Jodi Picoult - Small Great Things

“No. The state lab is closed on weekends. We usually don’t get Friday’s results back until Tuesday.”

“What you’re saying,” Kennedy mulls, “is that it takes almost twice as long to get the test results back if the baby has the misfortune to be born at the end of the workweek.”

“That’s true, unfortunately.”

I can see the jury perking up, writing down notes, listening intently. Behind me, Edison shifts. Maybe Kennedy is right. Maybe all they need is science.

“Are you aware of a disorder called MCADD?” Kennedy asks.

“Yes. It’s a fatty acid oxidation disorder. Basically, an infant who has it will have trouble breaking down fats, and that means the blood sugar drops to dangerously low levels. It can be managed with early detection-a careful diet, frequent feedings.”

“Let’s say it isn’t detected. What happens?”

“Well, infants who have MCADD have a significant risk of death during the first clinical episode of hypoglycemia-when that blood sugar goes south.”

“What would that look like?”

“They’d be sleepy, logy. Irritable. They wouldn’t nurse well.”

“Let’s say, hypothetically, a baby with undiagnosed, untreated MCADD was about to be circumcised. Is there anything about that procedure that might have exacerbated the disease?”

The pediatrician nods. “Normally there would be fasting after six A.M., because of the upcoming surgery. For a baby with MCADD, that would lead to low blood sugar-a potential episode of hypoglycemia. Instead, ten percent dextrose would have been given to the baby prior and afterward.”

“You drew blood from Davis Bauer during the code, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell the jury the results of his blood sugar at that time?” Kennedy asks.

“Twenty.”

“At what level is a newborn considered hypoglycemic?”

“Forty.”

“So Davis Bauer’s blood sugar was dangerously low?”

“Yes.”

“Would it have been enough to cause a child with untreated, undiagnosed MCADD to go into respiratory failure?”

“I can’t say for sure. But it’s possible.”

Kennedy lifts a file. “I’d like to enter this as exhibit forty-two,” she says. “It’s the newborn screening result of Davis Bauer, which was subpoenaed by the defense.”

Odette stands like a shot. “Your Honor, what is this stunt? Defense hasn’t shared this with the prosecution-”

“That’s because I received these results just days ago. They were conveniently missing from the discovery, however, for months, ” Kennedy replies. “Which I could claim as obstruction of justice…”

“Approach.” The judge calls both lawyers to the bench. A machine is turned on so that I cannot hear what they’re saying, and neither can the jury. When they finish, though, it’s after much hand waving and a dark flush on Kennedy’s face. But the record is handed to the clerk to be entered as evidence.

“Dr. Atkins, can you tell us what you’re looking at?” Kennedy asks.

“It’s a newborn screening test result,” the pediatrician says, sifting through the pages. Then she stops. “Oh, my God.”

“Is there any particular finding of interest in the results, Dr. Atkins? The results that didn’t get processed because the state lab was closed all weekend? The results you didn’t receive until after the death of Davis Bauer?”

The pediatrician looks up. “Yes. Davis Bauer screened positive for MCADD.”

–

KENNEDY IS HIGH on herself when court is dismissed that first day. She’s talking fast, like she’s had four big cups of coffee, and she seems to feel like we won our case, even though the prosecution has only just begun and we haven’t started the defense. She tells me I should drink a big glass of wine to celebrate a phenomenal day of testimony, but honestly, all I want to do is go home and crawl into bed.

My head is aching with images of Davis Bauer, and with the look on Dr. Atkins’s face when she realized what the test results said. True, Kennedy had shared them with me two nights ago, but this was even more devastating. To see someone else from the hospital-someone I liked and trusted-silently thinking, If only …It recentered me a little.

Yes, this is a trial against me.

Yes, I was blamed for something I shouldn’t have been blamed for.

But at the end of the day, there’s still a dead baby. There’s still a mama who doesn’t get to watch him grow up. I could be acquitted; I could become a shining light for Wallace Mercy’s message; I could sue in civil court for damages and get a payout that makes my nerves about Edison’s college bills disappear-and still, I would know that nobody had really won this case.

Because you can’t erase the colossal, tragic loss of a life at its very beginning.

That’s what’s running through my mind as I wait for the hallways to clear, so that Edison and I can go home without attracting attention. He is waiting for me on a bench outside the conference room. “Where’s your aunt?”

He shrugs. “She said she wanted to get home before the snow really started.”

I glance out the window, where flakes are falling. I’ve been turned inward so much, I hadn’t even noticed an oncoming storm. “Let me just use the restroom,” I tell Edison, and I walk down the empty hall.

I go into the stall and do my business, flush, and come out to wash my hands. Standing at the sink is Odette Lawton. She glances at me in the mirror, puts the cap on her lipstick. “Your lawyer had a good first day,” she concedes.

I don’t know what to say, so I just let the hot water run over my wrists.

“But if I were you, I wouldn’t get too complacent. You may be able to convince Kennedy McQuarrie you’re Clara Barton, but I know what you were thinking after that racist put you in your place. And they were not healing thoughts.”

It is too much. Something bubbles up inside me, a geyser, a realization. I shut the faucet, dry my hands, and face her. “You know, I have spent my life doing everything right. I have studied hard and smiled pretty and played by the rules to get where I am. And I know you have too. So it is really hard for me to understand why an intelligent, professional African American woman would go out of her way to put down another intelligent, professional African American woman.”

There is a flicker in Odette’s eyes, like a breath on a flame. Just as quickly, it’s gone, replaced by a steel stare. “This has nothing to do with race. I’m just doing my job.”

I throw my paper towel into the trash, put my hand on the door handle. “Aren’t you lucky?” I say. “No one told you you couldn’t.”

–

THAT NIGHT I am sitting at the kitchen table, just lost in my thoughts, when Edison brings me a cup of tea. “What’s this for, baby?” I say, smiling.

“I thought you could use it,” he tells me. “You look tired.”

“I am,” I confess. “I am so damn tired.”

We both know I’m not talking about the first two days of testimony, either.

Edison sits down beside me, and I squeeze his hand. “It’s exhausting, isn’t it? Trying so hard to prove that you’re better than they expect you to be?”

He nods, and I know he understands what I’m saying. “Court’s different than I thought it would be, from what I’ve seen on TV.”

“Longer,” I say, at the same time he says, “Boring.”

We both laugh.

“I was talking a little to that Howard dude, during one of the recesses,” Edison says. “It’s pretty cool, his job. And Kennedy’s. You know, the whole idea that everyone has the right to a good attorney, even if they can’t pay for it.” He looks at me, a question wreathed around his features. “You think I’d be a good lawyer, Mama?”