Even Through the Storm

36. The Second Night

We are outside the courtroom, and I'm talking with Nicole, and Asher's sitting next to me. "Are the twins and Lia here?" I ask her.

"No, Mom doesn't want them around this. Especially if he's found guilty."

"He will be!" Asher yells. "He deserves too. Do you know what he's done? He did that to my mom, to me! I don't care if he's your dad. He was mine first, and he quit."

"Ash," I say. "I know this is hard, but she loves him. Linda loves him." Ash gets up and storms into the men's bathroom.

"It's okay Lola. I know this is hard for him, even more than it is for me. We should get going. It's going to start again any minute." We go back into the courtroom, the same seats we started in. A few minutes later Ash comes in and sits next to me.

"You okay?" I ask him.

"Yeah." We stand as Judge Arnett comes and sits down.

"We will now move onto exactly one week later. May the first witness please approach the stand?" Ms. Reynolds sits down. "Please tell us what happened."

"Well, I was in the hospital still, so I was in my bed. Ash and Lola were visiting me when we heard yelling in the hallway. Nick stormed into the room, and when I told him to leave he slapped me. He was yelling about how he wanted custody of his son like he had raised him alone Ash's whole life."

"Ms. Reynolds, please stay on track."

"I'm sorry. Security came and took Nick away. Another guard came in after and told Asher that his father wanted to speak to him. Lola said that she would come too, and they left. I didn't see anyone but the doctor and nurses the rest of the night."

"Okay, thank you. Next witness?" Ash goes up to the stand. This time, instead of looking sad, he looks angry. "Please tell us what happened."

"Lola and I were visiting my mother when we heard yelling in the hallway. My father barged in, and was yelling stuff like 'he's my son' and 'I want to see her'. Mom yelled for him to get away from me, but he slapped her. Two guards came and took him to the security room. I ran over to my mom. Another guard came in saying that my father wanted to see me. Lola insisted that she come with me. We went in, and the guard stood in the hallway. My father was yelling about how he just wanted to see his son, and I told him that he already had. My father has four other children. My sister Nicole, the two boys Jake and Lucas, who are twins, and then my baby sister Lia. We got in a fight, not physical, but verbal. I was saying that I wasn't his son, that the twins were. Then he punched me in the nose. It started to bleed instantly. The guard came running in and went in between us. He came back out, gave me a tissue, then I went home. Well, to Lola's house."

"Before the security guard came back in, did you try to hit him back? Or did you feel like hitting him back?"

"Did I try? No. I didn't feel like it either. I was in shock, and at the time, I felt like I deserved it. I did say some pretty brutal stuff, but now I know that was what he needed to hear. And it was something that I needed to say."

"Okay, thank you. Next witness?" Once Ash sits back down I stand up and walk over. I say the same thing that Asher did, but in my perspective, then sit back down next to Ash. "Okay, next witness?" A man I don't recognize comes up to the stand. He hasn't spoken yet today, so he had to get sworn in. "Please tell us what you were doing at the hospital that day, along with your version of the events."

"Well, I was Ms. Reynolds' doctor. I was outside the room when a man, whom I now know is Nicholas Kingston, came in. He was demanding to see the patient, when I told him that he did not have clearance, with only her son, and Mr. and Ms. Stevens had. He grabbed the clipboard I was holding, and threw it on the floor, splitting it in two and making the papers go everywhere. He stormed into the patient's room and was yelling about his son. I was cleaning up the papers, but I heard someone get hit. The fact that he got past the waiting room had alerted security, who came into the room. He refused to come with, but they forced him too. I didn't see him after that."

"Okay, thank you. Last witness?" The security guard that gave Asher the tissue comes up to the stand and gets sworn in. "Please say why you were at the hospital and tell what happened in your words."

"I am a security guard at the hospital. While Mr. Kingston was in containment, he requested to see his son, Asher. I went to go try and fulfill his request. I notified the boy and Ms. Stevens, here, and directed them down to the security room where Mr. Kingston was being held. At the request of Asher Kingston, I left the containment room, but stayed in the security room and watched through the window in the door. The were yelling, which I expected, but then I saw Mr. Kingston punch his son. I ran in, and separated them, directed Asher and the lady into the other room. After Mr. Kingston had calmed down to a safe level, I left, and gave the young Kingston a tissue for his nose and then asked if they would like me to escort them back to the patient's room. They said that they would rather go home, so I called one of my colleagues to escort them to the waiting room, then went back to my normal duties."

"Why did you expect yelling?"

"I have been working at the hospital for about sixteen years, and we have one or two people a year that must be detained. In the majority of these cases, they ask to see someone, and in most that we fulfill the request, the detainee, and other party get into a verbal argument. About half the time, though, these arguments get violent, which is something we should have looked out for beforehand."

"Thank you. We will now have another recess. Court is now adjourned."