Chapter 7 - The Battle for Hope
Over the next three weeks, St. Jude’s Medical Center became the battleground for two fragile lives fighting their way back to the light.
Down on the third floor in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, baby Leo—as Sophie had officially named her new little brother—was making astounding progress.
The hypothermia therapy had successfully prevented any long-term brain swelling. Day by day, his oxygen dependencies decreased, his feeding tube was removed, and his tiny lungs grew stronger.
Dr. Kline stood by the incubator as Sophie, wearing a tiny sterile gown and mask, reached her small hand through the side port of the incubator.
Baby Leo, weighing just four pounds, wrapped his tiny, soft fingers tightly around his big sister’s thumb.
"Look, Dr. Audra!" Sophie beamed, her dark eyes sparkling with happiness. "He’s holding my finger! He’s really strong!"
"He is strong, Sophie," Audra smiled, adjusting Leo’s heart monitor leads. "Just like his big sister."
While Leo thrived in the NICU, the battle upstairs in the adult ICU was much slower and filled with grueling uncertainty.
Natalie had been successfully weaned off the mechanical ventilator and was breathing on her own, but she remained in a state of minimally conscious unresponsiveness. She would open her eyes occasionally, but her gaze was blank, unmoving, floating in the dark fog left behind by the poison.
David Carter’s defense team attempted to use Natalie’s condition to their tactical advantage.
During a preliminary hearing at the county courthouse, David’s high-priced attorney argued that without Natalie’s direct testimony, the evidence regarding the poisoned milk was purely circumstantial and that five-year-old Sophie was "an unreliable minor witness influenced by trauma."
When Detective Vance brought news of the defense’s motion to the hospital, Audra’s eyes flashed with anger.
"They are trying to discredit a five-year-old child who saved two lives?" Audra snapped.
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"David’s lawyers are fighting dirty because they know he’s looking at life without parole," Vance explained grimly. "If Natalie doesn't regain full consciousness to provide a formal statement before the grand jury indictment deadline next month, the judge might grant bail to David under electronic monitoring."
Audra turned toward Natalie’s room. "We aren't going to let that happen."
