Keep You Safe

by Melissa Hill

  This earned a titter from the media gallery and Madeleine flushed despite herself. What, were they laughing at her naivety in attempting to, God forbid, use a natural means of boosting her child’s immune system? Talk about hindsight bias...

  “OK, so Clara showed no sign of further deterioration. Talk us through what happened the following morning.”

  “She woke up, again a little sniffly, but, for the most part, she seemed OK. She refused breakfast, but can be a fussy eater at the best of times, so this didn’t ring any alarm bells.”

  “So, to your mind, there was still no outward reason to keep her home from school?”

  Madeleine paused. “That’s correct. So I made a call. Just like every parent up and down the country would do in a situation like this. I can’t deny that she was a bit off but seemed OK, and I honestly didn’t see any reason to keep her home. And my husband and I already had other commitments, responsibilities that couldn’t be canceled last-minute for something that we both felt was your typical childhood-sniffles situation. And you have to understand that more often than not, kids are troupers—they can be at death’s door one minute and then bounce back the next as if nothing had happened.” Again, she grimaced inside, wishing for Kate’s sake that she’d phrased that a little better. But the room was so quiet when she was speaking, and everyone clearly paying close attention, that she felt she was coming across OK.

  “Yet you still decided to engage your friend Lucy as backup, just in case, did you not?”

  “That’s correct; of course I wasn’t going to head off that morning without a care in the world. And because on that particular morning I would be away, I needed to ensure that someone would be there for Clara just in case she did happen to get worse.”

  Madeleine was very careful this time not to evoke hindsight but it was almost nigh on impossible. If she’d known then what she knew now, obviously things would have been very different...

  “Where were you and how did you feel when the school phoned to let you know Clara had indeed gotten worse?”

  “I was at the Channel 2 studio about to go live. I was upset, naturally, and felt guilty for not being there the one time she needed me. But I also knew she was in good hands with Lucy and, in fairness to Clara, she’s not needy or clingy. Neither of my kids are.”

  “Because, as Mrs. Murphy herself testified just a few days ago, you raised them to be confident, independent—”

  “Objection. Irrelevant and shamelessly misleading!”

  “Sustained. Counsel, you’re on dangerous ground with that nonsense. I won’t tolerate it.”

  “My apologies, Judge. I was merely trying to help illustrate that Mrs. Cooper was acting in accordance with her daughter’s behavior and personality.” He turned back to Madeleine.

  “So, let’s continue. Far from being negligent or willfully irresponsible, you took the necessary steps to ensure your daughter was taken care of should she become ill.”

  “Counsel...” the judge warned, but for her part Madeleine was buoyed by the defense barrister’s bravery. It made the whole thing come across so much more reasonable.

  “Duly noted, Judge, and again my apologies. Mrs. Cooper, tell us what happened afterward when you returned from your work commitment in Dublin?”

  Feeling heartened by how things were going so far, Madeleine continued, her voice becoming more confident. “Lucy was good enough to stay with Clara at my house for the hour or so it took me to get home, and after that I kept her in bed, gave her some more acetaminophen and kept a close eye on her to see how things would develop. Obviously I kept her home from school from thereon in. I began operating under the assumption that it must in fact be chicken pox—after all, it was going around. But then her temperature spiked and I became concerned, though not enough to take her to the doctor or anything. My feeling was that these things had to take their course.”

  “And when did you discover the true nature of Clara’s illness?”

  “It was a few days later. I was tending to Clara at home when I received a call from Lucy. She called to tell me that Rosie O’Hara had gotten sick, too, and I told her that I wasn’t too surprised, especially when chicken pox is so contagious. But then she mentioned that Rosie had already had it a couple of years before. At the same time, I didn’t think that was particularly odd, either; I believe some kids can get different variants of a disease more than once. But Lucy told me that wasn’t the case and urged me to check Clara’s chest for spots. It seemed Rosie’s mum had very quickly recognized her own daughter’s symptoms as measles. She’s a nurse, of course, so she would know.”

