Chapter 4 - Handcuffs and Pearls
The backup arrived silently. No sirens, just four uniformed officers stepping off the elevators with purposeful strides.
Ramirez stepped out of my room, pulling the door shut behind him. He didn't approach Evan with questions. He approached him with handcuffs already unholstered.
"Evan Mitchell, you are under arrest for attempted murder, aggravated assault, and domestic violence," Ramirez's voice boomed through the quiet ER waiting area.
Evan stepped back, his hands raised in mock surrender. "What? No! You've got it wrong! I told you, she attacked me! She's crazy!"
"Save it," Ramirez growled, spinning Evan around and slamming him against the wall. The metallic click of the cuffs echoing down the corridor was the sweetest sound I had ever heard.
Diane shrieked, dropping her composure completely. "Get your hands off my son! Do you know who we are? That woman in there is a psychotic liar! She staged this!"
Two other officers flanked Diane.
"Diane Mitchell," one of them said, pulling out a second pair of cuffs. "You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, accessory after the fact, and filing a false police report."
Diane fought. The woman who had just mocked my bruises, who had sipped wine while her son strangled the life out of me, thrashed like a wild animal. Her pearl necklace snapped, sending little white beads scattering across the linoleum floor.
"Evan! Call the lawyer! Evan!" she screamed.
Evan couldn't answer. He was staring through the glass, straight at me.
I forced myself to sit up slightly, ignoring the fiery pain in my throat and chest. I met his panicked, terrified gaze.
I didn't blink. I didn't look away.
I just watched as they dragged him out of the hospital, his fabricated scratch and torn shirt now evidence of his own guilt.
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Dr. Shah came back to my bedside, a soft, satisfied smile on her face. "They're gone, Mara. You're safe now."
I closed my eyes, letting the exhaustion finally overtake me. The war wasn't over, but the first battle was won. I was alive, and they were in cages.
