Psychiatric Nurse

by Dan Ross

  "Hello," the girl said, extending a slender hand. "I'm Peggy Chase. I understand you're new to the staff."

  Jean shook hands with the girl and smiled. "Yes, my name is Jean Shannon. I'm to be the assistant head nurse."

  "Old Katie Moore needs a strong right arm," was the dark-haired girl's reply. "She's nervous, and then she has this complex about Dr. Werner. She thinks he can do no wrong."

  Jean was shocked by the patient's frankness. "I'm too new yet to have formed any opinions," she said.

  The girl's black eyes showed a gleam of amusement. "And you're cautious, aren't you?"

  "Have you been a patient here very long?" Jean asked, anxious to change the direction of the conversation.

  Peggy Chase laughed. "Just a few months. And let me warn you, I'm not one of your regular loonies. I happen to be a special patient of Dr. Werner's. I'm an epileptic, here to take his therapy course."

  "I see," Jean said, again taken aback.

  As if to make sure of offering a series of surprises, Peggy went on: "I saw you talking with Frank just now. I wish you wouldn't get any ideas about him. I consider myself his girl."

  Jean couldn't conceal her embarrassment. "I've just met him," she said. "I think he has a big talent."

  "He's too brilliant," Peggy agreed. "That's why his mother and stepfather had him put in here."

  "Surely he's well enough to be discharged soon," Jean said.

  "He's too well to have ever been placed in a hospital," Peggy said with her usual frankness. "But Dr. Werner can be extremely obliging. And he is close to Frank's mother."

  It was a touchy subject, and Jean was thankful to see Frank returning with coffee and cookies. He offered one cup and some cookies to Jean, and the other cup to Peggy Chase.

  "Now you have none for yourself!" Jean protested. "I don't drink coffee," he said. "And I rarely eat anything at night. I'll just stand here and enjoy watching you two."

  Peggy gave him a tender glance of affection. "I don't need to tell you that tonight was one of your best performances."

  He smiled. "Jean has already told me that." Peggy's eyebrows raised. "I should think it ought to be Assistant Head Nurse Shannon where you're concerned. The patient-and-nurse thing is always tricky, you know."

  Jean came quickly to the young man's defense. "Jean is perfectly all right," she said. "I'm not officially working here yet, and I like my friends to call me Jean in any case."

  "Thanks for including me as a friend," Frank said with obvious sincerity.

  Jean gave him a warm smile. "That's how I'd like to think of you. I'm honored to know you. And lucky that I arrived in time to see you perform. I doubt if you'll be with us much longer."

  It was his turn to look and sound cynical. "Don't count on that."

  "But you seem so well," she protested.

  Peggy Chase sipped her coffee and gave Jean an impish smile. "Dear Miss Shannon," she said, "you must be extremely naive if you still think that has any great bearing on it."

  Frank said, "Don't be too shocked by Peggy. Shocking people is her thing. She hardly means anything she says. I have to warn you against her."

  "Thanks," Jean said.

  "If telling the truth makes me shocking," Peggy said, "then I'm shocking."

  "Anyway, I enjoyed your songs," Jean assured him.

  "I'm a regular attraction every Wednesday night," he said. "Booked through the season."

  Peggy Chase made a small warning sound, and in an undertone told them both, "Watch out! Victoria Wales is on her way over!"

  Jean didn't get the significance of this remark. Glancing across the brightly lighted assembly room, she saw an elderly dowager type with a wrinkled face coming toward them. The woman was wearing a beige evening gown that was much too formal for the occasion, and a glittering tiara on what was seemingly a henna wig in an upswept style. Her thin face beamed good will as she approached them.

  "Well, darlings," she said in a hoarse voice, "are you enjoying my party?"

  Peggy had that impish look again. "Indeed we are, Victoria," she said. "You've met Jean Shannon, o£ course."

  Victoria Wales extended a bejeweled hand with a chortle of laughter. "I must admit that I haven't. But then, I rarely know all the people at my little gatherings. So pleased to have you with us, dear!"

  "Thank you," Jean said, shaking hands with her.

