Shelbyville

Chapter 29

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.