became a doctor of many different things. She was the one of the group that didn’t make sense. She was not a mental health physician. She was more of an infectious disease one. Though she was also one of the five pathologists in the area. She didn’t fit into this group. She rarely did though.

“What I can’t understand is why they called us in as a group.” Mark Levenstein said as he looked around the great room that they were standing in. He looked to the group and everyone could see that he thought the rest of them were below him.

“Maybe because they hoped that we could work as a group.” Carol Drummond said as she looked at the man who thought the world of himself. “They have someone who confuses them and they hoped that we could find the answer together.”

“or they just wanted new blood to sacrifice.” Jon Sparrow said with a laugh. Lottie thought it was kind of funny to watch all the people around her try and figure things out. She had no wish to join them in trying to figure out why they were called in. She would wait to listen and access what she was told. There was no sense for her to jump to any conclusions just yet. She did think that they would provide her some amusement as they did though.

As the doctors were led to the office section of the building that was behind more security. They were led to a larger room that had labels on it with all of their names. Lottie looked around and thought this must be where they were supposed to work as a team on this one patient. There were diagrams scattered all over the room and pinned to the walls. She saw the others as they looked around as well. She went to her area in the corner of the room and placed her bag down. She began to sit down and wait until she was told exactly why they were there.

The two doctors walked into the room with a smile. She watched as the others greeted them with the normal handshakes and pleasantries. She stood and walked over and followed suit. She smiled but didn’t say much of anything else.

“Welcome to our hell.” Dr. Grimes said as he motioned around them to the walls. “The patient you are all here to evaluate have all of these symptoms. Everything you see before you. We can’t truly give her a diagnosis nor prescribe anything until we figure out what it real and what is in her head. We know you will all want to get to talking with her but we do have to set the ground rules down first.”

“She can’t have more than two people in with her at a time.” Dr. Johnston stated flatly. “She becomes even more fractured when that happens. She can’t be seen alone if you are male.”

“Why?” Mark asked as he looked to the two older doctors.

“She is delusional. However everything she says we have to take at face value for the first moment. She truly believes at times she has been raped and she is also pregnant. However she has blamed every male who has come near her. It wastes our resources in having her checked every time she makes these outlandish accusations.” Dr. Johnston. “Even when she has zero contact with men alone she has tried to state it.”

The older man was shaking his head as he thought about how many times she done this in the short time she was in the building. The other also had a look that was like the same of complete disbelief. “However if there is more than one person there with her in the room it becomes difficult for her accusations.” Dr. Grimes stated with a sigh. “it protects you and the hospital at the same time.”

Lottie began to see the bigger picture already. “What is the diagnosis so far?” She asked in a soft voice.

“She has too many to list. We need you all to help narrow them down but right now Munchausen’s and delusional disorder that is somatic is the best we can come up with.” Dr. Johnson responded as he looked at the tiny doctor in the corner. “She is unlike any other we have ever seen.”

“Well maybe we should be able to see her so we can get this started.” Mark said as he started for the door.

“Before you do that there is some things you need to see.” Dr. Grimes said as he began to chuckle. “Take a seat and watch this on your monitors. You do need to try to understand what you are walking into before you have the chance to meet her.”