Dr. Caul had the ward door locked before he talked to either of them. Holston was the first one up, and Dr. Caul told him what he was being accused of. Then he went into Billy’s room and told him the same thing.

Both young men seemed confused at first and hurt at the accusations, but as the morning wore on, they became more agitated, more frightened. They spoke of people coming after them to take them to Lima, of the FBI out to get them, of being sent back to Lebanon.

Throughout the day, the staff tried to keep them calm. The staff was angry too. They didn’t believe it at all. Wanda Pancake and Pat Perry kept assuring Holston and Billy that no one was coming to take them away. But they both knew they weren’t talking to Billy. It was one of the others. Wanda felt sure it was Steve.

Pat Perry gave Billy a lot of Amytal that day, trying to keep him under control; at one point he took a nap and seemed all right. But by two in the afternoon, both young men were agitated again. Billy was switching from Steve to David, whining and crying; then he’d be tough again, and he and Holston would pace up and back, edgy about anyone walking near them. Every time the phone rang, Billy jumped and said, “They’re coming after me.”i

Billy and Holston moved to the back of the lobby near the locked rear door leading to the fire escape. They pulled the tables and chairs around them to form a barricade, then took off their belts, wrapping them around their fists.

“I don’t want any men coming towards us,” Steve said, “or we’ll bust out the back door.” He picked up a chair in his left hand, holding it like a lion tamer. The staff realized they could no longer handle the situation. They called for a “Code Green.”

Pat Perry heard it over the loudspeaker system. She expected the usual wait and then to see eight or ten guards and attendants from other wards come throught the door of the ward to help out.

“My God!” she gasped as the door burst open. There was a mob of men—security guards, attendants, aides, supervisors, men from health care and from psychology who had no business there, men from geriatrics who would never come on a regular Code Green. There were at least thirty of them. It was, she thought, like trapping an animal. As if everyone had just been waiting for the signal.

She and Wanda stood close to Billy and Holston, who made no attempt to touch or harm them. But as the wave of men approached, the two patients brandished chairs and gestured menacingly with their belt-wrapped fists.

“I’m not going to Lima!” Steve shouted. “Just when everything was going all right, I get blamed for something I didn’t do! Now I’ll never get my chance. Now I’ve got no more hopes.”