As far as Eli is concerned, Debbie and Bernie are missing the point. Mum is clearly not doing well, and what the women say about Mum seems to support the man on the red telephone’s assessment (that Mum is at risk of hurting or killing herself). Eli believes that all it’ll take to help her is him being able to tell her that things will be fine. Bernie and Debbie, though, imply that Mum’s issues go deeper than that and won’t be an easy fix. It’s hard to tell who’s right, given that the novel is somewhat fantastical—Eli may well save Mum just by seeing her.