Sleeping Beauty (43 page)

“Like I said, I’ve never tasted it, but if it’s anything like drinking saline solution I’d imagine that it’s not a pleasant flavor.”

“Can you tell us why the medication has such an unpleasant flavor?”

“I just told you; it’s because it’s a solution of sodium.”

“My apologies. What I meant to say is that there are other medications that have unpleasant tastes, and the pharmacy often provides flavorings to make them more palatable. Does sodium oxybate come flavored?”

“No.”

“And why not?”

“Sodium oxybate is a respiratory depressant that can be dangerous when administered at a high dose.”

“A respiratory depressant–you mean that it can stop a person from breathing at high doses?”

“Yes, that’s correct. The unpleasant taste is purposely
not
masked with flavorings so that it’s difficult for patients to confuse it with any other liquids they may have around.”

“How big was the cup of water that you gave to Ms. Beau in the sleep lab?”

“I don’t remember exactly. My best guess is that it was an eight-ounce plastic cup.”

“Do you think that if Ms. Beau found that the water had a strange taste she would’ve said something?”

“Certainly. By the time I gave her the water, she was able to speak.”

“What happened next?”

“I asked her if she was experiencing an episode.”

“A KLS episode?”

“That’s right.”

“What did she say?”

“She nodded her head.”

“And at that point what did you do? Did you ask her any other questions?”

For the first time Brendan appears uncomfortable. He shifts in the wooden chair. “I attempted to ask her if her episodes had ever been preceded by displays of hypersexuality.”

“Did you ever get an answer?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

The courtroom dissolves in laughter. I cover my mouth with my hand to hide a smile. The fact that he isn’t intending to be funny makes his response even funnier.

“What happened next?” says Ben, once the titillated giggles have tapered off.

“I held her hand and tried to comfort her. I told her I would stay with her until someone else came to the sleep lab.”

“Did any other staff come to the testing room while this was happening?”

“No.”

“Where there any staff scheduled to work in the sleep lab?”

“There was one, a technician.”

“A man or a woman?”

“A woman. It’s policy to have a same-sex caretaker present during sleep lab testing.”

“And where was she?”

“She left right before Claire arrived for her appointment.”

“Where did she go?”

“She said she needed to run to the cafeteria to get some breakfast, and would return in a few minutes.”

“And did you give her permission to do this?”

“I did, but I asked her to return by seven o’clock, which was when Claire was due to arrive.”

“Did she ever return?”

“She did return eventually, but not until well after Claire entered her KLS episode.”

“Did you think to call her when Ms. Beau exhibited this fear, this extreme agitation?”

“I did, but her pager number was on a sheet on the wall in the hallway, and I was worried that leaving Claire right then would cause her to become even more agitated.”

“Okay. So tell us about what happened then.”

“Claire attempted to touch me.”

“Touch you where?”

“My arm.”

“And what did you do?”

“I pulled her hand away. I tried to ask her again if hypersexual behaviors preceded or accompanied the onset of her KLS episodes.”

“And what did she say?”

Brendan turns beet red. “She said that she wanted to do ‘bad things’ to me.”

“Was it at this time that she grabbed your shirt and attempted to kiss you?”

“That’s correct.”

“And what happened then?”

“She locked her arms around my neck and pulled me forward. I tried to brace myself with my arm against the bed frame, but I missed it and fell on top of her while she was trying to kiss me.”

“And what did you do at that point? Did you pull away or attempt to break contact with her?”

“Not immediately.”

“And why did you not break contact with her?”

Charmant pauses and takes a deep breath. “A couple of reasons.”

A mischievous smile overspreads Ben’s face. “And will you be providing reason number one or number two first?”

“Mr. McCarthy,” warns the judge. “I’d hate to discipline you for badgering your own client.”

“Oh, my god,” I mutter. “He’s badgering his own client…” I turn to Rev. “I suppose you’re going to tell me this is some sort of legal strategy?”

“It’s genius,” he whispers. “He knows the jury’s going to hate this part. He’s preparing them, letting them know that they’re about to hear something absurd.”

