“Will he need drops on top of the oral antibiotic?” I asked.

“Yes,” Doctor Miller said.

“Four drops every eight hours for ten days.”

He went back to his desk and opened the state medical board reporting portal on his computer.

“I’m filing a formal clinical chart note,” Doctor Miller said.

“What will the note say?” I asked.

“It records that the father withheld prescribed fever medication on December twenty-fourth despite clear medical instructions,” Doctor Miller said.

Doctor Miller picked up his black pen and began writing in quick, clipped strokes across the official patient log.