  Victoria Wales glanced around her bleakly. "Of course, I must admit I'm a little disturbed by the informality of the dress tonight."

  "Sorry, Miss Wales," Frank said.

  She touched him lightly in a gesture of forgiveness. "I'm not referring to you, dear boy! You, after all, are the entertainer. I'm thinking of the others. I always take the time to put on a formal dress, and the least my guests can do is follow suit."

  "You should complain to Dr. Werner," Peggy suggested.

  The dowager's expression clouded. "Him! He's the most utter clod of all! He never shows up at any of my gatherings. Indeed, I haven't been inviting him lately."

  "And very wise," was Frank's opinion, given seriously. They were all in the habit of catering to the old woman's fantasies, it seemed.

  "Well, I mustn't neglect my other guests," Victoria Wales said, beaming happily again.

  "No, please don't do that," Peggy said with another smile.

  "Delighted to know you, Miss Shannon," Victoria Wales said to Jean in parting. "I think you're extremely pretty, and I do wish that when you come to my next party you'll wear a proper gown. Pale green would be delightful for a blonde of your type." With a broad gesture, the dowager moved on.

  Frank's pale blue eyes were laughing as he asked Jean, "Well, how do you like your hostess?"

  She smiled ruefully. "A pleasant lady. Does she really believe she's the hostess of this place?"

  "This is her estate," Peggy Chase said, "and all of us are open to banishment at her command."

  Frank said, "I believe she was a famous society hostess at one time. When her world faded and her hallucinations set in, she became tiresome to her family. A devoted son and daughter-in-law placed her in here."

  "Where she continues to be a hostess," Peggy Chase added. "We all cater to her, and it works out very well."

  The yellow-haired young millionaire nodded. "I'd miss her if she weren't around now. She adds a touch of grandeur to everything, and she is a good hostess."

  "I liked that bit about Dr. Werner," the tiny, black-haired girl said grimly. "My folks think he's a genius, while I have him down as a fraud. They expect me to leave here cured, and I just know I'll continue to shame them by throwing my fits at the worst possible moments."

  Jean gazed at her in astonishment. "But epilepsy is quite easily controlled these days," she said. "Surely you didn't need to come here for Dr. Werner's special treatment. You should be able to get medical help almost anywhere."

  "You don't know my father," Peggy Chase informed her. "He likes the best of everything. And his way of knowing it's the best is to buy the most expensive and hard-to-get items, even if they're not what they're supposed to be. Dr. Werner is expensive, and has a waiting list of patients like me for his epilepsy program."

  "So he fits in with your father's ideas," Jean said, feeling that she was beginning to understand Peggy's wry humor. She decided that she liked the tiny girl.

  Peggy sighed. "It's likely that Frank and I will remain here until we're very old and decrepit people. Our romance is the most doomed since that of Romeo and Juliet."

  "We don't even have a balcony," Frank joked. "I'd say you have no need for worry," Jean told them. "I've seldom met two more interesting or well-balanced people at any cocktail party or gathering of this sort. You're being much too pessimistic about your futures."

  "Please convey your opinions to Dr. Werner," Peggy said mockingly.

  "Though, I warn you, he isn't attracted to opinions or polls of any type," Frank said.

  "This place has already done something for me," Jean told them. "I've gotten to know more people
on a fairly intimate level here than I would have been able to meet at the state hospital in weeks. And that is why I came here."

  "To pursue the study of the mad at short range?" Frank asked in his quiet way.

  "Please don't say it like that," Jean said, blushing.

  "I want to be more than a nurse here. I'd like you to think o£ me as your friend."

  "Sorry," Frank said. "I was talking out of turn."

  Peggy Chase gave her a searching look. "I'm not going to apologize so soon," she informed her. "I want some time to decide about you."

  Jean smiled thinly. "I'll be interested in your final opinion."

  "And I hope you last a bit longer than the last assistant head nurse," Frank said.

  "You'll have to do better than Miss Hillman," Peggy Chase agreed.

  Jean frowned. She remembered the orderly's reference to Miss Hillman and her decision to leave because of a misunderstanding with Dr. Werner. And she had an idea that Peggy and Frank knew more about the incident than the orderly.

