Psychiatric Nurse

by Dan Ross

  "In the eyes of Dr. Werner, he has," Ken assured her.

  "That's too stupid!"

  "You'd better try to see it Werner's way."

  "I can't! If it hadn't been for that young man, I'd have been choked to death."

  "By the rules, Frank should have called on a guard for help, rather than tackling Steve on his own."

  "I could have been dead by then!"

  "That's unlikely."

  "You can't be sure. At least I'd have been seriously injured. It's insane to think anything else! Do you believe in these ridiculous rules?"

  His good-looking face betrayed no expression. "I'm not offering my opinion of them," he said. "I'm simply trying to explain how Werner wants the hospital conducted."

  Her eyes were flashing angrily. "I'll not allow Frank to be punished for helping me."

  "We can only hope that he won't be."

  "And I'll not admit to any wrong in going to the therapy room on my own," she added.

  Ken looked at her bleakly. "I had an idea you were a rebel when you came here. I doubt if you'll last any longer than Hillman did."

  "I'm beginning to understand why Miss Hillman had difficulties," she said. "From what you've told me, I'd say this hospital is being operated differently from any other I've known."

  "There's no denying that," the young doctor said. "It's what Dr. Werner wants. He wants this place to be completely individual in character."

  She gave him a crushing glance. "That Dr. Breton strikes me as being a careless, bad-tempered idiot!"

  "I think you'd better go to your bedroom and get ready for dinner now. It will be simpler if I'm allowed to explain this to Dr. Werner. If he wants to discuss it with you, he'll have an opportunity after dinner."

  "You're dismissing me just as you did Frank Burns," she accused him.

  He sighed. "Give me credit for knowing how to handle this best. Believe that I'm Frank's friend and yours."

  "You're making it difficult," she told him. But she was convinced by his sincerity. However oddly he seemed to be treating the incident, it might be that he knew best how to deal with the eccentric Dr. Werner.

  She left Ken standing there, and went to the side exit. She had just reached the door and was about to go out when the diminutive Peggy Chase came rushing up to her. The black-haired girl's pretty face showed fear.

  "What's this I hear about you and Frank?" she demanded.

  Jean paused to say, "Frank saved me from being choked by Steve Abrams."

  "Did he have a struggle with Steve?"

  "Yes," Jean said. "He knocked him out with a mallet in the therapy room."

  "Oh, no!" Peggy exclaimed in frantic protest. "He knocked Steve unconscious?"

  "Yes. He had to."

  "Dr. Werner will never accept that," Peggy said in a frightened voice. "He'll claim that Frank has become aggressive again."

  Jean frowned. "That's not so. And was Frank ever considered aggressive?"

  "They called it that because of his run-ins with the police during the protest rallies," Peggy explained unhappily. "Dr. Werner has probably been hoping for something like this to happen. He needs such incidents to strengthen his case for keeping Frank here."

  "I won't be a party to that," Jean warned. "I'm ready to make it clear that Frank had no choice but to rush in if he was to save my life."

  Peggy looked at her worriedly. "I hope Werner will listen to you."

  "How can he help it?" Jean asked. She then went out into the cold winter evening, leaving the tiny dark girl standing by the exit door with a disconsolate expression on her face. Jean's own mind was filled with a confusion of thoughts and doubts.

  Slowly she was beginning to discover the reasons for the uneasy atmosphere at Tranquility Place. She had sensed something wrong from her first moment of arrival. Then, she hadn't been able to properly identify what was bothering her. But it wasn't taking that long to find out. She had almost been murdered, and the only reaction she had had thus far was that she had broken rules and deserved to suffer for it.

  The fact that Ken Hastings seemed to uphold this weird brand of dictatorship worried her most of all. She had counted on him as being stable and understanding. But he had shown an undeviating loyalty to his superior's ridiculous rules. At least she felt they were ridiculous.

  As she entered the wooden house where she lived, she was trembling slightly. The experience, and the aftermath of it, had taken more from her than she had realized. She hurried down the corridor to her bedroom and decided that the first thing she wanted was a warm, relaxing bath.

