Mr. Ballin

He'd heard they were all here visiting Dawn, and so he had had one of the nurses send them to one of these hospital family rooms so he could speak to them.

He was hoping that they might be able to shed some light on where Dawn had been and what she might have eaten or drank before she got sick.

Now, Dawn's family was staring at him with anxious expressions on their faces.

barely got out his introduction before they started lobbing questions at him about what was going on and why the news was describing Dawn as some kind of drug addict.

Dr. Jukes just held up his hand to slow them down, and once they were quiet, he explained that at first they had believed this was an overdose because she had all the symptoms for it.

But now, based on how the symptoms had progressed, he knew overdose was very likely not the case here.

Then he told them his theory about the pesticides and said he really needed their help with it.

He asked them to tell him everything they could about Dawn, her habits, her health history, and the people she typically saw.

Dawn's mother said she had spoken to Dawn on the phone the night before all this started.

And she said Dawn seemed fine.

She had even asked to see her young daughter the next day at the big family get-together they were planning.

Aside from that, though, the family said that, you know, Dawn struggled with alcoholism and her mental health, and she didn't always tell them everything.

And so they just didn't know much about Dawn's daily life with Charlie or her friends in Salisbury, although they were pretty sure that she rarely ever went outside of the city.

But what the family primarily wanted to communicate to Dr. Jukes was that Dawn was not just some nobody the way the news had portrayed her.

She was a loving mother and sister and daughter and friend, and she was really trying to do better, and she was doing better.

She didn't want much.

She just wanted a place of her own and a little more stability in her life, and that's the path she was on.

And so they begged him not to give up on her.

Dr. Jukes promised he would not.

But as he left the room, he couldn't help but feel disappointed.