Chapter 5 - The Drawer Chloe Looked Toward Held an Intake Packet
I remembered where Chloe’s eyes went after I asked if she had anything else to tell me.
The kitchen drawer.
I returned to the house with my attorney the next morning.
Inside were ordinary household papers.
School notices.
Coupons.
Receipts.
Then a thick packet from Brookfield Senior Living.
Not a brochure.
An intake application.
My mother’s name was already typed across the top.
Eleanor Bennett.
Proposed admission date:
Two weeks away.
Primary reason:
Progressive self-neglect, nutritional refusal, household safety concerns, possible cognitive impairment.
I read the line three times.
There was more.
Under family concerns:
Increasingly oppositional toward primary household caregiver.
Primary household caregiver:
Chloe Bennett.
Then I saw the signature page.
My name had been typed beneath:
David Bennett — son and responsible family contact.
Unsigned.
At least she had not forged my signature.
But she had already submitted preliminary medical records and scheduled an assessment.
Without telling me.
The accompanying email from Chloe to the facility coordinator said:
David is emotionally resistant because he feels guilty. I’m preparing him for the reality that his mother cannot remain here much longer.
Reality.
May you like
She had been manufacturing that reality one meal at a time.
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