Something wasn’t right. In fact, something was very, very wrong—Peter Roderick wasn’t in his room, and from what Alice Lambert could see, he wasn’t anywhere nearby either. This wouldn’t typically raise an alarm if it wasn’t for the time, nearing 1:00 in the morning. Alice turned from the empty room and ran down the hall to the nurses’ station, picking up the phone to dial the on-call supervisor. She dreaded waking Anna Gilman to tell her that a patient was gone, but there was nothing else she could do; Anna would have to be the one to raise the alarm. Her voice was foggy with sleep but the moment Alice started gabbling about Peter, she sat bolt upright in bed. Peter was missing.

“Anna Gilman?”

            This was it, the moment she had been dreading for weeks; the meeting with her graduate school advisor where they would be handing out internships. Everyone else in her class had already gone and most had gotten good spots—Worcester State Hospital, Boston Psychopathic; those with the highest GPAs landed at McLean, the only private hospital worth going for they said, but Anna didn’t have a first choice, or even a second choice for that matter. She had gotten her BS at SUNY Upstate in Syracuse; she knew very little about the state hospitals in Massachusetts.

            She sat down in front of Professor Hobart and folded her hands in her lap to keep from fidgeting.

            “Miss Gilman, how are you?”

            “I’m well thank you.”

            Hobart nodded without actually looking up at Anna. “Good. Well let’s get right to it.  You didn’t have a preference for placement which made my life easy. We had a new addition to our list this year and I’ve chosen to assign you.” Shuffling a few papers, Hobart pulled one out and put it in front of Anna, handing her a pen.

            “Westborough? Where is that?”

            “It’s about a half hour southwest of here, closer to Worcester.” The professor pulled out a folder and handed it to Anna as well. “That’s your packet. It gives you some general information about the internship-- who your supervisor is, where to report. You’ll live on the hospital campus of course and you’ll work closely with me to make sure you’re on track to graduate. Any questions?”

            Anna shook her head dumbly and stared at the pile of papers in her hands.

“Now or never Miss Gilman.” Professor Hobart was waiting for her sign, to make a decision. She had heard so many horror stories about failed internships, nightmare supervisors, careers ruined before they had even begun and yet here she was, ready to commit to a placement without any information about the hospital.

            Sighing resignedly, Anna picked up the pen and signed her name to the placement agreement, then tucked the folder under her arm. Hobart finally looked up at her and smiled.

            “Don’t worry Anna. You’re going to do great.”

            Anna walked out of the office feeling as if she had signed her life away. In her dorm room she opened up the folder and read through the cover sheet with her assignment and found she would be working under Valerie Martin, one of the nursing supervisors. She now had three days to pack her things and get ready for the move from Lowell to Westborough. 

Westborough State Hospital rose up on the banks of Lake Chauncy, surrounded by farm land and corn fields. The main hospital looked as if it had been dropped in the middle of the campus as an afterthought; a yellow bird perched in the middle of a flock of cardinals. The brick was painted a not-quite-lemon hue while the older, statelier buildings were red brick. Anna’s taxi brought her right to the door of Paine Hall, the female nurses’ building which faced east with views of the lake and, Anna imagined, a spectacular view of the sunset. Paine Hall was a far cry from the graduate dorms at UMASS Lowell—Anna was given a private room on the top floor overlooking both the lake and the walking trails that wound their way around the entire campus, and the bathroom that joined her room with the one next door had a deep porcelain bathtub perfect for soaking.

            Anna quickly unpacked her things and walked out onto the lawn that stretched down to the banks of Lake Chauncy where the sun glinted off the water’s crystalline surface. She took a deep breath in, enjoying the clean, crisp air that blanketed the campus and closed her eyes.

            “The view is much better when you open your eyes.”

            Startled, Anna’s eyes flew open and she brought her hand to her throat. “Good god you scared me. Sneaking up on people isn’t exactly the way to form lasting friendships,” she said, gaping at the young woman standing next to her who only laughed at Anna’s outrage.

            “Harper Westcott. And yes, my parents quite enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird.” Harper held out her hand for Anna to shake; she had a firm, strong grip and an easy smile that boasted of a confidence Anna sometimes dreamed that she too exuded.

            “I’m Anna Gilman. Are you an intern as well?” She knew there were only a few interns on campus and they had all been tossed into new employee orientation with the freshly hired ward staff.

            Harper nodded. “Psychiatry. You?”

            “Psychiatric nursing.”

            “Maybe we’ll get lucky and be on the same ward.” She checked her watch and looked up at the hospital. “Are you headed over to orientation?”

            “I am. Shall we?” Anna tucked her hands in the pockets of her cardigan and fell into step with Harper, the psychiatry intern. She looked at her sideways as they walked, trying to match her long, easy stride coupled with the nearly imperceptible lift of her chin. If Anna had to guess, Harper Westcott was roughly her age and she came from money. Though she hadn’t said what college she was attending, Anna could reasonably assume it was an Ivy-- or at least a baby Ivy like Mount Holyoke.

            “So, Anna Gilman, where do you hail from?” Harper was also watching Anna as they walked, presumably sizing her up the same way Anna had a moment ago.

            “I’m originally from Buffalo.”

            Harper threw back her head and guffawed. “Ah, the state God hates.”

            “Pardon?”

