The door swung open at exactly eight o’clock, hitting the rubber stopper on the wall with a sharp click.
A nurse with a high ponytail carried a small plastic cup containing two yellow pills and a blue capsule. I pulled the thin white blanket up to my collarbone, adjusting my weight on the mattress.
“Good morning,” I said, keeping my voice gentle. “I would like to get dressed before I take anything, please.”
The nurse did not look at my face, setting the cup on the laminate bedside table with a tiny hollow thud. “Take these now, Martha. We have forty more rooms to visit before breakfast.”
“I prefer to have a glass of water first,” I said. “And my name is Mrs. Green.”
She was already turning back toward the doorway, her rubber-soled shoes squeaking against the polished floor. The heavy wood door remained wide open behind her, exposing my unmade bed to the residents walking slowly down the hall.
At eleven o’clock, a young receptionist tapped once on my doorframe and told me that Evelyn Vance wanted to see me in the administrative wing.
