Keep You Safe

by Melissa Hill

  Dr. Barrett’s brow furrowed. It was apparent that he was trying to figure out Nevin’s angle here. Slightly shaking his head, he said, “It was primarily Mrs. Cooper who was in attendance. Mr. Cooper works full-time. Although I do know, based on a conversation with Mrs. Cooper, that her husband did take some time off from work in the early days of Clara’s illness.”

  “As any good father would,” Nevin commented. “Doctor, did either of Clara’s parents at this point express any concern about how this situation with their daughter impacted their day-to-day life?”

  Dr. Barrett squinted his eyes, trying to comprehend what the barrister was getting at. “I don’t know what you mean. Of course they were concerned. What parent wouldn’t be?”

  Nevin held up his hands. “Sure, sorry, let me clarify. Yes, the Coopers were concerned, but what negative repercussions did they themselves experience because of Clara’s sickness? If any.”

  Sitting back farther in his chair, Dr. Barrett considered this question carefully. “Well, of course, Mrs. Cooper experienced considerable fallout with her blog or her website or whatever it is that she does online, because of the publicity surrounding this issue. But I can’t comment about what goes on in their home, I don’t live there. So I can only go on what I have observed.”

  “Correct, Doctor. And pertaining to what you observed at the time, was there any immediate change in the Coopers’ lifestyle following Clara’s sickness? Perhaps the cost of medical bills, loss of income...?”

  Declan frowned a little. He himself wasn’t sure what Nevin was hoping to achieve through this line of questioning, unless their barrister was purposely trying to paint the Coopers as having gotten on with their lives unscathed, while Kate’s present and future had been changed—extraordinarily in lieu of their negligence. Which was fine by him.

  The doctor sighed, but raised a hand to his chin, as if calling upon the recesses of his brain to provide an answer to the question. “To be honest, I don’t believe there were many pertinent issues created from Clara being sick.” He shook his head ruefully. “Possibly some short-term problems like used-up holiday-leave entitlements, things like that.”

  “What do you mean by that exactly?”

  Dr. Barrett shrugged and allowed his shoulders to droop ever so slightly. “It was just an offhand comment that Mrs. Cooper made at the time. She mentioned that Mr. Cooper had used up annual leave time by staying home while Clara was sick and that he needed to make it back up if they were to go on holiday this year.”

  Across the way, Declan heard Tom Cooper elicit what could only be described as a hiss, and clearly Dr. Barrett had heard it, too. He realized too late that he had said too much, and there was no way to take the insinuation back.

  Though this clearly inspired Nevin to pounce, as he worked to discover more.

  “I see. And did Mrs. Cooper know the status of Rosie O’Hara’s condition at this time?”

  The doctor looked over at the defense table with tired eyes. He seemed eager to get rid of his next words—apparently he understood that he had already dug a pretty deep hole. “Yes. By then we knew that Rosie O’Hara had been admitted to the hospital. For what it’s worth, please let the record show that I advised Madeleine that such a comment was in bad taste and she agreed.”

  A low hush enveloped the room then. Looking then at Kate, Declan saw her face harden as she understood the gravity of what had been said, and he saw fresh anger blossoming on her face as she looked at Madeleine across the aisle.

  The other woman stared straight ahead, unblinking.

  And Declan realized that even the judge wore a look of distaste as he considered the callousness of what Dr. Barrett had just relayed about his long-standing friends the Coopers.

  “Thank you, Dr. Barrett, no further questions.”

  38

  Madeleine could barely contain her frustration, hurt and, most of all, embarrassment.

  Michael McGuinness hadn’t been able to rescue much in his short cross-examination of Frank Barrett, and if the judge hadn’t adjourned for the day when he did, she was pretty sure that she would have walked out of the room in mortification. As it was, as soon as he announced that today’s session had ended, she grabbed both of her children’s hands and, with as much decorum as she could muster given how she was feeling just then, ushered them outside to the hallway, leaving her husband and legal team following in her wake.

