Chapter 2 - The Statement
Within minutes, my hospital room was a whirlwind of activity. Two nurses carefully lifted me from the cold floor, easing me back onto the hospital bed with expert tenderness while checking my monitors to ensure my heart rate and blood pressure hadn't reached dangerous levels. The sharp beep of the machine had accelerated into a frantic rhythm, reflecting the terror and adrenaline coursing through my veins.
A doctor—Dr. Sterling, the surgeon who had performed my operation earlier that morning—stood over me with a dark, thunderous expression on his face. He looked down at the bright red imprint of Richard's hand visible against my pale skin.
"Did you do this?" Dr. Sterling asked, his voice shaking with restrained rage as he looked past the medical staff toward the corner of the room.
Richard was currently being detained against the wall by the two police officers, his arms cuffed loosely behind his back while they verified his identity.
"It was an accident," Richard snapped back, though his voice derived its former conviction. "She fell out of bed. The girl is ungrateful and clumsy."
"She has fresh bruising across her cheekbone and clear signs of blunt-force impact consistent with a strike, not a fall," Dr. Sterling retorted, turning back to me. He gently touched my shoulder. "You are safe here. They cannot hurt you."
The female officer, whose name tag read Officer Vance , approached my bedside with a small electronic tablet. She looked down at me with genuine empathy.
"Can you tell me your name, sweetie?"
"Maya... Maya Hayes," I whispered.
"Maya, I need you to tell me exactly what happened from the moment this man walked into your room."
Taking a slow, shuddering breath, I recounted every detail. I told her about the discharge papers, about Richard demanding that I started earning my keep despite the doctor's strict orders, about my refusal, and about the violent slap that sent me crashing to the floor. As the words spilled out of me, I watched Richard's face turn a sickly shade of pale gray. He knew that hospitals were heavily monitored, that nurses walked these halls constantly, and that security cameras in the hallway caught every single person entering and leaving.
Officer Vance nodded slowly, tapping notes onto her tablet. "And is there anyone else at home? Anyone who might be vulnerable or needs to be checked on?"
My blood ran cold.
Mom.
May you like
My mother was back at the house, alone with Richard, completely blind to the monster he really was. She believed his lies, his calm temper, his fake concern. If Richard was arrested here, what would he tell her? How would he spin this?
"My mom," I said, my voice trembling with sudden panic. "My mother is at home. You need to call her. You need to protect her from him."
