I will. Beverly, are you a doctor in St. Louis?”
“No, but I did attend two years of medical school. I got pregnant with Alex and Doug, and I had to drop out. I didn’t have the money to finish medical school after they were born.”
“According to Douglas, you are a surgeon at a hospital and that you are married to a doctor named Avery Larson.”
“Where am I supposed to be?” Nicholas asked.
“Douglas claims that he doesn’t know who you are,” Dr. Simon said.
“So in his delusions I was replaced by a fictional character,” Nicholas said.
“Dr. Avery Larson is not a fictional character,” Dr. Simon said. “He has a private practice in St. Louis. I would also like to get him out here and see what his role is in Douglas’ delusion.”
“If you think that would help then by all means do it,” Beverly said.
The elevator stopped and everyone exited.
In the reality Alpha 0.0.0.1.0.0.0 at 11:55 P.M., Alex sat on her bed at Harvard and was writing out the events of the day along with writing a detailed explanation of what happened. After writing for several minutes she put the diary up and went to bed.
Friday, October 22 at 8:30 A.M., Alex, with no makeup on, was casually eating breakfast in Harvard’s lunchroom while reading one of her diaries. Her plate was more than half full with her breakfast. Her purse and book bag were on the table beside her.
Miles was carrying his food tray towards the tables and saw Alex sitting at one of them. As he stepped up to her, he said, “Alex, hi.”
Alex looked up and stared at Miles as if he was a stranger before saying, “Oh hi.” Alex turned her attention back to the diary.
Miles gave Alex a confused look for a second before saying, “Oh I get it. You’re giving me the cold shoulder treatment.”
Alex looked up and replied, “I’m sorry, I was reading. What was that you said?”
“I get it, Alex. You’re mad at me for not rescheduling our date.”
Alex looked at Miles while trying to figure out who he was. It suddenly dawned on her who she was talking to. “Miles. Uh, I’m not mad at all, but I am reading here.”
“Alex. Maria and I dated for four years and I just can’t move on after being broken up for only three weeks.”
“You don’t have to explain, Miles. It’s fine. Now if you don’t mind, I am trying to read.”
Miles looked at the book that Alex was reading before saying, “What you’re reading looks like a diary.”
“It’s one of my diaries from a few years ago. I’m trying to remember certain details. Now if you don’t mind, I would like to be left alone.”
“You say you’re not mad, but you’re not inviting me to eat breakfast with you either. If that is not giving me the cold shoulder then I don’t know what is.”
“Miles, I don’t want any company this morning. Not yours; not anyone’s. And I swear I wasn’t mad at you, but now I’m starting to be.”
“Okay, Alex. If you want to be left alone then I’ll certainly do that,” Miles said before turning and walking away.
Alex watched Miles for a second before turning her attention back to her diary.
Miles walked over to a table that was several tables from Alex and as he was taking his seat, Trudy walked into the room and saw him by himself. She then saw Alex at a nearby table.
Trudy walked over to Miles and said, “I understand that last night was a bust, but the least you can do is talk to Alex.”
“I tried. She doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“That doesn’t sound like Alex.”
Miles gestured towards Alex while saying, “Well go talk to her and see for yourself.”
“Okay, I will,” Trudy said before turning and walking towards Alex. Without saying a word, Trudy sat down in a seat across from Alex.
Alex looked up from her diary and when she saw who it was she said, “Trudy, I really want to be left alone right now if you don’t mind.”
“Actually, I do mind. You have been acting weird since yesterday and I’m worried about you.”
“I know I have been acting a bit out of character, but…”
“A bit out of character?” Trudy quickly echoed. “That’s an understatement. You’re not even wearing makeup and that alone is out of character for you.”
“Trudy, please just give me some space, and I’m sure I’ll be back to my normal self in no time.”
“Alex, we have been friends since our freshman year. I’ll admit we weren’t close friends right away, but I think… or at least I thought that we were becoming close friends. I know I think of you as a close friend, and if there’s anything troubling you, you can always come to me.”
“Thanks, Trudy, but what is going on with my life right now, I really need to solve it on my own. Now if you don’t mind, I’m trying to read.”
Trudy looked at what Alex was reading before asking, “Isn’t that one of your diaries?”
“It is. I’m trying to refresh my memory from a few years ago and I can’t read with distractions. That is why I would like to be left alone.”
As Trudy stood up she said, “All right, but the only important memory that you need to remember is what happened on February 3, 2010.”
Trudy noticed that Alex was acting uncomfortable before she replied, “Yeah; yeah, I doubt that I will ever forget that day.”
Trudy gave Alex a perplex look for a second before saying, “Well, I’m going to join Miles. Hey, don’t you have a history class in twenty minutes.”
“I do. I’m going to read for another ten minutes before I go.”
“I just thought I would remind you. I’ll see you later.” Trudy then turned and walked away.
Seconds later, as Trudy was taking a seat next to Miles, Miles asked, “So is she giving me the cold shoulder treatment as I suspect?”
“I don’t think that’s her problem. I think she is having memory problems.”
“Why do you think that?”
“As a joke, I mentioned a bogus date as being an important date to remember and she tried to play it off as if she knew what I was referring to.”
“Perhaps she was going along with your joke.”
“I don’t think so,” Trudy said before standing up again. “Hey, I’m going to the library
