Thirteen West Read Online Free PDF Page B

about—?"
    Dolph whirled to face him. "No. I got to get my jacket. I got to find out if they—"
    "That's the head doctor," Lew said. "We already asked him about your jacket and he doesn't have it either. You don't want to go bothering him again."
    "I got to find it," Dolph said. "It's green."
    But he allowed Lew to take his arm and lead him away from the visitors. Lew handed him over to Frank in the day room, then stood watching the TV for a moment. "Picture's skewed," he said.
    Frank shrugged. "Usually is. I checked the holds—it's not that."
    "I used to do repair work. Maybe I could take a look inside the chassis sometime."
    "Not now."
    Lew turned away. I didn't mean now for Crissake. Does he think I'm retarded? Why the hell did they have to transfer him off days anyway? Working the PM shift, how was he supposed to keep an eye on that little sneak Becky? She'd be up to her old tricks in no time. Midnight when he got home and no telling what she'd been doing before he got there. She'd damn well better not be leaving Timmie alone in the house.
    Lew unclenched his fists. No use to get uptight. Maybe Becky could get her shift changed, too. Then they'd have to find a sitter for Timmie, though, 'cause the nursery school wasn't open after five.
    "Glad the rain's finally stopped," Frank said.
    "What? Oh, yeah."
    "Ms Reynolds will be setting up a program for taking the patients outside. If the weather holds you can get started on that next week."
    "Yeah," Lew repeated. He glanced around at the patients in the day room and decided most of them wouldn't care one way or the other whether they were out or in. He wished he was still on C West, third floor in the main building, where the teenagers were. Couldn't trust a one of them but they acted out in ways he could understand. Not old enough to know better.
    Unlike Becky—twenty-eight, her last birthday.
    In Chester Mausser's room, David lifted him into his wheelchair, ignoring the old man's attempts to cling to his bed.
    "He's a slider, Connie," David warned the tech who was helping him. "Tie the Posey tight. You know, Connie doesn't sound like a Chicano name."
    "Short for Conception," she told him, winding the Posey ties around the lower handles before pulling them across the back of the wheelchair.
    "You got any kids?"
    "Five."
    "Wow. And you still work."
    "The money's good."
    "You don't hardly look like you have five kids—you're so little."
    She smiled at him. "I don't have time to get fat."
    "Put me to bed," Chester Mausser demanded.
    "Mousie, you know you have to stay up till after supper," David said.
    "I'll have you fired, young man."
    "Go ahead. Then I won't have to clean up old freaks who shit in their pants. You did it on purpose—I just got you off the toilet."
    "It wasn't me," the old man insisted. "They put it in there to embarrass me."
    "Sure they did. Well, you better not let me catch them doing it again."
    "Reality orientation," Connie reminded him.
    David made a face at her.
    "You needn't hide behind me, young woman," Chester said. "I know what you did just now and you ought to be ashamed of yourself."
    David guffawed.
    Up the hall, the touring group paused before being let out of the ward. The woman peered into the last open door. "Why that's a Mongol," she said in surprise, turning to Dr. Fredericks. "I didn't think you mixed mentally ill and mentally retarded on the same ward. I thought the practice went out countless years ago."
    Dr. Fredericks smiled. "We're bringing back on Thirteen West just such concepts, once wrongly labeled as outmoded. That's what maximum mix is all about—total desegregation. As near to a community cross-section as possible. The retarded are part of our patient population—part of our community, as it were. Perhaps our girl here with Down's Syndrome will be the catalyst in—"
    "Hi!" Susie Q called, clumping from her room. She reached for the woman's hand. "What's you name?"
    Grace Geibel hurried up behind her. "Susie Q," she said,