At the moment Bingham finished his detailed remembrance, Jack began his mea culpa of sorts. “A few moments ago I said I didn’t want to explain how my behavior at the chiropractor’s office was personal. I’d like to amend that.”
“I’m not sure I want to know if you were acquainted with your VAD patient personally,” Calvin growled.
“No, no!” Jack assured them. It had never occurred to him that Calvin might think such a thing. “I had no association whatsoever with the patient. I had never seen her, met her, or knew anything about her. The origin of this mess is my new baby boy.”
Jack hesitated a moment to let his statement sink in. Immediately, he could see a softening in the expressions of both men, particularly with Calvin, whose concern instantly replaced his anger.
“I’d like to ask one thing before I reveal what I’m about to,” Jack said. “I would ask that it doesn’t leave this room. It is a highly personal matter.”
“At this point I believe you will have to let us decide,” Bingham said. “If this suit goes forward, we could easily be deposed. If that were to happen, you can understand that we might not be able to honor a promise we make to you.”
“That I understand,” Jack said. “Short of being deposed, I would trust that you could keep Laurie’s and my secret.”
Bingham looked at Calvin. Calvin nodded in agreement.
“Is the baby okay?” Calvin demanded hastily.
“Unfortunately, no,” Jack admitted, and the moment he did, there was a catch in his voice. “I know you are aware Laurie has not returned from maternity leave as originally planned.”
“Of course we’re aware,” Calvin said impatiently, as if Jack was deliberately extending his story.
“Our child is gravely ill,” Jack managed. He’d not told anyone about JJ, for fear that the mere telling would somehow make the situation more real. Jack had been using a kind of denial as a way of dealing with the shock since JJ’s diagnosis.
Jack hesitated while he took a few deep breaths. Bingham and Calvin waited. They could see Jack’s jaw quiver and knew he was fighting back tears. They wanted to hear more details but were willing to give him time to collect himself.
“I know I haven’t been myself work-wise over the last three months or so,” Jack managed.
“We had no idea,” Bingham interrupted, suddenly feeling guilty about coming down so hard on Jack.
“Of course you didn’t,” Jack said. “We’ve told no one other than Laurie’s parents.”
“Do you mind telling us the diagnosis?” Calvin asked. “I suppose it’s none of our business, but I’d like to know. You know my feelings about Laurie. She’s like family.”
“Neuroblastoma,” Jack said. He had to take another deep breath to continue. “High-risk neuroblastoma.”
A hush fell while Bingham and Calvin digested this revelation.
“Where is he being treated?” Calvin asked gently, breaking the silence.
“At Memorial. He’s in a treatment program, but as luck would have it, they had to put it on hold once he developed an anti-mouse antibody. After he finished his chemo, his treatment has been based on a mouse monoclonal antibody. Unfortunately, he is not being treated at the moment. As you might expect, Laurie and I are having trouble dealing with the delay.”
“Well,” Bingham said after another short, uncomfortable silence. “This does put a different spin on the current situation. Perhaps you need a leave of absence, but a paid leave of absence. Perhaps you need to be home with your wife and child.”
“No!” Jack said forcefully. “I need to work! Seriously, the last thing I need is a leave of absence. You cannot believe how frustrating it is to watch your child suffer and not be able to do anything about it. Threatening me with a leave of absence is what pushed me to tell you about this in the first place.”
“Okay,” Bingham said. “No leave, but in return you must promise me you will refrain from making site visits, particularly to chiropractors.”
“I’ll promise that,” Jack said. From his perspective, that was hardly a concession.
“I still don’t quite understand your behavior at the chiropractor’s office,” Bingham said. “Was it something specific or just your general dislike for the field? It’s pretty obvious from what you said when you first came in here that you do not have a high regard for chiropractic therapy. Have you had a bad experience with a chiropractor yourself?”
“Absolutely not,” Jack said. “I’ve never been to one, nor did I really know much about them, but because of my VAD patient yesterday, I decided to look into chiropractic and alternative medicine in general to occupy my mind. Obviously, I’ve been obsessed about JJ, particularly with him off treatment. Before this VAD case, I hadn’t really thought about people dying from alternative medicine. When I began to look into it, one of the first articles I read described a case of a three-month-old infant having died from chiropractic cervical neck manipulation. I was appalled, especially since JJ is nearly the same age.
“I didn’t dwell on it, at least not until I started talking with Ronald Newhouse. As he was describing the insane rationale for chiropractic treatment for things like childhood allergies, sinusitis, or even something as benign as fussiness, and killing the kid in the process, I saw red. It’s one thing for an adult to be stupid enough to put themselves in jeopardy with a snake-oil salesman, but not a child. With a child it is criminal.”
Jack’s voice trailed off. Once again a heavy silence settled over the room.
Bingham broke the silence by announcing, “I believe I can speak both for myself and Calvin by saying how very sorry we are about JJ’s illness. Although I certainly cannot condone your behavior vis-à-vis the chiropractor, I can say I understand it better now. I can also say that I strongly encourage your investigating alternative medicine; from the forensic pathology point of view, it will be good for you for the reasons you gave, and good for forensic pathology. I can envision a valuable paper for one of the major forensic pathology journals, which will add to the alternative-medicine debate. However, during your investigation, I must insist you do not make any site visits to any alternative-medicine provider. Also, I want you to avoid any statements to the press on your own. Any releases have to go through public relations after being screened by me. The alternative-medicine issue is more political than scientific. In my opinion, there is very little science involved at all. To emphasize this point, in addition to getting the lawsuit this morning, I got a call from the mayor’s office. It seems you were picking on His Honor’s favorite health provider.”
“You are joking,” Jack said. It seemed impossible. Jack had met the mayor and had been impressed by the man’s intelligence, at least until that moment.
“I’m not joking in the slightest,” Bingham continued. “Apparently, Mr. Newhouse is the only person who can relieve the mayor’s lumbar back pain.”
“I’m shocked,” Jack admitted.
“Don’t be,” Bingham shot back. “As for this current lawsuit, we will make every effort to defend you.”
“Thank you, sir,” Jack said, relieved.
“We will also honor your wish for privacy, depositions notwithstanding. We will not divulge your secret, particularly here at the OCME.”
“I appreciate that,” Jack said.
“If you change your mind and want a leave of absence, consider the request already granted.”
“I appreciate that as well. You’re very kind.”
“Now, I assume you have work to do. Calvin tells me you have more cases pending than usual. So get to work and get them signed out.”
Jack took the cue and rapidly disappeared.