In The Safety Of A Lie - COMPLETED!

Chapter 49

After the house had been cleared and Joey taken to the hospital, an officer came back to the squad car Evelina was in. He had gently helped her out of the car to question her. Her miranda rights were read first. They clearly weren't messing around; ready to use anything they could to convict her.

"Where's my husband? I want to know where they took Joey?" She'd seen him loaded up in the ambulance, but she needed to hear the verification that he was going to the hospital. It was the only thing that would put her mind at ease.

"Wanna tell me what happened here, Ma'am?" The officer ignored her question, but remained patient. His hands were on his belt as he watched her carefully.

Evelina felt sick and light-headed. "I...I want a lawyer." She barely could say. Her breathing was rapid and elevated.

"You doing alright, Ma'am?" He looked concerned, keeping an eye on her pale, bruised face.

"I...I don't know." She stuttered, trying to keep her balance in line. She suddenly felt short of breath. "I don't feel so good."

The officer watched her for another moment before reaching for the radio on his shoulder. "Dispatch, we need another ambulance on site." He said quickly before reaching over to steady her. He opened the squad car and helped her to sit down on the seat.

Evelina leaned against the seat, keeping her feet outside the car. Her head felt like it was spinning out of control. The handcuffs felt like they were cutting off circulation. She was sure the placement of her shoulders being stretched backward was attributing to the hard time she was having at breathing.

The officer pulled out a tiny, medical flashlight. He looked at both of her eyes, noticing unevenness with pupil sizes. "Ma'am, did you hit your head anywhere?" He could see the bruising on her face, but the question was routine and necessary.

Ev nodded to him lightly. The sudden movement made her feel sick. "A few times." She confirmed.

"Ma'am, can you turn your head to the side for me, please?" He asked, putting on a pair of medical gloves and feeling around the back of her head gently. She flinched, leading him to back away from her. "Are you sure that you don't want to tell me what happened?"

Evelina shook her head as carefully as she could. "Only to a lawyer." She repeated.

The officer sighed. "Alright. Maybe we can have a little bit more success with your friend."

"What do you mean by that?" Her words were fast and sharp, alarm clearly relevant. Flashbacks of Joey's words to her went back through her mind once again.

"About what?" He asked her calmly.

"You're not going to hurt him are you?" She couldn't stop the words from echoing out of her mouth. She barely could get the words out. Her breathing was sporadic now.

"Ma'am, I said that we were going to question him. We wouldn't hurt him." The officer's brows knit together in confusion, then concern. "The ambulance should be here in a few minutes."

Evelina tried to focus on him. She couldn't stop the onrush of nausea as she plunged forward and began to violently vomit.

The officer quickly jumped to the side, then next to her. He held back the loose strands of hair that had pulled free of her ponytail.

"Ma'am, what are you feeling right now?" He knelt down next to her as soon as she was able to stop for a breath. "Did you take anything?"

Ev just about toppled out of the squad car. If the man didn't have his hand on her shoulder she was sure she would have been on the ground. Sharp pains jolted through her abdomen. Tears squeezed their way out of her eyes as she shook her head to his question. "I...I'm going to fall over."

The officer quickly released the handcuffs and helped her to the ground. Blood was all over her pants and on his vehicle's seat. The officer's eyes were wide as he tried to keep his voice calm. "I need an ETA on that ambulance. Now!"

"They're less than two minutes out." The dispatcher replied within seconds.

Evelina happened to get a quick look at the squad car with Jimmy. He was as close to the window as possible without pressing against it. His eyes were wide. He said something to the cop that was just getting into the car. The cop said something back to him, but started up the vehicle and took him away.

Evelina wasn't sure what was wrong with her. She hadn't felt such a pain before. It was sharp and sporadic, threatening to push up more vomit. Her hands gripped around her belly. She did everything she could to keep from rolling around. She could feel the officer's hand on her shoulder. She could hear the sirens of the ambulance wailing. It was the last thing she heard before blacking out.

Evelina woke up to machines beeping softly. It definitely was far from being a new noise to her ears. She'd been in a hospital one too many times not to know the noise. Her hand was cuffed to the hospital bed, clanging as she lifted it a little bit.

"You're awake." A voice drew her attention over to a chair near her bed. Senator Downs had ruffled up hair like he had slept the night there.

The familiar face relaxed Ev. She smiled at him calmly. "I thought only immediate family was allowed in."

"Evy, I'm the closest thing to immediate family you have right now. If anyone asks though, I'm your father." He winked at her, gently rubbing her arm. "I'm glad you're safe."

Evelina smiled up at the older gentleman. She couldn't help but feel the onrush of guilt wash over her. It didn't matter how happy or difficult the circumstances were when she saw him. He always reminded her of the lie that she had helped devise in order to save herself and their unborn Rose.

Maybe she was naive to think everything would go away and ease her mind, but she knew that wouldn't be possible unless she came clean. She wouldn't be free until she opened the cage. It was purely simple logic. That logic could get her killed, but if she was to start fresh, after all of these incidents tried to knock her down, then she'd have to start with a clean slate.

"I have a confession to make." The words were bittersweet, mainly because she'd hidden it for so long already. Her chest was heavy with the weight the lie burdened her with. She knew a confession was like a storm — it was always worse until it was over, except this time she didn't know if she'd have that happy rainbow finish that always came at the destination of the storm's end. She forced her breathing to remain calm; there was no need for a panic attack.

"Evy, there's something that you need to know, too." The senator scooted closer to her, fully intending on speaking first. Perhaps it was what he was used to, but Evelina was going to have none of that.

She raised her hand in an effort to silence him. "Bob, I really need to go first this time. If I don't, I may never tell you the truth."

The senator silenced himself. He gave her his full focus. "Go on, Evy."

Evelina swallowed hard. She looked away. She couldn't show him her shame. She couldn't see his eyes and look for the disappointment that would soon follow after what she had to say. Most importantly, she couldn't see the desire to eliminate her in his eyes. She didn't want to know how angry he'd be with her, especially after just calling her his family. "I lied to you."