The soft click of the exam room door latch echoed through the small space as Sylvia left the building.

Dr.

Orla Owens pushed open the heavy wooden door of Exam Room 4, carrying a thick plastic clipboard with June’s lab results clipped to the front.

She didn’t comment on the empty spot where Sylvia had been standing moments earlier, though her sharp eyes passed over the empty chair and the abandoned paper cup on the side table.

“The lab just called down with June’s blood panel and urine culture,” Dr.

Owens said, stepping over to the stainless steel sink to wash her hands with medical foam.