Chapter One

Crazy Thoughts Of Passion by Epstein LaRue

“Mrs. Rosanthol would you please slow down,” Kaitlyn hollered as she ran down the hallway chasing her newly admitted patient.

Kaitlyn Malloy, a Registered Nurse (RN), had been following Gladys Rosanthol for the last five minutes.  Up and down the hallway of Madison Psychiatric Hospital’s Acute Geriatric-Psychiatric Unit they went.  Kaitlyn was doing her best to keep up with this sixty-five year old patient.  She loved her job of taking care of older people with mental problems, but it was days like this that she often wondered why.

Mrs. Gladys Rosanthol had been brought in having an acute manic episode.  She had settled down for the first portion of the intake interview, but ten minutes into the interview, she all of a sudden jumped up, bolted out of the room, and started running up and down the hallway.

“You leave me alone!  You are just trying to kill me!  You are not going to kill me!”  She continued down the hallway with Kaitlyn at her heels.

“Steven, please stay with her while I go call Dr. Morris,” Kaitlyn asked of her licensed practical nurse (LPN).

“Dr. Morris, this is Kaitlyn at Madison.  We just received your patient, Gladys Rosanthol this morning.   During the intake interview, she stormed out of the room and is now running up and down the hallway screaming that we are trying to kill her.”

“Thank you,” Kaitlyn replied a few short moments later as she wrote down the order for the anti-anxiety medication, lorazepam.  She only hoped that 2mg of the drug would allow her patient to calm down and not put her into a semi-comatose state of consciousness.

“Steven and Edith, please get Mrs. Rosanthol into room twelve,” Kaitlyn ordered her LPN and nursing assistant.  She made a dash for the medication room and found the medication vial and a syringe.

Kaitlyn walked into room twelve only moments later to find Mrs. Rosanthol standing between Steven and Edith.  They were trying to calm her down to no avail.  “Mrs. Rosanthol, this is Kaitlyn the nurse again, I am going to give you a shot for your anxiety.”

“Oh no you are not!”

“I am sorry Mrs. Rosanthol, but I do not have a choice,” Kaitlyn responded as she pulled down the patient’s pants, just past her hips.  She plunged the needle into the left hip, pulled back the plunger to check for blood, then pushed the plunger all the way to the hub, delivering the medication deep into the gluteal muscle.

Kaitlyn and Steven stepped outside the doorway while Edith talked soothingly to the frantic patient.  She was doing her best in a one on one situation to assure Mrs. Rosanthol that everything was going to be okay.

“Steve, I hate this part of the job, but we have got to get her under control,” Kaitlyn stated as she watched Edith calm her down.

“I hate it also, but we have got to watch out for the safety of the other patients, not to mention the safety of the staff.”

“True, but it still doesn’t make it any easier.”

“I am going back check on the others.  Job well done once again Kaitlyn,” Steve replied as he gave his charge nurse a quick pat on the shoulder then exited to the day room.

Kaitlyn stepped back into the patient’s room, put a smile on her face, and spoke with a soft voice, “Mrs. Rosanthol, let us take you down to your room so that you can rest for a while.  We gave you a shot to calm you down, and it might make you a little drowsy.”

“I just want my son.  I want to know why he locked me in here.”

“Yes, Mrs. Rosanthol, I will attempt to get your son on the phone as soon as possible.”

Kaitlyn walked with Edith to room eight, then excused herself.   She was glad that the nurse’s station was right across the hallway, so that she could keep a close eye on the subdued patient.

She found the phone number for Lance Rosanthol and dialed.   After fourth ring, the answering machine picked up her calm, and a message was left for him to call Madison Hospital.

After drinking half of her bottle of water, she wandered to the bathroom.  Her hair was in shambles.  Her eyes were weary.  She looked like she had been run over by a big truck.  If this is the way her day had started, she wondered what the rest would be like.