  She couldn’t even hazard a glance in Kate’s direction. She just couldn’t. Nor could she allow herself to look at any of the journalists or even members of the public present. She was almost certain Gemma Moore was among them but even if her nemesis wasn’t, Madeleine knew that all she would get was more judgment, scorn and ridicule. It was a lot to bear—and while she’d tried her utmost to prepare herself for the fresh onslaught the trial would bring, and had already had lots of practice in trying to save face, she still couldn’t help but let it get to her.

  However, if Madeleine thought that she would find any amount of solace outside the building, she was wrong. The moment she exited out onto the street, she and the kids were bombarded on all sides. The sheer number of media and people clamoring to get a piece of them was beyond overwhelming, and she felt Jake and Clara both move closer to her, clinging frightened to her hand or the skirt of her conservative navy blue suit.

  Feeling a growing sense of panic, Madeleine turned to look for Tom. Thankfully, her husband was right behind them ready to help, and he put an arm around her shoulders and tried to lead his family through the throng of humanity to the car Townsend had arranged for them out front. From behind, she heard their solicitor shouting into the waiting microphones.

  “No comment. We have nothing to say. No comment.”

  But then Madeleine was taken even further by surprise as the veritable mob around them began to shout hostilities.

  “Not only irresponsible but callous and selfish, too!” screamed a woman with wild blue eyes. She held up a sign that said Coopers = Criminals. Lock them up now and throw away the key.

  Another man yelled, “Mad Mum really is mental. Hey, Tom, take your head out of your ass, idiot!”

  The taunts and the jeers went on—getting louder and louder with each passing step.

  Clara started to whimper. “Mama, what’s going on? Why do they all hate us?”

  Madeleine pulled her daughter close and at once felt relief when she finally spotted the car pull up to the curb. “It’s OK, honey. Just cover your ears. No one hates you. Your dad and I won’t let anything happen to you. Just ignore them.”

  Finally, the group burst free from the crowd and Tom hustled his family into the car. Seconds later, Matt Townsend crawled in after them. The moment the door was closed and the car pulled away, Madeleine brushed back her sweaty hair and exploded. She hated to have such an outburst in front of the kids, but what she had to say couldn’t wait another second.

  “That’s it, Clara and Jake are not going back in there,” she stormed to Matt. “No child should be exposed to that.”

  Beside her, Clara sat openly crying into her mother’s sleeve and Jake appeared stricken. His face was pale as a sheet and his jaw slack, his shock and distress palpable.

  “It’s OK, guys,” Madeleine cooed, trying to lower her voice, pulling both children closer to her and kissing the tops of their heads. Then she returned a laser focus onto their solicitor. “I mean it. I’m not using them as pawns. And there is no way I’m going to expose them to that kind of insanity every day. Did you hear what some of those people were saying? And do you also think it’s right that they hear the character assassinations that will be going on in that courtroom? This is only day one—and already it’s nasty.”

  She thought back to the picture that had been painted of them—of her—thus far by a family friend, no less. Regardless of how embarrassed she had felt, in hindsight,
she was also sick about the things she had said to Frank Barrett. Had she really been that worried about not being able to take a holiday last year? How could she have been so vapid and shallow? And while it felt like a betrayal on the GP’s behalf, Madeleine understood that he had been required to answer the questions posed to him.

  Then there was Kate. Madeleine hadn’t been brave enough to look in her direction or face her. But still she could feel Kate’s gaze on her at the end of Barrett’s testimony, one of blatant loathing and distaste. Yet, hadn’t she deserved it?

  “Mama, why were all of those people yelling at us?” Clara asked, her voice thick with tears.

  She stroked her daughter’s head. “They are just angry, sweetheart. That’s all. None of that stuff they were saying is true. And you don’t have to hear it ever again.”

  “Madeleine,” Matt soothed, “if you would just calm down for a second...”

