The Dark Side - Danielle Steel Page 0,82

the next few days, until the allergens were truly out of her system. They were to start it after they saw the allergist the next day, so they didn’t confuse his tests. After that, Cathy said Jaime would sleep for the next few days from the antihistamine.

All three of them were subdued when they left the hospital. Jaime from the drugs, and Zoe and Austin from what had almost happened. Jaime had nearly died from a donut. It had been one of the most frightening moments of their lives as parents. They sat in the kitchen after they put Jaime to bed, and neither of them said a word. They were lost in their own thoughts, with the image of Jaime unconscious in the ambulance, dying, engraved forever on their minds.

* * *

—

Cathy called Paul Anders at home that night and told him what had happened, since he was following Jaime’s case. Talking to him was comforting. It was an unnerving case, with their worries about MBP.

“We ran some extra blood tests, and there was nothing in her system except what she ate and the meds they gave her in the ER. Austin was afraid Zoe had poisoned her, but she’s clean on this one without a doubt. It was a straight anaphylactic reaction. And I don’t think Zoe had anything to do with it. Jaime had never had honey before, because her mother thinks it’s dangerous, and has been diligent about avoiding it for her. It turns out that she was right, for Jaime anyway. I think Austin was shocked that it was a real accident this time, and nothing had been engineered. I have to admit, I’m relieved. She came very close to dying. I can’t even imagine what that would look like if her mother had killed her. None of us would ever have forgiven ourselves for not moving sooner. This was a freebie.”

“Don’t celebrate too soon,” he said in a serious voice.

“You think she did it?” Cathy was stunned. She couldn’t see how in the circumstances.

“No, I don’t. I agree with you. Victims of a Munchausen by proxy mother can have an innocent allergic reaction, or real unprovoked illness too. And I agree with your diagnosis and analysis of the situation on this one. But you’re overlooking something major.”

“What?” She couldn’t see what it might be.

“The bad news is that Zoe has just been handed a lethal weapon, a major vulnerability in Jaime. She nearly died from a honey glazed donut today. An allergy that severe is a loaded gun in her mother’s hands. It seems like there’s honey in damn near everything these days, bread, cookies, cakes, all kinds of prepared foods to varying degrees. We’re not talking about a rare poison. We’re talking about a common substance that’s harder to avoid than to find. Anytime Zoe wants to kill her daughter, all she has to do now is give her something with honey in it, and then claim she didn’t know, or lose her EpiPen, or God knows how she’d orchestrate it. Jaime has an Achilles’ heel now the size of Yankee Stadium, an allergy to a substance so benign that Zoe will almost certainly get off scot-free if she kills her, unless someone sees her pouring honey down Jaime’s throat with the kid tied to a chair.”

“Shit. I hadn’t thought of that. I was just so glad that it wasn’t her fault this time.”

“Don’t be fooled by her outward demeanor, Cathy. You know better than that,” he said wisely. “The evidence against her is already strong. It may not hold up in court, but we’re all convinced of the truth, and her innocence today in this one incident doesn’t change that. She’s guilty of all the rest, and we know it, almost for sure. But this allergic reaction today is what could kill Jaime. Her life is even more at risk from now on, because of a simple thing like a severe allergy to honey.”

“So what am I supposed to do now?” She sounded near tears, and she knew that what he said was true. What would be easier than killing someone with honey, and it wouldn’t take much, judging by today.

“I don’t think you have any choice anymore. I wouldn’t even ask Austin. You can’t. He’s probably as confused as you are. She’s his wife. But you’re their doctor, Jaime’s doctor. This is a tragedy waiting to happen. You have to report what you know from the past three