  McGuinness considered this information. “And how did you feel then?”

  “Well, I was taken aback. And worried, obviously, as well as annoyed at myself, too, for missing it. It had been some time since I’d come across measles before, though, a good six years previous when Jake was a baby, so it wasn’t foremost in my mind. And I immediately thought about the holiday we’d taken to Florida over Easter, where there’d been news of a small measles outbreak, and wondered if she could have picked it up there or on the flight back, even.” Despite Matt’s, and indeed Tom’s, advice, she thought it best to own up to the idea that Clara was likely the source of the infection, because she felt the alternative was just too damaging.

  “So I immediately pulled my son out of school, too. Even though Jake had already had the disease, he could still be carrying it, and I didn’t want to put other kids at risk.” Her voice was earnest, and Madeleine didn’t think there could be anyone in the courtroom who believed she wasn’t telling the truth.

  “Responsible move,” commented McGuinness, while Madeleine waited for the other side’s barrister to object.

  But Patrick Nevin didn’t, because what was there to object about? She had acted responsibly, based on her knowledge of events at the time.

  Hindsight.

  Michael McGuinness looked at Madeleine thoughtfully. “So you did wonder if Clara might have picked it up in Florida, but how could you know for sure? As previous witnesses already mentioned, it is not easy to locate Patient Zero.” The defense barrister still wasn’t quite willing to give up the proof angle.

  “That is correct, but from what I understand, our time there did coincide with the incubation period for the disease.”

  Nevin stood up. “I object. Speculation. Mrs. Cooper is not a medical professional.” She rolled her eyes inwardly, wondering how she was supposed to win when just then she was effectively playing devil’s advocate for the other side.

  “Sustained,” replied the judge.

  “But, looking at the timeline, it seems a bit of a reach to automatically assume Clara infected Rosie, doesn’t it? Couldn’t it just as easily have been the other way around?”

  “Objection! Speculation!” shouted Nevin.

  “Sustained,” replied the judge. “May I remind you, Counsel, that the source or origin of the infection is not under discussion here, rather the question of whether or not Mrs. Cooper was negligent in sending her daughter to school given the risk her unvaccinated status posed. Please refrain from commenting or alluding to the source.”

  “Apologies, Judge. It won’t happen again.” He turned back to the witness. “Mrs. Cooper... Madeleine, this last year has been tough on your family, hasn’t it?”

  Grimacing, Madeleine shook her head sadly. “It’s not just about my family. I know this hasn’t been easy for Kate O’Hara or Rosie, either. And maybe I can understand how frustrated and out of control all of this must feel—she lost her husband a few years back, and now this terrible situation with her daughter. I also suspect that she’s had some people in her ear, giving her bad advice. But I know all of us could have handled this whole situation better, myself included. When it was evident that both Clara and Rosie were sick, I should have made more of an effort to help Kate—we could have he
lped each other. I know I’m not supposed to talk about hindsight, but there’s no denying that if I could go back to that morning and change things, I would. But, well, all I can say now is that it’s been a trying and scary time for both of us, but we can’t change the past.”

  Finally, she’d had the chance to say this to Kate, to speak directly to her. Madeleine tried to meet the other woman’s gaze as she did so, but Kate kept her eyes fixed on a spot somewhere else in the room, away from the witness stand. She would give anything to be able to read what was in her mind just then. Couldn’t she see that Madeleine had never meant for any of this to happen, had done nothing wrong and was desperately sorry about the outcome?

  “Speaking of moving forward, remind us of the timeline of Clara’s illness and when you became aware that she had measles?” McGuinness went on, swiftly changing the subject and she guessed the barrister was concerned she was being almost too sympathetic to the plaintiff’s position. Time to get back on track.

  “Clara started showing symptoms of...something on Monday evening, and she came home from school Tuesday at lunchtime. It was Friday by the time I actually realized she had measles.”

