Chapter 6 - First Responders
“Upstairs! Go, go, go!” a booming voice yelled from below. Heavy tactical boots hammered up the wooden staircase, taking the steps three at a time.
Daniel turned toward the stairs, raising his hands in a frantic, uncoordinated motion just as two deputies rounded the landing, their service weapons drawn and held at low ready.
“Hands! Let me see your hands! Down on the floor! Down on your face!”
“Wait! You don't understand!” Daniel stammered, backing toward the wall. “My wife is in labor! She fell! She’s having a postpartum psychosis episode, she’s not in her right mind—”
“Shut up and get on the ground!” the lead deputy barked. Before Daniel could take another step, the second deputy closed the distance, grabbed Daniel by the collar of his soap-stained shirt, and slammed him face-first onto the hardwood floor of the hallway.
A sharp metallic click echoed as the first handcuff snapped shut around Daniel’s wrist. He cried out in outrage, thrashing against the deputy’s knee pinned firmly into the center of his back.
Patricia stood frozen in the corner near the linen closet, clutching the manila folder to her chest like a shield. “I’m a retired school administrator!” she shrieked, her voice shaking violently. “You have no right to enter my son’s home without a warrant! This is a private family matter!”
“Ma’am, put the folder on the ground and step against the wall before I cuff you too,” the lead deputy snapped, already keying his shoulder radio. “Dispatch, suspect in custody. Send the medics up immediately. Female is down in the hall, conscious but in extreme medical distress.”
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Two paramedics came barreling up the stairs carrying heavy trauma kits and an OB pack. A female paramedic dropped to her knees beside me, her eyes immediately scanning the swollen purple bruising on my ankle and the dark rope burns circling my wrists.
“Emily? I’m Jessica,” she said, her voice instantly calming amidst the chaos. “You’re safe now. Nobody is going to touch you. Let’s get you on your back. We’re going to help you deliver this baby.”
