Chapter 5 - Left in the Shadows|
"Call my parents," I whispered, clutching the rough hospital blanket.
Preston scoffed softly, shifting his weight. "I really don't think involving your parents is helpful right now, Amelia. They'll just panic."
"Call them, Preston."
"They are probably fast asleep."
"It is ten o'clock in the morning!" I raised my voice, despite the searing pain in my temples.
His silence stretched across the small room, thick and suffocating.
"Give me my phone," I demanded.
"The nursing staff bagged your personal belongings," he lied smoothly. "They're locked away in administration."
"Then go ask them for it!"
Instead of answering, Preston turned on his heel and walked out of the room.
He didn't fill out my admission paperwork. He didn't wait for the chief ophthalmologist to finish his assessment. He didn't ask the doctor whether his bride would ever be able to read or work again. Preston abandoned his wife in an emergency room less than twenty-four hours after promising to love her in sickness and in health—all because protecting his mother's social reputation mattered more than the severe damage she had inflicted.
Fortunately, the head nurse realized what was happening. She retrieved my phone from my personal bag and dialed my emergency contact herself.
Forty-eight minutes later, my parents arrived.
My father, William Grant, reached my bedside first. He was usually a quiet, low-profile man whose formidable authority rarely required a raised voice. He gently placed his warm palm against my forehead, his fingers trembling slightly as he listened to Dr. Reed explain the diagnosis. William didn't interrupt; his voice remained dead silent, but his eyes burned with an icy, terrifying intensity when the doctor mentioned potential permanent vision loss.
My mother, Margaret Grant, did not cry.
She stood at the foot of my hospital bed dressed in a simple navy wool coat, listening intently to every medical detail. For over thirty years, high-profile criminal defendants had mistaken Margaret’s calm stillness for weakness. Usually, it meant she had caught them in their first major lie and was patiently waiting for them to tell the rest.
"Where are her clothes from this morning?" Mother asked the nurse directly.
May you like
"They were sealed in a plastic contamination bag," the nurse replied.
"Label it as evidence," Mother instructed softly, her voice leaving no room for debate. "Ensure the custody log is signed and documented."
