Saving Meghan(52)

Zach had tried antidepressants but, in an unfortunate bit of catch-22, found that they only compounded his guilt. He felt guilty for feeling happy, or at least not depressed. He strangely missed having the weight of Will’s death to carry around, like Atlas forced to hold up the celestial spheres. Zach held no doubt that making a breakthrough in the disease would help him far more than any pill ever could.

He noticed the heart-shaped diamond-encrusted silver pendant standing out against Becky’s black turtleneck and wondered if it had been a gift from Carl. Maybe he’d had it engraved with something personal, touching. Zach thought of the last present he’d bought for Stacy, some meaningless scarf picked up at an airport gift shop on his way home from some meaningless conference. He was never good with gift giving, planning surprises for birthdays or anniversaries and such. He could see now what he could not see then: that time was finite, and every day a gift not to be taken for granted.

Zach could tell the Gerards were holding hands beneath the table and was genuinely glad they had reconciled. In fact, his heart broke for them.

“Who is looking after my daughter?” Becky asked.

“The woman’s name is Jill Mendoza,” the attorney said.

Zach poured water from a glass pitcher and tried not to make eye contact with Carl. It was possible Carl had reached some new understanding with Becky, but that did not parlay into a new acceptance of Zach. It was obvious Carl would rather have any other doctor at this meeting—even Nash.

“Who is Jill Mendoza?” Becky asked.

“She’s the guardian ad litem, appointed by the court to make decisions in loco parentis, in place of the parent, regarding Meghan’s best interest,” Leers answered. “Legally, she’s the one who makes decisions for Meghan now.”

Zach watched the color drain from Becky’s face, while Carl looked as though he’d swallowed something bitter.

“What kind of decisions?” Becky asked.

“Medications, treatments, who Meghan gets to see, what she does.”

“Basically, she’s us,” Becky said, her voice on edge.

“Well, in a way. Yes and no,” Leers said. “She’s authorized to make recommendations and decisions regarding Meghan’s well-being, including medical treatments. But she’s not her parent. You are.”

“What does that mean exactly?” Carl asked.

“In short, all the decisions you would normally make for your daughter, Jill Mendoza now makes. You lose the right to visit or talk to your child unsupervised. You don’t have the final say about how your child is raised or treated. But it’s temporary. Our fight is just beginning.”

As the meeting progressed and the Gerards absorbed the devastating news, Zach learned a lot more about the process White Memorial, and Nash especially, had gone through to take Meghan from the family. It was not a process Knox Singer had entered into lightly. In fact, removing a child from a home was viewed, according to hospital policy, as being a measure of last resort. Somehow Nash had convinced Singer to act, and hastily at that, which meant Dr. Levine’s report must have been truly damning.

Citing her legal duty to report suspected child abuse and neglect, Nash had gotten the DCF wheels in motion. The 51A Nash had filed then led to a 51B, an investigation of said claim, which DCF did with its own doctors taking consult from Nash and Levine, who presented compelling evidence to get an ex parte hearing with a judge to gain temporary custody of Meghan. All this ran counter to how big bureaucracies functioned, but in cases where there is a risk of severe abuse or neglect, when the child could be in danger should they return home with the parents, the typically slow-moving processes churned with startling rapidity.

“How could a judge just give our child away?” Becky asked, letting go of Carl’s hand to slam hers on the table.

Leers did not flinch. “The threshold to find reasonable cause to issue temporary custody is fairly low,” she explained. “But we have our second hearing, and that’s why Dr. Fisher is here.”

Known as a seventy-two-hour hearing, this was perhaps the most critical step in the process, the attorney emphasized. During that hearing, the judge would determine whether DCF should retain custody of Meghan until the next hearing could take place, that one on the merits of the petition. A hearing on the merits typically occurred within twelve to fifteen months from the time the case began. The Gerards were potentially facing a full year, maybe even longer, without custody of their daughter.

“Why does Dr. Fisher need to be here?” Carl rolled up his shirtsleeves, again reminding Zach of that bully from his school days.

“We need a medical consult to prove that mito is a medical possibility and Nash and Levine were wrong to discount it,” Leers said.

“So DCF is supporting Drs. Nash and Levine?” Carl looked a bit confused.

“Not exactly,” said Leers. “The good news here is that the Department of Children and Families has an obligation, a legal obligation, with a mandated timeline of at least six months, to try to get Meghan back home to you. They want reunification.”

“Well, then, why don’t they just return her to us?”

“It’s not that simple,” Leers said to Becky. “They also have a duty to protect the child.”

“What if we can’t convince DCF we are fit parents?” Carl asked.

Zach was wondering the same.