Amelia

Chapter 22

It wasn't until the bailiff outstretched his hand to me, that I realized all eyes in the courtroom were on me.

Everyone was waiting for my decision. Fin's lawyers had made a motion to call me as a last-minute witness to the stand, and Alexander had immediately gone insane. He had shouted something about me not being ready to face the man who had attack him and "kidnapped" me, but Burke argued that I was sitting here, so I was clearly ready. An argument had ensued, until the disgruntled judge had finally intervened and stated that as long as I was here, I would at least try to speak.

I knew I couldn't testify, not if I wanted to keep Fin safe, but with all the eyes on me, and with the judge's orders, I couldn't say no. My eyes sought Burke, glaring at the man. I had asked him, pleaded with him to not put me on the stand. I'd told him that I couldn't say anything to save Fin, because I had to say nothing in order to save him, so why was he making me do this?

I put my shaking hand in the bailiff's and made my way unsteadily to the imposing stand. I passed by Fin, being closer to him than I had been for so long, and my body reacted by almost shutting down. Fin, too, reacted to my presence, leaning forward in his seat to get just that much closer. His hands reached for me, still bound in chains that rattled as he moved. I continued on to the stand.

"Please state your name for the record." I did so. "Now place your hand here, and repeat after me." I reiterated what the bailiff said, then practically collapsed in the seat. I looked over at the jury, with their calculating eyes trained on me, and wondered if they thought my nerves were due to being so close to Fin. I wondered if they knew it was taking everything in me not to run to him.

Fin's lawyers were first.

"Miss Amelia, when did you first meet my client?"

My voice was dry and hard, so I cleared my throat before speaking. "A-at the correctional facility where I worked. He was a patient of mine."

"And how often did you see Mr. Dahl?"

"Every day that I worked. Each nurse there had a specific section of the facility that they would stay in, and Fin was in mine."

"Would you say you grew close to my client in that time."

"Y-" I stole a quick glance at Alexander, knowing that he would definitely punish me after all this. "Yes, we became friends. He was kind to me." Okay, time to shut up now. I was definitely not supposed to be saying any of this.

"And then you left the facility after not even a year there. Only a few months. Why did you leave so soon? Was it something my client or any of the other men did or said?"

"No, I... Alexander and I were going to try to start a family and I needed to focus on that."

"I see. So, Mr. Quincy asked you to stop working, or was it your desire?"

Lie, lie, lie. "It was a group decision." Okay, so not technically a lie. The group just consisted of my mother and Alexander.

"And did you see Mr. Quincy again outside of the facility? Before the alleged incident."

"Yes, he worked as a landscaper in my neighborhood for a bit." Phew, these were all safe questions.

"And did you ever see him socially?"

"I...I saw him when he worked on our street. I said hello, because we had been friends."

"I mean, outside of that time. Did you ever meet him for a friendly chat outside of either of you being involved in work?"

I could feel the sweat dripping down my back. "Well, I saw him in passing a few times. I saw him at his woodshop, too."

"So, never outside of a working environment?" I could barely speak, but I managed to squeak out a no. The lie burned my throat.