Chapter 3 - Under Oath in the Living Room
The room erupted into controlled chaos.
"Ma'am, stay where you are," an officer ordered Grant, who had tried to slip behind the sliding glass patio door. The second cop, a tall woman with cold gray eyes, unclipped her taser holster and blocked his path. "Hands where I can see them. Now."
"I live here! This is my house!" Grant yelled, his face turning an ugly shade of plum. "My sister had an accident! You have no right to treat me like a criminal!"
"Sir, step away from the door and place your hands behind your back until we secure the scene," the male officer barked.
Meanwhile, the paramedics dropped to their knees beside me. A female medic with kind eyes and steady hands placed a cervical collar around my neck while her partner checked my pupils with a penlight.
"Don't move your head, hon," she murmured gently. "Can you tell me your name and what year it is?"
"Maya... Maya Vance. It's 2024," I managed, the throbbing behind my temple making my stomach churn. "I'm a T-11 complete paraplegic. I don't have feeling from the navel down, but my ribs... my chest hit the corner."
"Laceration on the left frontal bone, possible concussion, signs of contusion on the lower left ribcage," the medic rattled off to her partner, quickly securing a sterile gauze pad over the cut on my forehead. "We need a backboard."
My mother pushed past Uncle Robert, trying to squeeze into the narrow space between the buffet and the medic's kit. "Officer, really, this is ridiculous. I am Maya’s primary caregiver. My son Grant was simply trying to encourage her. She’s been in that chair for three years, and doctors said emotional encouragement—"
"Ma'am, step back and let the medical personnel work," Officer Jenkins—the female cop—commanded, stepping directly into Eleanor’s path.
"I have every right to speak for my daughter!" Eleanor raised her voice, her eyes darting nervously toward Avery, who was standing behind Uncle Robert. "Maya suffers from severe depression and anxiety. She perceives hostility where there is none. She threw herself out of that chair to gain sympathy!"
Forty relatives stood frozen. Even Aunt Clara, who always sided with my mother, looked horrified.
"She threw herself?" Uncle Robert echoed, his voice vibrating with absolute disgust. "Eleanor, we all saw him grab the handles. We heard him scream at her."
"You saw nothing, Robert!" Eleanor shrieked. "You were by the bar!"
"I have it on video," Avery announced clearly.
The living room went dead silent. The only sound was the Velcro tearing as the paramedics strapped me onto the rigid backboard.
May you like
Officer Jenkins turned toward Avery. "Did you record the entire incident, miss?"
"From start to finish," Avery replied, walking over and handing her phone directly to the officer, completely bypassing Eleanor. "And I have the text message my aunt sent me eleven minutes prior, telling me to film it so she could declare Maya unfit to inherit."
