‘Are you OK, Natalie?’ Natalie shook her head

‘No, I had a really bad dream’ she then sighed. ‘I know, that sounds a bit stupid’

‘I have bad dreams, too. I think we all have them’

‘But…’ she sighed again ‘This one felt really real’ the nurse nodded, she looked concerned.

‘How about we get mental health team here?’ Natalie groaned

‘Really?’

 ‘They’ll be here to help you’

‘OK, fine’

‘You fell on your head, after all’

‘Well, yeah, there’s that. By the way am I allowed to get of this bed?’

‘Of course you can!’

‘Thank you’ she stood up and almost tripped over immediately ‘Oh holy crap!’

‘Do you want me to assist you?’

‘Yeah, thanks. While you’re at it could you show me where the toilets are?’

‘Of course’ a little while later Natalie looked out of a nearby window, from her point of view the world was breaking apart as if it were all in separate parts. Not only that, but there were red jolts of electricity. Natalie walked over to where the nurse she saw was.

‘You’re not gonna believe me’ she began, sighing ‘But outside the whole world looks like it’s going to fall apart. The nurse looked confused.

‘Whereabouts?’ Natalie took her over to the window she was looking out of ‘It looks all fine to me’

‘If the world being split up and seeing red lighting is “fine” to you, then sure thing’ the nurse gasped.

‘We’ll get the mental health team right away?’

‘Didn’t you already say that?’

‘Oh… sorry, I forgot!’ Natalie just started at her

‘Don’t take what I’m saying too seriously, it’s probably just a hallucination’

‘What?! Have you been on drugs?’

‘No!’ the nurse walked away

‘OK, stay here, we’ll call the mental health team right away’ Natalie sighed again

‘Be my guest’ Natalie walked back to her bed and laid down, closing her eyes. Not too long later, a tall man with a stethoscope walked over to her bed, closing the privacy curtains around him, containing the bed with just Natalie and him.

‘Good evening, Natalie’ he began ‘I’m doctor Osborne, I’m a mental health practitioner’ Natalie sighed

‘Oh great, what do you want?’

‘Umm, I’m… here to help you! I’ve heard you’ve been having some strange dreams and hallucinations, is that correct?’

‘Yes’ Natalie sighed once again

‘Could you describe these dreams for me?’ Natalie groaned, laughing slightly

‘Well, they’re a bit hard to describe’ 

‘Take your time’

‘Well, I had one dream lately where I had this weird black ghost monster thing yelling at me, claiming to be my subconscious or something’ Dr Osborne was writing notes ‘I remember the thing was yelling at me for not trusting it, or something like that? I wanted to say that the dream felt very real, it looked very real, too’

‘That’s… bizarre, I have to say’

‘I had another one too. I had this cat creature telling me some really… questionable things. It was really creepy’ Natalie didn’t say anything after that.

‘Anything else? Natalie stayed silent ‘Would you prefer to talk to a woman instead?’

‘Oh no, don’t worry. Some of the things this cat creature said to me were things I found really awkward’

‘Like what?’

‘Well, how we shouldn’t wear clothes or something stupid like that’

‘I see’ Natalie looked confused

‘You don’t think that’s stupid?’

‘Not really. We are all animals, after all. As we evolved we were never designed to wear clothes in the first place’

‘Yeah, that’s true, I suppose. Well, she didn’t actually say we shouldn’t wear clothes, she said that clothes desensitise us’

‘That is true, it’s due to our nervous system. When you wear something you’ll feel it at first, but have you noticed over time you forget you’re even wearing what you put on?’

‘Yeah, of course’

‘What happens is that our nervous system becomes numb a while after you’ve been wearing your article of clothing. That’s why you don’t feel them after a while’

‘Yeah, I know’ Natalie sat in silence for a little while.

‘Anything else you want to tell me?’

‘Oh yes. Outside it looks like the world is falling apart, but I swear it’s just a hallucination’

‘OK. In what way does the world look like it’s falling apart?’ Natalie stood up and walked over to the edge of the curtains.

‘I kind of wanted to show you’

‘But then it’s only something you can see, is that correct?’ Natalie walked back over to her bed.

‘Yes, I suppose that’s pointless’ Natalie sighed ‘Well, you know what a black hole is, don’t you?’

‘Yes, I do’

‘It looks there’s one in the middle and parts of the world I can see are being sucked into it. The other parts of the world are wrecked apart, sort of like would you would see if there were a huge earthquake’ Dr Osborne was taking notes.

‘That’s extraordinary, I have to say. Does it feel real?’

‘Very real. And funny enough I walked into one of the cracks and… well, I fell into it. I honestly thought I was going to die, but then I had one of those weird dreams I was talking about earlier and woke up here with a sore head’ Dr Osborne had a look of concern.

