When charlie goes back to see his mother...

From the text:

"Charlie!" She said it the same way my mother had, gasping. And she looked the way my mother used to look-thin, sharp features, birdlike, pretty. "Charlie, My God, what a shock. You might have gotten in touch and warned me. You should have called. I don't know what to say.. " She looked at my mother, sitting on the floor near the sink. "Is she all right? You didn't shock her or

anything... "