A/N: Next chappy! Enjoy!

5 Years Later

JPOV

I finally did it! I'm so proud of me!

It only took me, what, four years, eight months and a piece of paper with my name on it to get? But I've succeeded. I've gotten a job at one of the best therapeutical schools in the world. And today is my first day.

The gate loomed more ominously than I expected it to as I made my way to the administration building. There wasn't anybody outside… too early perhaps? I guess there shouldn't be a lot of people here; making breakfast and feeding them all must take hours. Nothing to be concerned about.

Solid brick buildings grew like weeds from the parched ground. Rusted playgrounds creaked under particularly harsh gusts of wind, dusty and neglected. 'Perhaps… perhaps they've put in a new one, bigger and better than the others. That surely must be the case. I mean, they would have to have a playground, there are so many children here', I thought, concerned.

I approached the huge, cherry-wood doors of administration. They slowly swung open under the pressure I put on them and I slipped inside. The room inside was amazing.

Delicate wooden carvings decorated a staircase to my far right and the arches that led into each room were so very intricate. All I could think was that a master artist must have spent month after month adding more detail until this look was achieved.

I approached the mahogany desk, gleaming in that freshly-polished way. There was a slight, older woman perched on a velvet chair behind the desk, chit-chatting away into the curved, onyx handset of a pricey-looking, silver trimmed telephone. She sounded like she was speaking perhaps to a nurse or doctor as she clarified a couple words known affectionately to those in 'the biz' as medical jargon. She tittered a little before she caught sight of me and hastily ended the telephone call and placed the handset back in its cradle.

"Hello there," she chirped, blushing madly. "I'm sorry that you had to wait, if I'd know you were there-"

"No, no. I only just came in," I assured her.

"How can I help you? Are you visiting?" she asked, pulling out a heavy, leather bound book and opening to a directory with simple letters. "Last name?"

"Oh, no. I have no children here. I'm a nurse," I announced excitedly.

She looked up and was silent for a moment before…

She burst out laughing. "But you're a man! Shouldn't you be a… a doctor or something?"

"I didn't want to be a doctor, I wanted to be a nurse."

"Well, Pennhurst will be the laughing stock of the medical world if we employed a male nurse. I suppose I'll just put you down as an orderly," she said, putting away the first book and taking out another very similar book. She opened it. "Last name?"

"Whitlock," I told her.

She flipped through the pages to the 'W' section. "First name?"

"Jasper," I said as she wrote in fancy script.

Whitlock, Jasper. Employed 7th of October 1943, Orderly.

That made me upset; though I had been warned that many institutions would not list me as a nurse if I were male. Many, I was told, would not even employ me. 'At least I get the job,' I thought.

"Any particular preference as to which ward?" she murmured, stamping the date over her notes.

"Um, I've always wanted to work with young children, got any particular ward for that?"

"Mayflower Hall," she answered, adding that to her scrawls. "Out of admin, the building on the left. You'll be staying in Number eight Independence Drive with a couple other nurses. Hope you don't feel too out of place among the ladies," she laughed again. "Independence is right over the other side of the campus, you won't miss it."

"Thanks," I said bleakly. "I'll head there first and get my belongings sorted."

"Then clock on at the Nurse's Station on the ground floor of Mayflower and start your rounds, Nurse Whitlock," she burst into teary laughter again.

Her guffaws followed me as I trekked up one of the paths that lead in the general direction of Independence Drive. I wondered what staff housing was like here? Well, only one way to find out, I decided, hurrying along the outermost pathway so as to keep the other buildings on campus a surprise for when I had my uniform on.

I quickly found Independence; she really was right, it was hard to miss. Like a tiny, gated estate with quaint little cottage style houses. I was quick to find eight up the winding road. I gave myself a nervous pep-talk and planned out any awkward conversation that may arise before entering the small house. I was surprised to find it empty. I would have thought there would be nurses on their off day or shift, but the tiny house was completely empty though there were remnants of human life such as a half full bin in the small kitchen, a ratty hairbrush filled with long, brown hairs discarded on one of the couches and the electric roof lamp in the bathroom had been left on.

I checked each bedroom which all simply came off the main kitchen/dining/living space. Three of six were obviously occupied with clothes strewn all about, one was tidy but to my knowledge occupied so I took the fifth one. I heaved my suitcase open and changed quickly into my white scrubs. I did a little victory dance around the bedroom before checking my appearance in the mirror on the back of the door and then heading out.

I practically danced all the way to Mayflower Hall and all the way in to the Nurse's Station.

A blonde nurse looked up at me from behind the desk and giggled. "You look like it's your first day."

"That's because it is," I explained, "I'm Jasper Whitlock, the new… um, orderly."

"Oh wonderful. We've been waiting and waiting for Dr Madden to finally hire some fresh people. You know, we're so understaffed these days. Not to mention underfunded," the woman murmured, scribbling my name down on a sticker that said 'Hello My Name Is…" above where she wrote it. She stood up and leaned over the desk and slapped the sticker on my chest.

"There," she said, triumphantly. "If we can squeeze the pennies out of Dr Madden, you might get a proper name badge."

"Thanks," I smiled. "So, where do I start?"

"My advice is, do some rounds, talk to some of the nurses and see what they want," she said, getting back on with her paper work.

"Ok, thanks!" I half-squealed, dying to get through those swinging doors and into the ward. I couldn't wait to be adjusting pillows and telling bedtime stories to all the little children and playing games with them and giving them medicine to make them feel better!

I approached the swinging doors, my heart racing.

I gave one almighty push, ready to see the brightly coloured, painted walls and children cheering each other up and playing together and smiling. The doors opened and…