Downton Psychiatric Hospital and Rehabilitation Center was a big, white building in the middle of nowhere, London. It was a single building divided into three wings, a male, a female and the actually offices and conference rooms. It contains approximately 25 bedrooms though it's under-populated and over-staffed (at least according to Violet Crawley the hospital's benefactor and board leader, oh, and she's also the hospital head Robert's mother). Behind the hospital is the staff quarters, a tiny building that forces everyone to bunk with another staff member (except for the few staff members who have been there long enough to rightly demand their own rooms).

When a patient was first checking in they go through the main doors (which are supposed to open automatically but are so old they never do). They're greeted by receptionist Elsie Hughes, given numerous forms to fill out and are forced to confiscate any personal items they have with them until they've been approved by Dr. Carson. The main office has a big white desk and white walls with a couple of motivational posters hung behind the desk by Elsie to keep her spirits up more than anything. The patient would have to wait up to an hour for Robert to come and greet them after he finished going over their papers and approving them for entry. Robert would give them the welcome spiel then one of the wards, Thomas or William, would come to show them to their room, generally one of the interns, Jimmy or Alfred, would accompany them to 'learn the ropes' so to speak. Elsie personally always felt bad for those who had Thomas as their ward because he wasn't nearly as friendly as William and if Jimmy was around both boys seemed rather...distracted.

When a patient arrived in their bedroom their ward gave them a quick rundown of the hospitals schedule, when meals were served, when group and private therapy sessions were held and so on. This was followed by the rules of the hospital then each patient was given to five sets of hospital robes and two pairs of laceless shoes. The bedrooms themselves are quite small with nothing in them but a dresser for the patients clothes and a small single bed with two thin pillows and an itchy quilt. The patients are then given a moment to change into their robes and then they were to follow the ward to meet the nurses and doctors. Generally Dr. Sybil and Nurse Isobel are the keenest to meet new patients whereas Dr. Carson (who refuses to adapt to the hospitals new policy of letting patients refer to him by his first name) is less friendly but instead intimidating. Patients are also always hesitant to meet Mrs. Cora Crawley the head nurse and Robert's wife because she seemed both powerful and cold upon first look but in reality has a passion for the hospital that knew no bounds.

Afterwards patients are lead to the common area and the wards are supposed to introduce them to their fellow patients but it rarely happens due to the awkward and antisocial nature of everyone involved. Occasionally new patients take this initiative upon themselves but it generally results in failure.

This process was exactly what happened to Matthew when he first arrived at Downton. And the best part: he was stuck with Thomas and Jimmy as his 'guides'.

**
Sybil checked herself over in the tiny mirror in her office, she had just finished a session with Tom and was a little... disoriented, to say the least. She smoothed her hair out and gave herself a smile. It was time for the daily group therapy session and she was introducing a new member which was always an interesting experience. She gave herself one last quick look in the mirror and headed to conference room A.

When she arrived she saw the two interns setting up a circle of chairs, "Thank you, boys." She said cheerily, Sybil knew she had to maintain a good relationship with not only the patients but also the staff.

"Of course, Dr. Sybil," Alfred replied while Jimmy gave a tight-lipped smile.

"How are things going with Ivy?" Sybil asked aware of Alfred's not so subtle crush on the assistant cook, she had always been a very observant person and was generally aware of the gossip around the hospital (not that she listened to that dribble. Well, maybe once in awhile over coffee with Cora...). When Jimmy started snickering at Alfred's embarrassment Sybil was quick to remark with slight snark, "And how is Thomas, Jimmy?"

That got the intern to stop laughing, though Sybil could see a trace of a smile on the blonde man's lips clearly thinking of some past incident. Before Sybil could say anything the first patient walked in. It was Anna a lovely young woman with severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, "Hello, Dr. Sybil."

"Hi, Anna, how are you today? I haven't seen you since Monday," Sybil remarked.

"I'm lovely, I spent the day playing cards with Mr. Bates," Anna remarked. "I had to leave when he played by different rules than I but, he is a very nice gentleman."

"That's excellent, Anna," Sybil said. "Maybe you'll discuss that during today's session."

Just then Gwen filed in along with Ethel, Sybil hoped that the two young women were walking together but from Gwen's body language Sybil knew this was not the case the poor girl had an anxiety disorder causing her to be incredibly quiet and antisocial, even Sybil had only seen the girl truly be herself a mere handful of times. Ethel was a different case she was incredibly loud and extroverted but had also battled both drug and sex addiction and was making very slow progress as she generally preferred to talk about everything and everyone but her own problems.

Gwen smiled at Sybil as she walked in but Ethel said nothing instead choosing to tell Anna (and the interns for that matter) a particularly raunchy tale involving instant noodles and a donkey she rented for ten thousand yen.

