Chapter 1 - The Confession
"Yes," I said, my voice trembling but louder than it had been in years.
"I want every single word he just said put into my medical file right now."
The doctor did not hesitate for a fraction of a second.
She clicked her pen and wrote furiously across the official hospital chart.
Daniel pounded his fist against the heavy wooden door again.
"Rachel, you are embarrassing our family in front of strangers," he yelled.
His voice still carried that terrifying, calm authority he always used right before he hurt me.
But the thick door stood between his fists and my broken body.
The nurse moved silently to the corner of the room and picked up the emergency phone.
"I am calling hospital security and the local police department," the nurse whispered to me.
Tears of pure relief finally spilled over my bruised cheeks and soaked into the thin hospital pillow.
For the first time in three years of marriage, someone was actually protecting me.
I heard the heavy boots of security guards rushing down the hallway.
There was a brief scuffle outside the door, followed by Daniel raising his voice in fake outrage.
"I am her husband, you cannot keep me away from my pregnant wife!" Daniel shouted.
The nurse slowly unlocked the door and pulled it open just an inch to look outside.
Two massive security guards had Daniel pinned against the corridor wall.
A few minutes later, two uniformed police officers arrived at the scene.
I let out a breath I felt like I had been holding since Daniel tied that rope around my ankles.
The doctor stepped out into the hallway with my chart in her hands.
"This woman is the victim of severe domestic torture, and her husband just confessed to it," the doctor announced firmly.
I waited to hear the sound of metal handcuffs clicking around Daniel's wrists.
Instead, a chilling silence fell over the hallway.
One of the police officers stepped into my room and looked at my broken, bleeding body.
He did not look sympathetic or concerned at all.
He turned around, looked at Daniel in the hallway, and let out a familiar laugh.
"Hey Danny, I told you that you need to soundproof your basement better," the police officer said.
May you like
My heart stopped completely as the officer pulled off his police cap.
It was Daniel's older brother, Marcus.
