Ruth looked at Charles with wide eyes. Had her father actually anticipated she would run Emeraldine one day?
“Ruth, I know he didn’t say so, but your father was very impressed with you and your work at the hospital. I can assure you this was his plan all along.”
“It was?” She couldn’t imagine that was true. Bernard was so meticulous about all his plans. Certainly he would have spoken to her about it if he had seen her running Emeraldine in the future. “No, it’s not possible—”
“Not only is it completely possible, it’s the right thing to do. And now is absolutely the right time—past time, if you ask me.” Charles stood and pulled Ruth into a fatherly embrace. “Congratulations on a job exceptionally well done, and a promotion long overdue. I can’t wait to see what the next chapter of Emeraldine Hospital will look like with you at the helm.”
Ruth stood in shock. It was all so much. But if Charles and her father believed in her, she had to be up for the task. “Thank you for your faith in me. Now and always. I have never taken for granted how fortunate I am to have had such a forward-thinking and supportive superior, and such a true friend. I will miss seeing you every day. And I can’t even imagine how I will begin to fill your shoes.”
“You don’t need to fill anything; you just need to be yourself. Now, if this is settled, would you like to have a look at the résumés for your replacement? The sooner we get you sitting in this chair the better.”
Ruth took a deep breath and nodded. The next chapter of her career was about to begin whether she wanted it to or not.
Chapter Nineteen
Ruth sat at her new desk, eyes burning. She had been officially running the hospital for three months now. With Charles’s help, she had hired Roy Haddington to replace her as assistant superintendent. Roy came with several letters of recommendation from a small hospital in California where he had primarily been responsible for their finances and operations—the areas most anathema to Ruth—and she and Charles agreed he would be a good complement to her areas of expertise. Still, she constantly felt as if she was drowning in paperwork. The managerial aspects of her new role, which would have been overwhelming in quiet times, were exacerbated by the influx of war veterans.
It was already nine o’clock, and she needed to approve four requisition requests for equipment upgrades and read at least three more patient evaluations before she could consider going home. It was no matter. She had to wait for Robert and Edward to finish their last surgery of the day. Robert’s days were busier than ever with his work at the hospital, a full lecture schedule at the university, and an ever-growing caseload of private patients at his offices in Manhattan and at Magnolia Bluff. He and Edward tended to perform surgeries first thing in the morning or later in the evening, when they’d finished the rest of the day’s work. In spite of their best efforts, the wait list for lobotomies continued to grow.
The overcrowding was no different at psychiatric hospitals across the country, and Ruth felt proud that their pioneering work eased the suffering of so many. Nevertheless, she could hardly keep up with the scores of men and women who needed their help. She felt her eyelids drooping as she read the same line a fifth time and was jolted by a tap on her door.
“Edward.” She smiled. “Finished for the day?”
“Yes, finally. Robert is just writing the last of his notes and then he should be ready to take you home. You look tired. You need to get some rest, Ruth.”
“Oh, please, I do nothing compared to you and Robert. The two of you are the ones doing battle to repair the damaged. You’re kind to worry about me, but I’m just fine.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit. Our work wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for you. You made this place. You keep it going. You have managed to accommodate two times our planned capacity and still seem to know the ins and outs of every single patient in every single ward. You’re incredible. But even God needed a day of rest!”