Free The Secret of Kolney Hatch by Stefani Milan

included some information about their conditions and possible treatments.”
    “Where shall I conduct their sessions?”
    “We’ll convert one of the treatment rooms into an office for you,” he answered immediately. After thinking about it for another second he said, “Yes, that’s what we’ll do.”
    “I understand Kolney Hatch is privately owned,” I said innocently.
    He nodded.
    “What is the procedure...”
    “Admittance here is...selective,” he interrupted.  “Other facilities have their own rules or state rules for who is admitted. They fix a lot of patients and send them on their way...” And then he added, “And they do it well....but...I always think about those poor souls who have no future in this world...”
    He lit another cigarette as he continued.
    “The abandoned...the abused....those are the people I take into this sanctuary.”
    “Like the patients in the South B-corridor?”
    A vein in Doctor Reid’s neck pulsed.
    “They would’ve been put to death...I gave them a future.”
    “Do patients ever leave Kolney Hatch?”
    “A patient only leaves this asylum in two ways: by way of a rare circumstance or by his death.”
    “Will I take care of any of them...the patients in the isolation ward?” I inquired innocently.
    “Sure,” he nodded. “Especially when I’m in town. When I’m there, I stay for a little while.” He inhaled his cigarette then blew out the smoke. “It’s a remote town with no doctor...so, I try to help the people when I can.”
     I nodded.
    “What about funding...for Kolney Hatch?”
    “We have a benefactor. ‘Course it’s not enough, Paul, not enough to make the renovations I need.”
    “I see.”
    “But I make do,” he continued. “Sometimes a person just has to be creative in the way he conducts his business in order to survive.”
    “Well, I don’t disagree with you,” I remarked politely.
    “And because of that attitude,” he added coolly, “I think you’ll fit in well here.”
    Outside, the breeze strengthened. I had hardly noticed how cloudy it had become. Doctor Reid glanced at his watch as if he had something more urgent to do.
    “Well then, let’s start there,” he said. “You can look over the files later. I’ll need you to begin right away in the infirmary. As you can see from our little interruption, the patients here require our full attention.”
    “Understood.”
    “Any questions?”
    I shook my head.
    “Well then, welcome aboard,” he said, offering me a sincere smile and extending his hand again.
    Files in hand, I left Doctor Reid’s office and headed with him to the infirmary, which was, in similar fashion to the rest of the rooms, pasty white. With the exception of the patient parlor and Doctor Reid’s office, the walls of Kolney Hatch were barren and prosaic—they clashed so drastically with my florid ones at home.
    “ After lunch, I’d like you to visit the catatonic patients. I tried increasing the calcium content of the blood, but there were no changes .”
    “All right.”
    “I’ll let you get acclimated to the infirmary and have the housekeepers clear out a treatment room for your office. If you’re all right, I have a session with a patient now.”
    “Yes, thanks.”
    When Doctor Reid was gone, I opened the first file on the top of the pile.  In total, I had thirteen patients to evaluate, some with bruises from occupational therapy—one woman had sliced her finger while helping out in the kitchens. Another patient burned her arm while ironing laundry, and a few patients were finishing treatments prescribed by Charlie. Thankfully, I had all of his charts and notes, so I knew what progress his patients had made.
    After lunch, I visited the catatonic patients as Doctor Reid requested and then hurried up the stairs to the East Wing. Both women and girls were housed in this ward. I knocked on the door.
    “Doctor Watson!” Nurse Hinkle exclaimed as she opened the door. Her flushed cheeks made her