The new patient, Matthew, came in next, Sybil wasn't entirely sure what to make of the young man, he seemed pleasant enough, apparently he had been sent to the hospital for a work related breakdown. He smiled politely at Sybil and took a seat next to Gwen who tensed at the new presence.

Mary walked in next head held high as if she owned the place, the woman was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had dramatic mood swings and poor social skills at times where at other times she was completely composed, friendly even. This seemed to be the latter until Mary noticed that someone was sitting in her usual seat.

"You're going to have to move," Mary told Matthew who in turn looked rather confused.

"And why is that?" Matthew enquired.

"You're in my seat," Superiority dripped from Mary's tone it was as if she knew the new patient would move for her.

"I didn't realize seats were assigned," Matthew said.

Mary had prepared a scathing remark when Sybil jumped in, "There isn't assigned seating, however you will find most patients have seats they prefer to sit in, I do hate to ask but is there anyway you could change seats, Matthew?"

"Of course," Matthew said amiably.

"I see she's getting her way again," O'Brien declared walking in, the middle-aged woman had always preferred to go by her surname and was quick to stir the pot. She had had a massive nervous breakdown after her brother's suicide and since arriving at Downton hospital she always seemed quite bitter.

"That's enough Ms. O'Brien," Sybil sighed though there was no real authority in it, just a tone that said this happened too often, much too often. O'Brien rolled her eyes but said nothing in response.

Edith was the next to arrive, the girl suffered from severe depression and had very low self-esteem, she had come to Downton after it was discovered she had been self-harming. She came into the room without saying a word and Sybil was sure this was because she felt no one wanted to hear what she had to say.

"Hi, Edith, how are you today?" Sybil chirped. Edith simply shrugged in response and took a seat as far away from other people as possible.

Mr. Bates hobbled in next, the man had acquired a limp from his time at war along with a nasty case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that he was quite secretive about. Sybil never did push the man though and was very happy to see he was sitting next to Anna again.

Finally Tom walked in, and Sybil's heart fluttered involuntarily in her chest. She took a deep breath and gave the man a winning smile. He smiled back and Sybil thought she saw him wink at her but she chose to ignore that. Tom was a complex man with both bipolar disorder and deeply rooted anger issues (only made worse by his bipolar disorder) that both he and Sybil were trying to figure out.

The interns filed out once the room was all set up, both still looked a little embarrassed from Sybil's earlier remarks. Sybil couldn't help but be proud of that as both boys really needed to get their acts together romantically, admittedly Sybil had no idea what was going on in Jimmy's relationship with Thomas but she knew there was an act to get together. She had learned over time that there always was.

Sybil smiled slightly to herself as she took her own seat, "Alright, I guess we should get started! How is everyone today?" She was greeted with silence and blinking eyes, "Right, well I'm good, now before we begin we have a new person joining our little group. Could everyone say a big hello to Matthew." Matthew was greeted by the same silence and blinking that Sybil received. "Okay, so, Matthew why don't you tell everyone a little bit about yourself?"

"Um, alright, well, I'm Matthew," The man began.

"Obviously," Mary muttered under her breath.

"Mary," Sybil chided. "Carry on Matthew."

"I live in London, or I, uh, I used to live in London, where I was a lawyer," Matthew said. "I'm currently on sabbatical due to...complications."

"You can say you're mad," Mary remarked. "We all are."

"Mary! Do not use language like that!" Sybil snapped. "Is there anything else you'd like to say Matthew?"

"No, thank you," Matthew said clearly a little on edge after Mary's comments.

"Right, then, shall we begin?"

**
William wandered down to the hospital kitchens, dinner wasn't for another half hour but he thought he would say 'hi' to the kitchen staff, Mrs. Patmore was very nice, so was Ivy and Daisy was nice, Daisy was very nice... William shook his head trying to clear his minds of such nonsense, why would a girl like her like a boy like him?

William swung open the kitchen doors, the cafeteria was abandoned but he could hear the hustle and bustle in the kitchens. "Smells lovely!" He called even though the only thing he could smell were lima beans which were far from his favorite. "How are you ladies coming along?"

The cafeteria was a long room with one, long, rectangular table. Other than the table there was a bar where food was served and behind that was a view into the kitchens where Mrs. Patmore, her assistant cooks, Daisy and Ivy, and her three helpers who seemed only talk to each other.

"We were lovely until a certain ward came down to flirt with my staff," Mrs. Patmore snarked. "I have to stop hiring the pretty ones..."

William, embarrassed, apologized, "Sorry, Mrs. Patmore."

"It's alright, you're certainly not as persistent as Alfred." Mrs. Patmore chuckled and returned to the kitchen.

William took a seat at the long table to patiently wait for other staff to arrive, and by 'other staff' he meant Daisy.

