in. Hegoes sailing, you know…’ he added irrelevantly, ‘I have his notes, of course … but,’ he paused, ‘it might be better to discuss this outside of your sister’s hearing, Mr Tucker. You indicated she wished to be shown around? I can have one of the nurses do that while we talk?’ Each sentence seemed to end with a question mark.
‘Fine,’ Don said after a moment’s thought, ‘maybe that would be better.’ He told Sarah, ‘They want to show you what their hospital looks like, all right? Go ahead, doctor, call your nurse.’
Dr Manzel spoke briefly into his intercom, and shortly a bulky Italian woman with a benign smile entered and introduced herself as Mrs Stanzione. Without hesitation, Sarah rose and went out with the nurse at her invitation.
‘Is she always like that? Always does what she’s told to do?’ Manzel asked.
‘Always,’ Don answered.
‘She’ll do very well here then. It’s almost a shame.…’
‘That what?’
‘Well … that she’ll have to be in the psychiatric wing. We are a dual-use facility, surely Dr Gerard explained that?’
‘He has spoken mostly to my mother. I live out of the area.’
‘Yes,’ Manzel’s eyes drifted away toward the window, perhaps enviously imagining Dr Gerard sailing across the bay, white shorts, captain’s cap. His sad gaze returned. ‘We are a hospital and convalescent center combined. We have quite a number of the elderly, people recovering from major surgery: amputations, organ transplants.… Then we haveour rather renowned psychiatric rehabilitation facility. Of which, of course, Dr Gerard and I are staff chiefs.’
‘But you were saying, as to Sarah?’ Don tried to hurry the man toward clarification of what she would be facing.
‘Well, Sarah has obvious psychiatric problems, the mutism being the most evident symptom. The two sections of this institution are kept totally separate and distinct. The state mandates this, for rather obvious reasons.’
‘I understand. And in the psychiatric wing?’
‘What do you mean … oh, what sorts of patients do we have there?’ Dr Manzel’s eyes swiveled as if he wished he could look out the window behind him while explaining. He turned a palm up and said, ‘Paranoid-schizophrenics. Some psychotic cases. A few catatonics…. I want you to understand , Mr Tucker, that we have a remarkable success rate here in stabilizing some of these people with medication. They are then transferred to our outpatient programs. We look at no individual as being irretrievable. That is one of the cornerstones of our philosophy.’
‘The outpatient programs – Sarah would not be a candidate ?’
‘I understood that the family … I’m sorry,’ he looked briefly at her folder again. ‘It has been our understanding that no one in the family felt capable of taking care of her at home.’
‘The question was hypothetical,’ Don said dryly. A bad taste was building in the back of his mouth. It was bitter, tasting of mercury and bile. He recognized it as rising anger.
‘Well, hypothetically…’, the psychiatrist spread his hands, ‘surely Dr Gerard has been through all of this with the family.’
‘I’ve told you….’
‘Yes, I’d forgotten. Your mother has chiefly consulted him.’
‘That’s right.’
A hint of suspicion had developed in the psychiatrist’s eyes, but Manzel seemed to mentally shrug it off, and he continued.
‘I assume you mean that if she were able to regain her power of speech suddenly and was able to enter standard therapy, allowing us to assess her actual psychiatric wellness ….’
‘That’s exactly what I mean, yes.’
Dr Manzel appeared puzzled, then apparently decided he was simply talking to someone without any understanding of psychiatry and went on, further secularizing his vocabulary , ‘If she were to recover her speech, sir, no one – not even her family – could continue to cause her to remain in this facility unless some other problem
‘Fine,’ Don said after a moment’s thought, ‘maybe that would be better.’ He told Sarah, ‘They want to show you what their hospital looks like, all right? Go ahead, doctor, call your nurse.’
Dr Manzel spoke briefly into his intercom, and shortly a bulky Italian woman with a benign smile entered and introduced herself as Mrs Stanzione. Without hesitation, Sarah rose and went out with the nurse at her invitation.
‘Is she always like that? Always does what she’s told to do?’ Manzel asked.
‘Always,’ Don answered.
‘She’ll do very well here then. It’s almost a shame.…’
‘That what?’
‘Well … that she’ll have to be in the psychiatric wing. We are a dual-use facility, surely Dr Gerard explained that?’
‘He has spoken mostly to my mother. I live out of the area.’
‘Yes,’ Manzel’s eyes drifted away toward the window, perhaps enviously imagining Dr Gerard sailing across the bay, white shorts, captain’s cap. His sad gaze returned. ‘We are a hospital and convalescent center combined. We have quite a number of the elderly, people recovering from major surgery: amputations, organ transplants.… Then we haveour rather renowned psychiatric rehabilitation facility. Of which, of course, Dr Gerard and I are staff chiefs.’
‘But you were saying, as to Sarah?’ Don tried to hurry the man toward clarification of what she would be facing.
‘Well, Sarah has obvious psychiatric problems, the mutism being the most evident symptom. The two sections of this institution are kept totally separate and distinct. The state mandates this, for rather obvious reasons.’
‘I understand. And in the psychiatric wing?’
‘What do you mean … oh, what sorts of patients do we have there?’ Dr Manzel’s eyes swiveled as if he wished he could look out the window behind him while explaining. He turned a palm up and said, ‘Paranoid-schizophrenics. Some psychotic cases. A few catatonics…. I want you to understand , Mr Tucker, that we have a remarkable success rate here in stabilizing some of these people with medication. They are then transferred to our outpatient programs. We look at no individual as being irretrievable. That is one of the cornerstones of our philosophy.’
‘The outpatient programs – Sarah would not be a candidate ?’
‘I understood that the family … I’m sorry,’ he looked briefly at her folder again. ‘It has been our understanding that no one in the family felt capable of taking care of her at home.’
‘The question was hypothetical,’ Don said dryly. A bad taste was building in the back of his mouth. It was bitter, tasting of mercury and bile. He recognized it as rising anger.
‘Well, hypothetically…’, the psychiatrist spread his hands, ‘surely Dr Gerard has been through all of this with the family.’
‘I’ve told you….’
‘Yes, I’d forgotten. Your mother has chiefly consulted him.’
‘That’s right.’
A hint of suspicion had developed in the psychiatrist’s eyes, but Manzel seemed to mentally shrug it off, and he continued.
‘I assume you mean that if she were able to regain her power of speech suddenly and was able to enter standard therapy, allowing us to assess her actual psychiatric wellness ….’
‘That’s exactly what I mean, yes.’
Dr Manzel appeared puzzled, then apparently decided he was simply talking to someone without any understanding of psychiatry and went on, further secularizing his vocabulary , ‘If she were to recover her speech, sir, no one – not even her family – could continue to cause her to remain in this facility unless some other problem
Similar Books
