[INTRO — instrumental, stomping upright bass, distant sax] [VERSE 1 — agitated, hushed] Three A.M., the chairs are bolted to the floor (why) Like somebody might steal this waiting, this war Of clocks — mine says my son's behind door four Fever spiked at midnight, now we pace the tile A woman with a wrist wrapped in a kitchen towel A man in work boots holding his own elbow Nobody's got a name here, just a hurt and a number And a phone going dim and a kid they'd die for, under The fluorescent hum — we don't talk at first Then the towel woman offers me her water — first Kindness of the night — and it opens up the room Work boots says his daughter's having her baby too soon And suddenly we're three — three little fires in the cold Trading stories in whispers so the fear don't get told [VERSE 2 — whisper cracking up to yell] The towel woman's husband's getting stitched from a fall She laughs about it — that's how she climbs the wall Says fifty years married, he still climbs ladders Says men don't grow up, they just get sadder And slower — then the nurse calls work boots' name And he stands up like a soldier, and we cheer him like a game Quietly — fist up — go on, brother, go And he turns at the door and says thank you — he needed to know That somebody heard it — then it's two of us left And she teaches me the trick of the waiting room breath In for four, hold for four — her husband taught her that In the Navy — in a storm — and she offers me her hat For my kid — it's warm — it's knitted, it's green Door four opens — he's fine — and the whole in-between Lets go of my chest — I turn around to tell her But she's already waving — already the well-wisher [BRIDGE — bass only, voice bare] Some rooms hold you when the house can't Some strangers love you for exactly one night I never got her name — I got her hat My son wore it home in the morning light [HOOK — cracked, half-yelled] Waiting room, waiting room (hold on) Nobody here but people holding on Waiting room, waiting room (hold on) Strangers at three A.M. carrying the same dawn (waiting room) [HOOK — cracked, half-yelled] Waiting room, waiting room (hold on) Nobody here but people holding on Waiting room, waiting room (hold on) Strangers at three A.M. carrying the same dawn (waiting room) [OUTRO — sax note fades over brushes] (waiting room...) He wore the green hat home In for four, hold for four
