The Everglades - Chapter Twelve

12

There was no shortage of highly functioning psychopaths throughout the world who’d accept terms offered for the opportunity to express destruction on individual populations. People who were certain individual intellects eclipsed that of their creator, felt compelled to destroy what’d been so masterfully created.

Mental institutions, like the one located in Chattahoochee, Florida, became the Nazi’s next instrument to destabilize society. Campaigns of compassion resulted from abhorrent conditions in hospitals; institutions tasked with treating those who couldn’t function productively in society.

Mental patients were most destructive. Releasing them into the community advanced society’s decline faster than any single action meant to destabilize the United States. 

Pharmaceuticals, treacherously developed by Nazi scientists in Concentration Camps, offered the mentally unstable opportunities to exist in society. Compassion was sold to an unsuspecting public. Destabilization was the ultimate goal. It was hoped those possessing most narcissistic tendencies would rise to positions of power. Those incapable of conceiving beauty beyond self-possessed, destructive tendencies toward the greater-good, were made valuable.

The only path to world domination was to empower mid-level managers; heads of state. Sociopaths belonging in institutions were capable of conceiving murder of women and children, the most innocent in society, as necessary policy. Extreme narcissists embraced omnipotence of mass murder as divinely appropriate.

At the time of Peron’s ouster, Hochstühl and Von Unterscheisse were awaiting final instructions for releasing violent and psychotic prisoners into society. It was a small, yet intense, pillar of the Nazis’ overarching plan.

Crime within the city threatened tranquility. Residents naturally looked to larger organizations with resources to help. City Hall and its Police force held answers for a quickly expanding city. “Growing pains” was a phrase used to describe the phenomenon. Remaining hidden was the proverbial straw-laden hand that stirred placidity of law-abiding citizens.

Final instructions hadn’t been offered from Argentina due to the coup d’état. The plan proceeded as had been conceived.

The Colonel was tasked with the long drive between Miami and the North Florida city of Chattahoochee. Located there was an institution for the mentally insane. People who’d lost touch with the reality created by God became perfect Nazi minions. The facility began operations in 1876 through legislative funding.

Nazi scientists developed meth-amphetamine for use by front-line soldiers. The drug eliminated soldiers’ need for sleep; while instilling the desire to approach confrontation. A plethora of mind-altering drugs had been developed; all for the singular purpose of controlling human thought.

Little-by-little the Germans, who’d come ashore in the Everglades, injected their philosophy into institutions. All that was required at the Florida State Hospital was the acquiescence of a single nurse; the one controlling daily medications. She’d been identified and targeted by men possessing wealth. Mammon’s influence separated weak humans from Godly pursuits.

Nurse Ratliff embraced compassion for those she viewed as requiring help. Educational pursuits brought forth knowledge of invisible struggles faced by those in her care. She bridged the divide between the material world and ghosts skewing patients’ perceptions. 

The job was difficult, yet rewarding.

A meeting had been requested; to which Nurse Ratliff agreed. She knew the man would be driving from Miami. Infrastructure along the route was rudimentary and sometimes unreliable. Times were not discussed. All she knew was that he was to arrive at the hospital on Thursday, September 22, 1955. Friday of that week offered a buffer in case delays were more time consuming than anticipated.

Society’s most undesirables were kept far from populated areas. Isolation offset the potential destruction caused by those chasing ethereal realities existing only in their minds.

Four stately columns guarded the center of the long white building. Three floors of rooms, activity centers, and offices extended to the east and west. Surgical rooms at the rear of the building offered locations beyond ear-shot of the patient population.

Procedures like lobotomies and electric shock therapy took place without knowledge of other patients. Screams of agony were never heard. Patients’ connection with reality was severed further without knowledge of those they’d befriended while existing among common wards.

Patients scheduled for procedures were wheeled away on gurneys and eventually returned exhibiting perpetual, zombie-like states. Extreme measures ensured control of violence inherent in the sanatorium.

Nurse Ratliff gained an appreciation for advanced medical technology. Not having to deal with constantly agitated charges made her job easier.

Von Unterscheisse sat patiently on the wooden bench in the hospital’s oversized foyer. Interior construction was of hardwoods felled in the area during nineteenth century construction. Sounds of doors opening and closing, and hard-soled shoes impacting floors, echoed throughout the solemn room. The Colonel sat with his leather briefcase laid flatly in his lap.

Across the foyer was the receptionist’s window. The woman had no credentials, but wore the dress-whites of a nurse. It was believed patients encountering her offered respect to someone dressed in a refined, and unthreatening manner. She sat with only her head visible through the glass separating her from visitors seeking entry.

Von Unterscheisse found her countenance quite pleasing.

Every few moments she’d glance up from her work.

The two repeatedly exchanged smiles.

The sound of a door opening and closing, coupled with approaching rubber-soled nursing shoes garnered the Colonel’s attention. He looked up to see an older, yet comely woman approaching him directly. He stood immediately; as should every man when ladies entered spheres of influence.

The nurse extended her hand. “Mr. Von…or is it simply Unterscheisse?”

The Colonel took the woman’s hand in his and smiled. “Please. Call me Wilhelm.”

She smiled. “In that case, call me Donna.”

“It’s pleasing to make your acquaintance.”

The Colonel’s accent was still quite evident; however, he’d honed his English adequately to smooth away the forceful and guttural nature of the German language.

