“Her oxygen saturation has stayed at ninety-six for six hours,” he said.

“She can be released into your temporary physical custody under hospital supervision.”

He signed the top page and passed me a copy.

Then he held out a second document.

“This is a certified medical affidavit,” he said.

“It states that Elsie Mercer came in with severe dehydration, an untreated asthma flare, and a temperature of one hundred four point two.

It states she had gone roughly seventy-two hours without fluids.”