Chapter 3 - The Family Council
The following morning, the doctor performed a final check on my facial swelling and shoulder sling before approving my discharge. Because my apartment was on the third floor and I couldn't carry my own bags or dress easily, the hospital social worker arranged for a temporary home-care nurse to assist me.
As I was being wheeled out of the main entrance in a wheelchair, I saw my parents standing by the automatic doors. My mother looked haggard, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen from crying all night. My father stood stiffly beside her, holding a plastic shopping bag containing my clothes from the night before.
When they saw me, my mother rushed forward. "Clara! Oh, thank God they're letting you go home!"
The officer escorting my wheelchair stepped in front of her. "Ma'am, keep your distance. The victim has a protective order pending against anyone involved in the investigation."
"I'm her mother!" my mother cried out, her hands reaching uselessly through the air. "Clara, please tell them to let us talk to you! Nadia is in a holding cell! They won't let her post bail until Monday! You have to drop the fraud statement!"
I looked at my mother—really looked at her. In her eyes, I didn't see concern for my broken face or my dislocated shoulder. I saw sheer, frantic desperation to save Nadia from accountability.
"Did you ask the doctor how my shoulder is, Mom?" I asked softly, my voice barely above a whisper.
My mother stopped, blinking in confusion. "W-what?"
"My shoulder," I repeated, pointing with my left hand to the heavy black sling pinning my right arm. "The doctor said Trevor tore the ligament when he twisted it. I might need surgery. Did you ask about that? Or did you only care about Nadia's bail?"
My father stepped forward, his voice gruff, though a flicker of genuine shame crossed his weathered face. "Clara... your mother is just overwhelmed. What Trevor did was evil. I told him myself in the garage before the police came—he's dead to me. But Nadia... Nadia is your sister. She was manipulated by him!"
"She stood over me while I was bleeding on your garage floor, Dad," I said, looking him dead in the eye. "She smiled. She told me maybe now I'd stop being selfish. Did she sound manipulated to you?"
My father froze, his mouth opening slightly, but no words came out. He turned his head away, unable to meet my gaze.
"I am not dropping the charges," I said clearly, looking at both of them. "I am going to court. I am testifying against both of them. And if either of you tries to pressure me, contact me, or come to my apartment, I will have Officer Ramirez add your names to the restraining order."
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"Clara, you're destroying this family!" my mother screamed as the nurse began rolling my wheelchair past them toward the waiting taxi. "Over a stupid piece of paper! Over a house!"
"No, Mom," I called back over my shoulder, my voice steady despite the tears burning behind my eyes. "Trevor destroyed it with his fists. Nadia destroyed it with her greed. And you destroyed it by letting them do it."
