My brother rubbed both hands over his face.
My mother stared at the double doors.
The people who had laughed beside the patio table kept their voices low.
Then the doors opened.
The chief of the emergency department stepped into the waiting room holding a chart.
He glanced toward my family first, clearly searching for Colton’s parents.
Then he noticed me.
He stopped walking.
“Doctor?”
Every person in the waiting room turned toward me.
The chief looked from my wet clothes to the scrapes on my knees and then back to my face.
His expression shifted into confusion.
“Why are you sitting out here?”
My brother slowly raised his head.
My mother’s fingers tightened around the strap of her purse.
The neighbors stared at me as though the woman from the lake had suddenly become someone else.
Then the chief looked from me to my mother and brother—and what he said next changed the mood of the entire room.
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