  "Why did my predecessor leave here so suddenly?"

  "Why don't you ask Dr. Hastings that question?" Frank suggested. "I see he's on his way over here now." And with a wise smile, the young millionaire took Peggy Chase by the arm and moved away, leaving Jean to face the doctor alone.

  CHAPTER THREE

  "I notice you've been meeting some of our people," Ken Hastings remarked genially.

  "Yes," Jean said. "I find them interesting."

  The young doctor glanced around the room. "I have no doubt that Victoria Wales welcomed you to her party."

  "She did."

  "Amazing old woman," he said. "She's nearly ninety, though she doesn't look it. And in her day she entertained four presidents of this country, and I don't know how many people of European royalty."

  "Sad that she should wind up in her present state," Jean said.

  "Longevity isn't always a blessing, though senility may be one in her case. I doubt if she could adapt to the modern cafe society, so she's much happier in a fantasy world."

  "This is a good place for her, then. The other patients seem to enjoy her, and so it works out very well."

  Ken gave her a very direct look. "Were you as impressed by Frank Burns as you expected to be?"

  "Yes. I don't consider this a proper place for him. He shouldn't be here at all."

  "He doesn't seem to mind."

  "I wonder," she said. "However hard he might have found it on the outside, that's where he belongs."

  "He had a record of several jail sentences for brawls with almost every symbol of authority," the young doctor reminded her. "In addition to his other eccentricities, his behavior pattern strongly hints o£ paranoia."

  "You could tag almost any hippie with that one," she said with some scorn.

  "Perhaps."

  She looked around the room and saw that the crowd was dispersing. "I liked your way of entertaining the patients," she said. "Being together in this way is good for them. So many of those who are recovering need the added confidence."

  "True," Ken Hastings agreed. "And tomorrow you begin your term as a staff member."

  "I'm looking forward to it," she assured him. "What about Miss Hillman? Why did she leave?"

  "Hasn't anyone told you?"

  "No. Several people have mentioned that she left rather hurriedly."

  "She did."

  "But they didn't tell me why."

  Ken Hastings suddenly seemed on guard. "I'm afraid the explanation will have to wait. I have a few patients to check on. We can talk about it later."

  "I'd like to," she said, wondering if his duties were really so urgent, or if he had merely used them as a means of escaping her questioning.

  She put on her nurse's cloak and quickly crossed the snow-covered lawn to Hazen Cottage. When she entered the inner hall, she came upon Bertha Fraser talking to another nurse, a rather plain, brown-haired girl.

  Bertha Fraser at once gave her a frigid look. Jean managed a smile for the two and said, "It gets cold at night, doesn't it?"

  Bertha ignored the remark, but the other girl smiled back and said, "Yes, it's really bad after the sun goes down. I'm Muriel Evans. I work in the hospital, and this is Bertha Fraser. She's on general duty."

  "I've met Bertha," Jean said. "And I'm glad to know you, Muriel."

  "I'm going to bed," Bertha said abruptly, and left them to go upstairs.

  Muriel Evans shrugged and grimaced. "I hope you don't get a bad impression of us," she said.

  "I like the hospital very much," Jean assured her.

  "It's average," the other girl said. "We get all types on the staff. I suppose it's too much to expect everyone to be friendly."

  "Of course it is," Jean said with a smile.

  "We're rather remote here." Muriel sighed. "Do you know anyone in the area?"

  "No."

  "You may find it dull. Of course, Boston is only an hour or so away, and you can go there on your day off. But it isn't practical to drive there at night—at least not in mid-winter. There's always the chance of being caught in a storm."

  "I guess the best thing to do is to make friends here."

  "Definitely," Muriel said. "There's a movie house in Portsmouth, and a dance there every Saturday night. And we're not far from a good ski slope, which helps at this time of year."

  "It doesn't sound too bad."

  "It isn't," the plain-looking girl agreed. "Except that there's a shortage of eligible men on the staff and it's not too easy to meet males in the nearby towns."

  "I can understand that," Jean said.

