"Okay, Mom, how do you feel?"
Nina turned and stared at her, uncertainty in her eyes. "Where are we, Ally? I don't recognize anything."
"This is the institute I told you about last night. Can you remember anything we talked about then?"
"This is the place you were ... Didn't you say there's a doctor here who can do something for my... memory?"
"We're both here now to just talk to him." She turned to the backseat. "Maria, can you get Mom's purse?"
She nodded, then reached hesitantly for the door. She was clearly reluctant to get out.
Ally walked around and opened the door for her mother.
"Okay, Mom, time to stretch your legs."
Ally held her hand and together they headed across the oval brick driveway. Birds were chirping around them and she could smell the scent of the lake, borne up the hill by a fresh wind. Then, through the trees, she saw two women walking up the trail that led down to the lake. They were, she assumed some of the patients.
They both looked to be in their early sixties, but also athletic and nimble. One was wearing Nikes and a pale green pantsuit. The other had on a blue dress and a white cap and Ally realized she must be a nurse. She'd been taking the other woman out for a stroll.