“Would you have been able to find Cooper and Ivan, had you intervened and needed reinforcements?”
“They’ve stationed themselves on the side of this building, pretending to attend to the bushes there. They spent the night there, wanting to be close in case you needed them. Ivan was fit to be tied when I told him you’d been locked in a room. He was going to get you released last night but agreed to wait after he learned I was given a cot in a room shared by night nurses on the same floor you were on. That made it possible for me to wander down your hallway every hour to make certain you were safe.”
“I was safe unless there’d been a fire. I can’t see Nurse Grady taking the time to unlock the door for me if she thought her own life was at stake.”
“A disturbing thought, as is the fact that all the patients are locked in at night.”
“But if therewasa fire, how would they get all the women out?”
“I don’t think they could, but...” Ann stopped talking as the women began inching forward again, a nurse having appeared in the hallway and gestured them into the dining hall. “Before we get parted again, which I’m sure we’re soon to be because my services will probably be needed elsewhere, I didn’t make any progress locating Mrs. Mills. I tried to question the nurses last night, but when I asked about new arrivals, they told me it’s impossible to remember names because there are so many patients here and they change floors all the time.”
“Nurse Emerson. Stop chatting and come help us get these women in order,” a nurse barked from the doorway. “They’re to go in two by two, but clearly that’s beyond their mental capacities.”
“I think you’re Nurse Emerson,” Eunice muttered.
“For a moment there, I forgot,” Ann said before she hurried forward, helping women form a less-than-straight line and stepping in to intervene after a nurse gave a resounding slap to a woman who’d begun wandering aimlessly.
Resisting the urge to stride forward and give the nurse a slap of her own, Eunice took the arm of a woman who was looking around in confusion, her faded blue eyes widening when her gaze settled on Eunice.
“Do I know you?” the woman asked.
“I’ve only just arrived. I’m Eunice.”
“And I’m...” The woman tilted her head. “I’m not sure who I am. Gertrude, maybe?”
“Gertrude is a lovely name, and I’d love to enjoy breakfast with a woman named Gertrude.”
“We’re having breakfast?”
“Soon,” Eunice said as she walked into a dining hall that had a long table traversing the length of the room, with long benches placed on either side of the table. It was a cold and uninviting room, although it was surprisingly clean. Eunice’s grip tightened on Gertrude’s arm as all the other women started scrambling over the benches, trying to find a place to sit. None of the nurses, except for Ann, were trying to aid the women with finding a seat. Instead, they were gathered at a separate table, many of them calling out suggestions to Ann as she tried to get a woman to sit down.
“A good boxing of the ears might help,” one called.
“Or just push her on the bench,” another yelled.
Ann ignored them, bending close to the woman to whisper something in her ear, something that had the woman climbing over the bench and taking a seat, folding her hands demurely in her lap.
“Nice to see they’ve brought on a nurse that isn’t quick withher fists,” a woman said as Eunice helped Gertrude onto the bench before she sat down beside her.
Eunice shoved another strand of hair out of her face, wishing she’d had the foresight to stick some extra pins in with the sandwiches Alma had given her. “Do the nurses use physical force often?”
The woman nodded. “Thinks it helps them maintain order.”
After learning the woman’s name was Rose Santana, Eunice glanced around the table, seeing cups with a pinkish liquid, a substance Rose informed her was tea. Next to the tea were small plates with shriveled prunes, bread and butter, and that was it. Unfortunately, with no supervision from the nurses, many patients were grabbing as much bread as they could, leaving some patients without any bread at all.
She took the bread in front of her and handed it to Gertrude, who refused to eat it.
“You’d best eat it yourself,” Rose said. “It’ll be all you get until lunch, and lunch ain’t much better.”
“I think I’ll just stick with the tea,” Eunice said, handing the bread to Rose, who took it and grinned.
“The tea’s worse than the bread.”
One sip of tea proved Rose right. Setting aside the cup, Eunice frowned. “I take it there’s no sugar added?”
“And no salt for any of the food. The nurses take home the salt that’s meant for us, but don’t say anything about that to them. That’ll only earn you a slap and a stay in a room by yourself, or worse yet, a transfer to the Lodge.”
At the mere mention of the Lodge, every woman within listening distance shivered.
