Read Online A Mother's Trial by Nancy Wright - Free Book Online

muttered to herself. “Where are Mindy’s NG and IV?” Priscilla asked aloud.
    The nurse shrugged. “She pulled the NG out right after I got here, about an hour ago. And the IV kept infiltrating, so Dr. Carte ordered Pedialyte. She’s taking it really well. She’s been just fine since she’s been here, Mrs. Phillips,” she added reassuringly.
    “I knew it! I knew she’d do something like that if I wasn’t with her. She’s been trying to pull out the tube since she got it. But I don’t understand these changes. Do you know where I can find Dr. Carte?”
    “Well, you could try the pediatric ward. I believe he’s on duty up there today.”
    “Yes, I know.”
    Priscilla finally tracked down Dr. Carte, who agreed to meet her again in the Quiet Room.
    So, for the second time in that room, and for the third time that day, Priscilla and Dr. Carte confronted one another.
    “Dr. Carte, I’ve just been in to see Mindy. She has no IV and no NG. If she’s so sick, why doesn’t she need these? I don’t understand.”
    “Well, she pulled out the NG and the IV kept infiltrating. There’s only one site left for a cut-down and I don’t want to use it if I don’t have to. Her diarrhea is improved so I started her on Pedialyte. That’s just an oral solution of what’s in the IV—”
    “I know. What I don’t understand is if she’s so sick that she needs to be in ICU, why doesn’t she need an IV? I mean, why keep her in ICU?”
    “She’s doing all right on the Pedialyte, Mrs. Phillips. So far. I’ve already explained to you why the ICU is necessary. I really don’t have anything to add.”
    He did not tell Priscilla, nor did she find out until much later, that although he’d ordered only a small amount of the solution be given to Mindy, the nurse, seeing how eagerly Mindy had taken it, how thirsty she seemed to be, had let her have the whole bottle of Pedialyte. He did not tell Priscilla how dangerous that could be. If a child with a high serum sodium level is rehydrated too quickly, it can cause the brain to swell with fluid. And when that happens, there is no place for the brain to expand, encased as it is in the hard shell of the skull. So brain damage can result, as can convulsions and even death. But they had been lucky with Mindy: she had tolerated the large amount of fluid well.
    It was Priscilla who now brought up the topic she really wanted to explore. What had Carte really been driving at in the earlier meeting? And this time, he confronted the issue more squarely.
    Mindy’s sodium level, he said, indicated that she was receiving an external source of sodium that was causing her diarrhea, and it was the sort of thing you could get over the counter at any drugstore.
    “What do you mean?” Priscilla asked.
    “Something with a laxative effect, that all of us are familiar with,” he answered.
    “I’m not familiar with that,” she said. “There are no laxatives in our house.”
    “Well, it’s common knowledge. You can buy it anywhere.”
    “I don’t know anything about that,” she said again. And Carte did not answer her and did not look at her.
    “It’s obvious to me that I can sit here and tell you over and over again, till I’m blue in the face, that I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she burst out. “But you’re obviously not going to believe me.”
    And again, he looked away and didn’t answer.
    Later, Priscilla swore she made the next suggestion. Carte would swear it was his own.
    “The Child Protective Services has to be called.”
    They would both agree, however, that Priscilla then said, “I’ve worked there and I know the procedure. You shouldn’t just call the social worker on duty. Call Annie Jameson. She’s the head. I’ve got her home number in my car. I’ll get it for you.”
    Startled, Carte replied, “Yes. All right.”
    Afterward, Priscilla claimed that at this point in the conversation, she demanded that there be a criminal investigation. Carte was