THE CHART

Rachel Adler did everything right. She read the reviews. She toured in daylight. She chose the memory-care facility with the 4.5 stars and the lobby that smelled like eucalyptus, and she signed the papers, and she drove home believing her mother was safe.

Then she visited at night.

At 1 AM the hallway smells like urine. One aide covers twenty-six patients. Call lights blink in the dark and no one comes. Her mother’s water pitcher is bone dry, and the chart says she drank. The chart says she rested. The chart says she was comfortable.

Her mother says: I asked but nobody came.

For readers of Jodi Picoult, Lisa Genova, and Lisa Scottoline.