Dr. Patel remained in the exam room doorway, speaking in soothing tones. “Zeke, please calm down. I don’t want to call security, but I will if I need to. Come sit down and let me talk about your options, okay?”

“I’m sorry, doctor,” Zeke’s father began. His voice trembled. “I think he’s been drinking. He seemed subdued when we picked him up, but I didn’t think…”

“Shut up, Dad!”

Zeke’s mother flinched and gripped her husband’s arm.

“What should we do?” Lauren jumped at Emma’s whispered voice in her ear.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him like this,” Lauren said.

A door opened between where Lauren stood and Zeke’s family congregated. Andrew’s head poked out into the hallway. He surveyed the area, his eyes finding Lauren, and then turned in the opposite direction to the other occupants. Lauren heard Jeni’s voice and Andrew replied to her quietly in a firm tone. He stepped fully out of his exam room, closed the door behind him, and stopped in the middle of the linoleum floor.

He stood three feet in front of Lauren, his back to her and his body slightly in front of hers, facing the distraught family. “Is everything okay?”

“Who the fuck are you?” Zeke asked.

“I’m Andrew.” He held out his hand and took a step forward. “I’m just a patient.”

Zeke just looked at him, then swayed to the left, and slumped his shoulder against the wall.

“Zeke, honey…” his mother began.

At the sound of her voice, Zeke’s face crumpled, and in an instant he transformed from a defensive, angry man to a fearful, forlorn son.

The hallway was silent, and it suddenly felt intrusive to be there. Zeke’s father approached him and put an arm around his shoulders. For a moment they looked like a father and child about to head out to the back porch for a long talk about life. “Let’s go, son.”

Zeke allowed his father to lead him toward the waiting room as his mother trailed behind them, sniffing and dabbing at her eyes. She turned and mouthed, I’m sorry before she went through the doorway.

It seemed like everyone in the hallway exhaled at once, like they’d all been holding their breath.

“I apologize for the disturbance, Mr. Bishop,” Dr. Patel said. “My PA will be right in to see you.”

“No problem,” Andrew said. He turned and passed a glance at Lauren before he went back into his room and closed the door.

Emma poked Lauren in the ribs, startling her again. “That’s the hot patient everyone’s been talking about, huh?”

Lauren gaped at her. “After what just happened, that’s what you’re thinking about?”

“Zeke’s not the first patient to show up drunk.” Emma shrugged.