Great chapter. Will be interesting to hear what Moster has to say about the mad woman next door - though we already had hints she was going to be an issue. As for grandmother...... at times you can love someone, but still need to cut them off and reduce or eliminate contact with them.
Neighbor lady will be a problem. People like that are never happy running only their own lives (though for most of them, you could probably just end that sentence after "happy").
Loved this chapter. Think you nailed the interaction with the social worker. Any decent one who cared about their job would have done what she did and checked both of them out before the meeting.
Barbury Castle circle from 2008 was a beautiful thing, regardless of it's origin. Very complex mathematics encoded in it, as well as being visually pleasing.
Very sad, but touching. The shell of the body can be kept alive for quite some time, but one the brain is gone... that which makes a person a person is also gone.
A bit pushy - but the only one in the story so far (apart from the nurse) who has paid any attention to anything he's said. Ending was sweet, and romantic.
Rule #1 of emergencies: Don't panic! You can freak out later once you're out of danger.
However, if you keep your head about you when all those around you are loosing theirs - perhaps you don't understand the situation.
Part towards the end of the chapter about Andrew's concern over Cody - and fear's that he would misunderstand why he drew the portrait - brought tears to my eyes.
@ Bill W - My friend who made that statement had the opposite view in mind, and I was actually thinking of the bully. A bit (ok, more than 'a bit') cynical, but his sentiment was that if they served no other constructive purpose in this life, people like the bully served to show others what can happen to you when you follow the wrong path.