**
"I had a lovely day," Anna said before pausing to ritually tap her fingers precisely 103 times, Sybil had observed that the young woman seemed to do this every 15 minutes to calm herself. Sybil did wonder what happened if she was sleeping but decided not to laugh. "Mr. Bates and I played cards and tomorrow I plan to teach him the proper way to play Rummy, not the way he plays which isn't proper at all."

"And why is it not okay to play by Mr. Bates rules?" Sybil inquired, she found Anna was one of the most willing to share when it came to the group sessions and Sybil always hoped it would prompt others to join in, sadly it did not.

"Because I like my rules, I'm used to my rules." Anna said matter-of-factly. "And Mr. Bates rules were wrong."

**
"Hello, Mrs. Hughes, how are you today?" Dr. Carson asked the tired looking secretary.

"I'm fine, though there is a stern doctor around here who refuses to call me by first name," She remarked. "How are you, Dr. Carson, or should I say Charles."

Dr. Carson looked abashed, "Yes, sorry, Elsie." Dr. Carson was in charge of any physical medical conditions the patients may acquire along with administering the bi-weekly blood test patients were required to have.

"It's quite alright, Charles, now why don't you go get dinner?" Elsie suggested biting back a chuckle. "And bring me a plate when you have a moment."

**
"I just find it unfortunate I have to spend so much time with people I don't really like, no offence to you all," Mary announced. "Admittedly I like some of you, just not many."

"I know exactly how you feel," Ethel confided in the same tone she used when gossiping.

"That is enough, ladies," Sybil said. Mary had little tangents like that from time to time and it left most people rather uncomfortable and down on themselves. "You cannot say things about other people like that. How would you feel if they said that about you?"

"I wouldn't really care, it's not as if their opinions mattered," Mary said flippantly.

**
Thomas took a long inhale of his cigarette and Jimmy did everything in his power not to stare. It wasn't his fault though Thomas was absolutely mesmerizing with the repetitive nature of his smoking. The pair were in the designated staff smoking area that was behind the staff quarters, it wasn't the nicest place, quite dirty but it was private so Jimmy didn't exactly complain. He had admitted to himself he had some sort of feelings for Thomas but he wasn't sure what they were or what he planned to do with them. Jimmy certainly didn't expect to become involved in some sort of torrid love affair he was there to work, to eventually become a ward and then finally a doctor. But, then again he didn't really expect he'd meet anyone he'd actually like, not only romantically but just in general but it turns out he'd found a multitude of people who were actually quite likable.

"It's ridiculous, is all, I've been here years now and I'm still a ward, I'm as qualified as anyone to be a doctor," Thomas complained for the umpteenth time. Jimmy, and everyone else at Downton for that matter, were well aware of Thomas' ambition to be a doctor and Jimmy was generally the one who had to hear most of Thomas' complaining not that he minded entirely if he had an excuse to carry on a relationship of sorts with the man.

"Yes, yes, but until someone quits it doesn't seem you're going to get the job," Jimmy said bluntly. "And besides I don't want to be stuck constantly accompanying William..."

"That would be a shame," Thomas said.

"I like to think so," Jimmy said, just because he couldn't be in a proper relationship with Thomas doesn't mean he couldn't do other things, it was just talking right?

"Well, let's get to dinner," Thomas said rather abruptly as he stubbed out his cigarette. Jimmy felt this happened a lot, he and Thomas would talk and just when something could even possibly happen Thomas retreated. Apparently he didn't want a relationship either.

**
"So Gwen, do you have anything you'd like to share?" Sybil asked. The redhead vigorously shook her head, she never did want to say anything. "What about you Edith?" Edith shook her head too and went back to looking out the window clearly uninterested in the rest of the group. "Right."

**
Alfred walked into the cafeteria only to see a multitude of people had arrived before him. He took a seat next to William, "Hello."

"Hi, Alfred," William greeted looking up from the paper he was reading. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Alfred said looking past William to get a glimpse into the kitchen. "Is Ivy still cooking?"

"I think so, yes," William answered.

"Oh," Alfred looked downtrodden. "I wonder when she'll be done..."

"Probably once dinner is served," William said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. And it kind of was given that's when Ivy got done each night.

"Right," Alfred replied.

**
"So, Tom, how was your day?" Sybil inquired.

"It was good, I read a book, talked to a few people and of course you and I had our appointment," Tom said giving her a slightly lascivious smile.

Sybil managed to hide the blush that threatened to creep onto her face, "Lovely, so Mr. Bates..."

**
"What do you mean there's no money?" Robert asked his mother. Him, Violet and Cora were all in Robert's office, a relatively large room covered in expensive paintings and furniture, Robert did this more to get away from all the white than anything else.

"There's no money, what else could I mean," Violet asked. "I am always telling you this place is over-staffed."

"Well what am I supposed to do? I can't very well fire the lot," Robert responded temper starting to flare.

