Derek turned on her. “You don’t know what she did.”
“I know what I saw,” Dr. Rhodes said, her voice shaking but steady enough.
The door burst open. Two security guards rushed in, followed by Nurse Callie Freeman, who knelt beside me and put a careful hand near my shoulder. “Madison, stay with me. Don’t move.”
Derek backed toward the corner, still shouting. “She owes me! She’s been living under my mother’s roof for free!”
Red and blue lights flashed through the narrow window minutes later. When the police entered, their faces hardened at the sight of me on the floor, bl:ood at my lip, one cheek already swelling.
Officer Grant Miller pointed at Derek. “Hands where I can see them.”
For the first time in years, Derek looked unsure.
And for the first time in years, I realized someone else had heard him.
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