As soon as she walked back to the nurse’s station, she pulled out Mrs. Rosanthal’s chart.  She then took on the task of describing exactly what had happened.  As she reached over for an incident report, the phone on her desk began to ring.

“Hello, Madison Hospital.”

“This is Florence at the front desk.  We have a Mr. Lance Rosanthol here to see his mother.”

“I will be right there,” Kaitlyn replied.

She smoothed her hair down with her hands as she walked down the hallway.  She was not looking very professional, but there was nothing that she could do about that.  She just hoped that the family was going to understand about the events that just occurred.

After punching in the code, she pushed open the doors and entered the front lobby.  Her eyes fell upon a young looking gentleman dressed in blue slacks, a white shirt, and a tie to match.   His dark hair surrounded a lean face with a projecting jaw line.  As she walked closer, he turned towards her and his deep blue eyes pierced her mind.

She brushed a small speck of lint off of her uniform jacket.   She must regain her professional composure.   It didn’t matter how nice looking he was, he was a patient’s son.

“Hello Mr. Rosanthol.  My name is Kaitlyn Malloy, and I am the charge nurse of the Acute Gero-Psych unit.”

“Nice to meet you Ms. Malloy.  The nursing home called me and told me what happened there this morning, and that they had to transfer mother here.”

“Would you please step into the conference room, Mr. Rosanthol?”

Kaitlyn opened the door to the right of the lobby, and then sat down.  He followed and sat down across from her.  She then continued, “Mr. Rosanthol, your mother was brought here having an acute manic episode.   She had been having some smaller ones the last few weeks as I understand.”

“Yes, this is true.  I am fully aware of the other attacks.”

“Today, she was found running up and down the halls screaming that someone was trying to kill her.  They got her calmed down long enough to transfer her here.  After she got here, she did well for a short period of time then started running up and down our hallways yelling.”

“This does not surprise me.  She was admitted here a year ago for the same thing.  They put her on some kind of medication to calm her down, and she has been doing pretty good until just lately.”

“Well, the medication has not been controlling her episodes the last few weeks.  She is back here with us so that we can make some adjustments to her lithium dosage.”

“I am glad that she is back here to get some help.  May I go see her now?”

“Before we go back there, I need to explain to you that we had to give her an injection to calm her down; therefore, she may be a little drowsy when you see her.”

“Thanks for all your help, Ms Malloy.”

“Please follow me,” Kaitlyn replied as she stood up and walked towards the front door.

Lance couldn’t help but notice Kaitlyn’s petite figure.   Her waist was small with proportional hips.   Her green eyes glistened below her strawberry blonde hair.  Her slender legs looked so nice beneath her skirt of white.  He finally stood up and followed her, attempting to gather his thoughts.  He kept on reminding himself that he was there to see his mother, not ogle the nurse.

They walked down the hallway, and then stepped into room eight.   Lance was stupefied with what he saw.  His sixty-three year old mother was lying in a bed and appeared to be dead.  He took a second look at her and saw the faint rising of her chest.  Her face was pale.  Her breathing was slow and shallow.  Her fingers were as white as a ghost.

Lance leaned over the bed.  He placed his hand on his mother’s shoulders.  He shook her gently and whispered to her, “Mother, it is Lance.   Mom, are you okay?”

Lance peered at Kaitlyn, “What have you done to my mother?”

“Mr. Rosanthol, I warned you that we had to give her something to calm her down.”

“Calm her down or attempt to kill her?”

“Mr. Rosanthol, please follow me into the nurses station.”

“I will not follow you any where.  I will stay right here with my mother.”

“Mr. Rosanthol, I assure you that she will come out of her drowsiness in six to eight hours.”

“You call this drowsiness, Ms. Malloy?  I call this comatose,” Lance stated as he sauntered to the armchair in the corner of the room.  He sat down slowly and placed his head between his hands.  All he could do was set there and shake his head back and forth in his hands.

