AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I walked out to the front desk and waited for his assistant to pencil me in.
Never compromise your happiness for someone else.
CHAPTER FIVE
I could feel the chill in the air the moment I opened the door. The missing odor of something cooking was a sign that all was not well. I braced myself for what was to come.
I placed my keys on the table and picked up the stack of mail sitting there. I flipped through it quickly and continued my way into the kitchen. I placed the mail on the counter and went in the fridge for a cold drink and to see if I could find something to snack on until dinner plans had been figured out.
Dr. Griffith’s words danced in my head as I pulled things out and sat them on the counter. Our entire relationship had been about control from day one. She suggested where we would go on our dates. When we would go on dates. I was nothing more than a yes man to her.
“I guess you couldn’t come in the room and say hello.”
I damn near jumped out of my shoes. “I just walked in.”
“Why you acting like you’re guilty of something?”
“What?”
“I called your office today, only to find out that you’d left early. So, I rushed home thinking that I would surprise you.”
“I had an appointment…”
“An appointment? You didn’t tell me anything about an appointment. I’m starting to feel that you’re lying to me.”
She stepped closer to me. My defense mechanism kicked in as I braced myself for the terror I could see growing in her eyes.
“Look, why don’t we go over here and sit down and talk so I can tell you all about—”
Her balled fist hit me dead in the mouth. I felt my lip beginning to swell.
“You think I’m stupid or something?! If you think you’re going to play me like that, then your stupid ass better think again! I keep telling you, don’t fuck with me!”
She grabbed the egg pan from the stove she had used earlier that morning. Still recovering from the first blow, I didn’t have my bearings together enough to fend her off. My ears rang from the two swift hits she landed upside my he
ad. No longer could I hear the ranting of the mad woman who stood before me. By the time she connected the final blow, darkness was taking over.
A sharp pain shot through my head as I tried to lift it. I reached out and felt the cold metal railing of the hospital bed. Brief spurts of what had transpired between Candy and me played out in my nightmares. When I tried to raise my left hand, I couldn’t. Panic set in when I realized the reason behind it. Every time I moved it, the metal bracelet that chained me to the bed made a clinking sound.
I frantically searched for the button to call for the nurse. Must’ve pushed it fifty times once I found it. Three people ran into the room and only one of them was the nurse. The blue suit and uniform told me who the other two were without words. I looked down at my wrist again. I tried to open my mouth and speak, but no words came. My tongue felt heavy and pasty and my throat tightened as I thought about the possibility I could actually be convicted of something I was actually the victim of.
“Dr. Adelson, we’d like to ask you a few questions,” the detective said as he pulled up a chair next to the bed.
I looked down at my wrist again and then back at him. My eyes began to fill with water, water that represented the anger and shame I was feeling inside.
“Dr. Adelson, I truly apologize about this, but we have procedures we have to follow when a case is under investigation.”
Just then the door opened and in walked a female, dressed in a tan pantsuit with a brown shirt. Her shoulder-length hair was parted down the middle.
“This is my partner, Detective Thomas. As I was saying, we need to ask you a few questions so we can get to the bottom of this. We arrived at the scene after you were taken away in the ambulance. From the information we gathered from Ms. Knight, there was some sort of struggle between the two of you. She claims to have struck you in self-defense.”
My eyes widened at the blatant lie she had told them.
“Is there something you would like to say, Dr. Adelson?” Detective Thomas moved a little closer to me.
I blinked back tears as I tried to gather my thoughts about what had happened the night in question. I swallowed hard before I was able to get one word out. “Sh-sh-she…” I took another breath.
“Take your time. We understand,” Detective Thomas said.
