The Dark Side - Danielle Steel Page 0,52
chronic ear infections. It’s not dangerous, and the tubes won’t harm her. They’ll take them out eventually or they’ll fall out on their own. But in Jaime’s case, after two episodes, it seems very premature, and unnecessary, to be honest. I’m surprised the ENT was willing to do it.”
“Zoe told him Jaime had had more infections than she could remember. And she told me you suggested it as a preventive measure against future infections.”
“Shit,” she said, reverting to his friend and not just their doctor. “She never told me she was considering it. Probably because she knew I would have discouraged her. Jaime doesn’t need that yet, and maybe never will. It won’t do anything bad to her, but she didn’t need to go through it. And I never encourage general anesthesia unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“That’s what I thought.” Austin was livid and Cathy could hear it.
“I think she overstepped on this one. Can I talk to her about it? I don’t like her using me to convince you of something I knew nothing about.”
“Neither do I. Bluntly put, she lied to me, she used you to convince me to do it. Once she told me you liked the idea, I endorsed it blindly. She lied to all of us, you, me, and the doctor.”
“She didn’t lie to me,” Cathy corrected him, “she just didn’t tell me.”
“Okay, a sin of omission in your case, and of commission in mine,” he conceded.
“You must be very upset,” she said sympathetically. She loved Zoe as a friend, but this wasn’t right, just to get what she wanted. It was cheating.
“Furious is more like it. My wife lied to me, and my three-year-old just had a general anesthetic unnecessarily and under false pretenses. How would you feel?”
“Probably as mad as you are. Although knowing Zoe, she had good intentions. She just went a little too far. I’m sorry I didn’t know, I would have told you, and we could have talked her out of it. If anything like it ever happens again, you can count on me to let you know.” He believed she would. At this point, he trusted Cathy more than his wife. “I’m really sorry, Austin.”
“Thank you.”
Cathy suspected that the sparks were going to fly between them that night, and she was right. As soon as Jaime fell asleep, Austin quietly closed the door to their bedroom, and turned to his wife with his eyes blazing. Until then, he had avoided her all day, but he was face-to-face with her now.
“What the hell were you thinking? You lied to me to get me to agree to a surgical procedure for our daughter. You told me Cathy thought it was a good idea, and she knew nothing about it. And you lied to the doctor and told him she’d had recurring ear infections, when she’s had only two. Are you crazy? You conned me into agreeing to general anesthesia by lying to me. Zoe, what are you doing? It’s so goddamn unfair. I would never do that to you.”
“I don’t want her to be sick all the time, like she was with the last one. Why wait until she’s had a bunch of ear infections? I wanted to prevent them in the future.”
“By lying to me and the doctor, and not telling our pediatrician? How am I ever supposed to trust you again? How would you feel if I did that to you?”
“I’d realize that you did it for Jaime’s good. I was doing the right thing for her, whether you think so or not,” she defended herself hotly, and justified everything she’d done.
“The end does not justify the means in this case, when you lied to everyone involved. I would never have agreed to a general anesthetic, even for five minutes, if I’d known the truth. You took away my right to make an informed decision as her father. You’re not her only parent, Zoe. I’m here too, and the decisions about Jaime have to be ours, jointly, and if we don’t agree, we’ll have to work out some kind of compromise. But don’t you ever do something like this again.”
“I promise, I won’t,” she said in the voice of a chastised child. “I love you, and I’m sorry. But I knew it was the right thing for her.”
“That’s not for you to decide on your own. You’re only half that voice, and I’m the other half. Don’t forget it again.” He stormed out of their bedroom then