The clinic room door swung wide open, revealing two uniformed police officers and three emergency paramedics with a gurney.
Officer Davis: Step away from each other! Hands where I can see them!
Evelyn: Officer! Thank God you are here. My son has lost his mind!
Officer Davis: Ma'am, keep your hands down and stay where you are.
Mark: Officers, that woman just assaulted my pregnant wife. She attempted to stomp on her stomach while she was unconscious.
Evelyn: He is lying! Look at him, he is hysterical! She fell, and I was trying to check on her!
Mark: Check the ceiling security camera! It recorded the entire room!
The second officer, a stern man named Miller, looked directly up at the ceiling camera dome.
Officer Miller: We'll pull the feed from clinic security right away.
Paramedics rushed to Claire's side, placing an oxygen mask over her face and stabilizing her neck.
Paramedic: Her blood pressure is dangerously low. We need an IV line started immediately.
Mark: Check her blood for toxins. She told me she was given something in her tea before losing consciousness.
Paramedic: Copy that, we are drawing blood samples right now.
Evelyn: This is medical harassment! I demand you let me leave this room!
Evelyn grabbed her designer handbag and took a sharp step toward the exit.
Officer Davis: You're not going anywhere, ma'am.
Officer Davis stepped squarely into Evelyn's path, blocking the doorway.
Evelyn: Do you have any idea who my family is? My late husband funded the city council!
Officer Davis: Turn around and place your hands behind your back.
Evelyn: Do not touch me with those dirty hands!
With a swift, practiced movement, Officer Davis spun Evelyn around and clicked cold steel handcuffs over her wrists.
Evelyn: Mark! Stop them! Tell them to take these off!
Mark: You belong in a cell, Evelyn.
Evelyn: I am your mother! You cannot do this to me over some penniless waitress!
Mark: That penniless waitress is my wife, and she is carrying my child.
Claire groaned into the oxygen mask, reaching blindly for Mark's hand.
Claire: Mark... the baby...
Mark: The baby is fighting, Claire. The doctors are taking care of you both. I'm right here.
The lead paramedic looked up from his monitor, his expression grim.
Paramedic: We have fetal heart tones, but they are erratic. We need to transport her to the county trauma center right now.
Mark: I'm coming with her.
Officer Miller: Mr. Vance, we have the clinic manager outside holding the security hard drive. The footage is intact.
Evelyn: That footage is private property! You have no warrant!
Officer Davis: Exigent circumstances involving felony assault, ma'am. You have the right to remain silent.
Evelyn: Silence? You want me silent? Mark, you won't get a single penny from the family trust!
Mark: Keep every red cent. Just make sure you use it for bail, because you're going to need it.
The officers pushed Evelyn forward through the doorway as she screamed profanities, her polished image shattering with every step.
Mark walked beside Claire's stretcher, gripping her cold fingers as they rushed out toward the waiting ambulance.
As the ambulance doors slammed shut, Mark knew the battle had only just begun.
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