"Your twelve o'clock is here sir. Would you like me to send them in?"
I opened my eyes to see Cathy my receptionist peeking in at me through the doorway. Her petite frame was silhouetted by the bright fluorescent lights buzzing out in the reception area. I met her wide eyed gaze from where I was reclining in my chair. Why on earth did she always look so nervous? I uncrossed my legs and removed my feet from my desk. A loud crack echoed from my back as I straightened from my awkward position.
"Im sorry. Did I wake you?" Cathy asked, a slight tremor to her words.
"No, no Cathy. It's not good for me to be sleeping on the job anyway. Now what were you saying?"
"Your twelve o'clock appointment is here sir. Would you like me to send them in?"
I sighed and looked at the wall. "Yes send them in."
The door creaked open to reveal a young girl. She looked to be about eight, although she walked with a sense of maturity that defied her age. Her curly red hair bounced as she took her seat in one of the chairs surrounding my desk. How odd, I thought to myself. She didn't hesitate or stop to think. All her actions were performed with a sense of self assurance.
The door creaked again as two adults, a man and a woman, entered the room. They both wore long coats and the woman was carrying a purse on her left shoulder. Their expressions were grave as they walked stiffly across the room and took a seat on either side of the young girl. They must be her parents, I thought to myself. I stood from my desk and offered each of them a hand which they shook with little enthusiasm.
"Hello, my name is Doctor Crowe, you must me the Hastings. What brings you to my office today?"
The woman turned to meet my gaze before motioning to the young girl next to her. "Our daughter Aisling has been having some issues at home. We figured it would be best to take care of them right away before they escalated further."
"I see." I said as I pulled my pen and clipboard out from the right side drawer on my desk.
I wrote down the name of the young girl on one of the file papers resting on my clipboard. I also added the date and the time of her appointment as I usually do when documenting my patients.
"So what are these "issues" that she has been having?" I turned to look at the young girl who was staring intently at her mother. She appeared to be a bit confused by her mother's words.
"Well, Aisling has some friends who have been interfering with our lives in rather negative ways." She hesitated before saying "friends" as if debating on whether or not she should use that word. "We need them to leave, but Aisling refuses to let them go."
"Thats not true!" Aisling suddenly burst out. "I said I wanted Larkin to leave, but you said if he left Elizabeth would also have to go! Besides, I can't make them leave anyway."
Aisling's sudden outburst startled me. What on earth were her and her mother talking about? Her mother must have noticed my puzzled expression because she quickly provided an answer to my question.
"Aisling has some imaginary friends. The two we were referring to are the most prominent ones, Elizabeth and Larkin." She said while staring at the floor.
"Well its quite normal for a girl her age to have imaginary friends." I said with a slight laugh. "I recall having a few of my own when I was her age."
"Well yes, we know it's normal for kids to have them," she replied. "and Aisling has always had a rather active imagination, but the issue isn't her having them."
