В палате было тихо, и мне впервые за день захотелось просто закрыть глаза и отдохнуть.

Here палата most likely means hospital room / ward.

So В палате было тихо means It was quiet in the room/ward.

A few notes:

• палата can mean different kinds of chamber in other contexts, but in everyday modern Russian, learners very often meet it in medical contexts.
• The prepositional form в палате means in the ward / in the room.

Because this sentence describes location, not movement.

• в палате = in the ward / in the room → where?
• в палату = into the ward / into the room → to where?

So:

• В палате было тихо. = It was quiet in the ward.
• Я вошёл в палату. = I went into the ward.

This is a very common distinction with в:

• Prepositional case for location: в палате
• Accusative case for direction: в палату

Because Russian often uses an impersonal construction to describe the environment or general state.

• было тихо = it was quiet
• тихо is an adverb/predicative word, not an adjective agreeing with a noun here.
• было is neuter singular past tense, the standard form often used in impersonal sentences.

So the structure is:

• В палате было тихо.
  Literally: In the ward, it was quiet.

You are not describing палата as a grammatical subject in the same way as The room was quiet in English. Russian is instead expressing the general atmosphere/state.

Compare:

• Комната была тихая — awkward or unusual in most contexts
• В комнате было тихо — natural: It was quiet in the room

Both are possible in Russian, but they are not exactly the same in feeling.

Мне захотелось

This is a very common impersonal pattern meaning:

• I suddenly felt like...
• I had the urge/desire to...
• I found myself wanting to...

It often suggests that the feeling came over the person, rather than being presented as a deliberate decision.

Я захотел

This is more like:

• I wanted
• I decided I wanted
• sometimes more direct or active

So in this sentence:

• мне впервые за день захотелось...
  = for the first time that day, I felt like...

The dative мне marks the experiencer: the feeling happened to me.

The -сь is the short form of -ся, the reflexive marker.

In this verb, the reflexive form helps create an impersonal meaning:

• мне захотелось = I felt like / I suddenly wanted
• literally something closer to it wanted itself to me is not how you should understand it, but historically/reflexively it forms this impersonal construction.

This is a set pattern worth learning as a chunk:

• мне хочется = I feel like / I want
• мне захотелось = I felt like / I suddenly wanted

So it is best to memorize захотеться as a verb used in this kind of construction.

Because the sentence uses an impersonal experience/desire construction.

In Russian, many feelings, states, and experiences are expressed with:

• a state/feeling
• plus the person in the dative

So:

• мне холодно = I am cold
• мне грустно = I am sad
• мне хочется спать = I feel like sleeping
• мне захотелось отдохнуть = I felt like resting

The dative here does not mean to me in a simple literal English way; it marks the person who experiences the state.

It means for the first time that day or more literally for the first time in the course of the day.

Breakdown:

• впервые = for the first time
• за день = during the day / in the course of the day

So:

• мне впервые за день захотелось...
  = for the first time that day, I felt like...

This expression focuses on the fact that all day long this had not happened before now.

За has many meanings in Russian, and this is one of the tricky prepositions learners have to get used to.

Here за + accusative can mean during a period of time or in the course of that period.

So:

• за день = during the day / in a day
• за неделю = during the week / in a week
• за всю жизнь = in one’s whole life / over a lifetime

In this sentence, впервые за день means:

• for the first time during the whole day

So yes, за can mean many things depending on context and case.

Because in Russian, as in English, you normally close your eyes—plural.

The expression закрыть глаза is the standard phrase:

• закрыть глаза = to close one’s eyes

Even though the possessive my is not stated, Russian often leaves it understood from context:

• закрыть глаза here naturally means close my eyes

Russian frequently omits possessives like my, his, her when they are obvious.

Compare:

• Я помыл руки. = I washed my hands.
• Она закрыла глаза. = She closed her eyes.

Because they depend on захотелось.

The structure is:

• мне захотелось
  • infinitive(s)

So:

• мне захотелось закрыть глаза и отдохнуть
  = I felt like closing my eyes and resting

Both infinitives express the actions the speaker felt like doing.

This is very normal in Russian:

• Мне захотелось поесть. = I felt like eating.
• Мне захотелось уйти. = I felt like leaving.

Because the speaker is thinking of these as complete actions:

• закрыть глаза = to close one’s eyes
• отдохнуть = to have a rest / to rest for a while

Perfective is very natural here because the desire is for a simple completed action or a short whole event.

If imperfective verbs were used, the nuance would change:

• закрывать would suggest a repeated/process meaning, which does not fit well here.
• отдыхать would focus more on the activity/process of resting.

In this sentence, perfective verbs sound natural because the thought is something like:

• just close my eyes and get some rest

Просто here means something like:

• just
• simply

It adds a nuance of simplicity and relief:

• захотелось просто закрыть глаза и отдохнуть
  = I just wanted to close my eyes and rest

It suggests:

• nothing complicated
• no more effort
• a basic human need for rest

This small word often carries emotional tone in Russian.

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, and this order helps shape emphasis.

Current version:

• ...и мне впервые за день захотелось просто закрыть глаза и отдохнуть.

This sounds natural and smooth. The focus falls on the fact that for the first time all day, this feeling arose.

Possible rearrangements:

• ...и впервые за день мне захотелось...
• ...и захотелось мне впервые за день... — possible, but more marked/literary

Russian often moves elements around for emphasis, rhythm, or style. The original sentence sounds natural and narrative.

Yes. The sentence sounds quiet, internal, and slightly emotional, but in a restrained way.

A few things create that tone:

• В палате было тихо sets a calm scene.
• мне впервые за день захотелось suggests exhaustion and delayed relief.
• просто закрыть глаза и отдохнуть sounds simple, human, and vulnerable.

So grammatically it is straightforward, but stylistically it conveys:

• tiredness
• silence
• the first moment of rest after a difficult day

That is one reason the impersonal мне захотелось works so well here: it feels natural and inward, as if the desire arose on its own.