Stacey was not on the unit by the time I returned to work the following evening, but the new patient was. Sleep had been scarce the following night, but in spite of my lack of rest I was powered by a nervous energy. The entire West Wing was a hub of activity and chaos both from Stacey's absence and the curiosity of the new patient. I hoped that the night would go quickly and without any problems, working with Kyle, Monica, and Evie was a promising sign.
I learned in report that Stacey was still recovering from his medication change, but would tentatively be well enough to return to the unit tonight. The doctors decided to suspend all of his medicine until he had recovered from his serotonin syndrome, which was essentially too much medication causing a toxic effect to his body. It made sense why they came to this conclusion, but selfishly I did not support this decision. Stacey being unmedicated would mean that the monster would be left unleashed. If he was dangerous heavily medicated, what sort of devious behaviors and actions was he capable of if he went without? I shuddered as the possibilities tormented my thoughts, and I struggled to banish them from my mind.
"Are you ready to hear about the new guy?" Janet asked bringing me back to reality. I nodded hoping that maybe, just maybe he would be like Travis, non-threatening and here because he was a habitual offender, not because he was a menace to society. My co-worker sighed and I could see the exhaustion from the day weighing heavily on her shoulders, I knew that I could not be so lucky.
"Jorge Garcia," Janet recited, she paused and glanced up at me to gauge my response. I felt my jaw drop.
"Jorge Garcia?" I groaned. Janet nodded. The name had no particular meaning to me, just an implication.
"Hispanic male, 32 years old," the older nurse continued. My mind began to race immediately. A Hispanic male? Around Stacey? An unmedicated Stacey? "Stacey might have met his match with this one. Paranoid schizophrenic, schizoaffective disorder. Former member of one of the drug cartels in Mexico. He's been charged with rape, murder, and sodomy of corpses." I felt my stomach lurch, this was worse than I imagined.
"What?" I blurted out.
"Oh, and trust me, he looks exactly as you would picture him. Shaved head, tattoos on his face, he looks creepy." Why did the sodomy of the corpse inflict shivers, but murder didn't?
"He sounds worse than Stacey," Evie interjected from beside me. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I forgot that any one besides Janet and I were in the room.
"I wouldn't go that far, but he gives him a run for his money. The only benefit is that this guy is little, he's about your size Katie," Janet compared sizing me up. So, he was less physically intimidating than Stacey and many of the other patients, but his history suggested that he was still dangerous and just as threatening, if not more so than others. Technically Stacey had never killed anyone, he just brainwashed everyone else into doing it for him.
"Don't forget we have the new nurse starting at the end of the week, I'll assign him to this guy so you won't have to deal with him much," Jenna piped up from her perch in the corner. That did offer a little relief, but only temporary because I knew I still had to deal with him tonight. Twelve hours was a long time.
"Did you get his admission done?" I asked.
"Yes, he's showered, I did the physical assessment, and his item inventory. I didn't really get through the questions, but close enough."
"Why not, does he not speak English?" I heard my boss sigh and I wished I would have phrased that question a little more differently, it sounded incredibly inappropriate.
"No, he speaks English, he just doesn't make any sense when he talks," Janet explained. I wish I would have thought of that before I had spoken. I felt my cheeks burn and pretended to scribble on my report sheet to avoid any of my co-worker's judgmental looks. Thank goodness I was working with Evie and not Carrie otherwise some snide comment would have been made.
"Sounds like we're in for a fun night huh?" Evie said as we walked to the commons area, having just finished report.
"Every night is a fun night here," I mumbled my voice dripping with sarcasm. Evie laughed her bright lipstick glistening in the lights. The only patient that was in the commons area was the new guy, that was not a good sign. He was standing, nose in the corner, muttering to himself.
"Oh boy," Evie explained.
"What's he doing?" I questioned.
"Who knows, he's not hurting himself, let's not find out." I couldn't have agreed more with her suggestion. His head was shaved and a serpent was inked into his flesh, starting at his scalp wrapping down around his neck.
"Don't worry, he's been like that for the last hour," Monica informed us as she entered the room clipboard in hand.
"Care if I start med pass first?" Evie asked. I shook my head and she dismissed herself.
"Where's everyone else at?" I inquired to Monica.
"Their rooms."
"That bad huh?" I asked.
"He scared Glen and Kenny off from watching TV. Travis hasn't come out of his room at all since Stacey left the unit."
"Really, why is that?"
"Stacey kicked Glen out of his alliance and picked up Travis." Oh, that weird dynamic again.
"I wonder why?"
"I think it had something to do with his exchange with Glen last week when you were working," Monica mused.
"Oh that," I said not sure what else to say.
"What's he doing?" Kyle asked. I jumped; I hadn't even heard him walk into the room. He laughed at my surprise and I rolled my eyes embarrassed.
"Who knows," I answered.
"I figured I should come up here before chaos ensues," he admitted.
"Oh, ha-ha, very funny, is that really why you're up here?" Monica teased shifting her eyes from him to me.
"Caught, caught," Kyle said holding his hands up in surrender. "Dr. Kaur wants you to go to the infirmary."
"Why did he call you?"
"He didn't have the number for the West Wing," Kyle said shrugging.
"Now?" I asked, my eyes drifted over to the new patient who had not moved an inch.
"I guess so, or whenever," the security guard responded.
"Get it over with, we'll keep an eye on things," Monica said.
"Do you remember how to get there?" Kyle asked.
"Why, are you offering to walk me?" I asked.
"Let's go, I'll make sure you don't find trouble on the way," Kyle said motioning for me to follow.
"The new guy seems interesting," I commented breaking the silence as we walked along the long corridor.
"Shady history, but so far he just seems crazy like the rest of them, nothing out of the ordinary."
"Don't worry, I'll be on my best behavior tonight, no issues."
"You're not capable of staying out of trouble." His smile illuminated his face. His eye was healing up and just had the faintest smudge of discoloration.
"I hope this isn't anything bad," I groaned as we approached the clinic.
"Of courses it's something bad, it always is," Kyle commented. "I'm going to head back. Good luck." I watched him saunter down the hallway before I turned my attention back to the dingy door. I hoped this would be quick. Unlike last night, Stacey wasn't the only patient occupying the infirmary. There were two other male patients I presumed that were from the East Wing since I didn't recognize them. A nurse was tending to one of the patient's while the other one laid resting on a cot in the corner.
