Chapter 10: Discharge
Two days later the fever was gone and the antibiotic course was firmly re-established. Dr. Sterling cleared us for discharge with a written care plan that listed me as the sole decision-maker for all medications and follow-up. The sealed bottle and the formal report remained with the hospital and the agencies already reviewing the case. A temporary protective order restricted my mother-in-law from any unsupervised contact; my husband’s access to the children was limited to supervised windows until the full assessment was complete.
I packed the small hospital bag myself. My daughter carried the teddy bear. My son, finally cool and alert, rested against my chest in the carrier. No one from the waiting area walked us to the exit. The security officer who had kept the earlier boundary simply nodded once as we passed and returned to his post.
