Chapter 5

Life was settling in to a dreary routine for Mark at the Exeter Institute. Stickley had decided to make him his favorite 'player' in the nightly wheelchair 'games', leaving Mark bruised in body and spirit. He had learned that any attempt to complain or bring such activities to the attention of management simply resulted in worse treatment and reprisals. And since he had no family and no visitors, there was no one to whom he could turn for any kind of assistance or relief. The daytime hours were less physically painful than the nights, but no less dreary. In addition to multiple little indignities that were frequently visited on the patients, there was little attempt to brighten their lives, and few of the staff had the time or inclination to be sociable. There was one nurse, Kathy Genero, who seemed to genuinely care about the patients; Mark was struck by the difference in her attitude from that of most of the other personnel. You could tell she cared, he thought; it was in the tone of her voice, the look in her eyes, even the gentleness of her touch. It occurred to him that, sometime in his life, he must have met with that kind of caring to be able to recognize it so surely. He looked forward to the few interactions he had with her, but like everyone else on the staff, she was stretched too thin to have much time to spend with any one patient. Mark realized dismally that it seemed he was destined to spend the remainder of his life in a miserable existence of loneliness, boredom, personal indignities, and abuse.

One day, about a week after his arrival, however, there was a break in the normal routine of the Institute. It seemed that a reporter had arrived on the premises, looking to do a story on conditions at various psychiatric institutions in the city. The staff were all put on notice to make things look as good as possible, to be careful of what they said, and to try to avoid leaving the reporter alone with any of the patients. The result of all this, Mark noted, was a distinct improvement of the patients' lot that morning. He was not, however, given much of a chance to enjoy it.

Dr. Collins was distinctly uneasy about the presence of a reporter at the clinic. He was well aware that Mark Sloan was a familiar figure to the press, and he knew he'd have to find a way to keep him out of sight to avoid any possibility of him being recognized. To that end, he had Mark brought to the infirmary for a 'checkup', during which he administered a heavy sedative to make sure that Mark couldn't do anything to attract attention to himself. As luck would have it, however, as the orderly was wheeling Mark back to his room, he passed right by the reporter.

Janice Randolph was a good reporter, with a good reporter's memory for names and faces. As the orderly wheeled Mark past her, she got a passing glance at his face, and was struck by a sense of familiarity. On a hunch, she turned to the nurse next to her.

"Who was that patient who just went by?" she asked.

The nurse peered after Mark. "Oh, that's Martin – Martin Donner," she replied.

Janice considered the name, but it didn't ring any bells. "How long has he been here?"

"About a week," the nurse replied.

"I'd like to talk to him," Janice said.

At that point, Dr. Collins, who had come out in time to overhear the conversation, intervened. "I'm sorry," he said firmly. "Mr. Donner is not well today; he's just been given his medication and needs to rest. He's not to be disturbed."

Janice accepted this restriction with apparent acquiescence, but her reporter's instinct was definitely aroused. Something about this doctor's attitude made her all the more determined to see Martin Donner. However, she was obviously going to have to do it another time, when nobody would be watching.

Collins watched as Janice Randolph moved on to another section of the building. He knew she wasn't likely to leave this alone; prohibiting a reporter from talking to someone was like waving a red flag in front of a bull, he thought. He'd better do something about this nosy reporter before she managed to figure out just who Martin Donner really was. He decided to have Mark moved back into the infirmary for 'observation' until she left; that way he could make sure that she had no chance to sneak in and see him. That would buy him a little time to come up with the best way of getting rid of her.