with Zoe,” he said, crying again. “It just fell apart.”
“You didn’t have the life you thought you did, nor the woman. And it didn’t fall apart. Zoe did. Remember that. You’re going to be fine and so is Jaime, whatever happens now.” He had the feeling that she was saying goodbye, and he and Jaime wouldn’t be hearing from her again. Beth couldn’t be close to anyone, not even her own daughter, or granddaughter. He wondered if she ever could, even before she lost Rose. Maybe she was colder than Zoe had remembered, since she was so young. Brad had made his mistakes, but he was basically a warm person and he loved his daughter. Austin was sure he would stand behind her now, even if she went to prison. Austin sensed that Brad would do everything he could to get her committed to a hospital instead. It was where she belonged. Austin knew it too.
It was strange. He felt as though he were suddenly widowed, and Zoe and their marriage had died when she had almost killed Jaime. Jaime had survived but nothing else had. Zoe had taken it all down with her, and in an odd way, he felt as though his prison walls had come down. He had been trapped with a woman he didn’t trust, even if he loved her. He had been blind for too long.
* * *
—
Dan Knoll and the detective who had gone to Austin’s apartment met Cathy at her office that afternoon to take her statement about what had happened the previous day. She told them precisely and simply, about when she’d decided to drop by, coming up to the apartment, seeing Zoe and Jaime, and Jaime having already eaten several bites of a slice of the cake, and how quickly she had reacted, and everything Cathy had done to revive her.
They asked her if she thought what Zoe did was intentional, and she said yes, to a certain extent.
“I think she wanted to make her sick, but not kill her. She wanted to do some kind of spectacular gesture to show Jaime and everyone that she could ‘save’ her. She was going to pretend she didn’t know there was honey in the cake, but of course she did. It was listed on the label she tore off and threw away. She thought she’d get away with it and no one would know she had bought a cake with honey in it. It was a naïve and delusional way to prove she was super-mom and play hero.
“I had told her, and so had the allergist, that allergies of this kind get exponentially worse every time there is an exposure, and even we might not be able to save Jaime next time. I don’t think she believed that and she wanted to try it, maybe to show off. It was a sick form of reasoning, and she was willing to risk Jaime’s life to do it. I don’t think she specifically set out to kill her, but she was willing to take the chance. There’s a subtle difference there. I don’t believe she wanted a dead child. She wanted one she could rescue and revive against all odds, maybe because she hadn’t been able to save her sister as a child, and she was trying to make it come out differently this time. Her pathology made her willing to take the risk. If she’d been alone in the apartment yesterday with Jaime, Jaime would be dead today. I have no doubt of that.” Dan nodded as he recorded her. They were going to bring a transcript back for her to sign.
“Is there anything else you remember, Doctor?”
“No, I don’t think so. Everything happened very fast, Jaime was unconscious within minutes after I got there, and the paramedics came minutes after that.”
“How long do you think you did CPR on her before they arrived?”
“Five or six minutes maybe, seven at most, but probably more like five. Jaime’s heart stopped as soon as she lost consciousness, I kept her going with CPR, but she was technically dead, with no pulse, except what I gave her artificially with the resuscitation.”
“Thank you.” The detective turned the recorder off and nodded at Dan. He left a few minutes later and said he’d wait for Dan outside. Dan had told the detective before they met with Cathy that he wanted to see her alone for a few minutes at the end.