The doctor visits the household and measures the son’s temperature at 102 degrees. He then gives the father medicine for his son and tells him that the boy has influenza, part of a mild epidemic of the flu. The doctor confidently declares that the boy will be fine as long as his temperature stays below 104 degrees and he doesn’t contract pneumonia. The doctor explains this diagnosis to the father but not to the boy himself—something that would have prevented the boy from silently fearing his imminent death.