the board friend who leap-frogged the list
he was now a personal friend of the sober Pat M.’s and sat honorarily on Ennet House’s Board of Directors, so that his call to Pat’s home on Saturday night had gotten Joelle into the House on the spot
Context
The institution's informal admission mechanics caught around Joelle's entry: the E.R. physician who once treated Pat Montesian's own alcoholic stroke, now sober-Pat's friend and honorary Board member, phones her at home and vaults Joelle past dozens of waiting-list names into residential treatment overnight. And the newest residents' rule — never out of the Staffer's sight — the House's protective grip on the just-arrived.