Kaitlyn made her way to the nurse’s station to retrieve her stethoscope, thermometer, and blood pressure cuff.  She walked back into the formally manic patient’s room and began to obtain her vital signs.

“Mr. Rosanthol, your mother’s vital signs are stable.   I am going to leave you two alone.  If you need anything, please do not hesitate to use the call light at your mother’s bedside.”

“Thanks,” Lance mumbled.

As she walked out of the room, Lance walked back over to his mother’s side.  “Mom, I am so sorry that this happened to you.  I really am trying to help you as much as I can.  I feel so bad.  Mom, I wish I could just take you home and watch you there, but I cannot do that financially or with my work schedule.  I feel so bad.   I feel so guilty.  You were always there for me when I was a child.  You have always had time for me.  You would give me your last dime if I truly needed it.  It is just killing me that I can not do the same for you.”

Tears began to well up from the innermost depth of his heart.   He gently rested his mother’s hand upon her chest.  Setting back down in his chair, his eyes continued to watch over his mother in her reduced state of consciousness.

Thirty minutes later, Kaitlyn stepped back into the room, and began to speak in a soft tone of voice, “Mr. Rosanthol, Dr. Morris is here.”

Lance raised his head from the palms of his hands, “Hello doctor.”

“Hello Mr. Rosanthol, I am Dr Morris.  I understand that your mother had an acute manic episode, which resulted in her being sedated.  I am sorry that this action was required to calm her down, but it was necessary for the safety of your mother.”

“I understand that.  It is just that...  Well, it is just hard to set here and see her like this, and you can just call me Lance.”

“Let me take a look at her.  Then we can have a team meeting in the conference room back here.  Kaitlyn, would you please notify social services that I want to have a meeting in ten minutes.”

“Yes, Dr. Morris,” Kaitlyn replied as she exited the room to find Joyce Fisher, Master of Social Work, not to mention, Kaitlyn’s best friend.

It didn’t take much looking to find her.  “Dr. Morris is here and wants to have a meeting with us and Lance in the small conference room,” Kaitlyn announced as she stepped out on the patio.

Joyce stepped into the building and asked, “So, you want to give me an update?”

“There is a cute young man waiting for us in the conference room,” she replied as they made their way down the hallway.

“How dare you talk like that!”

“Well, it is true.  He is just down-right gorgeous.”

“Kaitlyn Malloy.  I can not believe you are talking like this!”

“You just wait and see my friend.”

“And how about his mother?”

“She is not so cute.  In fact, that lorazepam we gave her really sedated her.  There was even a few times that I had to look twice to make sure she was still breathing.”

“The family saw all of this I take it?”

“Oh yeah.  The son is still here, and his mother is still semi-comatose.”

“Oh my goodness.  I will try my best to smooth things over,” Joyce replied as they entered the conference room.

Mr. Rosanthol and Dr Morris were already seated.  Joyce took the chair at the end of the table.  Kaitlyn gave Joyce a vile look, then sat down across the table from Mr. Rosanthol.

“Mr. Rosanthol, this is Joyce Fisher, Social Worker.”

“Nice to meet you Ms. Fisher,” Lance replied as he nodded in Joyce’s direction.

Kaitlyn reviewed the events of that morning.  She gave full details of how Mrs. Rosanthol has acting before the injection and how her level of consciousness changed to the current state.

“Mr. Rosanthol, do you have anything that you would like to add?”  Dr. Morris asked.

“No sir.  I just want my mother back to her normal self.”

“She has been on lithium for the last two years, is that correct?”

“Yes sir.”

“I am going to have them draw a blood level on her as soon as possible.  I suspect that for some reason her lithium levels have dropped, which would account for the manic episode.   I know she doesn’t look good now, but the drug that we gave her should wear off in a few hours.  I know this is difficult to take, but the important thing is that she did not get hurt.  I have seen several elderly patients fall during one of these episodes and break a hip.”