  Changing into a dressing gown, she took her own towels and soap and headed down the hall toward the bathroom. It was empty when she reached it, and she began to draw the water for a soak in the tub. The warm, steamy atmosphere and the hot water eased her nerves considerably. After she had toweled herself vigorously, she put on her dressing gown and went out feeling much better.

  The first person she met in the hallway was Nurse Bertha Fraser.

  Bertha gave her a cold look. "I didn't expect you to be here," she said. "From what I heard, I thought you'd be in one of the hospital beds."

  Jean wasn't sure what the other girl's tone signified, but she knew it wasn't sympathy. "I wasn't hurt that badly," she said.

  "From all that I've gathered, Steve Abrams may be suffering from a concussion," the other nurse said vindictively.

  "Whatever happened to him was his own fault. He attacked me."

  "And Frank Burns attacked him," Bertha said sharply.

  "He had no choice."

  "I expect that Dr. Werner will decide that," Bertha said with malicious relish, and started up the stairs.

  Jean went on to her bedroom. All these implied threats of what Dr. Werner might do about the unfortunate incident angered her. She felt that neither she nor Frank Burns had done any wrong. And she wasn't going to bow her head meekly and be reprimanded.

  About twenty minutes later, dressed in a two-piece wool suit, she went across to the main building for dinner. She half expected to see Dr. Werner at the dining-room entrance waiting for her. But he didn't appear at all. Both Ken Hastings and Dr. Breton were seated in their usual places at the table. The only thing to indicate the tension among them was the unusual quiet. Hardly anything was said.

  Jean's nerves had been upset enough to spoil her appetite. She skimmed through the various courses and then quickly left the table. In the corridor she met Head Nurse Catherine Moore. The pale face of the older nurse showed concern, and she stopped to speak with her.

  "I was on my way to find you," the head nurse informed her. "Dr. Werner would like to see you in his office."

  "I've been expecting that," Jean said grimly.

  The dark-circled eyes of the senior nurse were troubled. "Don't be too hasty in deciding that Dr. Werner is wrong," she advised. "He carries a great responsibility on his shoulders. Try to understand that."

  "This is not my first position in a mental hospital," Jean reminded her quietly. The older woman looked unhappy but said nothing as Jean went on to the elaborate office where she had first been interviewed by Dr. Werner. The door to his office was partly ajar, and after she had knocked on it, she was invited to enter at once.

  The squat head doctor was seated behind his desk. Waving her to a comfortable visitor's chair, he said in his slightly guttural tones, "Miss Shannon, do please make yourself comfortable."

  Jean sat and waited. There was a painful interval of silence as the head doctor gazed at some papers on his desk. Then he raised his eyes to stare at her shrewdly from behind his thick glasses.

  "Steve Abrams is in the hospital infirmary with what may be a serious concussion," he said very evenly.

  This made Bertha's rumor official. Jean met the doctor's glance. "I'm sorry," she said.

  "Yes," he said rather coldly. "I understand that you were present when Frank Burns dealt him the damaging blow."

  "Of course I was there," she said, feeling that this line of questionin
g was more than a little ridiculous. "I had to be there! Steve had me by the throat and was choking me!"

  Dr. Werner's ugly countenance showed no expression. "You had invaded the therapy room."

  "I didn't consider it an invasion," she protested. "I simply had an impulse to go there and chat with some of the patients in an effort to know them better."

  "Your desire to involve yourself personally in their rehabilitation," he went on in the same cold way, "is easily traced to your inner confusion about your father's suicide. I warned you that your reasons for becoming a psychiatric nurse were not the healthiest."

  Jean sat very erect in her chair. "I hardly think that this incident calls for your attempting to psychoanalyze me!" She had been annoyed by the way he had probed into her private life during the initial interview, and had guessed that he might try to use the facts she had given him against her. She had hardly expected it to happen so soon.

