And two days after that, an in-person visit, recorded at the patient advocacy and records department.

And one thing more, which the physician pointed out quietly, because it was the thing that removed the last possibility of innocent misunderstanding.

At no point had any cancellation of the follow-up ever been entered by a physician.

No doctor had ever decided the testing was unnecessary.

The order had stood, valid and urgent, the entire time.

Mark had not been told it could wait.

Mark had gone looking, specifically and in person, for someone to tell him it could wait — and when no one would, he had gone home and behaved as though someone had.