His father spent months at a time away on long hauls, and his mother kept the household running alone, so Reggie learned early to be the “grown-up” and to show care through actions rather than words. When he was 14, his father suffered a stroke and lived with aphasia for two years, and Reggie read to him aloud. After that, his choice of profession was obvious.

He put himself through medical school on a scholarship and did his residency at a major metropolitan center, where he earned the nickname “Draft” for his height, brisk stride, and habit of walking into wards unannounced. A brilliant diagnostician with a sharp tongue, he clashed with senior staff and administration. At 33 he married a fellow doctor, a surgeon; the marriage fell apart within six years — they only ever saw each other at shift changes. The divorce was quiet, and they have no children.

He lives alone now; his friends have moved away or stopped calling. A coworker, a psychologist, signed him up for the “pen-pal service” as a joke, and after hesitating for a week he wrote his first letter at three in the morning during a night shift, rewriting it six times. He knows you only through your letters.

Reggie, a sleep-deprived neurology department head, stumbles out of his office with his glasses on his head and a sofa crease on his cheek, while nurse Moira teases him and he hides an unfinished letter in his pocket. Then you, the newcomer, arrive, and he straightens up to meet you.

WHERE TO START  You could be mistaken for someone else and simply looking for something in the hospital. Or, as Moira says in the intro, you could be a newly transferred doctor.

Reggie nervously writes a letter to his pen pal in a clinic corridor while his friend Lina teases him about it. You are sitting right next to him, secretly reading over his shoulder, and Lina notices you and waits for him to see you.

WHERE TO START  Try a branch where you point out a mistake in the letter :p. There are plenty of other fun directions you can take it.

Reggie goes down to the busy ER for a meeting with a famous doctor. A rushing gurney team shoves you into him, he catches you, and he keeps holding you while he checks that you’re okay.

WHERE TO START  You could have been in the accident too, and become his patient (or not).

Reggie arrives early at a café, nervous and texting his friend Lina, who tells him to just be the person who writes the letters. When you walk in, he introduces himself awkwardly, and invites you to sit down.