Part 1... A middle-aged woman, dressed in a flowing patchwork skirt and an embroidered white cotton blouse, topped with a swirl of silver, teal and magenta curls, lounged in a chair in Gleason’s office. Her right, bare foot tucked under her, and her left foot, her knee bent almost to her chin, planted flat on … Continue reading Level 7: Part 2
Category: Gleason
Level 7: Part 1
“This is the part I hate the most,” Dr. George Gleason stood outside Clyde Phillips’ room. “Even the term, ‘death watch,’ disturbs me.” As the administrator of Lakeside Rehabilitation Center, Gleason knew every resident and every story, except Clyde Phillips. The 94-year-old Phillips was the oldest and longest resident at Lakeside and was not expected … Continue reading Level 7: Part 1
If the shoe fits
“How is he today?” Flora clutched her fingers together in a knot, touching her chin with her thumbs. “He’s been asking for you.” Dr. George Gleason, his hands tucked characteristically into his white lab coat pockets, tipped his head toward a man in a wheelchair across the wide room sitting in a pool of sunshine … Continue reading If the shoe fits
Returning to the nest
A young man, no older than 23 or 24, sat crossed-legged on the cold concrete floor of his cell, his back to the door. His hands rested palms up on his knees, his face upturned toward the only window, high on the 12-foot cinder block wall. Judging from the angle of sun rays pouring through … Continue reading Returning to the nest
Picture perfect
There were days when Dr. George Gleason wondered who was really running the asylum - the doctors or the inmates. Then there were days like this, when he knew it was the patients' families who were in charge. The man sitting across the desk from him looked like the typical corporate executive. He wore a … Continue reading Picture perfect
Based on a true story
Dr. Gleason found himself in an all too familiar spot - standing with a family representative, studying a patient through an observation porthole of a sterile hospital room door. The subject was a middle-aged mother of two. She was brought in after experiencing some kind of psychotic episode. Currently she was chemically restrained and under 24-hour … Continue reading Based on a true story