Lisa Scottoline: Save Me

“Oh, come on.” Leo scoffed, but Rose squeezed his arm.

“I didn’t discipline her, I only spoke to her. I wanted to deal with the teasing on the spot. We talked about the building blocks of character, that’s all.”

“Perhaps, but now you understand the problem.” Mrs. Nuru lifted a graying eyebrow. “If you hadn’t detained her, she would’ve been on the playground when the explosion happened, like the others.”

Rose blinked, surprised.

“Are you kidding?” Leo asked, bristling.

“Procedures are procedures, Mr. Ingrassia.” Mrs. Nuru stiffened. “Lunch moms have to follow them. You know, before you came, we had paid cafeteria aides. But the aide budget got cut, and this is the kind of thing that happens, which they’ll never understand in Harrisburg.”

They were interrupted by the sound of sirens, and Rose, Leo, and Mrs. Nuru turned as a group. Traffic had parted on Allen Road to allow an ambulance to speed to the hospital entrance. People in the parking lot were pointing to the street, and a man on the walkway flicked his cigarette to the pavement.

Rose tried to catch Leo’s eye, but he was looking at the ambulance, his mouth a grim line. She took his hand just as Tanya came up from behind, aiming her microphone.

“Ms. McKenna, excuse me, since you’re still here, would you reconsider giving me a sit-down interview?”

“No.”

“Not now, I’m talking tomorrow or the next day. We could do a feature on you, one-on-one, in your home.”

“No.”

Leo turned to the anchorwoman. “My wife answered you nicely, but I’m not as nice. Leave us alone.”

“Okay, fine.” Tanya pointed her microphone at Mrs. Nuru. “Excuse me, are you one of the other parents?”

“I’m not going to speak with any reporters.”

“I just wanted to know if-”

“I said no. ”

“Fine, thanks.” Tanya turned and walked away as the cell phone at her waistband started ringing. The ambulance zoomed down the driveway toward the emergency department, and everybody watched, including Rose, Leo, and Mrs. Nuru, who covered her ears because of the siren.

“Hey, folks,” Tanya called out, snapping her phone closed. “You might like to know that another student was found in the school. The name hasn’t been released yet, pending notification.”

“ What? ” Mrs. Nuru took her hands from her ears.

“Boy or girl?” Leo asked, but Tanya was already hustling toward the curb as the ambulance sped toward the entrance, followed by a blue minivan with its flashers on.

Rose watched, numb. Her mouth had gone dry. She didn’t blink. She wasn’t sure she even breathed. She pretended she hadn’t heard what Tanya had said. That she hadn’t been lunch mom today. That she was home with John, cuddling him. Leo’s hand closed around hers, his fingers warm and rough.

There was a commotion behind them, and the emergency room doors whoosh ed open. Rose, Leo, and Mrs. Nuru stepped aside as a trio of nurses in patterned scrubs hurried outside. The ambulance lurched to a stop, cutting its siren. Its back doors flew open, and a paramedic jumped out, whirled around, and reached for the stretcher behind him. A second paramedic leapt from the back, and they slid the stretcher into the sunlight.

Rose almost fainted at the sight.

Amanda lay on the stretcher, unconscious. Orange foam blocks stabilized her head, positioned on both sides of her neck, and blood clotted in her silky blond hair. Her forehead was a mass of bandages soaked with blood, bright red in the sunlight. Soot and blood spattered her face under the oxygen mask. Filth blanketed her shirt and skirt. Her arms and legs flopped askew. One glittery Candie’s sandal was lying sideways at the foot of the stretcher.

No, no, no. Rose couldn’t speak, stricken.

“Oh my God,” Mrs. Nuru said, hushed, and Leo put his other arm around the teacher. The three of them huddled in shock as the nurses rushed the stretcher toward the emergency room, where the automatic doors opened, admitted them, and closed behind them.

“I wonder what happened,” Leo said quietly.

“Let’s go see.” Mrs. Nuru turned to the entrance, with Rose and Leo following, when the passenger door of the blue minivan flew open, and a woman jumped out, shouting.

“ You! ” the woman screamed. She hit the ground running and charged to the walkway, her blond hair flying and her features so contorted with rage that it took a moment for Rose to recognize her. It was Amanda’s mother, Eileen Gigot.

“What’s going on?” Leo gasped, astonished, as Eileen rushed toward them, shrieking at Rose.

“You! What kind of person are you? What kind of mother are you?”

Rose edged backwards, reeling, and Leo blocked Eileen’s path, putting up his hands.

“Please,” he said, his tone calm. “You’re upset, and I don’t blame you, but there’s no call to-”

“You abandoned my little girl !” Eileen shouted at Rose, ignoring Leo. “You didn’t care if she lived or died! You took care of your daughter, not mine!”

“No, I didn’t. I took Amanda to the hallway-”

“Liar! Terry told me the whole thing! You yelled at Amanda! You had it in for her from the beginning, calling me to complain! Well, are you happy now? They found her on the first floor! She got hit on the head with something! She could die! ”

Rose’s mouth dropped open. She felt sick to her stomach. Mrs. Nuru and everyone else on the walkway stared at the scene, appalled. Tanya held out her microphone, and the cameraman aimed his videocamera at Eileen, who was still shouting.

“You were only worried about your own daughter! You didn’t care what happened to mine!”

“Please, that’s enough.” Leo raised his hands, but Eileen smacked them aside.

“Screw you ! You’re as disgusting as she is!”

“Eileen!” shouted another woman, running from the minivan. She reached Eileen, wrapped her arms around her, and tried to tug her away. “Forget them, they’re not worth it. We need to go see Amanda. Come on.”

“It’s your fault!” Eileen shrieked, as she was hustled past Tanya and the cameraman. “Her blood’s on your hands!”

“Let’s get out of here.” Leo hurried Rose toward the parking lot, and she fled the scene like a murderer.

Rose sat at the kitchen table, chin in hand, feeling horrible, while Leo ate Thai leftovers. He believed that food cured everything, having grown up in his family’s restaurant, and she wished she had a similar panacea. She’d showered and changed into a blue cotton sweater and clean jeans, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Amanda. She’d brushed her teeth, but the taste of smoke lingered on her tongue. She kept hearing Eileen Gigot, yelling in front of the hospital.

It’s your fault!

She’d told Leo everything that had happened in the cafeteria, and if he’d been angry that she’d left Melly until last, he’d been too kind to say so. It felt strange to be at home without her and John, who was still at the sitter’s because they were going back to the hospital. Rose missed his warm little presence, always around her, happily cuddled on her lap or bouncing along on her hip. She hadn’t known she could love a child as much as she loved Melly until John had been born, but then she learned that when it came to the human heart, one size fits all.

Mommy!

Her gaze flitted around the kitchen, and though it was the reason she’d fallen in love with the house, it gave her no pleasure today. It was big enough to eat in and was ringed with white cabinets, except for bay windows filled with French lavender, their tall green shoots showing tiny purple flowers. Ordinarily they scented the air, but Rose couldn’t smell anything but smoke. Mint-and-white tile made a muted backsplash, the appliances were stainless steel, and the table was rough pine. Underneath was their little spaniel, Princess Google, who rested her soft red-and-white head on Rose’s loafer, having sniffed her ankle bandage with curiosity.