Analysis

“The brain is still quite a mystery,” Dr. Morgan was saying as he sat across from Charlie in a plush velvet chair, Dr. Shaw seated nearby. Circles of smoke lingered around them from the cigars of several dozen gentlemen seated in similar groupings, discussing business and other inconsequentialities. Jonathan and Edward were sitting across the room, and Charlie glanced in his friend’s direction every once in a while, noting that he seemed unusually amused about something.
“I’ve been reading Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis,” Charlie said with a nod. “Do you think there’s any truth to his findings? Particularly regarding the unconscious mind?”
Dr. Morgan nodded. “I can’t say that I completely agree with all that Freud has to say, but I do with his theory that the unconscious mind plays a larger role in our actions than we previously understood.”
“Do you believe memories can be trapped there and cause us to act in a particular fashion?” Charlie asked as a waiter brought him another drink.
“I certainly believe that is possible,” Dr. Morgan said as he waved the servant away with a polite smile. “Tell me, Mr. Ashton, what do you remember from Titanic?”
Charlie cleared his throat. “Why, that’s just it, doctor. I don’t remember much of anything once Meg was safe on the lifeboat. There are flashes from time to time, and once in a while I feel as if I’m about to remember something, but then… it all fades away. I remember helping some of the Third Class passengers try to get up to the lifeboats, but there was so much confusion. I can see their faces in flickers before me, but they don’t last. Sort of like the explosion from a flashbulb, if you will.”
“Interesting,” Dr. Shaw said, taking a puff from his cigar. “And you don’t recall boarding Carpathia then?”
“No,” Charlie shook his head. “In fact, I don’t even remember disembarking Carpathia. But then, I may have been unconscious. Meg says they were giving me some pretty heavy sedatives. There were times I couldn’t even place her.” Turning back to Dr. Morgan, he said, “Do you think that’s… normal, doctor?”
“I do,” Dr. Morgan assured him. “If what the papers are saying is true, you expired for a bit aboard Carpathia. Do you think that’s accurate?”
“Meg says I died,” Charlie agreed. “I remember feeling as if I were floating away, then opening my eyes to see her there, and I remember fragments of the conversation we had after that, but then it all goes hazy again.”
“I don’t think this sort of reaction to such a traumatic experience is out of the ordinary,” Dr. Morgan said, adjusting in his chair. “In fact, coupled with the medical issues you’ve also faced, I’m a bit surprised you recall anything at all.”
“Is that so?” Charlie asked, feeling a bit relieved. “You think it’s typical, then?”
“I do.”
“What other sorts of reactions might be considered normal?” Charlie asked, not wanting to bring up the voices that were imploring him to help them, even as he sat in the safety of the ship.
Dr. Morgan shrugged. “If you’ve read my most recent theory, you’ll understand that it could be unique to each individual’s experience.”
“I have read it,” Charlie replied. “The theory of individual capability.”
“Precisely,” Dr. Morgan said with a small smile. “Your experience could be exactly the same as someone else’s, and you could still walk away with a completely different memory, a completely different recount, of everything that happened. Even the other gentlemen who were in the water with you that night could have a wholly different recollection from you.”
Once again, Charlie found himself nodding along. He had read Dr. Morgan’s recently published work, and he had already come to that conclusion on his own. “And what of the memories I have that I cannot bring to the surface? I find it a bit ironic that Freud likened memory to an iceberg of all things.”
Dr. Shaw snickered. “If he’d been aboard Titanic, he might have changed his theory.”
“Indeed,” Charlie said, trying not to roll his eyes. “Do you feel it’s possible or even beneficial to try to recall them?”
“I believe so,” Dr. Morgan said. “It’s my opinion that remembering as much as possible about a traumatic event will allow you to deal with that experience and move on from it.”
“Would accessing those memories be difficult?”
“It all depends on the patient,” Dr. Morgan replied. “Some might be able to draw those memories out quickly, face their fears, and move on. For others, it might take months, years even.”
“Charlie, perhaps Dr. Morgan could help you with some of the anxiety you are having as a result of the sinking. Are you seeing new patients, Dr. Morgan?” Dr. Shaw clearly had his patient’s best interests in mind, but Charlie was hesitant to ask for help. He still wasn’t convinced Meg would approve.
“I’m not taking new patients as a rule right now,” Dr. Morgan said. “However, I’d be more than happy to make an exception for you, Charlie. I believe someone of your stature, who has been through the horrific events you’ve experienced, would be an interesting patient to assist, and I’d be honored to have the opportunity to work with you.”
Charlie raised his eyebrows, unsure how to respond. The chance to receive professional assistance from someone as skilled as Dr. Morgan did seem tempting, especially since he was beginning to think the doctor could actually help him. “Thank you, Dr. Morgan,” he began. “I would need to speak to Meg first.”
“I find it… charming how you consistently take into account Miss Westmoreland’s wishes,” Dr. Shaw said, with a chuckle. “Will that be the way of it with you youngsters? Letting women have an equal say in all household operations?”
Though he wasn’t offended, he didn’t find it amusing, either, and Charlie said, “I can only speak for myself, but I plan to consult my wife whenever possible. For one thing, I value her opinion; she’s much more intelligent than I am. Secondly, I should like to stay in her good graces. I’ve worked for years to get here, and I should hate to have to start all over again.”
The other gentlemen laughed, and Charlie chuckled along with them out of politeness, but he’d meant every word he said.
“I hardly think Miss Westmoreland could be more intelligent than you, sir,” Dr. Shaw said.
“You should try playing any sort of game with her then, particularly if trivia is involved. She’s sharp as a tack, I assure you.”
Dr. Shaw only guffawed, as if he thought it impossible that a woman could be smarter than any man, particularly one who had graduated from Cambridge.
“Once we reach New York, please telephone my office or come by,” Dr. Morgan encouraged. “We’ll be happy to see you, discreetly of course, Charlie. I do believe I can help you begin to feel like your former self.”
Letting out a sigh of relief, Charlie said, “Wonderful, Dr. Morgan. I do look forward to putting all of this behind me. Of course, this doesn’t mean you’ll be giving me any type of medication or sending me off to live in an asylum of any sort does it?”
Dr. Morgan laughed quietly. “No, of course not. I don’t believe in medication, and the only way I’d send you away is if I thought you were a danger to yourself or others.”
“Very good,” Charlie replied with a nod.
“What of Miss Westmoreland?” Dr. Shaw asked, pausing to take a sip of his brandy. “How is she handling all of this?”
“Meg? She’s fine,” Charlie said with a shrug. “She’s been through so much, and yet it doesn’t seem to trouble her one bit. She tried to explain to me once the system she has, mentally, of dealing with all that she’s had to go through in her life, but I’m not sure I quite understand.”
“That’s good to hear,” Dr. Morgan said. “Of course, should the need arise, I’m happy to see her as well.”
“Thank you,” Charlie said with a smile, though he knew there was likely no chance he’d ever get Meg to see a psychiatrist after the conversation they’d had regarding him seeing one himself. She’d just keep shoving her memories down inside those boxes in her mind until they were so deep, she’d forget the boxes even existed. Either that, or she and her boxes would simply come unhinged. He hoped for the former.