The Bearing

5. The Verdict

The next morning, Cookie-beard and Mustache lead me into court. The handcuffs still feel too tight, and boy, am I tired of having my back pushed with a metal stick.

"I can walk by myself, you know," I whisper under my breath.

"Watch it, girl," Cookie-beard grunts back.

I take a seat in the pristine white courtroom, full of glass monitors above for all members of the URA to watch. I spot hidden cameras in the walls for home spectators. I feel their eyes on my every move, silently picking me apart.

How can my personal issue be broadcasted to the entire Republic?

"All rise for Judge Stanley." A loud voice booms over an invisible speaker. I stand.

The judge slowly walks in and walks up a staircase. He sits before me on a high podium overlooking the court. Any fight, any hope, any prayer I had left in me disappears when I look at him. His icy eyes bite into mine as he tilts his head ever so slightly in contemplation.

"So, it says here you are charged with attempted murder of an unborn fetus, is that correct?" He emphasizes the "R"s in "murder". I am so screwed.

I gulp, hoping nobody heard me. "Yes."

"And you plead?"
I take a deep breath. "Guilty."

It's like I can feel everyone muttering with disgust at home through their screens. Judge Stanley narrows his eyes. The police shake their heads. Why does everyone care so much? All I want is to go back home, crawl into bed, pull the comforter over my head, and close my eyes. When I open them again, I'll realize this was all a dream. I try closing my eyes, but when I open them, I still see Judge Stanley's deathly gaze.

"I see." He says. "And the father of this child?"

"Grayson Bear." I try to state his name without my voice wavering.

"Yes. Mr. Grayson Bear. We have located him. Please send him in."

I'm scared to look. I slowly turn my head towards the tall white double doors.

I was lucky. I actually named a real person.

In walks a tall, solemn-looking man around my age. His shaggy brown hair hangs in his face, almost blocking his bright gray eyes. He's biting his lip. In nervousness? In observance of me? Is he actually wondering whether or not to cover for me?

No male in this world would help a female without some sort of personal benefit. I can't trust him, no matter the outcome.

Grayson stares me directly in the eyes, attempting to read me. His stare isn't quite cold, like Judge Stanley's, and, oddly enough, isn't judgemental or condescending. In fact, there might even be a hint of kindness. I squash that thought. Men are cruel, controlling creatures. He's wondering how he can use me after this.

"Mr. Grayson Bear," Judge Stanley continues, "Are you the father of Ms. Heartbeat's unborn child?"

Grayson directs his laser-point focus off of me and stares at him.

"Yes, I am, sir."

"Alright. Now, you have the option to marry her and absolve her of her crime. She will birth the baby, of course, and you two will raise the child together as married parents. If what she has attempted to do has horrified you, as it has horrified the rest of us, then you can allow us to continue with her lifetime in prison or possible death sentence, which would take place after the birth of the child. Again, as the father, her fate is your choice."

I stare at Grayson with pleading eyes, begging him to do the impossible, to lie for the sake of helping a woman.

"I see." Grayson glances at me again and raises his eyebrows. "Yes, I will marry her. We shall raise the baby together. Please absolve her of any wrongdoing. She and I, we have a..." He turned around to wink at me. "complicated history."