Nurse Allen narrowed her eyes. “No, Ms. Fitch. You cannot.”
I was getting ready to plead some more—beg if I had to—but just then Bradley, the hulking guard who always watched over Ami during my visits, rounded the corner.
“Pardon,” he said to the nurse and me. Then, just to Nurse Allen, “Doctor Faulk needs you immediately, ma’am. A patient is coding.”
I held my breath, fearful the patient was Ami and that I was too late. But thankfully, when the nurse asked which room she was needed in, Bradley said, “Four-B.” That wasn’t Ami’s room.
I breathed out a sigh of relief as the nurse rushed off to help the coding patient, watching as she disappeared around the corner. Bradley, still standing next to me, cleared his throat. I looked up at him, and he said, “You’re Maddy, right, Mrs. Hensley’s friend?”
Maybe all was not lost after all.
I turned to the guard and smiled brightly. “Yes, yes I am. For some reason they’re not letting me back today,” I said, feigning ignorance. “Can you tell me how Ami is doing?”
Bradley seemed buy my clueless act. “I’m afraid your friend is not doing well at all. She can’t have visitors today. Someone should have told you that.”
I gave him my best crestfallen expression. “Are you saying I won’t be able to see her today…after driving all the way out here?”
The guard appeared conflicted, but then said, “You can’t tell anyone, but I may be able to get you in to see your friend.”
I brightened. “That’s great. Let’s go.”
I took a step forward, but Bradley blocked my way. “I didn’t say you can see her now.”
Well, this was interesting…
“Then, what are you saying?” I asked in a low voice.
Bradley gestured with his beefy hand for me to follow him down the hallway, away from the nurse’s station. A nurse, not Nurse Allen, had just returned. She gave us a curious glance but mostly ignored us as we walked on by. We traveled down the short hallway, passing a few administrative offices and coming to a stop at the entrance to a small lounge area. “We can talk here,” Bradley said, turning to face me.
The lounge was empty, as were the surrounding corridors. The only noise punctuating the silence was the humming of a coffee machine in the corner. The guard scanned the area—I supposed to make sure we were definitely alone—and then he said, “You seem to care about your friend.”
It sounded more like a question than a statement, so I said, “Yeah, I guess I still do.” And I did, to a point, despite everything. I mean, I certainly didn’t want to see her dead.
The guard nodded as if he had expected me to say something to that effect. “I shouldn’t be telling you this,” he began, “but Mrs. Hensley—Ami—she really is deteriorating. I’ve seen these downward spirals before but never one this fast.” He gave me a somber look. “Maddy, it doesn’t look good.”
“What are you saying?” I replied slowly. “What exactly is wrong with her?”
Bradley shook his head sadly, and I grew somewhat panicked. “Ami looked terrible last week,” I hissed. “Why is she sedated all the time? What kinds of drugs are they giving her in here? How much are they giving her? You must know something; you’re with her all the time.”
I’d bombarded him with a lot of questions, and he appeared a little overwhelmed. I considered mentioning that Ami feared that someone was after her but decided against it. I still wasn’t sure if Bradley was to be trusted.
“Look,” he said, shifting his weight, “I don’t know all the particulars. But even I can see they’re giving her too high of a dosage. It’s all very odd. When she’s not completely out of it, she’s very paranoid…”—he gave me a pointed look—“more so than even before.”
Maybe this guard, who had spent a lot of time with Ami, did know something. So I took a chance. “Bradley, is someone here at Willow Point harming Ami?”
“Uh, I think it’s best if you talk to your friend directly,” he said uneasily.
I glanced around, lowered my voice. “You said you can get me in to see her, but not now. What did you mean by that?”
A doctor walked by and we both quieted. When she was out of sight, Bradley said, “I can help. If you really want to see your friend”—I nodded vigorously—“I can get you in tonight. But it has to be tonight. I have a friend working the guard station; he can wave you through without entering your information. You won’t have to show ID, get a badge, nothing. But once you’re up here, you can’t go to the main door.”
Bradley hesitated, and I said, “Okay, that works for me.”
He continued, “I’m going to have to bring you in a side entrance, out of camera range. Do you know where the employee lot is?”
“Uh, yeah,” I said, frowning.
The employee lot was over on the abandoned west side of the building, the side I hated, even more than this side. A memory of the day that strange guard—with the receding hairline and thin mustache—was staring at me from over on the deserted side came to mind. Ugh, did I really have to meet Bradley over there?
“There are no cameras in that area,” he said, as if anticipating my question. “So park your car in that lot. I’ll meet you over there at about eight.”
I had no choice but to agree. But the west side—really? Great, just great… The abandoned wing of Willow Point was creepy enough in the daytime hours. I sure didn’t fancy spending any time over there after dark. But if this was the only way to see Ami, then I’d do it.
“Okay, I’ll meet you there,” I said at last.
“Eight, no earlier. Got it?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, anxious to just wrap things up. “Eight o’clock tonight in the employee parking lot. Got it. I’ll be there.”
I turned to leave, but Bradley stopped me by
