Free Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline

rituals?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œDoes it happen more in the morning or at night?”
    â€œAll the time, no matter what, it’s hard to hide. I drop things, like, to hide it. Disguise it. I don’t go out because it’s too hard to hide. Anytime I’m out, it’s harder.” Max’s eyebrows sloped down miserably, his smile vanishing. “I don’t want to do this crap anymore. I can’t keep this up. It’s always on my mind. I watch the clock, I check my phone and my watch, all the time. I want to be normal, like everybody else.”
    Eric felt it strike a chord. It reminded him of Hannah, and how Caitlin wanted her to be normal. And himself, back when he was in the throes of his anxiety disorder, how much he wanted to be normal. Normal was the simple wish of everyone with a mental illness. Normal was what everyone else, the worried well, took for granted. Eric had been on both sides of that line, so he knew it was an illusion. “Do you think something will happen to you or someone else if you don’t tap and say the colors?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhat would happen if you didn’t?”
    â€œI don’t know, I couldn’t deal, I don’t want to try. I just know I have to.”
    Eric made a note. “Does anyone in your family exhibit any tendencies that way?”
    Max rolled his eyes. “No, my mom is a slob, she never checks anything.”
    â€œPoint of information, it’s a myth that everyone with OCD is neat. For example, hoarders have a form of OCD.” Eric assumed there were issues with Max’s mother, given what he had heard at the hospital, but he didn’t want to change topics.
    â€œOh, okay, but still, there’s no history of it in my family, that I know. My grandmother, she’s great.” Max smiled briefly. “She’s a total character.”
    â€œShe sure is.” Eric smiled back. “Tell me about your relationship to her. It looked like you two were very close.”
    â€œIt’s great, she’s great, you saw. I take care of her. Her eyes are bad, so I get her meals, I make them before I go to work in the morning.” Max’s smile vanished again. “I used to when she ate. Now I get her coffee, but she didn’t have that today, like I said.”
    Eric made another note. “You said you work. What’s your job?”
    â€œI’m an SAT tutor at PerfectScore. I tutor for the math section of the PSAT, SAT, and Achievement tests.” Max smiled, again briefly. “I got perfect SATs.”
    â€œReally?” Eric allowed a note of admiration to creep into his voice, though he remembered that Max’s grandmother had already told him that. “Where do you go to school?”
    â€œPioneer High, I’m a rising senior. I’ll probably be salutatorian, and thank God I’m not valedictorian because I could never make a speech, like, in front of everybody.”
    â€œCongratulations.” Eric wasn’t surprised that Max had above-average intelligence, which squared with the OCD profile, but he needed to know more about Max’s family history. “What about during the school year, do you take care of your grandmother, then, too?”
    â€œSame thing, before I leave, every morning. She couldn’t eat normal food for the past few months because of the cancer, so I had to puree it in the blender.” Max made a hand motion, like a blender whirring. “She can’t swallow anything if it doesn’t have thickener in it, not even water. It comes in a packet.”
    Eric knew that had to be a burden, remembering how hectic mornings could be at home during the school year. Still, he missed those mornings. “And at night, for dinner?”
    â€œI do it then too.”
    â€œWhat about your mom? Does she help?”
    â€œAre you kidding?” Resentment flickered through Max’s eyes. “She drinks. She works off and on, but