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from the fact the kid wasn’t even as tall as Meredith—and she must be about five-seven—the wire-rim glasses he wore did nothing to add maturity to his baby face.
    “Yes. I’m Major O’Hara.”
    “Sorry—Major, sir.”
    Major eased his stance. “No, it’s not a title. It’s just my first name.”
    “Oh.” The kid set his miniature laptop computer on the coffee table and seemed to relax a little. “I’m Nick Sevellier. Let’s sit.”
    Major resumed his place on the couch but leaned forward, elbows on knees again, hands clasped.
    “You’ve seen your mother?”
    “Yeah, I’ve been with her for about an hour. She told me she didn’t take her meds last night. No insult meant, but how long have you been working here?”
    Sevellier’s mouth twisted into a wry smile. “Everyone asks that. I know I look like Doogie Howser, but I really am old enough to be almost finished with my med school internship. I’ve been here since August. I was assigned to your mother’s case a few weeks ago when the other intern rotated out.”
    “And what have you observed?”
    “That she seems to be handling the medications and managing her condition quite well. That’s probably why I panicked last night. I was so sure that no one could go as long as her charts indicated without having an episode.” Sevellier picked up the laptop, slid a stylus out of the side of it, and began tapping things on the screen. “How did she appear to you this morning?”
    “A bit disoriented—some of her thought processes were disjointed. But nothing I haven’t witnessed before.”
    Sevellier typed something into the computer. “You’re her only family?”
    Major nodded. “She was a single mom—a great one.”
    “How old was she when she first started exhibiting symptoms?”
    “I was just a kid—so she was in her late twenties or early thirties.”
    “And she was in and out of the hospital?”
    “Not in the beginning.” Major reclined against the back of the sofa. If Doogie wanted to know the whole history, they might be here awhile. “She had her first real psychotic break when I was in high school. She was committed to Central State Hospital over in Pineville. Since then, she’s been in and out of residential programs, until eight years ago when she finally agreed she needed to move to an assisted-living facility.”
    The kid doctor didn’t look up from the notes he was making. “What precipitated that decision?”
    Major crossed his arms. “She set fire to her condo, and several other residents of the complex were injured. It wasn’t the first fire she’d set.”
    “She was living alone?”
    Here it came. The accusation. How could he have left her alone to fend for herself when he knew how bad off she was? “I was working in New York at the time. She’d been taking her meds and going to therapy regularly. But I moved back immediately afterward. I tried taking care of her myself for several months, but it didn’t work.”
    Sevellier nodded as if gaining new understanding. “I see. She’s come a long way since then.”
    “There is something you should know—and it’s supposed to be in her charts. She is sort of obsessed with John Wayne movies. That was why she had ... why she was such a problem last night. It wasn’t just that she hadn’t taken her meds; it was because she was watching a John Wayne movie. She doesn’t like to be interrupted when she’s watching one of those.”
    “I see.” Sevellier typed some more. “But if she’d taken her meds, it wouldn’t have been a problem?”
    Major bit the inside of his cheek. These guys never really understood her. “Probably not, because she would have been asleep before the movie came on. But I’m telling you, she’s watching one right now. If you want to see how she reacts to having her John Wayne time interrupted, be my guest.”
    “I ... uh ... I don’t think we need to upset her again. I’ve noted it on her chart.” He stood and extended his right