  The implication was clear. There was no way Madeleine had sent Clara to school knowing she was measles infectious.

  “Thank you very much, Mrs. Cooper,” said the defense barrister. “No further questions.”

  48

  She was good, Declan thought. Likable, even.

  But, of course, this lady had lots of experience in playing to the cameras, hadn’t she? And like any shamed media personality tasked with preserving their reputation, Madeleine Cooper had performed well and played her part to perfection as the sympathetic, reasonable parent who had made quick decisions, while at the same time openly admitting she hadn’t done everything right.

  A stark contrast to the woman who’d issued a counterclaim accusing Kate of slander and defamation.

  Declan couldn’t wait for Nevin to start in their side’s cross-examination, although he also hoped the barrister did not come across as overly aggressive. The media had been dancing gleefully on this woman’s grave for the past year, and he knew everyone, including the judge, had been very eager to hear her side of the story.

  “Mrs. Cooper,” Patrick Nevin began smoothly. “Good afternoon.”

  “Please, call me Madeleine,” she replied, evidently feeling a lot more comfortable.

  “Madeleine, of course,” said the barrister with a smile. “So, Madeleine, you stated previously that as soon as you realized your daughter had contracted measles, you took your son out of Applewood Primary School right away.”

  “Yes, that’s correct. I kept Jake at home as soon as I knew for sure that Clara had the disease.”

  “Despite the fact that Jake had contracted the disease previously?”

  “Yes, but he could still transmit the infection, I knew that. But no other children from the school came down with it, thank goodness.”

  “Thank goodness indeed,” said Nevin carefully. “Now, you also said that, as a parent, you wouldn’t want to put other children at risk.”

  Madeleine nodded in agreement. “Of course. It goes without saying that no parent wants to see a child get sick—no matter if it’s theirs or someone else’s.”

  “Indeed. But, Mrs. Cooper, you are surely aware that you put other children at risk of this every day because of your decision to not vaccinate yours?”

  “Objection!” called out Michael McGuinness. “Argumentative.”

  “Overruled,” said the judge. “Answer the question please, Mrs. Cooper.”

  “I don’t believe so, actually,” answered Madeleine, lifting her chin a little. “That also depends on parental decisions for the child in question.”

  “Such as?”

  “Such as whether that parent decides to vaccinate their own child. Either way, it is none of my business, nor is it up to me to interfere. There is no law against not vaccinating children in Ireland.”

  “I am not looking to discuss other parents’ decisions regarding vaccination as a point of law, or otherwise, but rather the facts,” replied Nevin. “Based on previous testimony of medical professionals in this court, do you or do you not understand the concept of herd immunity, and how in not vaccinating your children, you compromise this and put other—particularly more vulnerable—members of the public at risk?”

  “Mr. Nevin, I believe the same question could be asked of your own client. After all, her daughter is not vaccinated, either.” Declan noticed the irritation in Madeleine’s voice here as she shot a glance in Kate’s direction.

  “But my client is not on the stand, Mrs. Cooper. Please, answer the question.”

  Visibly stiffening, Madeleine rearranged her features carefully.

  “Mrs. Cooper?” Judge Dowling said. “Your response?”

  “My choices as a parent are my choices, and indeed my husband’s,” stated Madeleine crisply. “Just as Ms. O’Hara and her late husband chose not to vaccinate their daughter based on evidence that doing so could impact their child’s health, so, too, did my husband and I. Which is our right. No laws were broken.”

  Nevin seemed to consider the witness as he formulated his next question.

  “Yet isn’t it true, Mrs. Cooper—Madeleine—that you have somewhat of a reputation, even publicly, for being cavalier about not just your own children’s safety, but others’, too?”

  “I’m not sure what you’re referring to,” she answered quickly, but Declan was pretty sure that she knew exactly what was coming. Cue Mad Mum and the litany of damaging articles that so readily painted her as a self-confessed laissez-faire parent.