"All I know is you must figure something out and soon," Violet declared heading to the door. "We'll discuss this in the morning."

The moment his mother left Robert turned to Cora, "Lord, whatever will I do?"

"Don't worry, sweetheart, we'll figure it out," Cora gave him a reassuring rub on the back. "Together."

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Robert smiled kissing Cora.

**
"I do believe that concludes this evening's session," Sybil decided. "I'll see you all tomorrow for the next session and I'll see some of you one-on-one. Now, go enjoy a little free time before bed."

The patients filed out of the room, however Tom lingered, "Hello, Tom, can I help you?"

"You know you don't have to talk like that when everyone's gone," Tom said sliding his arms around her shoulders.

"Tom, you can't do that," Sybil said. She liked Tom, she liked him a lot actually but this was wrong, he was her patient!

"You were fine earlier," Tom said.

"Tom, this should stop, what if somebody sees?"

"It's part of the fun, darling," Tom said as he pulled her into a passionate kiss. "See? Fun." Tom walked out of the conference room after that but not before he gave her a cheeky wink.

"Oh, wow," Sybil muttered to herself as she went to stack the chairs.

**
Staff dinner was always a raucous affair, Sybil always arrived about half way through because she had her group therapy sessions to head, and every time she walked in the sound of chatter immediately washed over her. She grabbed the plate that was sitting on the kitchen bar all prepared for her (something Mrs. Patmore was kind enough to do for her once the therapy sessions started coinciding with dinner). She took her seat on the end of the table next to Cora.

"Hello, Sybil, how are you, dear?" The older woman greeted. Cora had become something of a mother figure since Sybil had started working at the hospital, though she was like that for quite a few members of the staff (particularly the younger ones) and Sybil was hardly surprised, Cora was both nurturing and strict when necessary.

"I'm lovely, thank you, how are you?" Sybil asked back as she took a bite into her meatloaf.

"I'm alright, I am a little tired though," Cora replied.

"Any reason why?"

"Oh, just hospital business as usual," Cora said wiping her mouth with her napkin lightly. "It can be quite a bit of work at times."

"I can only imagine," Sybil said with a look of empathy on her face. "It makes my job seem so easy."

"Yes, well, I guess I knew what I was signing up for..." Sybil did hate to see Cora so downtrodden, but she was worried if she said something it may sound as if she was treating Cora as a patient and not a co-worker. That always seemed to be a problem when people found out Sybil's profession.

"I'm sure things will get better, they always do," Sybil decided to take the optimistic root this time hoping this would cheer Cora up.

"I can only hope so, dear." Cora said moving to stand up. "Well, I must be going, if I don't see you later have a good night."

"You too, Cora," Sybil called.

**
Mrs. Patmore prided herself on only a few things in life her cooking, her morals, her intelligence and her powers of observation. So, of course, she was quick to notice the complicated romantic relationships forming among the younger staff (she also thought she was something between Elsie and Dr. Carson but decided not to go near that whole thing).

It was easy enough to tell Alfred liked Ivy, everyone knew that (including Ivy), because he was constantly lingering in the kitchens flirting with her. William was the same with Daisy just much less incessant as he would leave when asked to and took a more friendly approach to his flirting (though Mrs. Patmore had noticed this failed to work for him). Daisy didn't seem to really like anyone but still desperately wanted someone to like her (she was quite oblivious to poor William, poor, friendly William.) and Ivy seemingly had developed a crush on Jimmy who may like Thomas but also might just like himself.

Honestly, it hurt Mrs. Patmore's head at times trying to figure it all out. Maybe she should make a chart...

**
The patients all gathered in the common room, a big circular room that had four little, square tables that could each seat around six. The room supplied patients with a bookshelf full of donated books (Nurse Isobel also made an effort to buy new books every few years), a dozen packs of cards (that Anna made an effort to keep organized), board games, newspapers and a few puzzles.

Mary was sitting on the couch when she spied new patient Matthew out of the corner of her eye and decided to go have a chat with him, "Hello, I'm Mary, but you probably knew that."

"I'm Matthew," He greeted putting down his novel. "Nice to meet you."

"Of course it is," Mary said. "So, why are you here? What exactly happened?"

"I don't think that's any of your business," Matthew said.

"That bad, eh?" Mary said. "I'll tell you why I'm here. I'm apparently 'bipolar' and my parents decided to check me in."

"I see, why are you telling me this?"

"Because, I told you my story now it's only fair I hear yours."

"I don't think so," Matthew picked his novel back up and soon his attention was anywhere but with Mary.

Shortly after her rather unpleasant interaction with Matthew, Mary and the rest of the woman were accompanied by Nurse Isobel to their rooms while William took the men.

It had been a unique day for everyone, but it seemed every day was quite unique.

Note: I have been working on this forever! I do hope you liked it! It is unbetaed so any mistakes are my own.