The Rasner Effect Read Online Free PDF

office, holding the door for Rick, who stepped in as well. Janet closed the door, locking it with one of the large keys that hung from a string around her neck.
    “Did you get your key yet?” she asked, dropping hers inside her pale-blue shirt.
    “Not yet. I’m supposed to meet with Miss Miller later today. I figure I’ll just ask her for one.”
    “I wouldn’t.” Janet burst loose with another laugh. “Good luck with your meeting, though.”
    “How long have you worked here?” Rick wondered what she meant by both the laugh and the concern.
    Janet crossed to her desk, opened the top drawer, placed the Bible inside, and closed the drawer. “About 15 years. I worked with Lisa Marshburn, whom you’re replacing. I figure you’ll just absorb her caseload of patients. It is truly a shame what happened to her.”
    He eyed her for a moment waiting for more explanation. When it didn’t come, he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “It was my understanding she retired.”
    “You could say that.” Janet shook her head with disappointment. “It’s not like she had much choice. It was more of a forced situation.”
    “Forced? You mean by Miss Miller? How did she force her out?”
    “One thing about Katherine Miller…” Janet whispered, even though they were the only ones in the room. “If she doesn’t like someone, she’ll let them know. She doesn’t terminate, but she will get them to leave.”
    Janet gave Rick a look of caution which caused him to widen his eyes. “I look forward to joining the team.” He smiled. “Just give me a chance to catch my bearings and learn how things are handled here. I’m sure she will find I am a very good team player.”
    “You’re a determined young man. That’s nice.” Janet smiled back.
    Rick walked to his desk, rubbing underneath the layer of brown hair he kept combed over his forehead. He spun around, realizing his new colleague had followed him to his desk. Her green eyes studied his every movement. Rick offered an uncomfortable smile.
    “I think you’ll find they use us less and less around here as time goes by.” Janet once again ended her comment in a chuckle that sounded more nervous than humorous.
    “What do you mean?”
    “When the patients go into crisis, we’re supposed to have the opportunity to calm them down.” She gave an elaborate shrug of her shoulders. “We don’t normally get the chance to do our jobs. Usually, at the first sign of a red flag, Miller orders one of the guards or resident on-site psychiatrists to stick the poor child with an injection. One straightjacket later and they shove the adolescent into one of those awful seclusion rooms.”
    “What exactly do they drug the kids with?”
    “Haldol. Meloril. A bunch of others as well. They tend to like the old-fashioned stuff in here. It shuts the kids down much quicker.”
    Rick tried to come up with the best words to pose his question. “Is it always…necessary?”
    Janet laughed. “Welcome to the Brookhill Children’s Psychiatric Residence, where the unnecessary takes precedence over the necessary.” She took a breath. “So, speaking of psychiatrists, what’s your relationship with Dr. Obenchain? Business or personal?”
    “How do you…”
    “Well, since you’ve moved to Brookhill, you go to his home twice a week. He also arranged for your job here. There is talk you’re one of his patients.”
    Rick stood in stunned silence.
    “Unlike most people who work here, I do live in Brookhill. In fact, I have all my life,” Janet explained. “It’s a small town and everyone pretty much knows what everyone else is up to, it’s just the way it is here. Dr. Obenchain is well liked in Brookhill. He could run for Mayor if he chose.”
    “I can understand. Dr. Obenchain has been a huge help to me.”
    “I don’t know much about his practice, but I do know he works with very special cases.” Janet stared at the ceiling, as if pulling information from above. “So that would