“Oh my.” Ruth shook her head as she started walking quickly toward the exit of the ward. “Thank you for trying, Nurse Riley,” she called over her shoulder. “And keep up the excellent work.”
Ruth hurried through several buildings, across one of the hospital’s inner courtyards, and down a set of stairs to the secure lower level. While a ten-foot iron fence fortified the perimeter of the entire hospital to ensure the inmates didn’t wander out onto the streets of Manhattan, they were relatively free to move about their own wards. The secure wings, on the other hand, featured a series of bars and doors, much like a jail. A secure area was necessary for the safety of the patients and the staff, but Ruth still shuddered as she unlocked the gates with her master key. She couldn’t imagine why Penelope, who had always been so gentle, would be placed in here.
When she finally arrived at Penelope’s room, Ruth’s sunny greeting of “Hello, Penny!” turned into a distressed gasp as she took in the scene in front of her. “Why is she in restraints like that?” Ruth welled with rage. Penelope was a slight woman, no more than ninety-five pounds, and not only had they removed her from the comfort of her room in the ladies’ wing, they had placed her here among the most violent and difficult of all of Emeraldine’s patients and immobilized her in a tight straitjacket.
“Doctor’s orders, Miss. You’ll have to ask him.”
“Oh, I intend to, but in the meantime, I insist that you remove them. Penelope is as gentle as a lamb. There is no need for her to be restrained in this way. Penny, dear, are you all right?” Penelope nodded, but as Ruth looked at her face, she saw it was covered with scratches and scabs, her eyes rimmed red from crying and ringed with the black circles of sleeplessness. “Oh dear, you’ve been scrubbing and picking again?” Ruth tried to catch her gaze, but Penelope dropped her head, looking at the floor.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right.” Ruth encircled Penelope in a gentle embrace. Turning again to the orderly, she said with quiet emphasis, “Please, remove these restraints at once. This woman does not need to be bound this way.” She watched him hesitate. “Sir, do you know who I am?” He stared at her like a stunned deer. “I am the assistant superintendent of this hospital. I can assure you that if Dr. Chisolm knew I was giving this order, he would oblige. And, I can also promise that I plan to take up these inappropriate actions with him straight away.”
While the man hesitantly followed her directive, she went to the hallway sink to warm a washcloth and returned to Penelope’s bedside, where she began gently stroking her head. As soon as the orderly left, Penelope burst into tears.
“I thought you were gone. That you had left me! I’m so sorry. I was so nervous. And I was just trying to stay clean. To stay healthy. But they told me to stop washing my hands. And wouldn’t let me clean my face. But I had to get clean!”
“It is all right, Penelope. Remember that I told you I was going to get married and then be away for a bit on my honeymoon?”
“But Mother and Father were supposed to only be in the sanitarium for a short while and they never came back.”
“Darling, I know you miss them. That awful influenza took many lives. But”—she lifted Penelope’s chin to look her in the eyes—“remember what we talked about? It did not take yours! You are strong. You survived. And these preoccupations you developed can be fixed. We are going to get you better.”
“I want that, I really do. But sometimes these feelings just overwhelm me, and I can’t stop them.”
“Well, the first thing we need to do is get you out of this ward. We need to get back to our chess matches and maybe even a little dancing in the social hall.” Ruth looked at her with a reassuring smile and watched Penelope’s face begin to brighten. “It will take me a bit of time to get the transfer back to the private wing in order. In the meantime, let’s at least get you to the hydrotherapy room for a nice warm bath.”