  Her eyes growing wide, she shot daggers in her solicitor’s direction. “Don’t even say it. I mean it, Jake and Clara are not going back there. So you better try and find a way to fight this without parading my kids around in front of an angry mob. I can take it, Tom can take it and we’ll do what we have to do. But my kids are off-limits, OK?” Suddenly, Madeleine realized that the one person who should also be speaking up and agreeing with her remained completely silent. “Tom, have you nothing to say? Last time I checked these are your kids, too. Or are you going to say this is yet another of my bad decisions?”

  Tom, who had been looking out the window, apparently deep in thought, turned to face his wife. He took in the appearance of both of his children and seemed to be weighing the pros and cons of both sides of the argument. Finally, sitting forward and running a hand through his hair, he looked pleadingly at Madeleine.

  “I do think they’re tougher than you think,” he said quietly. But then, as his wife’s eyes filled with anger and she opened her mouth to unleash her thoughts once again, he put his hands up. “But, Matt, she’s right. We shouldn’t have the kids there.” He put a comforting hand on Madeleine’s leg. “I suppose I just didn’t realize it would all be so...toxic.”

  39

  I was already seated at the plaintiff’s table when the Coopers walked in the next morning. Compared to how she had left yesterday afternoon—visibly suffering a wide range of emotions—today, Madeleine had her chin raised high and she carried herself like a queen. She wore an expensively tailored dark suit and had a pink scarf artfully tied around her neck, expertly accessorizing it. However, a couple of accessories she’d sported the day before were now conspicuously absent: her children.

  I glanced at Declan, who was deep in dialogue with Patrick Nevin. Rosie’s pediatrician, Dr. Ryan, was scheduled to go on the stand first thing this morning and I knew that Declan wanted to make sure Nevin was adequately prepared to guide her.

  He had confessed to me previously that while she was an obviously talented physician, she had not presented well in her preparation for trial. Declan was intent on making sure she came across comfortable and secure in the witness stand—he didn’t want any medical doubt to be introduced this time around.

  “Looks like Jake and Clara stayed at home today. I’m betting that isn’t a coincidence,” Alison whispered. “I wonder if it was Madeleine who put her foot down. There is no way any mother would like having her kids listen to this stuff,” she muttered, turning back to me.

  But unwilling to be drawn, I simply raised my eyebrows and sat back in my chair, thinking back on what had gone down in the courtroom yesterday. It hadn’t been pretty. In fact, it had been downright upsetting. Worried about losing out on a holiday...

  And, if anything, it had only escalated interest in the trial and added even more fuel to the media fire.

  “Dr. Ryan is here,” Alison said, turning back in her seat. “She looks good, Kate. She seems calm.”

  Shifting a bit in my own seat so I could look behind me, I waved a small hello to Dr. Ryan at the same moment the bailiff asked that we all rise. The judge was entering, and court was starting.

  Patrick Nevin wasted no time calling Dr. Ryan to the stand. I was happy to see that Rosie’s doctor did indeed look poised and confident. The nervousness she had apparently shown in preparation was gone, and the barrister artfully led her through a series of questions about my daughter’s health, what she was facing currently, as well as her ongoing prognosis.

  Dr. Ryan outlined in stark detail the very serious side effects of the measles virus Rosie had suffered and how encephalitis was essentially an acute inflammation of her brain directly resulting from the infection.

  “The brain becomes inflamed as a result of the body’s attempt to fight the virus. In Rosie’s case this was particularly severe, as her brain suffered repeat convulsions. And when the anticonvulsant drugs we administered did not work, we needed to medically induce a coma so as to essentially give her brain a rest from the seizures. However, throughout the course of those seizures, Rosie suffered hypoxia, a temporary loss of oxygen to her brain,” the doctor continued. “The prognosis for such an occurrence depends on the duration of the episode and, unfortunately in Rosie’s case, the oxygen loss was prolonged. Though, thankfully,” she added, glancing encouragingly toward me, “the resulting damage to the brain was not irreversible. What all this meant for Rosie was that she basically needed to relearn and regain many of her day-to-day physical abilities—such as using her limbs—but retained much of her neurological faculties.

