Chapter 4 - The Officer’s Inquiry “Step away from the vehicle, sir. I need a word.”
“My son is in that ambulance, I have to go with them.”
“You’ll follow in your own time, Mr. Vance. We need to talk.”
“Look at my hands, officer. My kid almost died today.”
“Which is precisely why you aren't getting into that ambulance.”
“Are you arresting me? For what? An honest mistake?”
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The heavy steel doors of the ambulance slammed shut, cutting off Adrian’s view of Helen and the medical team as the vehicle roared to life and sped away with flashing red lights. Adrian turned back toward Officer Miller, his chest heaving with a mixture of suffocating guilt and rising panic. The dark tattoos wrapping around his forearms seemed to pulse against his skin as he clenched his bloodied fists, fighting the urge to shove past the uniformed man. A crowd of curious onlookers had gathered near the perimeter of the courtyard, whispering behind cupped hands and recording the aftermath with their smartphones. Lily stood silently by the front desk of the office building, clutching her toy stethoscope so tightly that her knuckles turned white, her wide blue eyes fixed on her uncle with a mixture of fear and confusion. Officer Miller unclipped a notepad from his belt, his pen poised with bureaucratic coldness. He glanced at the shattered window of the black SUV, then down at the crimson smears on the leather upholstery before fixing his gaze back on Adrian. It was a clear-cut case of severe negligence under state law, regardless of the social status or wealth of the man standing before him. Adrian felt the walls closing in, knowing that his high-stakes career, his shattered marriage, and his freedom were hanging by a thread thinner than a spider's silk. He opened his mouth to explain about the frantic merger calls, the lack of sleep, and the mind-numbing routine, but the words tasted like ash on his tongue. Nothing could excuse leaving an infant in a sealed car under the beating sun. Officer Miller tapped the plastic cover of his notepad, looking Adrian dead in the eye as he prepared to deliver the inevitable blow.
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