Rachel walked in right behind her, wearing plain jeans and a heavy gray sweater.

She had a small canvas tote bag over one shoulder.

I tightened my grip on the edge of my thin cotton blanket.

Rachel pulled the visitor chair up to the bed and sat down.

She looked at Evelyn and nodded once, ignoring the clipboard entirely.

“I submitted the final background check at the precinct this morning,” Rachel said.

Evelyn flipped to the second page on her clipboard.

“The department expedited the review because of your active medical license,” Evelyn said.