The ER discharge desk was lit by cold overhead lights that made the vinyl floor look stark and bright in the early morning hour.

A clerk behind the glass window handed a blue paper folder across the counter.

“These are the discharge papers, home care instructions, and the prescription for her oral antibiotic,” the clerk said.

Ethan stepped up to the counter and took the blue folder in both hands.

He opened it immediately, standing beneath the bright lights to read through every printed line on the care sheet.

“The prescription needs to be filled immediately,” Ethan said, reading the bold text on the summary page.