Free A Mother's Trial by Nancy Wright Page A

finish!”
    “Okay. Sorry,” he muttered.
    “Why not fifteen minutes every three hours? That’s what I propose.”
    Dr. Callas hesitated. “All right, Miss Jameson,” she finally said.
    “Now tell me more about these sodium levels,” Miss Jameson said.
    They were trying to tie it in with Tia, Steve realized as he listened to Dr. Callas, and that didn’t make sense. Now they were claiming that Mindy was getting sodium from outside. But when Tia’s sodium levels had been elevated, the doctors had always explained that this was a physiological response; Tia was experiencing too much output of fluid too quickly, causing an increased level of sodium in the blood.
    So what was going on? he wondered. Had they screwed up in Tia’s case? Was this thing with Mindy just an excuse for Tia? Pris kept saying they’d never tie Tia into this, that Tia was a whole different thing. But Steve wasn’t so sure.
    At the end of the meeting, Priscilla and Annie wanted to look in again on Mindy, and as they crossed the hall to the ICU, Steve turned to Dr. Callas.
    “Something I don’t understand here. Are you saying it has to be an additional sodium source and not a natural process? Tia always had high sodiums and you explained it away as a physical reaction to diarrhea. Couldn’t Mindy and Tia have the same thing?”
    Dr. Callas stopped and looked at him squarely.
    “Yes,” she replied. “The two cases are exactly the same.” But what she meant and what he understood were entirely different, and this conversation, much later, was to come back to haunt him.

19
     
    All through the meeting, Evelyn struggled to stay detached. She was outnumbered. It would be easy to give in. It would stop the tears and the shouting and the hysteria.
    But over and over, Evelyn kept reminding herself, we know the chemistry, we know what we know, and we know no matter how loudly they scream and holler, that child was poisoned. Remember your data, Evelyn; keep your head.
    Last night, at midnight, the nurse had recorded a perfectly formed brown stool. The 9:15 A.M. electrolyte readings reported back from the lab had shown a sodium of 138 milliequivalents per liter, a potassium of 5.3, a chloride of 106, and a carbon dioxide of 26. All were completely normal. And Mindy’s appetite had returned. There was no getting around the evidence of the patient’s own body. It was irrefutable proof.
    It had taken Evelyn three tries and lots of scratch paper last night before she had been satisfied with the child abuse form she had filled out. This report was going to the San Rafael police, and to the Marin County Child Protective Services. It involved a family with a certain standing in the community. Both parents were county employees. Evelyn knew she had to be careful with this report. She wanted to be certain that she accused no one, yet she had to make sure that Mindy would be protected. She was proud of the finished product, which ended with the sentence, “The illness is consistent with the addition of a saline cathartic to the child’s intake by some person.” No one could ignore that report.
    But they might not know exactly how to deal with it. It was clear that Miss Jameson, for one, was confused about the implications of what had occurred. After the Quiet Room meeting with the Phillipses, Evelyn had conferred with the social worker alone.
    Didn’t Dr. Callas think that Mindy might go home with a public health nurse in attendance? Miss Jameson had asked.
    “No, it’s not safe,” Evelyn answered.
    “Well, couldn’t Mindy go home with them on some sort of basis? Mrs. Phillips has offered to have someone move in with them to keep an eye on Mindy. The most upsetting thing for her is to have Mindy taken away from her, especially after the loss of Tia,” Miss Jameson persisted.
    Evelyn looked at her in disbelief. “Look, I know you’re trying to help, but I have to disabuse you of the notion that Mindy can go home with Mrs. Phillips on any basis.