The nurse found his diction complimented striking looks.

The man emanated a cosmopolitan energy that offered immediate credibility to the nurse with whom he’d carry on a decades-long relationship.

Nurse Ratliff led the Colonel through the rear door; away from the reception area. They strode through the first floor hallway, toward the rear of the building.

Benches and wheelchairs lined both sides of the corridor. Several patients, men and women, occupied spaces; many of whom masturbated vigorously.

There were more women who’d been committed to the hospital than men. The population was split seventy-thirty.

The couple continued into, and down a long hallway that extended perpendicularly to the main building. Three sets of double doors, each with a singular glass-pane inset, created buffers between the hospital population and a triad of surgeries; one on either side, and one straight ahead.

When they were safely away from the patient population, Von Unterscheisse inquired, “why do they masturbate like that?”

The nurse stopped, turned to the visitor, and smiled. “As our British friends say, our patients have ‘lost the plot.’ Orgasms are the only way they achieve spirituality. They’ve lost their connection to the universe,” she shrugged, “ejaculation…orgasms are the only way they feel something greater than the bodies…shells they occupy.” She chuckled. “I guess they have to touch it…or hold it in their hand to prove it’s real.”

“Ye’ of little faith,” the Colonel quipped.

Ratliff smiled. “Besides, if we try to stop them they become violent.” The nurse shrugged and laughed softly. “Clinically speaking, these people are incapable of achieving a higher purpose. They’re disconnected from humanity’s natural place in the universe. Life for them is nothing more than a low-grade mammalian existence.”

The couple stood in the hallway sharing a laugh at the expense of less fortunate humans.

“What do the doctors say?”

Nurse Ratliff waved away the question with her left hand. “They all have theses, dissertations, and publications that provide hills upon which all must die.” She shook her head vigorously. “They don’t live it every day like I do."

The nurse led the man through a single door; into an empty surgery.

“We can speak freely in here.” The nurse’s voice echoed.

The room was made larger by the theater-like gallery above; where medical students learned the latest mental health procedures.

The Colonel looked up at three rows of empty seats encircling the room. From the back, each row was angled downward toward the operating area. He nodded. “So be it.”

The Colonel laid his briefcase on the surgical gurney. He unbuckled the brass-clasp, flipped the leather strap away, and pulled open the top of the valise. “I have some drug samples I’d like you to begin using on select patients.”

“Oh, Mr…Wilhelm.” The nurse shook her head. “I can’t do that. Something like that requires legislative approval.”

The Colonel smiled.

Ratliff found the man’s expression disarming.

She stood her ground.

“It’s just that this medicine is so ground-breaking.” He held aloft a pill bottle and shook it. Rattling inside was a psycho-depressant meant to quell urges and make docile patients of those with whom the nurse dealt daily. He held the bottle, label-first, toward the nurse. “You see, the details are still written in German.” He shook his head. “It’ll take years, if not a decade, to gain regulatory approval for this.”

The shake of Ratliff’s head became muted, but indecision was still present. “I don’t know,” she hesitated to approach their relationship familiarly, “Wilhelm, I could get into some real trouble.”

The Colonel tapped the bottle with his free hand. “I am so certain that this medicine will work, that I will promise to come to your defense if there is ever any trouble with our medication.”

The nurse considered the man’s proposal.

Von Unterscheisse sensed her internal debate.

Several moments of silence were broken by the visitor from Miami. “I’ll tell you what. I’m authorized to offer you a stipend.”

“What kind of stipend?”

“At the risk of sounding crude, all I have to offer is money.”

Nurse Ratliff smiled. “I knew that. I was trying to not appear indelicate.”

The Colonel offered a muted smile and nod; understanding their conundrum.

“At the risk of sounding overly crass, how much?”

The man paused for effect. “I’m pretty sure I can double your annual salary.” He held up his right index finger. “But to do so, I will need your complete discretion.”

Nurse Ratliff maintained outward composure. The opportunity to increase her wages two-fold offered a great many possibilities for her life. “I think I can offer that to you,” she replied calmly. And then it dawned on her. “Wait. What exactly is your stated goal? Do you want me to write research reports and provide them to you?”

The Colonel laughed softly. “No. Inside my valise I have several different drugs along with a list of patients, exhibiting certain maladies, to whom these different medications should be given. I can assure you these psychotropics have been thoroughly tested in the Fatherla…in Germany.”

“That actually does give me a great deal of comfort.”

“Here’s the good part. You’ll see that your patients will no longer be burdensome to you, or society as a whole. In a few years you’ll be able to release a great deal of your patient population. The hospital will be viewed as cutting edge, and your stresses will be fewer.”

“That would be nice.” She paused. “But why me?”

“You see, we operate a small facility in Miami. But to make a real difference we need to roll this out to our state’s mental hospital. That’s the best way we can have a greater effect on society.” The Colonel smiled once again. “After all, isn’t that why we got into this business?”

Actions to destabilize Miami’s population were numerous. Many well-meaning professionals, such as nurse Ratliff, were captured without knowledge of ultimate goals. Ignorant compatriots believed the benevolent and love-filled universe imparted strength. Nazi lies inverted reality. It was Earth over which evil wished to rule.

Hochstühl and Von Unterscheisse leveled-up societal disruption.