  “She continues to receive physical and occupational therapy both at the hospital and at home, and while her prognosis is good from a medical point of view, as you can imagine, her life, and that of her family, has been changed utterly.”

  While it was unsettling to hear my Rosie’s medical history and the injuries she’d sustained painted in such blunt and bleak terms, I knew that the judge needed to hear all this from the horse’s mouth. I thought of the innocent little girl who was currently at home under the watchful eye of her nurse and wondered if life would ever be the same again. There was no point in sugarcoating the truth—this was our new reality.

  Once Nevin concluded his questioning, he gave up the floor to opposing counsel.

  It was their turn to cross-examine Rosie’s doctor. And, as expected, Michael McGuinness did not wait to introduce the doubt re transmission of the virus that Dr. Barrett had hinted upon the day before. He brought it out front and center, and even while I cringed inwardly, I encouraged myself to get used to it.

  “Now, Dr. Ryan,” stated McGuinness, “let’s talk about the timeline for when each little girl got sick. Would you agree that Rosie O’Hara might well have been the first to contract the disease, even if we can all agree that it was Clara Cooper who presented first?”

  Dr. Ryan paused. She had her game face on. “I cannot comment on Clara Cooper. I’m not her attending physician nor am I familiar with any of her medical records.”

  McGuinness raised his hands apologetically. “Of course, I understand. I was simply asking your opinion in that regard, that it’s quite possible Rosie O’Hara could have been the one to contract measles first?”

  Nevin jumped to attention. “Objection. Speculation.”

  “Sustained,” said the judge automatically.

  Shrugging ever so slightly, the defense barrister was quiet for a moment as he looked to rephrase his question.

  “Dr. Ryan, in your expert opinion, is it possible in general terms to trace the course of a disease such as measles backward? Possible to trace it back to a ‘patient zero,’ so to speak.”

  Shifting in her chair, Dr. Ryan considered the question. Finally, she answered. “I think the question is a bit simplistic. And let me explain why. Yes, at its most basic level, with a disease like measles, it would of course be possible in some instances to trace it back to patient zero. In large-scale epidemics this might be the case
. For instance, there was a widespread outbreak in the USA a couple of years back that was said to originate in California. The epidemic spread to almost two hundred cases in eighteen different states. Yet US health officials couldn’t pinpoint the exact origin of the outbreak, even with those large numbers. When the CDC got involved, I believe they were able to match the strain of that virus to one that initially started in the Philippines—it had the same fingerprint, so to speak. However, it was not possible to determine with whom that outbreak started, and a patient zero was never identified.” The doctor paused for a moment and then continued.

  “On the flipside of that, there was another situation, also involving the Philippines. A couple of US missionaries had gone there and this was linked to one of the largest measles outbreaks in decades. The disease was localized in Ohio, among the Amish community in which childhood immunization is uncommon. Ultimately, it could be determined that members of the missionary group who had contracted this in the Philippines returned to the US. So investigators could determine exactly who brought the disease back.

  “I mention these two cases simply because I want you to understand that the scope of an outbreak matters most in determining its origin. The mere fact that there wasn’t a larger measles outbreak in this area at the time Rosie and Clara contracted the disease makes it nigh on impossible to determine who the primary carrier could be. But Clara had just returned from the US, whereupon a smaller-scale outbreak had occurred, so it is reasonable to suspect, as an unvaccinated child, she picked it up while there.”

  The barrister didn’t look at all pleased with this answer, but he pressed on.

  “But what if it could be determined?” he asked and I felt myself staring so hard at the back of his head it was as if I wanted to open up his skull and read his thoughts. Was he aware of some other point of origin, other than the Florida one?

  Dr. Ryan shrugged. “I can’t see how. This outbreak wasn’t a blip on the HSE’s radar—in fact with only two patients involved, technically it’s not even an outbreak. And it wouldn’t have been at all, save for this court case. This involves two little girls, Clara and Rosie, attending the same school. To my knowledge, no one else at the school or any other person in the area was infected thereafter.”