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ditzy123: Did anyone see Madeleine Cooper on the TV this morning? Isn’t she brilliant—so easygoing. I LOL’d when she said that she’d dropped her kid as a baby—I mean, who hasn’t? Though not sure I’d admit it on national TV...
shazzababe: I did see her and yeah, she’s great. I’ve actually been following her blog for a while—really funny and down to earth. It helped me a lot in the early days with babs TBH, as she really tells it like it is, and doesn’t bang on about how you’re “supposed” to do this, that and the other. She looks amazing too—I loved the dress she was wearing. Just goes to prove what she was saying before that being a mum doesn’t mean you have to forgo style. She’s fab!
booklover9: Madeleine is great fun. I read her blog too and follow her on Facebook and it’s like having a chat with a great friend. TV needs more people like her, not like that sourpuss Gemma Moore. I don’t think she likes Mad Mum at all, ha!
ditzy123: She was a bit harsh on her earlier, wasn’t she? Though no better woman than Madeleine to take it—I’d say she doesn’t let anyone walk over her. Interesting to watch, though, I thought Gemma was going to explode. And I think Madeleine enjoys goading her. And yah, I loved her dress too! I’d say it’s expensive although in her blog she often mentions normal person’s stuff from the high street. She’s the biz...
Madeleine smiled as she read through the social media reaction to her latest appearance on Morning Coffee. She guessed some of her comments—in particular the admission of dropping poor Jake—would be provocative, but had tried her best to keep it all lighthearted, and was glad to see that her tone had hit the mark.
She was also somewhat relieved to see that she wasn’t the only one who seemed to think Gemma Moore had it in for her. She’d been quite taken aback when the journalist had taken such a combative stance toward the “Parents Not Allowed” blog post. Perhaps the helicopter thing had hit a nerve?
Oh, well, there was nothing Madeleine could do about that; once her followers and the general public seemed to have taken the post and the sentiment behind it in the spirit in which it was intended, that was all that mattered.
But thinking of Jake... Madeleine took out her phone and brought up the number for one of Jake’s school friends’ mums.
“Hello, Carol? How are you doing, sweetheart? It’s Madeleine here,” she said pleasantly, when the other woman picked up.
“Madeleine, hi.”
“Listen, I’m just checking in to see about a playdate with Nathan. Long overdue, I know, and Jake has been bugging me about it for ages, but things have been busy lately and of course with poor Clara being sick... So anyway, would this Thursday suit? I can pick Nate up after school if you like?”
“Actually, I’m not really sure that’s a good idea, Madeleine...”
“Well, would Friday be any better?”
“I actually meant that I’m not keen on the playdate in general. Not after the whole...episode with Clara.”
“You mean the measles? But she’s well over that now and long past being infectious. In fact, she went back to school last week.”
“It’s not that. It’s just... I’m sorry, Madeleine, but, to be frank, I’m uncomfortable with the fact that Jake isn’t vaccinated. I didn’t know.”
“But Jake had measles years ago—he’s fine.”
“He’s still not vaccinated, though.”
“I don’t understand. Like I said, he can’t get it again and in any case I’m assuming Nathan is vaccinated. So what’s the problem—exactly?”
“The problem is that I don’t want to take any chances, not after what happened to little Rosie O’Hara.”
“Oh...”
“I’m sorry, Madeleine. Obviously the choices you make for your children are your own business, but I can’t run the risk of—”
“I see.”
“Especially when it seems that poor Rosie took a turn for the worse over the weekend. Last I heard she was in a coma, so you understand...”
Madeleine wasn’t sure if she’d hung up on Carol McDaid without even saying goodbye but it didn’t matter. A coma... What on earth?
She dialed Lucy’s number as fast as she could, forgetting in her haste that she could just hit her friend’s name in her saved contacts, but she was so eager to talk to her, so desperate to find out what had happened.
Mercifully, her friend answered on the second ring. “Lucy, I just spoke to Carol McDaid, who said something about little Rosie taking a bad turn at the hospital. What’s going on?”
Her friend sounded shaken. “That’s right, I’m afraid. I was there when it happened. The poor thing started going into convulsions and got so serious she nearly had to be resuscitated. Poor Kate had gone home for a rest at the time...”
