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Sylvia glared up at him. “And who the fuck do you think you are?”
“The man who will restrain you as necessary.”
Raven’s mom seemed like she was going to listen—at least for a moment. Then she proved that a vein of stubborn ran in their family.
Unfortunately, Sylvia’s was laced with mean.
And more than a dash of stupid.
“You ungrateful bitch!” Sylvia yelled, lunging toward her, fingers curled like talons, long nails coming close enough that Raven jumped back to avoid the sharp claws, the black polish more chipped than smooth. “You ungrateful, dumb little bitch! I gave up—”
The nails didn’t make contact, primarily because Connor was there, his palm landing in the center of her mom’s chest, stopping her forward momentum with an “Oof.”
Then he kept walking, pushing Raven’s mom backward, pushing her until she toppled onto the bed. She flopped and flailed, immediately tried to find her feet, but Cindy was there—young and inexperienced, yes, but intelligent and resourceful and a great addition to the department. Case in point, Cindy snapping the cuffs in place on one side while Connor worked on the other side.
Raven grabbed one foot, set to work on an ankle.
Kath came back from calling security and jumped in, restraining her mother’s remaining leg.
Then it was just yelling. And spitting.
And moremean. She shared the wealth with Cindy—“a stupid, ugly bitch”—and Kath—“a fat, dumb bitch”—and sprinkled it over to Connor—“a small-dicked, stupid asshole.”
Security came in.
The cops were called.
And the need to run away didn’t leave Raven.
Not even as another doctor did their due diligence and checked out her mother’s “chest pain.” Not when she got Cindy a bag of ice to put on her cheek, and apologized to those on staff, to the other patients. Not when she talked with security and the administrators and then the cops.
A restraining order was filed.
But it was an emergency department.
They couldn’t turn patients away, couldn’t refuse care.
So, her mom could come back.
So that need to run, to drive, to leave forever didn’t go away.
Even when everyone told her to stop apologizing, that it wasn’t her fault, that this wasn’t on her—not one single part of it.
Except, that didn’t change the fact that her mom wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for Raven.
The bruise on Cindy’s cheek wouldn’t be blossoming into something ghoulishly purple and green.
Connor wouldn’t have scratch marks on his arms.
She wouldn’t have to look her coworkers in the eyes and see their pity.
Run.Run.
God. She needed to just getthe fuckout.
She pushed in the keyboard, started to walk to the double doors that led to the exit. Push through. Leave. Get to her car. Turn it on andgo.
Not stopping. Not until she could put this all behind her.