  "Still, we manage," Muriel assured her. "Let me know if I can help you in any way. I know the area pretty well, and I can at least give you some tips on the various shops and eating places."

  "That's kind of you."

  "Not really," Muriel said. "We have to help one another in a place like this." Then she said good night and went up the stairs.

  Jean went on to her own room feeling that she had made some small progress in learning about the hospital and the area. Her impressions were mostly favorable, but there was an undertone to it all that worried her.

  Considering that she was in a room and a bed that were strange to her, she slept fairly well. The heat was increased around six-thirty in the morning, and the clanking of the pipes roused her to get up for an early breakfast. By eight o'clock, it was obvious that it was going to be a sunny winter's day, though a cold one. The thermometer outside the door read eighteen degrees.

  She made her way to the main building and reported at her desk.

  The worn-looking, gray-haired head nurse told her, "I don't expect you to become familiar with all our methods in one day. Take your time to study the various forms and our manner of executing them."

  At her desk, Jean said, "I take it that most of our work is of a purely executive nature."

  "Yes. We have little contact with the patients."

  Jean sighed. "I'd almost prefer a job in which I did work with the patients," she said. "That's what I'm really interested in."

  The head nurse stared at her in wonder. "Personally, I'm glad to be rid of that sort of duty," she said. "But you can take on some case work if you wish."

  Jean at once felt happier. "I want to."

  "You can talk to Dr. Werner when he arrives," Catherine Moore said, mentioning the doctor in the reverent tone she always reserved for him.

  "Thank you," Jean said. And then she allowed the head nurse to begin instructing her in the procedures of the hospital. This kept her occupied all the early morning. Around eleven, the precise Dr. Werner arrived at their office.

  He smiled a greeting for Nurse Moore, and she responded like a blushing schoolgirl. Then he turned his attention to Jean. "Are you managing all right?" he wanted to know.

  "Yes. I find your system direct and simple," she replied.

  "Excellent," he said with a pleased look on his rather ugly face. "I'll take you on a tour of our facilities."
/>   She got up from her desk. "There is one thing," she said. "I understand that this job doesn't include any patient care. I'd like to arrange to do some work with individual cases, even if I have to do it on my own time."

  His pleased look vanished. "Ah, yes," he said. "Now we have a revelation of your deep desire to become involved. A direct result of your own unhappy experience. I refer to your father's suicide, of course."

  Her cheeks flooded with crimson. "I don't think my desire requires a Freudian translation," she retorted. "It's simply that I've been trained as a therapist in this field and wish to build on my experience."

  "I'm sorry." He smiled primly. "Yet it is possible that I understand you better than you do yourself."

  She found his arrogance a little maddening. But she refused to allow it to put her off on her first day at the new job.

  "Perhaps," she said, allowing her doubt to sound fully. "Anyway, I would like to do some work with patients."

  "It can easily be arranged," the head doctor said.

  He then embarked on the tour, which took her from the sparkling, stainless-steel-equipped kitchens to the individual cottages and the hospital, where Dr. Firth Breton seemed to be in charge. There were a half-dozen bed patients, most of them very elderly. Here she saw Nurse Muriel Evans, who gave her a friendly wink while the head doctor's back was turned.

  In the common room, she came upon Frank Burns reading. The yellow-haired man was polite and friendly to her and the doctor. And Dr. Werner was very affable toward him.

  "I hear your singing was excellent last night," the doctor said.

  "I'm bound to be a success," Frank told him. "My audience hasn't anywhere else to go."

  Dr. Werner made a pretense of being amused; that it was only a pretense was clear. "You are too modest, young man," he said as he and Jean moved on.

  In the game room, the epileptic, Peggy Chase, was playing a spirited round of ping-pong with a young man with long red hair and heavy sideburns. They paused in their play for a moment to exchange a few words with Jean and the doctor. Jean was somewhat embarrassed by the way the good-looking, red-haired young man stared at her.

  When they left the room, Dr. Werner said, "That was Tom Crater. One of the Pennsylvania Craters, you know. He is a paranoid, alternating moods of geniality with those of depression. He had his own apartment in New York and became a nuisance to the police there."