Scott POV
Today is going to be our first meeting with the lawyer. I held Mitch’s hand the whole car ride over and I could feel him trembling even though he insisted that he wasn’t nervous. He hadn’t really talked about Trevor with anyone aside from me and the police and I knew that it was extremely difficult on him. I pulled the car to a stop in the lawyer’s parking lot and then turned to look at him as I shut the car off.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked, rubbing circles into the back of his hand with my thumb.
He took in a deep, shaky breath, his eyes refusing to meet mine. “No,” he admitted anxiously.
“You don’t have to,” I reminded him for the ten thousandth time.
He nodded, “Yes I do.”
I sighed, leaning forward to kiss the back of his hand. “Mitch, there’s a chance that he could go to jail even without your testimony, you know that.”
He nodded again, but less enthusiastically than before. “I know you keep telling me that, but the lawyer’s already told me that we don’t stand a chance if I don’t talk.”
I looked toward the lawyer’s office, knowing he was right. As much as I wanted Trevor to go away for good, I hated that Mitch had to go through all of this pain simply for the ‘possibility’ of him going to prison.
“You know that they can just use the testimony that you’ve provided for the police, right? You don’t have to relive it again,” I explained.
He shook his head, still obviously not buying it, and yet he still made no move to get out of the car. “I have to do this,” he said, determined. “He said it’ll help.”
He finally pulled his hand away from mine and opened the door to get out. I followed his move and waited until he’d walked around the car to re-intertwine our hands. We walked through the front doors together and I told the secretary at the front desk who we were. She asked us to take a seat and I sat down. Mitch, however, stayed standing.
“Sit,” I whispered, pulling lightly on his hand.
He shook his head, retracting his hand from mine. “I’d rather stand.”
I glanced up at him, his eyes trained on the wall opposite us. There was a blank look in his eye, a look that I hadn’t seen since he’d gotten out of the hospital. I didn’t like it.
It was only a few minutes before the secretary came to get us and lead us back to an office a few hallways back. She opened the door and gestured inside. I thanked her and grabbed Mitch’s hand again before we walked into the office.
A man stood to greet us, his face hardened by years of this demanding job. He stuck his hand out and Mitch took it, meekly shaking it before I did the same.
“Randall Ramsey,” he introduced. “Mitch?” He asked, nodding toward the small boy beside me.
Mitch nodded shyly.
“Then you must be Scott,” he acknowledged, looking toward me.
I nodded before we both sat down in the chairs in front of his desk.
“Thank you both for coming today. I understand that this process may be difficult, but I can almost guarantee that if you’re willing to go through with this, Trevor will end up behind bars.”
We both nodded in unison, both too nervous to speak.
“Now, uh, Mitch,” he started. “This may be better if the two of us speak in private. Sometimes it can be easier to deal with that way,” Randall said, glancing over at me.
I began to protest, but Mitch put his hand calmingly on my thigh. “I’ll only be a few minutes.” He whispered.
I reluctantly nodded, getting to my feet and shooting Mitch one last comforting glance before I left. I wasn’t sure where to go exactly, so I just walked back to the lobby, sitting in the same chair as before and pulling out my phone.
I scrolled mindlessly through facebook, not paying attention to anything that I read as my mind worried about Mitch. I hated seeing him upset, and I knew that I’d probably see him cry more than I’d see him smile during the next few weeks. I wished there was something I could do about that, but there wasn’t.
I watched the minutes tick by until Mitch finally walked out over an hour later. He had tear stains on his cheeks and his eyes were red and puffy, causing me to immediately pull him into my arms.
“Are you okay?” I murmured into his ear, already knowing the answer.
“Let’s just go,” he whispered, pulling out of my embrace and walking toward the door.
I followed him, only slightly stunned by his reaction. He hopped into the passengers’ side, closing the door and putting his seatbelt on before I’d even reached the car.
The entire drive home was completely silent, and it left me to wonder whether or not he would truly be okay once this was over with.
