8
A few days later, Dane bumped the swinging door that led to the break room with his shoulder. He’d had a busy morning at his family practice between ear infections, a broken arm, and a little boy whose curiosity got the best of him when he encountered a porcupine in the woods. The porcupine, a creature rather inclined to avoid confrontation, had scurried away, but the little boy followed it. For his trouble, the boy only came away with a few quills in his arm, but he was wailing loudly enough, he terrified his mother. Dane filled a cup of coffee and headed straight for his office. After flying through paperwork to get charts up to date in the electronic records system, his phone buzzed. Seeing Chloe’s number, he answered immediately.
“Hey there,” he said.
“So what time did you say we
