F | I'll stand by you (One Chicago)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Christmas and new has been and gone. It's the day of the trial. The trial is expected to last, at least, a couple of days. The trial starts at noon, Emily wakes up at 9 am to get ready. She wears a simple blouse, black slim trousers and some ballerina pumps. Peter picks Emily up at 11 am to take her to the court to prepare for what may be asked and what he'll be asking her and to get her prepared emotionally. The SA's office has recommended that Sarah be in the courtroom with Kelly just in case Emily has an emotional breakdown.

~

When Peter and Emily arrive at the courthouse, they walk to a conference room where the defence lawyer, Arnold Rifking is. 'Arnold, what are you doing here?' Peter asks, annoyed.

'I just wanted to wish you luck.' Arnold smirks.

'I don't need luck.' Peter shakes his head. 'You need to leave. I need the room.'

'Whatever you want Peter.' Arnold nods as he goes to walk out. 'But I will win this case.' He whispers as he walks by him and out of the room. 

'Who was that?' Emily questions.

'Mr Rifking. The defence lawyer on the case.' Peter tells her as he closes the door. 'This will be quick. All you need to do is to tell the truth. For the sake of the case, I will ask you what they did to you from the moment you went missing to the very last detail that you remember.'

'OK.' Emily nods.

'The defence may also, in a way, attack you, with questions. He may use your mental health against you. He may use the fact that Joseph is- was your father, he could suggest that you want to get back at him because he cut off contact with you. I will object to anything that I feel isn't relevant, but it's up to the judge whether Mr Rifking can proceed. Same for me. Mr Rifking can object to anything I say, it's up to the judge if I can proceed.' Peter explains. 'I'll try and make it as quick as possible. You may be called twice.'

'As long as they get locked up, I don't care.' Emily smiles. Peter then looks at his watch.

'I'm going to take you to the back room where you will have to wait until you are called as a witness. There's refreshments there and you can watch what's going on in the trial on the screen in the room.' Emily nods and follows Peter to the back room.

At 12 pm on the dot, the trial starts with Judge Emmet Sanford being the judge on the case.

~

Half an hour into the trial, Emily is called by the prosecution. She stands as the clerk states the oath and Emily states, 'I do.' After the clerk is seated, Peter walks up to Emily. 'What is your relationship to the accused, Miss Severide?' He asks.

'David Shakespeare was my English teacher at Central Chicago Academy, he was also a family friend. Mark Lowe was the headmaster at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, the school I attended after CCA and Joseph Doherty is my biological father.' Emily tells him.

'After an accusation of rape against David Shakespeare, you were taken out of CCA and put into foster care. Is that correct?' Peter questions.

'Yes.' Emily nods. 'I went to live with Lieutenant Kelly Severide, he had helped me through some difficult times.'

'What do you mean by that?'

'Objection.' Arnold stands up. 'I fail to see the relevance.'

'Overruled.' Sanford states. 'Miss Severide, you may answer.'

'The first time I remember clearly was shortly after I came out of hospital after having pneumonia. The day I was discharged, David Shakespeare raped me.' She then gulps. 'It wasn't the first time.' She shakes her head, tears starting to fill her eyes. She wipes her eyes gently, as not to ruin her make-up, and takes a deep breath. 'He had been sexually assaulting me for months before.'

'What happened after that?' Peter queries.

'I showered, went for a walk and the next thing I knew, Sergeant Voight and his intelligence team where talking to me, apparently, Leigha, my old roommate, was worried about me and went to the police. I told them I was fine and not to follow me. I went into a store. I was at the back, about to walk up to roof when there was an explosion in the front of the store, I was thrown back and hit my hit as I fell to the floor. A few minutes later, I stand up and walk to the roof. The rest of the evening was a haze after that. I remember being talked off the ledge of the roof by Kelly and his colleague Matt Casey.' Emily recounts.

'What was the next difficult time?' Peter enquires.

'A fire at CCA. I don't know why I was in the building that was on fire but I was. I had gotten roughly 16% burn coverage. I've been told Kelly was the one that pulled me out.' Emily starts. 'Whilst I was in the hospital, two detectives from intelligence came and told me about what my parents were involved in. After that, I opened up to Kelly about what had happened to me.'

'Lieutenant Severide adopted you last month, am I right in saying that?' Peter asks.

'Yes.' Emily nods. 'He's my family now.'