  "We are all of us subject to some mental confusion at times," was his calm reply. "Do you not believe that?"

  "I'm not in the least confused about what happened today," she retorted.

  He frowned. "Could it be that your confusion caused the situation to happen? Your naive desire to be a do-gooder is hardly a professional attitude, Miss Shannon."

  "Then you object to my having any personal contact with the patients?"

  "I object to your causing trouble of the sort that happened today. What do you expect me to tell the parents of young Abrams?"

  "They must know the dangerous mental state he's in, or he wouldn't be here."

  "He is here for treatment, not to be abused by a fellow lunatic," Dr. Werner snapped.

  "Frank Burns is not a lunatic!" she shot back. "He did what any man would do under similar circumstances. And he shouldn't be blamed!"

  "He hit that boy on the head with a heavy mallet!"

  "He had no time to select his weapon. I might have been strangled if he'd hesitated or gone to summon a guard."

  The doctor's eyes had a stony look. "I assume you are offering this merely as your personal opinion rather than as fact."

  "Those are the facts!"

  He drummed the fingers of his right hand on the desk impatiently. "The fact that concerns me is that one of my patients has suffered a serious injury at the hands of another. That is what I'll have to admit to Steve Abrams' parents. I doubt if they'll be interested in the facts leading up to the assault. What kind of an institution will they think I'm operating?"

  It was all very plain to her. Dr. Werner was only interested in what the parents and relatives of the patients thought. He probably had no concern about his patients being cured, since most of them had been placed in his care by wealthy relatives to get them conveniently out of the way. The one thing that could upset the wealthy patrons of the Tranquility Place was for any unpleasantness to leak out. The violence of this afternoon would be thought of as a major unpleasantness.

  She decided on a bold stand. "I'm sure Steve Abrams' parents would not condemn Frank Burns if they were properly informed that their son had tried to kill me. Would they prefer that he had gone through with it and then be branded a homicidal maniac?"

  The doctor licked his lips. "From my experience, Miss Shannon, I would expect his parents to believe that the incident was exaggerated. That the danger to you was not great enough for Frank Burns to act as he did."

  "In that case, I'll gladly offer them a statement to prove that this was the way it happened. I was unconscious when Frank rescued me."

  Dr. Werner's ugly face turned dark with anger. "I will not tolerate interference by any member of my staff," he warned her. "I cannot have you or anyone else employed by the hospital making direct communication with the relatives or parents of the patients!"

  "Another of your rules, I assume," Jean said, not hiding the mockery of her tone.

  "Yes. If you or any of the others choose to ignore them, I have no alternative but to consider discharging the offending person."

  "If Frank Burns is blamed for today, I will do all I can to prove his innocence," she said. "And that would include speaking or writing to his parents."

  "You'd risk a discharge?" he asked incredulously.

  "I would," she said firmly.

  He hesitated. "I would have to make it clear that I had found you at fault."

  "I'm willing to risk that."

  Dr. Werner's anger gave way to obvious uneasiness. "I don't want to lose you, Miss Shannon. You've come here with an excellent background in nursing, and with a good recommendation. I'd like to keep you on, and not be forced to place a bad mark on your record."

  "If Frank Burns is to be reprimanded for helping me, I have no choice."

  "Burns is a mental patient. He has a record of violence and is known to be unstable. This is only another episode as far as his file is concerned. I haven't planned any strong punitive action against the young man, but I have to face the fact that the viciousness of his attack on young Abrams was not justified. He could have used milder restraint to help you."

  Jean smiled thinly. "Isn't that merely being theoretical, Doctor? As you said so wisely a short time ago, any of us may be prone to mental confusion."

  He crimsoned. "You feel that your strong defense of Frank Burns is valid, then?"

  "I feel it very deeply."

  "Very well," he said with a deep sigh. "I'll go against my good judgment. You have my promise that nothing more will be mentioned about the incident if Steve Abrams shows a quick response to treatment for the concussion."

  "Frank Burns shouldn't be blamed in any case. I want that on the record."

