Rose looked out the window of Leo’s sporty Audi, dismayed as they pulled into the hospital parking lot. They’d picked up her car at school and dropped it back off at home, since Leo didn’t want her driving herself to the hospital. It turned out he’d been right, but for a different reason. The main entrance was crowded with people, security guards and reporters with videocameras. Klieglights on metallic stalks sprouted above everyone, like steel sunflowers.
“We got company,” Leo said, cutting the ignition. The air conditioning hissed into silence.
“Do you think that Amanda-” Rose started to say, but the sentence trailed off.
“No. I checked online before we left the house.”
“I wonder how she is.”
“We’ll see. First, we gotta get through the media. Here’s some free legal advice.” Leo patted her leg. “Stay with me. Say nothing. Keep moving. Don’t put your head down, it makes you look guilty.”
“I feel guilty.”
“You shouldn’t. Please, remember, we’re going to visit our daughter. It’s not about Amanda, it’s about Melly, who almost died today.”
Rose flashed on the smoke in the bathroom. “You’re right.”
“As usual.” Leo flashed her a grim smile, and they got out of the car. The air was barely cooling, though the sun had dropped behind the trees. The streetlights along Allen Road were beginning to glow, as was the red neon CVS sign, the McDonald’s, the Olive Garden, and the Target. Rose drove the main drag so often she felt as if she’d lived here five years, but she hadn’t been to the hospital until today.
Leo took her arm and walked with her toward the entrance. Heads started to turn as they approached, then klieglights and videocameras. She held her chin up and kept pace with him, moving forward even when Tanya and her TV crew came running toward them, followed by other reporters and photographers.
“Hello, Ms. McKenna!” Tanya called out, on the run. “A few questions, please. What happened with Amanda in the cafeteria this morning? This is your chance to set the record straight.”
“No comment.” Rose masked her worry. She hadn’t realized there was a record.
“Ms. McKenna, talk to me and get your story out. My offer’s still good on that one-on-one. Tell me what happened, from your point of view. Can’t we set that up?”
“She said no comment, thanks.” Leo put up his hand, keeping them both walking ahead, but Tanya fell into step with them.
“Ms. McKenna, if you don’t tell your side of the story, it leaves everyone to speculate. Eileen Gigot alleges that you chose to rescue your child to the detriment of three other children, including Amanda. Is that true?”
Oh no. Rose kept her chin up, even as other reporters joined the flock, yelling more questions.
“Ms. McKenna, did you complain to anyone about Amanda, calling her a bully?” “Ms. McKenna, did you place Amanda Gigot in a time-out?” “Ms. McKenna, over here!” “Rose, has Amanda ever struck your child?” “Ms. McKenna, did you move here because you claim your daughter was bullied?” “Any comment, Ms. McKenna? How about you, Mr. Ingrassia?”
Leo ignored the reporters, holding Rose close as they threaded their way through the crowd. She recognized parents from Melly’s class, and they craned their necks, their expressions collectively solemn. She lowered her head as Leo steered her up the walkway, followed by reporters, shouted questions, and videocameras. They reached the entrance, where a few women stood together.
“Rose McKenna?” one woman called out. She had short black hair and wore a blue dress with a laminated Homestead ID on a yellow lanyard around her neck, as if she’d come from work.
“Yes.” Rose approached, tentatively.
“I’m Wanda Jeresen. My daughter Courtney is in Nuru’s class, too, and Amanda is my goddaughter. I want to know how you justify what you did.” Wanda’s dark eyes flashed under light makeup, and her tone was angry, but controlled. “Terry and Eileen told me you ran to the bathroom to get Melly instead of helping her and Emily.”
“No, that’s not true,” Rose answered, and the crowd of parents and reporters closed in around them.
“Excuse me.” Leo put up a flat hand, turning to Wanda. “If you want to talk, we’re happy to do that, but not here.”
“Why not?” Wanda shot back. “I’d want an answer, here and now. We all do. I called you at home, but you didn’t answer.”
Leo raised both hands. “Hold on now-”
“Why am I talking to you anyway?” Wanda turned back to Rose. “Can’t you speak for yourself? You have to hide behind your husband? Don’t you think you owe me, or anybody, an explanation? We’re mothers, so talk to me, mother-to-mother.”
