Jodi Picoult - Small Great Things

I want to talk to Edison. I want a hug from Adisa. But instead I sit at a small table in a room with hissing fluorescent lights, trying to untangle this chess game in my head.

“You ever wonder?” I ask. “What you’d do, if you weren’t a lawyer?”

Kennedy glances at me. “Is this your way of telling me I’m doing a shitty job?”

“No, I’m just thinking. About…starting over.”

She unwraps a piece of gum and passes me the rest of the packet. “Don’t laugh, but I wanted to be a pastry chef once.”

“Really?”

“I went to culinary school for three weeks. I was eventually conquered by phyllo. I just don’t have the patience for it.”

A smile dances over my face. “Go figure.”

“What about you?” Kennedy asks.

I look up at her. “I don’t know,” I admit. “I’ve wanted to be a nurse since I was five. I feel like I’m too old to start over, and even if I had to, I wouldn’t know where else to go.”

“That’s the problem with having a calling, ” Kennedy says. “It doesn’t just pay the rent.”

A calling. Is that why I unwrapped Davis Bauer’s blanket when he wasn’t breathing? “Kennedy,” I begin, “there’s something-”

But she interrupts. “You could go back to school. Get a medical degree or become a PA,” she suggests. “Or work as a private caregiver.”

Neither of us says the truth that squeezes into the small room with us: convicted felon doesn’t look good on a résumé.

When she sees my face, her eyes soften. “It’s going to work out, Ruth. There’s a grand plan.”

“What if?” I say softly. “What if the grand plan doesn’t come to pass?”

She sets her jaw. “Then I will do whatever I can to get your sentence minimized.”

“I’d have to go to prison?”

“Right now the State’s leveled several charges against you. At any time if they decide they don’t have the evidence to support them, they might drop a greater charge in favor of conviction on a lesser one. So if they can’t prove murder, but they think they have negligent homicide locked up, Odette may play it safe.” She meets my gaze. “Murder has a minimum sentence of twenty-five years. But negligent homicide? Less than a year. And to be honest, they’re going to have a very hard time proving intent. Odette’s going to have to tiptoe through her questioning of Turk Bauer or the jury’s going to hate him.”

“You mean as much as I do?”

Kennedy’s eyes sharpen. “Ruth,” she warns, “I never want to hear you say those words out loud again. Do you understand?”

In an instant, I realize Kennedy is not the only one thinking six moves ahead. So is Odette. She wants the jury to hate Turk Bauer. She wants them outraged, offended, morally disgusted.

And that’s exactly how she will prove motive.

–

I’VE ALWAYS ADMIRED Dr. Atkins, the pediatrician, but after hearing her list her credentials and rattle off her CV, I’m even more impressed. She is one of those rare individuals who has more awards and honors than you’d ever expect, because she’s humble enough to not mention it herself. She is also the first witness to take the stand who looks directly at me and smiles before turning her attention to the prosecutor.

“Ruth had already done the newborn exam,” Dr. Atkins says. “She was concerned about a potential heart murmur.”

“Was that a significant concern?” Odette asks.

“No. A lot of babies are born with an open patent ductus. A teensy little hole in the heart. It usually closes up by itself, the first year of life. However, to be safe, I scheduled a pediatric cardiology consult prior to patient discharge.”

I know, from Kennedy, that Odette will be assuming the medical issue Kennedy referenced in her opening statement is this heart murmur. That she’s downplaying it, already, for the jury.

“Dr. Atkins, were you working on Saturday, October third-the day of Davis Bauer’s death?”

“Yes. I came in to do the patient’s circumcision at nine A.M.”

“Can you explain that procedure?”

“Of course, it’s a very simple operation during which the foreskin of a male infant’s penis is removed. I was running a little late because I had another patient with an emergency.”

“Was anyone else present?”

“Yes, two nurses. Corinne and Ruth. I asked Ruth if the patient was ready, and she said she was no longer his nurse. Corinne confirmed that the infant was ready for the procedure, and I performed it without incident.”

“Did Ruth say anything to you about the circumcision?”

Dr. Atkins pauses. “She said maybe I should sterilize the baby.”

Behind me, in the gallery, someone whispers: Bitch .

“How did you respond?”

“I didn’t. I had work to do.”

“How did the procedure go?”

The pediatrician shrugs. “He was crying afterward, like all infants do. We swaddled him tight, and he drifted off.” She looks up. “When I left, he was sleeping…well…like a baby.”

“Your witness,” Odette says.

“Doctor, you’ve worked at the hospital for eight years?” Kennedy begins.

“Yes.” She laughs a little. “Wow. Time flies.”

“During that time, have you worked with Ruth before?”

“Frequently, and joyously,” Dr. Atkins says. “She is a terrific nurse who goes above and beyond for her patients.”

“When Ruth made the comment about sterilizing the infant, how did you perceive her statement?”

“As a joke,” Dr. Atkins says. “I knew she was kidding. Ruth isn’t the type to be malicious about patients.”

“After Davis Bauer’s circumcision, were you still working in the hospital?”

“Yes, on a different floor, in the pediatric clinic.”

“Were you made aware of an emergency in the nursery?”

“Yes. Marie had called the code. When I arrived, Ruth was compressing the chest.”

“Did Ruth do everything according to the highest standards of care?”

“As far as I could see, yes.”

“Did she indicate any animus or bias against this child?” Kennedy asks.

“No.”

“I’d like to jump back a bit,” Kennedy says. “Did you order any blood work to be done on Davis Bauer after his birth?”

“Yes, the newborn screening that’s done by the state of Connecticut.”

“Where does the blood work go?”

“The state lab in Rocky Hill tests it. We don’t do it in-house.”

“How is it transported to the state lab?”

“By courier,” Dr. Atkins says.

“When was Davis Bauer’s blood taken for the screening?”

“At two-thirty P.M., on Friday, October third.”

“Did you ever receive the results of the newborn screening test from the Connecticut state lab?”

Dr. Atkins frowns, considering this. “Actually, I don’t remember seeing them. But of course by then it was a moot point.”

“What is the purpose of the test?”

She lists a series of rare diseases. Some are caused by genetic mutation. Some are issues with not having enough of an enzyme or protein in the body. Others result from not being able to break down enzymes or proteins. “Most of you have never heard of these conditions,” Dr. Atkins says, “because most babies don’t have them. But the ones that do-well, some of the disorders are treatable if caught early. If we make accommodations through diet or medicine or hormone therapy, we can often prevent significant growth delays and cognitive impairment by starting immediate treatment.”

“Are any of these conditions fatal?”

“Some, if they’re left untreated.”

“You did not have the benefit of the results of this test when Davis Bauer had a seizure, did you?” Kennedy asks.