“I think we just heard the absurd part.”

Rev smiles. “Nah, that’s coming…”

Chapter Thirty-Three

“What do you mean?” I hiss at Rev. “He’s making him look like a fool!”

Rev shakes his head. “The jury will forget that Ben’s on Brendan’s side. Once Lucinda asks him the same questions, the same story won’t be nearly as titillating to hear.”

“Noted, Your Honor,” says Ben. He turns back to Brendan. “Dr. Charmant, can you tell us your reasons for not breaking contact with Ms. Beau once you were lying on top of her on the bed kissing her?”

Brendan shakes his head defiantly. “I never kissed her.”

“You never kissed her?” Ben crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow, looking skeptical. “But the video shows–”

“The video shows the back of my head, half of our bodies, and our legs. I never kissed her.”

“It appears as if Ms. Beau’s head is very close to yours, even if we can’t see your mouths.”

“Her head
was
close to mine, and she was attempting to kiss me, but I did not return any of those advances.”

“Was there any moment after she touched her lips to yours at the very beginning of the encounter that she kissed you again?”

“She tried to, yes.”

“Your mouths touched again, even though we can’t see it?”

“Yes. But her
attempting
to do something to me, and me
participating
in it are not the same thing. I did not participate.”

“And what were you occupying your time with during this, uh, ‘non-participation.’”

The judge just groans in frustration. I close my eyes, not sure how much more of this I can take. Rev clamps his hand over mine just as I’m about to start rubbing my temples.

Ben nods to her. “My apologies, Your Honor, I’ll rephrase the question. Dr. Charmant, while Ms. Beau was attempting to kiss you, what were you doing?”

“I was trying to push up off the mattress with my arms.”

“And why did this take so long?”

“She had one of my arms pinned underneath her, and it was difficult to do with one arm.”

“How did you finally achieve it?”

“I pushed my hand against the mattress, and did a sort of one-arm push-up.”

“Where on the mattress did you put your hand in relation to Ms. Beau’s body?”

“Just behind her waist.”

“Is this the part of the video where Ms. Beau is heard to moan? Where she wraps her legs around you?”

Brendan’s jaw tightens. “Yes.”

“Is it possible that Ms. Beau perceived this motion as you reciprocating her advance?”

“Objection,” says Lucinda. “Speculation.”

“Sustained.”

“When KLS patients are exhibiting hypersexual behaviors, you said they behave in ways they often wouldn’t behave in a normal state.”

“That’s correct.”

“Would a patient exhibiting hypersexual behaviors know what an appropriate reciprocation gesture was?”

“Objection,” says Lucinda wearily without standing. “I don’t even know if
I
know what an ‘appropriate reciprocation gesture’ is.”

Before the judge can rule on the objection, Ben changes the question. “Would Ms. Beau have necessarily been able to perceive whether or not you were enjoying the contact–the kissing and touching?”

Brendan shakes his head, looking frustrated. “Look, KLS patients in the middle of hypersexuality displays are unable to empathize with the person they’re attempting to engage. Whether or not the person enjoys or reciprocates their advances is irrelevant. They would be unlikely to modify their behavior based on your reaction.”

“Do you mean that Ms. Beau would’ve continued to attempt to touch you in a sexual manner regardless of your reaction?”

“It’s highly likely that she would have, yes.”

“And you didn’t break contact with her because…?”

“Because I didn’t want her to become even more agitated. Like we discussed a few minutes ago, KLS patients can become extremely aggressive when they feel threatened, or if you deny them whatever it is they think they need at that moment.”

“Sex?”

“Whatever it is they think they need at the moment,” he repeats. “Food, sleep, sex.”

“So you thought Ms. Beau might become violent?”

“It was very possible that that could happen. Not having another caretaker to assist me complicated the situation.”

“At any point when she first initiated contact with you, did you ever think about how you thought she was wearing flattering clothing, or that she was a beautiful woman?”

“Never.”

“What were you feeling?”

“I was horrified and in a panic.”