            “The snow. It’s apocalyptic!” Harper was still laughing, her eyes sparkling as she held her hands over her midsection. “It’s the only city I’ve ever seen that has an evacuation route for winter weather!”

            “Yeah, yeah.” Anna had heard every joke ever made about Buffalo and its temperamental weather. Lake effect snow wasn’t something to laugh at, however. Some of those storms were the scariest things Anna had ever seen, walls of snow rushing off Lake Eerie and burying the city in a matter of minutes.

            “So what brought you to Massachusetts?” Harper asked, wiping moisture from her eyes and reigning in her mirth.

            “Graduate school at UMASS Lowell. I managed a scholarship and a dorm room, both of which I needed desperately.” Anna hated talking about her circumstances and wasn’t keen to discuss them with this new stranger, regardless of how beguiling Harper Westcott was. Anna was reminded of Annie Oakley, only in a pantsuit.

            Harper must have sensed Anna’s reluctance and did not ask anything more about Anna’s resume. Instead she regaled Anna with tales of her own past—Wellesley (of course), Harvard med, and now a rotation at Westborough.

            Inside the hospital, at the foot of the main staircase a small group had gathered and was milling quietly about. As Anna and Harper moved into the crowd, a woman in a smart pantsuit with a pressed white dress shirt climbed up the stairs and turned to face everyone, clapping her hands to get their attention.

            “Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Westborough State Hospital.” A murmur of voices rippled through the crowd then quieted. “I’m Valerie Martin, nursing supervisor. Dr. Brown, our psychiatry supervisor is floating around somewhere and you’ll meet him shortly. We have a mixed group this morning as some of you are new employees and some of you are graduate interns. New employees will be gathering in the conference room shortly while interns will be meeting with your supervisors. Please be patient with us. We have a lot to get through.”

            Anna watched as Valerie stepped back into the crowd and moved through it with an air of cool indifference.

            Harper leaned in and whispered in Anna’s ear, “Is that battleax your supervisor?”

            Nodding, Anna widened her eyes and mimed slitting her throat. “I changed my mind. I think I want to be a ballerina.”

            “Too late now. Something wicked this way comes!” Harper turned and disappeared into the crowd leaving Anna face to face with the fierce-looking blond.

            “You must be Anna Gilman.” Valerie held out her hand and gripped Anna’s firmly. “I’m Valerie Martin.”

            “Pleased to meet you Miss Martin.”

            “Call me Valerie. Why don’t I give you a bit of a tour and then tomorrow we can meet and talk about what’s expected of you as an intern.”

            Valerie guided Anna out of the main lobby and into a hallway crowded with a narrow flight of stairs that led to an auditorium above the main building. “This is where we occasionally show movies and hold some of our religious services.” Folding wooden seats were stacked against one wall under a bank of ceiling high cathedral-shaped windows that threw sunlight slanting across the hardwood floor that had been scarred by the passing of more than a century. The two women walked quickly and quietly to the other side of the room and out a large metal door that looked like a cage at a zoo.

            The hallways snaked here and there in an unruly way; Anna knew she would never be able to find her way around without help, and she loathed the idea of getting lost in the belly of the beast. Valerie pointed out the wards that were already closed, rooms with doors that yawned open on sheets of paint peeling from the walls like so many lepers. They somehow looped back around the main lobby, Anna’s head spinning, and Valerie turned to face her.

            “Piece of advice Miss Gilman, don’t settle in here.”

            Anna cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. “Why is that?”

            Valerie sighed, unbuttoning her blazer then buttoning it again. “State hospitals are a dying breed.” Anna nodded; of course she knew that. “This one is next on the chopping block and I’m planning to retire at the end of this year.”

            “Oh.” It would have been nice if someone had told her that her supervisor had one foot out the door. “No one told me. Will that affect my internship?”

            Valerie shook her head. “It shouldn’t. I’m sure they have my replacement waiting in the wings already.” She said it without a trace of humor, leading Anna to believe that Valerie Martin was more than ready to bid adieu to Westborough.

            “How long have you worked here, if you don’t mind me asking?”

            “I’ve been here since 1981 when Northampton State Hospital was closing.” Anna immediately noticed that Valerie didn’t make eye contact when she said it. “I’ve been with the department since I graduated from college in 1959.”

            “Wow. So you’ve seen it all then.”

            Valerie chuckled sadly. “I most certainly have!” She looked wistful for a moment, lost in some memory that Anna wasn’t privy to. “Well, I know it’s a lot to take in so why don’t you get settled and we’ll talk more tomorrow. Questions?”

            “About a million. But they can wait.” Anna smiled and shook Valerie’s hand, then headed out the front door into the late afternoon light that was falling slowly over Westborough, elongating the shadows that nearly touched the banks of the lake. She took her second deep breath of the day, pulling in the scent of the lake, the burn of the mid-winter air shooting straight to her head and making her slightly woozy.

            “I see you’re going to make this whole eyes closed thing a habit.” Harper had appeared by her side once again, this time with a white lab coat over her arm.

            “I was clearing my head,” Anna said, eyes now open, looking out over the lake. “It’s peaceful here.”

            Harper sighed. “The asylum is peaceful. Would that be considered irony?”

            Laughing, Anna turned away from the view and squinted at Harper, her hand shielding her eyes from the setting sun. “Yes, I suppose it is ironic. And probably not just a little bit crazy.”