  Dr. Werner looked frustrated. "I'd say you are prejudiced too strongly in favor of that unfortunate young man. But I can understand it. Unless I call you in here for a later discussion, you may assume that the matter is closed."

  "Thank you," Jean said, rising. "I'm sorry I had to be so difficult. But in this case, I've had no choice."

  Dr. Werner also got up, and at the door he said, "It may be that you are right about today. But it doesn't alter the fact that Frank was entered here as a dangerous schizophrenic with a tendency toward violence. And I'm sure you'll eventually come to see him as that type of patient."

  "I think he is well on his way toward health," Jean stated firmly.

  "I'm glad you're so optimistic," Dr. Werner replied coldly.

  Jean left his office convinced that, despite her having frustrated him in his cowardly attempt to place another black mark on Frank Burns, the unfair accusations against the young millionaire singer would continue. Dr. Werner was determined to please Frank's mother and stepfather by keeping him in the hospital for as long as he could.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  While Jean knew that she had won a small victory with the wily Dr. Werner, she still felt uneasy. Perhaps she should have given her notice. She had learned enough to realize that Tranquility Place was not being conducted along the lines of which she could approve. So it would seem logical for her to leave as soon as she could.

  But there was another side to it. Despite her short time there, she had become involved in a very real way with some of the people. If she left the hospital at this point, she would forever wonder and worry about the fate of Frank Burns. She would also think of Dr. Ken Hastings and Peggy Chase and some of the others. To give up now would be to turn her back on these patients and newfound friends.

  She reached the reading room. Peggy Chase was there with Tom Crater. The two came up to her at once.

  Peggy asked anxiously, "What happened?"

  Tom Crater's face showed a sarcastic smile. "What wisdom did the High Priest of this dubious spot choose to dispense?"

  "I don't think there'll be any trouble," Jean said.

  Peggy brightened, but Tom Crater looked disappointed. Peggy said, "You're sure?"

  "Reasonably so," Jean said.

  "I must tell Frank," Peggy said happily, and she left them to hurry along the corridor in the direction of his room.

&
nbsp; Tom Crater said, "At least you've brought some excitement to this place."

  "I don't think I need as much as I had today," Jean told him.

  "Steve Abrams is crazy," he said. "I know we're all crazy, but he's worse than the majority of us."

  "He was very upset this afternoon," Jean said.

  Tom smiled cynically. "When he gets out of the infirmary, the doctors had better put Morton in charge of him."

  "Who is Morton?"

  "One of the orderlies. He's been away for a week or so on winter vacation. He's the kind who likes to roughhouse you even when you haven't done anything."

  "He doesn't sound too pleasant."

  "He isn't. But he handles all the difficult patients. Not that Dr. Werner will keep any violent cases here very long."

  "The discipline is very lax here," she said. "There is no provision for the caring of badly disturbed people."

  "I like that badly disturbed bit," Tom Crater said. "I come under that heading, you know."

  She managed a smile. There was something about this brutally frank young man that she liked.

  "I don't think anyone is worried about you," she said.

  "I wish they were. I'm much more dangerous than they think."

  "At least you've warned them."

  Tom Crater was deadly serious now. "I do that all the time. But then, I warned the New York police and they didn't listen to me."

  "I wouldn't fret about it."

  He shrugged. "They've got only themselves to blame. To allow a mass killer like me to roam loose around here is criminal negligence, don't you agree?" Jean had no desire to reply to this embarrassing question, and she was saved from doing so by Dr. Ken Hastings striding in on them. He gave Tom Crater a sharp glance.

  "You're supposed to be in the men's cottage at this time of evening," Ken told the patient.

  Tom Crater was brazen in his attitude. "Plenty of time," he said.

  "I can have an orderly escort you, if you'd prefer," Ken said.

  The disturbed Tom smiled sourly. "I know the way by myself," he said. And he nodded to Jean. "I'll look forward to talking to you again, Miss Shannon." He turned and slowly strolled out of the reading room.