Saving Meghan(81)

It had not been a good night for Zach. He had had the dream again, but this time it was different. Instead of a strong wind blowing Will to dust, there was no wind at all, leaving Zach’s fingers outstretched, inches away from touching his boy, inches that were actually miles—infinity, really—because he was stuck in the limbo of grief.

When Zach arrived, Knox Singer and Amanda Nash were already seated, talking together. There was an empty chair that would have been occupied by Dr. Peter Levine if only fate had taken a different turn. Questions took the place of his presence at the table. How did a seemingly healthy man die so suddenly and inexplicably? The medical examiner said the cause of death was cardiac arrest, but what had caused his heart to stop beating? So far, toxicology had turned up nothing.

The best guess was death from ventricular fibrillation—a disturbance in the heart’s electrical system whereby the lower chambers quiver and the heart can’t pump any blood, causing cardiac arrest. A sizable portion of White’s cardiac patients get admitted due to some type of arrhythmia, and while the condition is common, it’s far from fatal. Most of the fatal cases occur in association with other heart conditions, like valve problems, blockages, or coronary heart disease.

An autopsy of a young, seemingly healthy person who had died from the condition would most likely reveal other, congenital heart problems, ranging from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (thickened heart) to unusual branching of the coronary arteries coming off the aorta. Such was not the case with Dr. Levine. His heart was perfectly normal, leaving doctors to speculate that an underlying genetic problem had caused his untimely death.

The police had another theory, though, namely Becky Gerard.

Detectives Spence and Capshaw had grilled Zach in his office for the better part of an hour, asking all sorts of questions about Becky’s behavior, her motivations, her state of mind. When they dived into the dark subject of poisons, Zach got a clearer picture of their thought process. But what kind of poison could cause a massive malfunction of the heart’s electrical system? Toxicology tests were not conclusive. There was no grand panel that covered all known toxins, but in Levine’s case, it was unclear what to even look for. Only the standard tests were ordered, and they had all come back negative.

Zach had promised to contact the detectives should he think of anything that might be useful to their case. In his off-hours, he had begun doing research, trying to match Levine’s autopsy to the known effects of various exotic toxins. He was asking himself a most difficult question: Could Becky Gerard’s commitment to her daughter have driven her to kill? Would he have killed if he felt that Will’s life was in danger? Both answers frightened him.

“Thanks for making the time, Zach,” Knox Singer said as Zach settled into his chair.

“Happy to be here,” Zach said—as if he had had some choice in the matter, as if he could have refused the CEO’s meeting request.

“We’re going to get right to it,” Singer said. “Becky Gerard is causing us serious difficulty.”

“Well, you did take her daughter by court order,” said Zach.

“For good reason,” Singer said. “That woman is a menace.”

“Or she’s just a very committed parent.”

Amanda Nash leaned forward with a look suggesting Zach was being na?ve. “Would a committed parent threaten to sue any other facility that agrees to care for Meghan?” she asked.

“If that parent believed in her convictions enough, then, yes, I suspect they would. I would.”

Knox Singer interrupted. “I’ve talked this over with Amanda and Dr. Levine, God rest his soul, during several private conversations. You understand as well as anyone the medicolegal environment we’re subject to these days. We all have to be extremely cautious, but after those meetings, and they were contentious, I assure you, I’m more convinced than ever we have an obligation, a legal duty, to protect that child from her mother.

“Now, what we need is for you to reach out to Mrs. Gerard. She trusts you. Listens to you. Tell her to back down, for Meghan’s sake. This media attention has got to stop. Let’s have a sit-down, see if we can come to an arrangement.”

“You don’t honestly think she’s innocent in all this, do you, Zach?” Nash asked.

“To be honest, I’m not sure what I think.”

Zach knew better than to bring up his extracurricular research into toxins. Doing so would only add confusion to an already confused situation. But there was another theory Zach had been considering, one he felt the timing was right to share.

“What about Carl Gerard?” Zach asked.

“What about him?” Singer said.

“It’s my understanding that he’s been present both times Meghan has, for argument’s sake, experienced some yet-to-be-determined medical event during their visit.”

“Are you suggesting that Carl Gerard, not Becky, has some sort of sway over his daughter?” Dr. Nash sounded incredulous.

Zach returned a half shrug. “I’m merely suggesting that the father’s behavior is something to consider.”

“How so?” Nash asked.

“We have a tainted sample from the muscle biopsy. These things happen. We need to repeat the procedure. He won’t grant his consent. Now it’s headed to court. Becky Gerard has met with Kelly London and convinced her to push for a special hearing to force the second biopsy. Carl’s not budging. Does this sound like a committed parent who has a child’s best interest at heart?”