The Dark Side - Danielle Steel Page 0,81

were halfway down the hall, and looked at Cathy. He was sheet white. “What was that? What did she give her and when?” He was back to believing Zoe had MBP, without a doubt.

“Nothing. That was real. A severe anaphylactic allergic reaction,” Cathy reassured him. She was certain of it.

“What makes you think so?” He looked confused, as they stopped to talk for a minute. There was no rush now.

“Because I’m a doctor, and that’s what it looks like. Jaime has never had honey, and apparently the donuts were honey glazed. Zoe told me. The only way she did this is if she knew about the honey allergy, but she couldn’t have. She’s always told me she won’t let Zoe have honey. She read that it’s dangerous and possibly toxic under the age of five. She may also be allergic to bees. We’ll test for it. You’ll have to carry an EpiPen for her from now on,” Cathy said seriously.

“For once she was right.”

“Not really, a reaction that severe is unusual. You see it in nut allergies and shellfish. Apparently, Jaime has a very severe allergy to honey. It’s good to know. I have no doubt about it, Austin. It was real this time. She couldn’t manipulate this unless she knew about the honey allergy in advance. Even victims of people with MBP have real accidents and illnesses sometimes. This wasn’t Zoe, I’d stake my license on it.”

“I thought she had poisoned her,” he said, still shaken by what he’d seen.

“We can run some tests, but I think the only chemicals we’ll find in her system are the meds they just gave her.”

“Will you run the tests?” he asked, and she nodded. He felt supremely guilty for what he had thought. But the truth was that he didn’t trust his wife, with good reason. But apparently, Zoe had nothing to do with what had just happened, which in some ways was a relief.

Cathy ordered the tests after they registered Jaime, and she explained to the attending physician that she wanted to be sure she hadn’t ingested any chemicals or medications at home when no one was looking, or if it was a straight allergic reaction. The attending said it was thorough of her, but they both agreed that it was probably entirely an anaphylactic reaction. Cathy wanted to be sure.

The tests came back a few hours later, and were clear. The only things in her system were the drugs they had given her at NYU. Austin looked at Cathy guiltily when she told him. He didn’t know what to think anymore. And the attending spelled it out clearly to them before they released her at six o’clock.

“She had a near fatal allergic reaction to something she ate at brunch today. Dr. Clark is going to send you to an allergist tomorrow so you can figure out what. Until then, she needs to stay away from what she ate, banana, oatmeal, honey. You’ll need to carry an EpiPen for her in the future. I’m giving you a prescription for one, the children’s dosage. You should have it with you for her at all times. Allergic reactions usually get worse every time. She started out with a bang here, the next time we may not get as lucky. Learn to use the EpiPen, you may have to in a hurry, and you don’t want to be fumbling with the instructions or trying to figure it out. You can get a practice model, and test it on an orange. She’s very lucky you called 911 so quickly. They saved her life, and so did you.” Zoe glowed when he said it, and Austin nodded. For once, it was true, and she hadn’t caused the problem in the first place. Her innocence in this case left him feeling grateful but confused. “Sometimes people become allergic to foods they had no allergy to before. That can change anytime, so you need to check out everything she ate. And if it’s honey she’s allergic to, you’ll need to be careful. There’s honey in baked goods and in many other foods. People use it to cook, even on vegetables sometimes. Read the labels on everything you suspect might have honey in it. It’ll spare you another episode like this.” They both nodded, shaken and impressed by what had happened. They left the hospital with Jaime a while later. She was groggy from the Benadryl they had given her. Cathy had prescribed a children’s dose for