“I see. At what point did you break contact with her?”

“Like I said, about fifteen seconds after she first touched me, I pushed away from her and got up from the bed.”

“And what happened then?”

“She held onto me when I stood up.”

“In what way?”

“She had her hands around my neck and her legs around my waist.”

“And this was how she stayed attached to you? Using her arms and legs?”

“Once I realized that she wasn’t going to let go, I had an arm around her as well.”

“So you were holding her,
pulling
her towards your body?”

“Yes, with my arm.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t want her to fall.”

“Dr. Charmant, how tall are you?”

“Six feet.”

“And how much do you weigh?”

“One hundred seventy-pounds.”

“And how much would you estimate Claire Beau weighs?”

“She weighed one hundred pounds at the time of the sleep lab visit.”

I frown at his implication, even if it’s unintentional. Next to me, Rev snickers. “Not like I can
help
it,” I mumble.

“How is it that you couldn’t remove a woman you outweighed by seventy-five pounds from your, ah, person?”

“I could’ve removed her, but not without hurting her, especially if she decided to fight me, and not without the risk of her falling six feet to the ground and being injured.”

“So what did you do next?”

“I carried her into the bathroom and turned on the shower.”

He laughs. “You gave her a proverbial cold shower?”

Brendan scowls and doesn’t respond.

“Mr. McCarthy,” warns the judge.

“Withdrawn, Your Honor,” Ben chuckles. “And what happened then? Did Ms. Beau let go of you at that point?”

“She tried to.”

“She tried to?”

“I wanted to hold onto her until she calmed down.”

“Why? Why not just let her go once she wanted to let go of you?”

“Because we were standing on wet tiles. The possibility of her falling and being hurt was even worse.”

“Did she calm down?”

“Not immediately.”

“What did she do?”

“She screamed.”

“On the video we hear Ms. Beau screaming very briefly and then her scream is cut off. It looks to me as if you then covered her mouth with your hand.”

Even though I don’t remember doing it, and probably had very little control over it at the time, I still cringe, anticipating his answer.

Brendan shakes his head. “I never covered her mouth.”

“But her scream stopped suddenly, don’t you agree?”

“I agree.”

“According to your recollection, why did Ms. Beau stop screaming?”

“Because that was when she bit me.”

“Where did she bite you?”

Brendan holds up his hand, palm out, and points to a scar in the shape of a tight semi-circle on the meaty part just below the thumb. “Here.”

“Why was your hand near her mouth?”

“I was reaching up to put my hand behind her head.”

“For what reason?”

“Her head kept smacking the tiles, and I was afraid she’d give herself a concussion. I was trying to put something in between her head and the tiles.”

“And that’s when she stopped screaming and bit you?”

“Yes.”

“Dr. Charmant, did you sustain any other injuries during this time besides the bite to your hand?”

“Yes. Minor ones.”

“Such as?”

“I had a black eye, a fractured tibia, and some lacerations on my face.”

“And how did you acquire those injuries?”

“Claire fought me when I tried to prevent her from falling. She kicked me and hit me.”

“And did Ms. Beau sustain any injuries from this unfortunate encounter?”

“None that I’m aware of.”

Ben nods. “Once Ms. Beau stopped attacking you, what happened?”

“Objection, Your Honor,” says Lucinda. Her face is as red as a cherry and she’s sweating profusely. I’m not sure if it’s because she’s tired of hauling her fat ass up and down, or if she’s just mad for Ben stealing her thunder. “Ms. Beau is not the one being charged with felony sexual battery of a medically incapacitated person.”

“Sustained. Find another word, Mr. McCarthy.”

“Once Ms. Beau had calmed down, what happened?”

“She told me she was tired, and she fell asleep.”

“In the shower?”

“Yes.”

“What did you do then?”

“Well, we were both soaking wet. My first concern was to get her dry and warm.”

“And how did you accomplish this?”

“I laid Claire on the bed and I ran out to page the sleep tech.”

“The one who went to the cafeteria and didn’t come back by seven o’clock as you instructed?”