What do you do when the patient doesn’t need you?

Today I sat with a man in the pre-op room, his hands folded like he was praying, but he wasn’t. He just… stopped. The monitor beeped its usual rhythm. I didn’t adjust anything. Didn’t say anything. Just waited. After three minutes, he smiled and said, ‘I forgot how quiet it gets.’ I didn’t fix that. I let it be.