while we were with her, except for the fall down the stairs, and that was our fault, since we didn’t put up a gate fast enough.” He shared the blame with Zoe to be kind, and not out her to the pediatrician they both liked. Cathy liked them too. She could tell they were devoted parents, and she had no questions in her mind about abuse.
“She’ll grow out of this stage,” Cathy assured him and he nodded. He felt more peaceful about it in the cab on the way home. He played with Jaime until Zoe arrived from work and asked how the shot went, and Austin said it was fine. He didn’t mention his conversation with Cathy but it rang in his ears a week later, when Zoe gave Jaime a bath, turned her back for an instant to reach for the shampoo, and Jaime slipped, hit her cheek on the side of the bath, and hurt her wrist, when she landed on it and it twisted. They made yet another trip to the ER where almost everyone recognized her this time. The wrist was only a sprain, and the doctor said she’d have a bruise on her cheek the next day, but none of her injuries were serious, and the pediatrician in the ER called her a slippery little fish. Austin looked embarrassed, and told Zoe they had to be more careful with her. She just got hurt too much.
“Hell, Zoe, the whole ER knows her and us. What does that tell you?”
“That I’m a rotten mother?” she asked him with tears in her eyes, and he felt terrible for mentioning it, but he had to.
“Of course not. But it means we don’t watch her closely enough. She gets injured a lot.”
“I can’t put her on a leash or lock her in her room. She’s still a baby, she falls down a lot. She’s a toddler. Do you think it’s my fault?” She looked crushed as she asked him, and Austin winced. He didn’t want to hurt Zoe’s feelings, but he was worried about Jaime. She was always getting hurt.
Zoe was still crying when they got back to the apartment, and after they put Jaime to bed, he apologized to Zoe and told her he thought she was a wonderful mother. He didn’t know what else to say. The truth was that Jaime was getting injured too often, whatever the reason. His loyalties were divided between his daughter’s safety and his wife’s bruised feelings.
The next day, Jaime had a noticeable black eye from the bathtub incident. It was a harsh reminder to Austin of what was at stake, Jaime’s well-being, or Zoe’s tender heart. And if it came to a choice between them, Jaime won, hands down.
Chapter 6
Austin was in Washington, D.C., speaking at a convention for child advocacy attorneys and chairing a panel, when Jaime came down with her first serious case of the flu at eighteen months. She had a high fever, an earache, a cold, and was miserable. Zoe was alone with her, and called Cathy Clark at midnight to tell her that Jaime had had a febrile seizure, with a fever of 104.2. The pediatrician wasn’t panicked about it and said it wasn’t unusual, but she told Zoe to bring her into the ER and she would meet her there. She wanted to see her after the seizure.
Zoe bundled Jaime up in a blanket and took her to the hospital in a cab. The fever was already down to 102.1 by the time they got there, Zoe said she’d given her baby aspirin. It wasn’t an excessive fever for a sick child her age. She didn’t have another seizure in the ER, but Cathy decided to admit her for the night so they could observe her in case she had another one, and Zoe could stay at the hospital with her. She texted Fiona and told her she’d let her know when they were coming home. She didn’t text Austin, so as not to worry him. Cathy said Jaime wasn’t in danger, and there was nothing he could do.
Cathy left after they settled Jaime into bed. She was asleep within minutes, as Zoe sat in a chair and watched her, and the nurses made up a bed for her. They were impressed by how attentive she was. She didn’t leave Jaime for an instant. The fever came down during the night without incident, and no further seizures. Zoe reported the whole