“I know you all are trying your best.  Thank you so much for talking with me.”

Joyce finally broke in, “These situations can be very difficult at times.  Please give me a call if you have any questions.  I am here if you just need someone to talk to about coping with your mother’s condition.”

There was a knock at the door, and then Steven stuck his head in saying, “Excuse me, but Mrs. Rosanthol is awake now.”

Lance rushed out of the room and to his mother’s side.   “Mom, this is Lance.  I am right here.”

“Oh son, I am so tired,” Gladys Rosanthol spoke in a very soft voice.

“It is okay.  Go back to sleep.  I will stay with you.  Don’t worry, I am here.”

His mother peered through the small opening between her eyelids and asked, “What happened to me?”

“You had one of your manic episodes, and they had to give you a shot to calm you down before you hurt yourself.”

“Am I going to be okay?  Am I going to die?”

“No Mother, you are not going to die.  The medication they gave you will soon wear off and you will be okay.”

“Thanks for being here Lance.  I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom.  Now get some rest.”

Gladys closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep once again.

Lance sat down in the armchair once again and watched his mother sleep peacefully.

Kaitlyn stepped into the room to check on Mrs. Rosanthol.  After observing the elderly lady for a moment, she turned to the son and asked, “Can I get you a cup of coffee?”

“That sounds good.  Thank you.”

As she turned to exit the room, Lance could not help but notice her backside.  My goodness, this lady is going to drive me crazy, he thought.  She returned while Lance was still in a daze, “Here you go Mr. Rosanthol.”

“Thank you Ms. Malloy.”

“I didn’t know if you used them or not, but I brought some cream and sugar packets with me.”

“Thanks, but no thanks.  I just take mine black.”

“If you would like, we have a patio that you are more than welcome to use.  Might do you some good to get out of this room.”

“That sounds good.”

“Follow me.  I will show you where it is,” Kaitlyn replied as she motioned with her hands for Lance to follow her.

As they walked outside, he stated, “I am sorry if I acted harshly towards you earlier.”

“It is okay, I understand that you were very upset about your mother’s condition, Mr. Rosanthol.”

“You can just call me Lance.  Mr. Rosanthol is proper, I know, but it makes me feel old.”

“Okay Lance, and you can just call me Kaitlyn.”

“Kaitlyn it is then.”

“I know that it has to be difficult taking care of an elderly mother with this type of behavior, but I think you are doing a good job.”

“I don’t know about that.  I feel like I have let her down by not being able to keep her at home.”

“That is a very difficult task that not very many people can accomplish now-a-days.”

“I know it is what happens all the time now, but I always thought that it would be different with my mother.”

“Lance, you can not change the fact that you have had to place your mother in a nursing home.  The most important thing is that you continue to support her and visit her.  You would not believe the amount of families who put their loved ones in a facility and then just forget about them.”

“I guess what you are saying is true.  Thanks, Kaitlyn, I do feel better.”

Lance could not help but notice her smile and positive attitude that radiated about her.  She appeared to him as an angel of mercy, and a very beautiful one at that.

Steven stuck his head out the door and stated, “Kaitlyn, lunch trays are here.  You want to come in and check them, or you want me to?”

“I will be there in just a minute.  You go ahead and start passing your medications.”

“Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with me,” Lance replied.

“No problem Lance.  It was my pleasure.  Do not hesitate to come and find me if you have any more questions.  You may stay out here as long as you like,” Kaitlyn stated as she stood up and walked back to the building.

         Lance followed her back into the building then continued on to his mother’s room.   He went to his mother’s side and placed his right hand upon her left hand.

“Hey Mom, how are you feeling?”

Gladys’ eyes opened and a faint smile formed on her lips.  “Hello Lance.  I am a little tired still, but not as bad as earlier.  Why are you still here?  Don’t you work any more?”

“I took the day off to be with you.”

