At the next intersection, she turned off the main road onto a side road leading to the clinic. Lauren turned onto the street and passed a dentist’s office, a laundry service, a real estate office, and the clinic. She parked in the gravel lot and shut off the car.
“I don’t want to do this,” Jeffrey said when Lauren opened her car door. This scene had played out so many times she knew it by heart. When he was five years old, she had to carry him in while he was screaming. When he got a little older, she had to begin to take away privileges until he slammed into the office in a rage. It took the doctor an hour to calm him down and get him to talk.
She braced herself to see what he would do today. He stared forward for a moment and then said, “I’m not going to throw a fit. Grandma and Grandp
