nurses had to turn to the mother for what should be normal care in the hospital—I thought it outrageous. I told Debby, and wrote it in the orders, that no one but the nurses were to mix the formula. I didn’t make any real connection then. But it must have been floating in the back of my head.”
There was one other thing of paramount concern to Evelyn, especially in view of what Estol had discovered about the formula. It might occur to the Phillipses to check Mindy out of the hospital against medical advice. And to keep them from doing that, Evelyn realized she would have to be prepared to call security.
It did not occur to her that she and Estol might be the ones to need security. She expected anger from the parents, but later she was struck by the inappropriateness of their response. She saw Steve Phillips react way out of proportion to the situation. He seemed to burst into a towering rage.
She had always thought that Steve Phillips, at best, was a rather frightening sight. Not only was he mountainous, but he was naturally somewhat menacing, with brown eyes too small for his face, and very thin lips which narrowed and disappeared when he was angry, revealing yellow teeth. He had a short, meaty nose, and several small white scars around his brow and chin. And she couldn’t help herself: his strong southern accent made her wince.
And Steve was furious. When he screamed that threat about someone going through a wall, Evelyn had to swallow against a sudden chunk of fear hardening in her throat.
And why were the Phillipses so angry? she wondered. Why weren’t they more concerned? Why weren’t they worried that she and Estol thought Mindy’s health to be so jeopardized that they were insisting on the Intensive Care Unit? Wasn’t this how normal parents would react?
And why did it seem to matter so much that the boys couldn’t visit their sister? Instead of being scared, the parents fought. That was what was so strange. They argued, claiming that 160 was not so high, that it didn’t justify the ICU.
And then Steve Phillips had talked about enemies. He said that with his job and his wife’s, they were sure to have made lots of enemies over the years. It wasn’t a normal dialogue, Evelyn thought. The small room began to ring with the sound of raised voices. It was hard to tell what Mrs. Phillips thought, what anybody actually believed. All they were getting was pure, shimmering rage.
But Evelyn knew what really mattered to Mrs. Phillips. It was the part about the limited visiting. And that just added to Evelyn’s suspicions. Mrs. Phillips hadn’t really been all that upset until then, she thought. And in ICU, the woman’s every move would be supervised. She would never be alone with Mindy.
Evelyn’s hands shook as she unlocked the door of the Quiet Room to let the four of them out. The irony of the room’s name suddenly struck her. Never had that room, she was certain, been less quiet than it had been for the last thirty minutes.
Still, the meeting had accomplished what Evelyn had hoped. The Phillipses had harangued and screamed and cried, but they had not signed Mindy out against medical advice, and the situation had not escalated.
14
Steve Phillips knew an accusation when he heard one. And he had heard one here. All that pussyfooting around about “someone” doing “something” with that sodium, and changing all Mindy’s routines. It was horse manure, he thought.
“Look, Pris, don’t you see what they’re saying?” he said again in the van on their way home from the hospital.
“Steve, you’re crazy.” She looked at him in disbelief. He felt himself go red.
“Pris, you idiot. You’re so goddamn naive sometimes! They’re saying you put something into Mindy.”
“But they didn’t say that. They said there was more sodium going into her than they could account for. They’re worried about the high sodium, that’s all.”
“Right, Pris. They’re not saying it up front, but
There was one other thing of paramount concern to Evelyn, especially in view of what Estol had discovered about the formula. It might occur to the Phillipses to check Mindy out of the hospital against medical advice. And to keep them from doing that, Evelyn realized she would have to be prepared to call security.
It did not occur to her that she and Estol might be the ones to need security. She expected anger from the parents, but later she was struck by the inappropriateness of their response. She saw Steve Phillips react way out of proportion to the situation. He seemed to burst into a towering rage.
She had always thought that Steve Phillips, at best, was a rather frightening sight. Not only was he mountainous, but he was naturally somewhat menacing, with brown eyes too small for his face, and very thin lips which narrowed and disappeared when he was angry, revealing yellow teeth. He had a short, meaty nose, and several small white scars around his brow and chin. And she couldn’t help herself: his strong southern accent made her wince.
And Steve was furious. When he screamed that threat about someone going through a wall, Evelyn had to swallow against a sudden chunk of fear hardening in her throat.
And why were the Phillipses so angry? she wondered. Why weren’t they more concerned? Why weren’t they worried that she and Estol thought Mindy’s health to be so jeopardized that they were insisting on the Intensive Care Unit? Wasn’t this how normal parents would react?
And why did it seem to matter so much that the boys couldn’t visit their sister? Instead of being scared, the parents fought. That was what was so strange. They argued, claiming that 160 was not so high, that it didn’t justify the ICU.
And then Steve Phillips had talked about enemies. He said that with his job and his wife’s, they were sure to have made lots of enemies over the years. It wasn’t a normal dialogue, Evelyn thought. The small room began to ring with the sound of raised voices. It was hard to tell what Mrs. Phillips thought, what anybody actually believed. All they were getting was pure, shimmering rage.
But Evelyn knew what really mattered to Mrs. Phillips. It was the part about the limited visiting. And that just added to Evelyn’s suspicions. Mrs. Phillips hadn’t really been all that upset until then, she thought. And in ICU, the woman’s every move would be supervised. She would never be alone with Mindy.
Evelyn’s hands shook as she unlocked the door of the Quiet Room to let the four of them out. The irony of the room’s name suddenly struck her. Never had that room, she was certain, been less quiet than it had been for the last thirty minutes.
Still, the meeting had accomplished what Evelyn had hoped. The Phillipses had harangued and screamed and cried, but they had not signed Mindy out against medical advice, and the situation had not escalated.
14
Steve Phillips knew an accusation when he heard one. And he had heard one here. All that pussyfooting around about “someone” doing “something” with that sodium, and changing all Mindy’s routines. It was horse manure, he thought.
“Look, Pris, don’t you see what they’re saying?” he said again in the van on their way home from the hospital.
“Steve, you’re crazy.” She looked at him in disbelief. He felt himself go red.
“Pris, you idiot. You’re so goddamn naive sometimes! They’re saying you put something into Mindy.”
“But they didn’t say that. They said there was more sodium going into her than they could account for. They’re worried about the high sodium, that’s all.”
“Right, Pris. They’re not saying it up front, but
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