“That was not necessary.  I will okay by myself.”

“It’s okay Mom.  I had most of the morning show setup when the nursing home called me,” Lance stated as he began to move the sheets over to cover his mother’s left knee that showed as bare skin out from underneath the covers.

“I just hope you don’t get into trouble with your boss.”

“Not to worry.  Everything is okay.  Lunch trays just came out.  Are you hungry?”

“Not really, but I don’t guess that I can lay around here all day and starve.  Maybe I will set up in that chair and try to eat something,” Gladys replied as she searched for the button to raise her head up and get out of the bed.

“Mom, why don’t you just lay there and I will bring lunch to you.”

“Oh, I do not want to bother you.”

“It is no trouble.  You just rest,” Lance responded as he reached over and found the up arrow on the control panel to help his mother.  “Be right back.”

Lance made his way to the dining room then came to a complete stop.  The only image that his eyes focused on was a nurse’s white skirt.  Kaitlyn was bent over the table writing on a piece of paper.  He could not help but notice her perfectly curved figure that was concealed by the white material of her uniform.  A deep desire stirred within him.  He felt his heart begin to quiver.

He inhaled deeply.  Air filled his lungs, but he didn’t know if he could force that air out.  Somehow he finally managed to get out a soft, “Excuse me.”

Kaitlyn stood up, turned, and smiled saying, “Oh Lance, I did not hear you come in.  How can I help you?”

“My mother is awake and willing to try to eat something.”

“Sounds like she is improving.  Her tray is in the dietary warming cart.  I will get it for you.”

“Thank you.”

Kaitlyn reached into the warming cart and pulled the tray out.   She walked over to Lance and handed him the tray.

As he reached for the tray, his index fingers grazed soft warm skin.  Without prompting, he found himself fixated on a pair of glimmering green eyes.  The seconds seemed like minutes as an electrical current filled the space between them.  Finally, he managed to take the tray from her, “Thank you, Kaitlyn.”  Turning towards the hallway, he exited quickly.

As Kaitlyn watched him leave the room, the effects of the electrical current began to fade away.  She felt a void come over her.  It was then that she realized that something had occurred between them.

A hand came before her eyes, and she heard a male voice saying, “Kaitlyn...  Kaitlyn...  Dr. Morris is on the phone.”

“Oh okay…  Thanks Steven,” she responded and went over to pick up the phone in the corner of the day room.

As she slowly walked to the phone, her mind was filled with confusion.  She could not allow herself to fall in love with a patient’s son.  That was considered to be unethical.  She took pride in her professionalism.  She just wondered which would win out, professionalism or desire?  This yearning she felt was definitely unacceptable.  The physical attraction was undeniable.

She picked up the phone on the wall and spoke into the receiver, “Hello Dr. Morris, this is Kaitlyn.”

“I was on my way back to the office from lunch and thought that I would call in to see how Mrs. Rosanthol is doing,”

“Her vitals are stable, and she is waking up.  Her son is feeding her now.”

“That sounds good.  I take it that all of my other patients are doing well?”

“Yes, they are actually behaving themselves today,” Kaitlyn responded as the conversation ended.

As Kaitlyn made her way back to the nurse’s station, she paused at room eight and glanced in.  “Is she swallowing okay?”

“Yes, she is doing good.  Thank you for checking on her.”

“No problem.  I will be in the nurses station catching up on paperwork if you need anything.”

“Okay thanks.”

          Kaitlyn entered the nurse’s station and pulled out a chart but could not concentrate.   She couldn’t help thinking about the love a son had to have for his mother if he would take all day off of work just to be with her in the hospital.  Some children would come by after work or call, but only few ventured behind the locked doors of the unit to help their parents.  Something about their parents being in a psychiatric ward scared them.

She had to get Mr. Lance Rosanthol out of her mind.  She could not go on thinking about something that was never to be.

