Chapter 17 - The Hospital Emergency
While in the county jail awaiting his formal arraignment, Mark suffered a severe panic attack and collapsed on the concrete floor.
He was transported under armed guard to Inova Fairfax Hospital, the same hospital where Emma had been examined after the slap.
Sitting in the sterile emergency room bed with an IV line attached to his arm, Mark begged the officer to let him call Claire.
"Please, man, I just need to speak to my wife for two minutes!" Mark sobbed, pulling at his hospital gown.
The officer remained silent, standing near the door with his arms crossed, completely indifferent to his pathetic cries.
Across the city, Claire sat in her living room holding Emma, watching the news broadcast cover the scandal live on television.
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"FORMER LAWYER AND MOTHER INDICTED IN HORRIFIC SUBURBAN POISONING CASE," the news banner read.
Claire turned off the television, holding her child close as the final shadows of her past marriage dissolved into light.
