Zoe stood staring at her.
“What happened?” she kept saying again and again, and Cathy turned to her with fury in her eyes.
“You know goddamn well what happened. I saw the cake you threw away, and the EpiPen was waiting on the counter. How were you going to explain it if she died from a cake with honey in it that you gave her? You’re a fool, Zoe, and you tried to kill her.” As she said it, Zoe’s eyes turned into those of a devil as she fixed her gaze on Cathy and looked like she wanted to kill her too.
“I was going to save her. I was all ready for it. I didn’t know what was in the cake. It had no label on it. I was going to give her the shot and save her.” She was screaming at Cathy, inches from her face. “You ruined everything.” Her voice was an evil growl that Cathy didn’t even recognize as the woman she knew, let alone her friend. Zoe wasn’t her friend anymore. She was a monster.
“You couldn’t save her. Her allergy is too severe. Do you see what it takes? And she’s not out of the woods yet.” They were intubating her as Cathy said it and she had tears in her eyes. She had the feeling she was watching Jaime die. It was entirely possible, even likely. Zoe’s plan to play savior had backfired, and she was a murderess instead.
Austin showed up a few minutes later, wild eyed and panting. He had run the last five blocks when his cab got stuck in traffic.
“What happened? Where is she?” he asked both women and then saw his child on the table with the team working on her, intubated and comatose but still breathing.
“She had another allergic reaction,” Cathy said soberly.
“How?” He looked at Zoe, unable to understand, as Dan came down the hall with long strides, with two policemen behind him. “What’s going on?” he asked Cathy.
She tried to give him the fast version and Austin was listening. Zoe looked like she was about to bolt and run but she didn’t dare with the policemen standing there.
“I dropped by unannounced for a visit. Zoe and Jaime were there, about to have a party. There were two slices of cake on plates on the table. Jaime’s EpiPen was on the counter, ready to go. While Zoe let me in, Jaime took a big bite of the cake. She was choking and couldn’t breathe almost immediately, her airway closed and her heart stopped. I gave her the shot, Zoe called 911, and I gave Jaime CPR till they got there. And now, here we are again.” She looked at Austin. “If you check your garbage and your kitchen, the two slices of cake are in the trash, and I assume the cake is there somewhere, loaded with honey, and pink icing so Jaime would be sure to eat it. I’m sure Zoe was going to claim she didn’t know what was in the cake. She just told me she was going to save her and I ruined everything. But she tried to kill her first. She thought the EpiPen would do it, and bring her back. I told her before it would be worse next time, apparently, she didn’t believe me. Jaime’s allergy is too severe. She’s in a coma now,” she said for Dan’s benefit, as Austin stood there crying and looked with horror at his wife.
“How could you do it? How could you, Zoe? And you thought you’d get away with it. You’re insane!” He reached out to grab her with fury in his eyes, as Dan stepped forward with one of the two policemen and blocked him before the scene could get uglier than it already was. They were standing in a little alcove, but a few people had noticed the police arriving and heard the commotion outside the exam room when Zoe screamed at Cathy, and Austin shouted at his wife. A few of the nurses were staring at them.
“You’re under arrest,” one of the policemen said to Zoe in a firm voice, “for attempted murder,” as Austin stared at her. The policeman read her her rights, and snapped handcuffs on her as Austin looked at her and his rage melted into despair.
“What if she dies, Zoe?” he said in a choked voice.
“You’ll survive it,” she said harshly. “I did when Rose died. So did my parents. And Jaime wouldn’t have died. I