  “While I have much to draw on, I’m referring in particular to one appearance on the very same TV show that necessitated your absence on the morning of your daughter’s illness,” Nevin went on, “whereby you proclaimed live on the show that ‘Children don’t need to be mollycoddled, they should get scraped and cut up now and again...it helps with their development.’ Are these not your own words, Mrs. Cooper?”

  “They are, but they were uttered in the context of an article I’d written about playgrounds and how parents can sometimes be too overprotective.”

  “And do you still stand by those words today?” Nevin asked.

  She nodded. “In the context in which they were uttered, yes, I do.”

  “So you admit that you are an advocate of leaving children unprotected and left at the whims of—”

  “Objection. Mrs. Cooper has already stated that her words refer to a specific context, not the issue at hand.”

  The judge sighed. “Where are you going with this, Counsel?” he asked.

  “Judge, I am trying to establish a pattern in Mrs. Cooper’s attitude and behavior toward risk, specifically pertaining to children. She appears to have a history of advocating dangerous parenting and an irresponsible attitude to child protection—”

  “That is absolutely not true!” Madeleine cut in, becoming somewhat rattled now. “For goodness’ sake, that article related to one thing and one thing only. Children’s welfare is always a parent’s priority, every minute of the day. We lose sleep over it, we worry and we fret because we are constantly trying to live up to what’s best. Endless so-called ‘rules’ laid down by doctors, health experts, well-meaning strangers or other parents who love to tell us what we’re doing wrong or how our kids should be behaving at that age. And then, just in case that’s not enough, continuous judgment on top of it all! So how can you honestly stand there and tell me that a little bit of leeway once in a while is a bad thing for either a child or a parent?”

  Declan saw how Madeleine now commanded every pair of eyes in the room. It was a stirring speech and she did make some good points, but he got the sense that she was only managing to dig herself in deeper where Nevin was concerne
d.

  “Quite the diatribe, Mrs. Cooper, thank you. However, I believe my point still stands that your decisions as a parent aren’t always in the interests of protecting other children, and this is personified by your approach to the vaccination issue, is it not?”

  Madeleine was stony-faced. “I believe I’ve already explained myself at length in that regard.”

  “Let’s move on. So, in relation to the same vaccination issue, you said earlier that you felt other parents’ decisions in this regard were equally important. Yet isn’t it also true that you immediately took some level of responsibility for Rosie O’Hara’s measles infection—specifically while she was in the hospital?”

  Madeleine wore a neutral expression. “Obviously I felt terrible for what Kate and Rosie were going through. I was very worried and hugely sympathetic—I still am.”

  The barrister nodded at her response. “Of course, but I asked you if you felt responsible.”

  Quickly, Madeleine replied, “It wasn’t that I felt directly responsible... I just felt bad that Clara had gotten over her own illness so well and Rosie didn’t. But it wasn’t anyone’s fault. It just...happened.”

  At this, Nevin seemed to smirk ever so slightly as he motioned to Alison. He looked to the judge. “I would like to submit the following evidence for the court’s consideration, namely a blog post that Mrs. Cooper published for public consumption shortly after Ms. O’Hara issued legal proceedings.” Declan studied Madeleine’s face when a written transcript of the blog was produced. He couldn’t be sure but he thought he spotted a flash of panic in her eyes. “Mrs. Cooper, would you like to read these words as written by you?”

  She looked to Townsend then, as if for guidance, and he seemed to shake his head no. Declan was flabbergasted. Surely he’d prepared his client for this possibility and must have known that their side would have the errant blog post in their arsenal, ready to use at just the right moment? Why else had they been so quick to take it down?

  But maybe they’d been foolish enough to believe they’d done so in the nick of time, before anyone had seen it. Luckily for him, Alison had added herself to the ranks of Mad Mum’s devoted followers the day after Kate agreed to proceed with the case.