Miracle Creek(26)

Matt felt a tingling in his missing fingers, could almost feel the thin roll of a Camel suspended between them. “Me?” He hoped his chuckle didn’t sound as fake as it felt in his mouth. “The number of smoker-lung X-rays I see, I’d need a death wish to smoke.”

She smiled. Thankfully, she was trying to butter him up and didn’t call him on his nonanswer. She picked up something from her table and sauntered back to him. “Back to Elizabeth. Ever see her hit Henry? Harm him in any way?”

“No.”

“Ever see her yell at him?”

“No.”

“How about neglect? Tattered clothes, junk food—anything?”

Matt pictured Henry in socks with holes, eating Skittles, and almost laughed; Elizabeth would never let him near anything not organic, dye-free, and sugar-free. “Definitely not.”

“To the contrary, she put a great deal of effort into Henry’s care, isn’t that fair to say?”

Matt raised his eyebrows in a half shrug. “I suppose.”

“She checked his eardrums with an otoscope before and after every dive, right?”

“Yes.”

“No other parents did that, correct?”

“No. I mean, correct.”

“She read books with him before the dives?”

“Yes.”

“She gave him all homemade snacks?”

“Yes. Well, that’s what she said, anyway.”

Shannon looked at him, tilting her head. “Elizabeth made everything from scratch because Henry had severe food allergies, isn’t that right?”

“Again, that’s what she said.”

Shannon stepped closer and tilted her head the other way, as if studying an abstract painting whose proper orientation she could not determine. “Dr. Thompson, are you accusing Elizabeth of lying about Henry’s allergies?”

Matt felt his cheeks redden. “Not necessarily. I just don’t know for a fact.”

“Well, let me correct that.” Shannon handed him a document. “Tell us what that is.”

Matt skimmed. “It’s a lab report confirming Henry’s severe allergies to peanuts, fish, shellfish, dairy, and eggs.” Abe looked at him and shook his head.

“Let’s try this again. Elizabeth gave Henry homemade snacks she made sure were allergen-free, correct?”

“That appears to be correct.”

“Do you recall an incident involving peanuts, Henry’s most severe allergy?”

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

“TJ had peanut butter on his hands, from a sandwich. He got some on the hatch handle, going in. Henry grabbed the same spot, and luckily, Elizabeth noticed.”

“How did she react?”

She’d freaked out, screaming, “Henry could die!” and acting like the brown glob was a fucking cobra. But wouldn’t that play into the devoted-mother routine Elizabeth’s lawyer was putting on? “Elizabeth asked the boys to wash up, and Pak cleaned the chamber.” He made it sound like nothing, but it had been an ordeal, Elizabeth demanding that TJ brush his teeth, wash his face, and even change his clothes.

“If Elizabeth hadn’t noticed the peanut butter, what would’ve happened?”

Before Shannon even finished the question, Abe stood, the screech of his chair scraping the floor announcing his objection like a trumpet call. “Objection. If that doesn’t call for speculation, I don’t know what does.”

Shannon said, “Your Honor, a little leeway? I’m getting somewhere, I promise.”

The judge said, “Get there fast. Overruled.”

Abe sat and moved his chair, the slamming sound of the chair legs the equivalent of a petulant teenager’s door slam. Shannon smiled at Abe the way an amused mother might, then turned to Matt. “Again, Doctor, what would’ve happened if Elizabeth hadn’t noticed Henry touching the peanut butter?”

Matt shrugged. “It’s hard to know.”

“Let’s think it through together. Henry bit his nails. You’d seen that, right?”

“Yes.”

“So it’s fair to say peanut butter probably would’ve gotten in his mouth during the dive?”

“I suppose so, yes.”

“Doctor, given the severity of Henry’s peanut allergy, what would’ve happened?”

“The airway swells and shuts off, and you can’t breathe. But Henry had an EpiPen, epinephrine, which counteracts that.”

“Was there an EpiPen in the chamber?”

“No. Since food’s not allowed, Pak had Elizabeth leave it outside.”

“How long does it take to depressurize and open the hatch?”

“Pak usually depressurized slowly, for comfort, but he could do it quickly if necessary, in a minute or so.”

“One full minute with no air. If you wait more than a minute to inject epinephrine, can it fail?”

“It’s not likely, but yes, that could happen.”

“So Henry could’ve died?”

Matt sighed. “I doubt that. I could’ve done a tracheotomy.” He turned to the jurors. “You can make a small incision in the larynx to relieve an obstruction in the airway. You can even do it with a ballpoint pen, in an emergency.”