The Sleeping Girl

Chapter Sixteen

"Hello," says Amanda smiling pleasantly. "We'd like to visit a patient."

"Alright," says the receptionist, looking down at her computer and typing something. "Who?"

"Chloe Nyles," she replies. "We're close family friends. We've just heard what happened to her and had to come visit."

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" the receptionist replies looking up from her computer and narrowing her eyes at us. "I don't believe I've ever heard of you before."

"I'm Peyton Agee," Carmi lies smoothly. "Isabelle Agee's sister. Isabelle was in here from the same accident as Chloe a couple weeks ago before she went home."

The receptionist looks down at her computer, before looking back up. "I'm sorry, but right now the only people who are permitted to visit Chloe Nyles are family and those who are expressly given permission from family, which you have not. Did you tell the family that you were coming?" Her tone is accusatory.

"Are you sure?" asks Carmela, cocking her head innocently. "As a matter of fact, we were just talking to Mrs. Nyles not too long ago. She told us that we could come visit poor Chloe, that Chloe's moral would really improve if she saw some familiar, friendly faces."

"I don't think so. And if you are Peyton Agee, who are the rest of you?" Her eyes narrow further, and she looks directly at Amanda, the "grown up" in our group, which I suppose is important to hospital people.

"Close friends of Peyton," I say. "We've all been over to visit Peyton several times while Chloe was in the house playing with Isabelle. We come from a small town, where all the families are friends with one another, and know each other. Chloe knows us all, and she will be really quite glad to see us, I promise."

The receptionist shakes her head repeatedly, looking like she's not even listening anymore, which I suppose she isn't. "Look, I'm sorry, but unless you get Ms. Nyles herself to come here and let you in, I can't let you in. Now I'm going to have to ask you to leave or I'll have to call security."

How dare she treat us so rudely! Threatening to call security on us, whatever security is. I open my mouth indignantly but Mike cuts me off before I can shoot a retort. "It's alright, ma'am," he says. "We're leaving now. Sorry to bother you." Carmela and Amanda turn around and start walking out, looking disappointed, but Mike practically has to drag me from the room and out of the hospital. I shoot a dirty look at the receptionist as we leave, a look that she gladly returns, which only causes me to get even more frustrated and angry. We're close, so close, and I will not let someone like her stop us!

"What do we do now?" I demand as soon as we've exited the building, rolling my eyes angrily and plopping down on the curb. "We ought to go back inside right now and break down the door, and get to the Sleeping Girl! I refuse to come this far and battle vampires, and sprites, and such, only to be thwarted by a foolish human! It's ridiculous! Preposterous!"

"Calm down tiger," says Mike. "We're not giving up."

"We're not? Oh really? Then why are we out here and not in there? I must see the Girl! I refuse to let that silly stuck up woman stop us this close!"

"Keela, that nurse threatened to call security," interjects Carmi. "We need to try to keep it low key. I agree- of course we have to get to Chloe, but clearly we can't go in that way."

"What is security, anyways?" I ask, momentarily stopping my raging because I am actually curious.

"People that would remove us by force and cause a scene that you really don't wanna cause," says Carmela. "Trust me on that one."

"Who is this Mrs. Nyles, anyways?" asks Mike. "Has anyone actually seen her, Carmi? Could we ask her for help to get in? I mean, she knows that you know Chloe, right?"