The Imposter Read Free Page A

ran down the hallway. "Hurry up!  He's beating the
hell out of Amy!"
    Angela
looked to Jim's left arm where Amy was clinging like a tired squirrel to a tree
trunk, and saw that Jim's sleeve had ripped at the shoulder, exposing his taut
deltoid muscle.  Without hesitating, she sat down on top of Amy.  Mercifully,
their  combined weight kept the flailing left arm pinned to the floor as Angela
plunged the needle into the deltoid muscle and pushed the Vitamin G into Jim's
body.  She withdrew the needle and waited.
    As
she sat perched on the softening arm, Angela thought about what a joke the
Psychiatric Pavilion was.   The "Pavilion" was really an old three-story
storage warehouse that CCMC had hastily renovated into three psychiatric units
about eight years ago when psychiatric and substance abuse services had
actually been money-makers for the hospital.   Now they weren't and the
building had been sadly neglected and was beginning to have the look of a
"blighted" building that Angie remembered from her Community Health
class at LSU where she had recently received her Bachelor's degree in Nursing. 
 Fat lot of good that did me, she mused. 
     But
Angie knew in her heart that her degree did matter.   She chose to work at the
Pavilion where the salary was at least 50% more than the medical units because
the patients were so sick, scary and dangerous.   The Pavilion was actually
three nursing units.   Pavilion I was  now was the Prison Unit and housed some
of the most dangerous, criminally insane inmates from the deep south.   Pavilion
II was she was now was general psychiatry where chronically psychotic patients
were committed by temporary detaining orders.  They were kept there "until
they promised not to try to kill themselves or others again." Angie
thought it was criminal that these sick patients were generally discharged in
two days.   Jim was one of the exceptions.  Pavilion III was the substance
abuse unit where patients were detoxed and "cured" in three days when
they were discharged.  The absolute worst was the CCMC Pavilion management.   Don
Montgomery, the CEO of CCMC, had contracted with the state hospital over in
Mandeville to take their forensic psychiatric patients several years ago when a
public outrage from the good citizens of Mandeville had succeeded and the
hospital closed.   Even though CCMC received a premium for housing and caring
for the forensic patients, none of the money went back into the safety and
security of staff and patients at CCMC.   Angie shuddered and felt a chill when
she thought about the patients she'd worked with over the past year.   Some of
them had nearly frightened her to death.  She had thought Jim was  one of the
safe ones - until now. 
    As
she had plunged the needle into Jim's shoulder, she had made the mistake of
looking into his eyes.  The eyes were there, but Jim wasn't.  It was as if he
were somewhere else.  He had not recognized her.  Recognition was the basis of
human interaction, and is what separated friend from foe.  Those empty eyes
terrified her!
    "What
set him off tonight?" Angela asked Ben as she came back  to the present. 
"He was one of the good ones - I thought."
    "Louis
and Jim were playing Battleship in the dayroom.   Louis won and Jim said he was
cheating. It was strange-like. Normally Jim didn't care if he won or lost.  Not
this time.  Next thing, Jim said Louis was sleeping with his wife.  Crazy!
Louis hasn't had a hardon in ten years.  Next thing, Jim lunged at Louis and
missed and Louis ran into the hallway yelling. Jim followed with murder in his
eyes.  Louis ducked under Jason's arm and Jim ran smack into that arm.  Knocked
him down and Jason got on top of him.  I came out of the dayroom and jumped on
Jim's arm."  
    "Thanks,
Louis.  Many thanks to you, Jason.  And Amy -what you did was above the call of
duty.  I think you're going to be pretty sore.  If you need to call off for
your next shift, I'll