‘I do not believe in ghosts by any means, but that almost sounds… paranormal.. I have never heard of anything like this in my life. Mind you I have come across with patients with various mental health conditions who tell me they feel like the world is coming to an end, but not to this extreme!’ Dr Osborne paused for a moment ‘I must ask you, have you been diagnosed any mental health issues in the past’ Natalie shrugged

‘Not that I know of’ she then sighed ‘I’ve always thought of myself as an ordinary girl’ Dr Osborne looked inquisitive.

‘Do you ever hear voices in your head? Or have any other hallucinations?’ Natalie took a while to answer.

‘I don’t think so. It’s just outside. Everything looks normal indoors. And no, I don’t hear voices in my head’ Dr Osborne was writing notes again.

‘Do you take any recreational drugs?’

‘What?! Hell no!’

;That’s fine! I didn’t think you did’ Natalie groaned. ‘Do you take any sort of over the counter of prescription medication?’ Natalie shrugged again.

‘I do take paracetamol every now and then, but that’s about it’

‘OK’ Dr Osbourne paused for a while ‘I would like to ask you a different set of questions’

‘OK’ Natalie sighed again, muttering: ‘Will this ever end?’

‘Do you ever get feelings that you’re a failure? That you’ve let yourself or others down?’ Natalie gasped the moment she heard that, and looked away from his face.

‘All the time’ she sighed once more ‘There are times when I feel I can’t do anything right, or that nothing I do is ever good enough’ she started crying ‘I recently broke up my boyfriend, I felt nothing I ever did made him happy’

‘I’m… sorry to hear that, Natalie’ her face was now covered in tears, and her eyes were completely red. ‘Stay there, I’ll get you some tissues’ he shortly came back with a box of tissues. Natalie simply rubbed the tears off of her face and looked at back at him again. ‘Are you ready for a few more questions?’ Natalie didn’t answer. ‘All right, do you ever feel down, depressed or hopeless?’

‘Yeah, all the time’

‘Do you have trouble eating, or do you eat too much?’ Natalie sighed upon hearing that.

‘I eat barely anything. And yet I’m fatter than ever’

‘Do you have sleeping problems, do you feel you sleep too much or too little?’

‘I sleep way too much. And it feels like I’ve barely slept at all’

‘Do you feel tired all the time?’

‘Yes, I barely ever want to leave my house. Hell, I don’t even wanna get out of bed half the time’

‘OK, this is a bit of a scary one’ Dr Osborne warned.

‘Go ahead’

‘Do you ever feel like ending your own life?’ Natalie started crying again. She didn’t even answer ‘It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Natalie’

‘Quite a lot’ she answered ‘I’ve never actually tried to kill myself, mind you’

‘That’s pretty common, most people I talk to only have thoughts of suicide, it’s rare that I’ve spoken to one of them who’s actually tried to take their own life’

‘I see’ Natalie kept on wiping her face with tissues.

‘I’ve got more questions’

‘What? You’ve got to be shitting me!’

‘Don’t worry, they’re not that personal: do you ever feel anxious or on edge?’

‘Quite a lot’

‘OK, do you worry often about different things?’

‘All the time’ she sighed once again ‘And it’s everything you could possibly imagine’ he was writing notes again.

‘Do you have trouble relaxing?’

‘All the time. I keep getting called a “bitch” thanks to that’

‘Do you get annoyed or irritated easily?’

‘Yep, all the time. I’ve come close to hitting people in public’

‘OK. And finally-’

‘What, that’s the last question?!’

‘Yes. Do you feel something awful might happen?’

‘Well, yeah! What else am I supposed to think when the world looks like it’s falling apart?’

‘You have a point. I suppose that ties into what you’re experiencing. From what you have told me you are suffering from anxiety and depression. I must ask you, have you ever taken anit-depressants in the past?’ Natalie didn’t answer, she was still crying. She later just shook her head. ‘All right, thank you for your time, and I hope you get better’

‘Thanks’ she said. After he had left she broke down in tears, tucking herself inside of the bedsheets, closing her eyes very tightly. After a while she pressed the button that called a nurse over. The nurse gasped the moment she laid eyes on her.

‘Are you all right?’

‘No’ said Natalie, sighing ‘I’ve been told I have depression’

‘It’s nothing to be ashamed of’ Natalie didn’t answer

‘I can’t get to sleep, my head hurts so much’

‘Would you like me to get you some painkillers?’

‘Yes. Could I have some sleeping pills, too?’

‘I’ll… have to ask the on call doctor about that’

‘Oh, OK’

‘I’m pretty sure he’ll say yes, so don’t worry’

‘Oh, OK then’ Natalie lied back down on the bed, once again trying to get to sleep. Not long later the nurse returned with a small transparent tub which had a blue and green capsule and a small blue tablet, a painkiller and a sleeping pill, respectively. She also put a glass of water on the table

‘Try to relax when you take these, OK?’

‘OK’ Natalie immediately took a sip of the water along with her tablets. Within about a quarter of an hour she had fallen asleep.