“I have papers,” she said.

“Where?”

She pointed at the folder.

The top signature line was blank.

Beneath the proposed waiver sat a page describing temporary family placement.

It included Leo’s identifying information and an assertion that I had appeared before a notary.

A hospital routing mark had been added after someone asked staff about the paperwork.

A routing mark was not approval, but to an exhausted person glancing at the page, it could look official.