“But of course it is! You, my friend—possibly the only remaining friend I have left—are going to stand up in court and tell people that I purposely sent Clara to school knowing she was ill. We already know that it doesn’t seem to matter whether I meant any malice or not; the very idea that I knew she was sick seems reason enough to make me a monster. Why, then, would you add fuel to the fire?”
There were tears in Lucy’s eyes now. “I don’t have a choice, sweetheart. I saw Rosie yesterday and it almost broke my heart. She’s not...good.”
Madeleine collapsed into the seat across from her, stunned. She honestly didn’t think things could get any worse and suddenly they had and then some. “How bad is it? Is she still in the hospital? Will she ever be OK again?”
“She’s due to start rehab soon and they’re not yet sure when she’ll be ready to go home. But it’ll be a long road for her, that muchisfor sure.” Lucy sniffed. Then she reached for Madeleine’s hand across the table. “Look, for what it’s worth, I know Kate was in two minds all along about proceeding with the case. But now, with this, I realize she doesn’t have a choice. And she needs me.”
“Needs you to prove that I’m at fault. That I caused all this.” Madeleine’s brain swam with the horror of it all. To think that she could be held responsible for causing serious brain damage to a little girl. It didn’t matter that it was indirect or otherwise. This was the reality. Kate O’Hara’s reality was of course a million times worse, but that didn’t stop Madeleine from feeling nauseous about it, all the same.
“I was wondering...” Lucy began then and, at the tone of her voice, Madeleine turned her attention back to her friend, who sounded like she had something else on her mind. “I was wondering if...well, this is hard to say and please don’t take it the wrong way, but is there any possibility at all of you and Tom maybe agreeing to settle all this? Before it gets to court, I mean.”
Madeleine thought of her husband and how angry all of this had made him. How he’d vowed to protect his rights, would fight to the death to defend their family’s choices. There was no way Tom would back down from any of this.
Of course, Madeleine would do so in a heartbeat, especially with what had happened to Rosie in the aftermath, but Tom? No way.
By now, it had well and truly become personal. He’d been apoplectic from day one at the very idea of Kate using their anti-vaccination stance to accuse Clara of infecting Rosie, and since the public began to pile on, too, and on Madeleine personally, his outrage seemed to grow more with each passing day. For Tom, it was a direct attack on not just their personal liberty but their family, and her husband would defend both to the ends of the earth.
She could ask again but...
“I seriously doubt it, Lucy,” she told her friend despondently. “Tom’s already so furious with Kate and with the media for piling on over the vaccination thing. As far as he’s concerned, we haven’t broken any laws and have no case to answer.”
Though Madeleine wondered, now given that Lucy had agreed to provide Kate with the necessary testimony to support her supposed negligence, did those words still hold true?
35
I sat by Rosie’s bed at the hospital, a lot of thoughts going through my head, the majority of them confusing. But what else was new?
The other day’s encounter with Madeleine was still on my mind. I knew I should have kept my mouth shut and not tried to speak with her, but what really bothered me was what had happened with Declan that same day.
OK, I know that nothingdidhappen, not technically speaking. But it still felt like some kind of line had been crossed when he made me lunch. There was no denying we’d become closer because of the case, and I supposed by nature of the fact that he had gone through everything with me when Rosie woke up at the hospital, but on that particular day—especially when he hugged me—it felt as if there was more to it.
Now, sitting next to Rosie, holding her little hand that fit limply in mine, I tried to wrap my head around everything. I knew I would have to see him again, and soon.
Should I just pretend like nothing had happened? Or maybe I should clear the air? Thinking of the delicious pasta dish he’d made, my stomach gurgled urgently and I realized I was ravenous, having only had enough time to grab a banana before heading off for this morning’s consultation in the hospital with Rosie’s physical therapist.
I looked at my watch. It was still early enough, almost eleven o’clock, and the hospital café should still be serving breakfast. I’d be here all day, so I should go down and grab a bite. I’d be no good to Rosie when she came home if I ended up ill myself.
“Hey, hon,” I said quietly to my daughter. “Just going to grab a quick bite, OK? I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
She smiled, her green eyes twinkling in that achingly familiar way, and made an attempt to mumble my name as I kissed her on the forehead.
As I made my way downstairs to the café, I realized my feet were on autopilot. I had quite literally walked this hallway thousands of times, but since my little girl had shown signs of improvement there was no doubt my footsteps felt a little lighter.
Making my way down to the ground floor, I said hello to some staff faces I’d come to know throughout the endless days and hours I’d spent here. I entered the dining area and found myself relatively alone, and it took me no time to order a bowl of cereal and a bagel with jam. I was craving carbs at that point and wanted the immediate burst of energy they would provide.
As I paid for my order, I also grabbed a newspaper and asked the lady at the register to charge me for that, as well.
Settling at an empty table near a bank of windows, I took a bite of my bagel, opened my copy of theDaily Recordand started leafing through the sections. In the last while, I’d barely kept up with what was happening in the world, but now that Rosie was out of immediate danger, I felt like I should make some sort of an effort to keep up.
But all too soon something caught my eye—a headline.
Redefining Legal Privilege?
There was something about the words that made my stomach feel uneasy. I grabbed the paper and unfolded it so I could see the picture that sat just under the article’s title. And then I did a double take. No, actually, a triple take. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
And I didn’t think I wanted to, either.
It was a photograph of Declan and me from the other day, locked in an embrace outside my car. A feeling of utter violation—not to mention embarrassment—rushed through me. I quickly pulled my eyes from the story and looked around at the cafeteria, sure people were staring at me.