Oh, my God. Poor, poor Kate. “So how is she now? What’s happening? Carol said she was in a coma... Is there anything I can do, does Kate need—”
Her friend exhaled hard. “Well, the poor thing is in a state, understandably, and worried sick about what’s going to happen next. They’ve diagnosed Rosie with viral encephalitis. She still hasn’t fully recovered from the pneumonia, so, at the moment, she’s on a ventilator and some drugs to try to bring down the swelling on her brain and stop the convulsions, but it’s very touch and go...” She paused, sounding shaken. “It was horrific, Madeleine; I really thought she was going to die and poor Kate did, too. The doctors had to induce the coma to try to prevent serious damage to her brain, apparently... I’m not sure, I haven’t spoken properly to Kate since Friday. But it’s a horrible situation and naturally she’s all over the place.”
“I don’t believe it. All this from measles? A coma?”
“Well, from the encephalitis, really. The doctor said it’s an extension of the virus, which attacks brain tissue. But it seems everything stemmed from the original infection, yes...”
Her words trailed off and there followed a prolonged silence, during which Madeleine was sure she could feel reprobation coming down the line.
“What can I do? How can I help? I tried to phone Kate but she’s not picking up and—”
“Madeleine, there’s nothing you can do, nothing any of us can do—not now anyway. But I’m sorry to say this and really hate doing so, but you really, really shouldn’t have sent Clara to school that day.”
Madeleine wanted to cry with guilt. While she already felt bad enough and had since being on the receiving end of a few different forms of recrimination, now hearing it from her best friend, her closest ally...was like a shot to the heart.
But how could she even think about defending herself when a little girl was fighting for her life?
“I know, but...but I couldn’t have known, Luce. I had no idea that something like this would happen, and Clara got through it fine...”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, but I’m upset, too, for Rosie—and for Kate. Honestly, my heart was breaking to see her being dragged out of the ICU while they tried to stabilize Rosie. It’s horrific...such a nightmare for any parent. And of course I know that you never meant any harm. But, Maddie, you must also know people aren’t happy and already they’re starting to point the finger.”
Madeleine knew that much; she’d experienced it just now with Carol McDaid. Tom’s mother had also mentioned similar murmurings the other night, but at the time Madeleine had brushed Harriet’s concerns away.
And thinking back on her correspondence with Julie Wells the other day about the book club: Probably best to leave it...
She’d been too stupid at the time to realize the other woman was giving her the brush-off.
Oh, God, what have I done...?
She could fix this, Madeleine decided. She would talk to Kate, do whatever it took, ensure that Rosie got the best possible care. She didn’t know if the O’Haras had health insurance but it didn’t matter, Tom would know who to talk to at the hospital, or if not, he’d get in touch with someone who would.
“Where is Kate now?” she asked Lucy.
“At the hospital, I’d imagine. Although no, she did say something about getting her car back this morning. It broke down the other day—that’s why she wasn’t back at the hospital when Rosie’s convulsions started. To be honest, I’m kind of glad she wasn’t. Truly, Maddie, I’m not quite right myself after it. After staying in the ICU all night with her, I went straight home and hugged the life out of my own two. That kind of terror, no parent should ever have to go through it.”
Madeleine bit her lip. “The poor thing. So you think she might be at home now? Or in town at least?”
“I think so. But, sweetheart, I really don’t think—”
For the second time that day and possibly in her entire life, Madeleine hung up the phone without saying goodbye.
She jumped straight into the Audi and was on the other side of Knockroe within minutes, speeding on the windy country roads the whole way. Screw it, this wasn’t the time for stupid rules and regulations, not if she wanted to catch Rosie’s mum before she traveled back to the hospital.
She was only a few yards from the entrance to Kate’s driveway, when she spied a yellow Beetle pass by on the other side—Christine Campbell’s unmistakable Volkswagen. And she couldn’t be sure, but she could have sworn Kate O’Hara was sitting in the passenger side.
Did Christine know Kate, and if so, how?
Madeleine wasn’t sure why, but all at once she felt a heavy, leaden knot form in the pit of her stomach.