Saving Meghan(80)

Becky spent fifteen minutes catching Kelly up on recent events, including the biopsy mishap, Carl’s war declaration, and her decision to leave him.

“I’m deeply sorry,” Kelly said, sounding genuinely empathetic. It was strange for Becky to confide in someone so young, who could relate to her struggles perhaps only in terms of a jilted boyfriend, who knew nothing of the profound, soul-seismic jostling of ending a long marriage.

“I need your help,” Becky said.

“With what?”

“We have to get Judge Trainer to mandate a second biopsy.”

A glint in Kelly’s eyes dimmed, confirming Becky’s fear that it would not be a simple request of the court. “It’ll require an evidentiary hearing in open court with counsel for all parties and witnesses,” Kelly said.

“Then call for it. We need it, and we need it now.”

“Judge Trainer will be concerned for Meghan’s emotional welfare. From what you described, her needle phobia is quite intense.”

“It is,” Becky said. “But if I don’t prove she has mito, I might lose her.”

Becky’s breath clogged as tears flooded her eyes. She wiped them with the palms of her hands, and Kelly gave Becky a napkin to dab away the moisture still clinging to the corners.

“I’m sorry,” Becky said, her voice quaking. “It’s so hard. It’s all been so hard. It’s been going on and on and there’s no end in sight.”

Sympathy flooded Kelly’s innocent blue eyes.

“It kills you as a parent,” Becky said, “when your child is hurting and you can’t do anything to make it better. It absolutely crushes you. You feel … so horribly guilty, no better word for it. And Carl, how does he live with himself?” Becky’s expression soured. “All those mornings when Meghan didn’t have the energy to get out of bed, and he just brushed it off as nothing. He’d tell her she was lazy, but she’d insist it wasn’t in her head, and he didn’t listen. He’s still not listening.

“I’m looking for an answer, Kelly. When I’m in the waiting room, headed for the next appointment, and I see all those kids with their worried parents, I think Some of those kids aren’t going to make it. Some of them won’t get the help they need. But not us. We’re going to figure this thing out. That’s what I tell myself, because I have to get the answer. That’s my only job.”

“And my job is to help the judge make the best decision for Meghan,” Kelly said.

“She needs to be with her family … or what’s left of us. She needs to get out of White.”

“It’s frustrating. I get it,” Kelly said.

“You might look at us, our big house and nice car, and think we have it all together, but I’ll tell you, money and connections don’t shield you from heartbreak,” Becky said. “I need your help desperately. Don’t let Carl get in the way.”

Kelly peeled her gaze from Becky, and seemed momentarily lost in thought. “When you opened your front door and saw me for the first time,” she said, now looking Becky in the eyes, “I knew what you were thinking: This girl is too young, too inexperienced, to be of any help.”

Becky laughed, embarrassed for having been so transparent. “You got me,” Becky said, holding up her hands in mock surrender. “So tell me, how old are you?”

“I’m twenty-seven,” Kelly said. “I have student loans I’ll probably never be able to repay on my salary. I drive a ten-year-old car that’s on its last axle. I bought a gym membership instead of cable. My mom was a pill-popping drug addict who died of an overdose five years ago, and I don’t know who my father is. I have no family to lean on. I won’t hook up with a guy just to make my life easier, and I don’t trust men easily, for reasons we don’t have to get into. I’m telling you all of this just so you know that on the outside, I may seem a certain way, that you may judge me as a certain type—the pretty, outgoing, carefree girl—but I’m not that at all. I’m struggling in my own right, with my own demons, so I get the heartache and pain more than you know.”

Becky could not help but think of her own hardscrabble upbringing. She had done to Kelly what so many people did to her: she had judged her without getting to know her, or the facts around her circumstances, first.

“I’m sorry,” Becky said. “We have a lot in common, you and I.”

“I suspect we do,” Kelly said.

“Will you help me?” Becky asked.

She reached across the table and touched Kelly’s hand. Countless times, Becky had touched a doctor on the arm or hand just to manipulate him, but this time it was different. This time Becky was seeking a deeper connection.

She looked into Kelly’s eyes, pleading. “Please help me,” Becky said.

“I’ll go to Judge Trainer, we’ll get that hearing,” Kelly said. “And we’ll get that biopsy done.”





CHAPTER 37





ZACH


It was never a good sign to get an email from Knox Singer’s personal assistant at any time of the day, but Zach found it especially ominous to receive one first thing in the morning. The email invited him to an emergency meeting in the conference room adjacent to Singer’s palatial office. It would seem the situation with Meghan Gerard was reaching a boiling point, fueled in part by the omnipresent media coverage.