Oooo, I Found My Marbles

Lacy wondered how much she could take working at Shady Paradise Mental Health Facility. She had been a Nurse all her life and at thirty-six years of age, she figured this would be her job forever. She worked well with the employees and her bosses. The Head Nurse Carmen was easy to work for and so was Mattie, the Administrator. The patients who lived there were trying at times but she loved them. Okay. Maybe there were two she didn't. She tried to treat them equally and do right by them.

Heather reverted back to being a seven year old and when Olson told her to go play in traffic, she did literally! Lacy, Serena{the one girl she loved working with wore an eye brow ring and loved vampires} went into the road and got Heather and bought her back in the facility. Heather was herself again and acted like twenty-two again. Lacy firmly told Olson that he couldn't treat Heather like that. Olson wet his bed and yelled at other patients who lived there. He hit Stanley with his walker. Olson was fifty some years old and his personality changed from a nice guy into a mean guy. Olson chased Lacy down the hallway one night for a kiss when she stayed over because someone had called in. He told her she was his Cindy Crawford and they were married in another life time. Olson cornered Lacy and kissed her hand and cheek and luckily, Connie{another employee} came back from the bathroom and rescued her from Olson. Lacy looked liked Kate Winslet, not Cindy Crawford.

Alfred was needy and wanted his PRN pain meds. every four hours on the minute. He even set his alarm clock at night so he could have his pain med. Lacy made him wait an hour. Alfred was a former drug user and had a drinking problem. One day he sat on the railroad tracks waiting for the train to come and get him. Lacy and Serena got him off the tracks as a train was approaching. There was a swamp near by and all three of them fell in the swamp!  They got out and went back to the facility. Lacy told Serena she was losing her marbles.

Alfred called 911 because he said he was sick and needed attention and the Nurses ignored him. Lacy was embarrassed when 911 called her and she told them that Alfred had doctor's appointments all the time. He was attention seeking and Alfred was on meds and going through counseling. The dispatcher was understanding. Carmen told Lacy to unplug the phone at night and hide it.

Serena was out smoking one night and the picnic bench had been moved next to the Activities Room Door and it was by the West Wing earlier. Olson and Alfred had climbed out their windows and moved it during the night. Life was never dull at Shady Paradise.

One day, Lacy was walking down the hall and almost fell over some bumpy rocks. They weren't rocks. They were marbles! Lacy exclaimed: "Oh! I found my marbles. Yes!"

Serena laughed. "Those are Olson's marbles. He said they fell out of his marble bag."

Lacy laughed. "Olson lost his marbles along time ago."

Just then Lacy's cell phone rang. It was Mrs. Ritchie at the toy factory. She was offered the job of the factory Nurse. Lacy said she would take it.

The job went well at the Toy Factory. Just minor scrapes and cuts. One day, a man Homer decided to stuff marbles down his pants that worked there. He had been a patient at Shady Paradise for awhile. One got stuck in his rectum and Lacy had to send him to the hospital to have it surgically removed. Lacy felt like she was losing her marbles again. She laughed to herself. She decided to spend two weeks at the beach on her vacation a year later. She was walking on the Beach and found some marbles. She had a feeling she would lose her marbles all her life and find them again.


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