“Okay, well, that’s not the way it happened-”
“Then how did it happen?” Wanda’s dark eyes glittered. “Danielle had to run out of the fire, all by herself. I called and talked to Barbara, her mother. She didn’t even see you. You went to get your daughter and ignored her and Emily.”
“No, wait, listen.” Rose put up a hand. “I fell unconscious, and when I woke up, Danielle was running. Ask Emily, I took her and Amanda to the door.”
“Nice try, but I called Jerusha, too. Emily’s mother. We’ve been friends since the girls were in first grade. All Emily remembers is that you went to get Melly. She even remembers you saying that’s what you were doing. You told her that, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but-”
“No buts about it! And thank God that Danielle ran. If she hadn’t run, she’d be upstairs now, like Amanda. Or dead!”
“Wanda, hold on!” another woman shouted, making her way through the crowd. She had glasses and long dark hair, and wore a striped top with jeans and flats. “Rose, I’m Cathy Tillman, Sarah’s mother, from class. Tell me, since when is it okay to desert a child?”
“I didn’t desert her. I helped her. The first thing I did was take Amanda and Emily to the hallway leading to the playground.”
“What about Danielle?” Wanda demanded, hands on hips.
“Danielle had already gone. She was in the hallway with the others. I told Amanda and Emily to follow Danielle-”
“Follow Danielle, that’s it?” Cathy interrupted, her light eyes round with astonishment behind her glasses. “You don’t put an eight-year-old in charge of another eight-year-old. They’re just kids, and it was an emergency. You should have taken them out to the playground yourself. Danielle wasn’t the lunch mom, you were. That’s your responsibility.”
“Right,” Wanda joined in. “I heard what happened. You punished Emily and Danielle for something they didn’t do, and so what if Amanda was joking around with your daughter? Kids are kids. You have to let them fight their own battles.”
Cathy leaned closer. “Let’s talk turkey. You’re just jealous of Amanda because she’s popular and Melly isn’t. Harry Potter this, Harry Potter that. Melly’s a freak!”
“She is not!” Rose’s temper flared. “She reads, that’s all!”
“Oh, please!” Cathy’s hand shot out, waving Rose off, but it startled her and she stepped backwards, bumping into a tall cylindrical ashtray, then losing her balance and falling to the hard concrete with the ashtray spilling sand, cigarette butts, and gum wrappers.
“That’s it!” Leo bellowed, pulling a stunned Rose to her feet.
Cathy burst into nervous laughter. Wanda’s mouth dropped open. The reporters surged forward, the photographers held their cameras overhead, and the crowd reacted with gasps, chatter, and a hoot or two.
“Let’s go!” Leo hurried Rose through the glass doors into the hospital. The lobby was like a refuge, quiet and cool, filled with potted plants and soothing framed landscapes. A few older people sat in sectional furniture, one holding Get Well balloons weighted with a small sandbag. Leo touched Rose’s arm. “My God. Are you okay, honey?”
“Yes.” She brushed cigarette ashes from her jeans. “And Melly’s not a freak.”
“I know.” Leo smoothed down his suit jacket. “Sorry about that. I should’ve seen that coming.”
“It was an accident.”
“Right. Yes, but they still laughed about it.”
Shaken, Rose tried to recover. “You told me not to talk to them, but I thought they deserved an answer.”
“They didn’t want an answer. They wanted to vent.” Leo put an arm around her. “Damn, I should have anticipated this. Hubby let you down.”
“Hubby never lets me down.”
Leo gave her a quick kiss. “You good to go?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, then we need an information desk.” Leo looked around.
“There.” Rose pointed, and they went to the information desk, where they gave their name and asked for Melly’s room.
“She’s in 306,” answered the receptionist, who was an older woman with a button that read VOLUNTEER. “She’s one of the little girls from the school, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she’s our daughter.” Rose leaned over the counter. “Where is the other little girl, Amanda Gigot?”
“Let me see.” The receptionist hit a few keys. “Yes. She’s in 406. That’s Intensive Care.”
Rose felt her stomach tense.
Leo leaned on the desk. “What floor did you say is Intensive Care? The fourth?”
“Yes, but you can’t visit. Only immediate family is permitted.”
“I understand, thanks.” Leo took Rose’s arm, and they left for the elevators.
“Do you want to visit Amanda?” Rose asked, incredulous.
“No, I want to avoid the fourth floor.”