She finished her charting, trying with all her might to concentrate on what she was writing.  It was difficult at times, but after an hour she signed her name on the last chart.

Diane Peterson, the relieving RN, showed up as Kaitlyn was double-checking her charts.  Never had Kaitlyn been happier to see Diane.  She only hoped that by tomorrow her attraction to Lance would subside.

         After she reported to Diane the events of the day, she gathered up her stethoscope, care plan book, and a few other miscellaneous reference books and placed them into her workbag.  She started down the hallway towards the front door.  Why did she have to put Mrs. Rosanthol next to the nurse’s station?  Then again, with no other rooms available, she didn’t have much of a choice.  As she passed room eight, she looked in to see Lance setting at his mother’s bedside.  Then words unexpectedly came from inside Kaitlyn, “How is she doing?”

“Much better.  She is talking to me and is more alert.”

Kaitlyn found herself putting her bag down at the doorway and entering the room.  She stepped up to the bedside.  “Mrs. Rosanthol, you are going to be okay.  We will work very hard at getting your lithium adjusted to where you will not have those episodes any more.  Soon you will be able to go home again.”

“Thank you sweetie for being so kind to me.  I am so sorry that I caused you so much trouble,” the patient stated with a remorseful look on her face.

“It is okay, nothing that you could have done much about,” Kaitlyn responded knowing that chemical imbalances in people caused them to do things out of character.

Lance looked at the small pile of personal items outside the door, “I take it that your shift is over?”

“Yes, but I will be back tomorrow.”

“You have a good evening nurse Kaitlyn,” Lance stated as he looked up at her.  His deep blue eyes met her gaze and sent a chill down her spine.

“Thank you, Lance.  You do the same,” she replied then immediately turned to his mother.  “Have a good night Mrs. Rosanthol.  I will see you in the morning.”

“You too dear, and please will you call me Gladys when you come back?”

“Sure thing, Gladys.  Good night.”  Kaitlyn immediately turned away and exited the room.

“See you tomorrow Joyce,” she called from the hallway as she passed the social services office.

“See you tomorrow Kaitlyn.  Hey, are we still on for golf on Saturday?”

“Yes ma’am.  I need to take my frustrations out on that little white ball after this week.”   One more day until the well-deserved weekend of golf!   She thought as she continued towards the exit.

“Go home and take it easy.  You deserve it after today.”

“Thank you Joyce.  You do the same.”

          Kaitlyn punched the code into the control box that opened the front doors.  As she walked through the lobby several people told her good-bye.  She mumbled replies back, but her mind was stuck on the image of Lance sitting in the lobby only a few hours ago.

She shook her head in attempt to get the image out of her mind then stepped out into the warm June sunshine.  It was hard to believe that a month ago there was snow covering the ground, but that is Idaho weather for you.

She loved the month of June.  The roses smell so fresh.  She could sit outside all day and gaze at the beautiful site of her blue clematis with its yellow centers and the white puffiness of her peonies.

The grass on the side of the hills was bright green from all the moisture of the snow.  The snow had disappeared from the hills to the north, but the mountains to the south glistened with white peaks.  The beauty of the early summer made it worthwhile to endure the several months of snow from the previous winter and spring.

The greatest thing about warm weather was the fact that the top could come down on her red convertible.  The short drive home was exhilarating.

Kaitlyn entered her house and went directly to the closet.  She pulled out a simple T-shirt and shorts then made her way to the flower garden.  She pulled a few weeds then found the watering hose to give the flowers a drink.  She sat in the arbor and watched the water creep down the rows.   Her mind wondered back to Lance Rosanthol.

Why did he have to be so drop-dead gorgeous?  She didn’t know how she was going to get past those blue eyes that continually found their way to her heart, but she had to find a way.  Somehow she had to put an obstacle between her eyes and her heart.  Somehow she had to get past these crazy thoughts of passion.

.

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Revised  04/13/2008 13:49 -0500