Never Let Go ✔️

Chapter 48

Date: Monday, June 5th

Luke, Sophia, Michael, Calum, Ashton and Sierra all were walking into the courtroom. Sophia did not want to be here at all. She was freaking out right before they left the house. She begged Luke to let her stay home and he really wanted to leave her at home but he couldn't. Somehow Michael was able to convince her to come.

Sophia sat down in between Michael and Luke while Sierra sat next to Luke. Ashton and Calum sat behind them.

"Soph, it's going to be ok. I promise," Luke whispered to her, noticing that she was bouncing her legs up and down. Something she does when she is anxious.

Sophia looked over at him, noticed that Dr. Amber was walking in, and immediately looked down.

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"Sophia Hemmings, Please take the stand," the judge said

Sophia took a deep breath. She was nervous. She knew her heart rate was super high since she felt like she was going to pass out. Her hands were sweating and her knees kept bouncing up and down.

"Soph, take a deep breath. It's fine. Just answer the questions asked. Look at Michael or me if you have to," Luke said.

"You got this. You are super brave," Michael said.

Sophia stood up and walked over to sit at the stand.

Her lawyer walked up to the stand and gave Sophia a reassuring smile.

"On Saturday, March 12th, you were getting an MRI with Dr. Amber. Correct?"

"That is correct," Sophia said.

Her lawyer nodded and said, "Can you tell the Jury what Dr. Amber said to you that day?"

Sophia didn't want to remember what she said. It was the most hurtful thing anyone had ever said to her. She looked over at Luke who was looking at her with sympathy and gave her a reassuring smile.

Sophia took a deep breath and looked over at the jury.

"I was walking into the room and she asked me if I had cancer in a snarky way and I told her yes. She then told me that she was sorry and that I won't be able to make my mom proud by not being able to go to the Olympics after all. She then said...,'' Sophia had tears in her eyes at this point. She did not want to say what Dr. Amber said next.

Sophia started taking deep breaths to try and calm herself down. She did this for about a minute and decided it was now or never.

"She then said that she hopes I die just like my mom did," Sophia said.

"She's fucking lying," Dr. Amber yelled out.

"Settle down Ms. Amber right now," The judge said.

She immediately stopped yelling and sat down.

"Thank you, Sophia. I just have one more question. What happened on Monday, March 14th?"

Sophia's face went pale. She felt like she couldn't breathe. She wanted to forget about that day. She hadn't thought about it for a few weeks and really wanted to keep it that way.

No, I can't do this. I absolutely refuse to. I can't. I cannot relive that night, Sophia thought to herself.

Luke was concerned. Sophia looked like she was going to pass out. No matter how many times she said she was fine and over that day he knew she wasn't. Sierra still wasn't. Sierra is still in therapy over it.

"It's ok Sophia take your time," The Lawyer said.

If I don't do this then she won't go to jail or lose her license. She will be free and be able to hurt me and everyone I love again. I need to be brave. I can do this. I need to do this, She thought.

She looked up at Luke for a quick second and then looked over to the jury.

"I was walking outside my school with my friends and I heard someone yell at me to watch out. I turned around and what I saw was absolutely terrifying. Dr. Amber was running at me with a Knife. I froze. My life flashed before my eyes. Then I saw the cops tackle her. If they didn't tackle her I probably wouldn't be sitting here right now. I thought she was going to kill me," Sophia finished and was full-on sobbing at this point.

She was reliving that day in her head. Something she didn't want to happen. She could have died that day. Her friends and everyone she went to school with would have seen her get stabbed to death. Her brother and Michael who she sees as another brother would have seen it too.

"Thank you for being so brave, Sophia," Her lawyer said.

Sophia started to have trouble breathing. She quickly looked up at Michael and he knew immediately what was happening.

"Luke, we need to get her out of there right now. She is having a panic attack," Michael said.

"Oh shit," Luke said and looked at Sophia with so much concern.

"Judge, we need to get Sophia out of here right now. I am one of her doctors and she is having a panic attack. if we don't do something she will pass out," Michael said standing up and walking towards Sophia.

"She's faking it. She knows she's lying. She is just trying to play you all," Mrs. Amber said with an annoyed attitude.

"That's it. I have had enough of you for today Ms. Amber. I am ending it here today so Ms. Hemmings can get the help she needs. We will pick this up tomorrow at 9 am with testimony from Mrs. Sierra Hemmings," The judge said and banged her gavel.

Luke stayed back while Michael immediately ran over to Sophia since Michael was way better at helping Sophia when she had panic attacks. Michael knew if he couldn't get her to breathe at a normal rate he was going to have to take her to the hospital and put her on oxygen. The last thing any of them wanted was to take her there right now.

"Soph, You did really well. I am so proud of you," Michael said softly.

"Mikey... my.... Chest....hurts," Sophia said in between short breaths with tears still falling down her face.

"I know it does. Soph, I need you to breathe slowly with me. I am going to count to ten. Ok?"

She nodded her head and he started to count. She took slow deep breaths with him. They did this for about 2 minutes when she finally started to breathe normally again. Michael felt relieved.

"I want Luke," Sophia said looking up at Michael.

"Ok let's go find him then," Michael said, standing up from kneeling in front of her.

They both started walking over to where the rest of the group was. Sophia immediately walked over to Luke and hugged him. He put his arms around her. She felt safe in his arms. That's all she wanted right now was the feeling of safety and comfort.

"Soph, I am so proud of you. You did an amazing job," Luke said and kissed the top of her head. She didn't say anything. She just started crying again.

Luke pulled her out of his arms so he could look at her and said, "Hey, hey, soph what's wrong?"

"I hated reliving that day. I wanted to forget about it. It was so terrifying. I thought I was going to die. Luke, she was charging at me with a knife and a crazy look on her face. I never wanted to remember it. I tried pushing it away and acted like it never happened but it did happen. She almost killed Sierra but what if instead of her trying to kill me she tried to kill you or one of the guys? I wouldn't be able to live without any of the guys and especially you..."

"Ok, Sophia I am going to stop you right there because you are ranting. Baby, I am not going anywhere anytime soon and neither are the guys. We can't play the what-if game. But It did happen to you but you are still alive. Sierra lived. We are all ok and so are you. It's normal to have PTSD from events like that. I think you may need to talk to Ashton about that day even if it's for one session. It would make you feel better but I am always here if you need to talk more about it," Luke said.

"Yeah, I think I need to talk to Ashton. I've been pushing it off which was super dumb of me," Sophia said.

She went back to hugging Luke and he immediately wrapped his arms around her.

"I don't think I say it often but you really are the best big brother. I wouldn't survive without you. I love you so much," Sophia said.

"I love you so much more, Sunshine," Luke said.