October 23, 2013
The police hadn't kept Victoria in suspense for long, they hadn't really even asked her many questions. No more than Nurse Rose had asked Danny - they must not have felt the need to.
From the moment they grabbed her by the shoulders and cuffed her at the hospital it seemed they had already made up their mind that she was guilty. Regardless of what she said to them.
It was cold and no air seemed to circulate making it smell musty inside the police station interrogation rooms. The walls were a grotty cream color with brown fibrous flooring, it felt as though she were in some underground cave. The only source of comfort or warmth had been the single dim flickering fluorescent light that seemed too small to fully illuminate the room.
Right after they had brought her there they had asked her a few questions about what had happened earlier on, given her a blood alcohol test, a saliva test and then left. Some kind soul-one, of the pair who had grabbed her from the hospital had poked his head in the room and thrown a crocheted blanket at her. Gratefully she had wrapped herself up in it. She was freezing cold and had been feeling extremely self-conscious in her flimsy black night dress. Then she had waited in silence.
Her mind was going in circles, this had to be some terrible mistake. She hadn't hurt Emily, surely they were talking to Danny right now at the hospital, he would tell them it was a misunderstanding. He didn't mean those things he said to Nurse Rose...
Any moment they would realize what had really happened and they would let her go and she would rush back to find Emily, who would be fine. They would all go home and laugh about it....well maybe not laugh, but hold each other tightly and rejoice that all of this. Everything that had happened was just a big mistake, because that's exactly what all of this was, it was a big, big misunderstanding - a mistake.
But what if it wasn't...did Danny really think she had done this? Victoria looked at the crochet blanket she was wrapped up in and it made her think of her Nan. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Nan would have believed her, she would have been right there for her, she would have rallied to get her out of the dark cave they were keeping her in.
Her Nan would have made them see sense, she would have looked after her, just like she always had done...but the cold reality was, she wasn't there, not any more, she was resting peacefully.
When Victoria first lost her Nan it had been hard, but she had Demi to help ease the pain and Danny had been there for her and that was enough. But now for the first time in over 10 years when she had watched her mother leave her for the final time, she had a sinking feeling of abandonment. Of being in this world all alone.
The two police officers come back into the room and stood over Victoria, who pulled the blanket even tighter around herself and shrunk back into the chair trying to make herself as small and insignificant as possible. She was hoping they were there to apologize and let her free. Looking at the blanket again she decided she would ask to keep it to go home in and return it back to them washed another day.
One of the officers, whose name badge said Crawley, began to talk, "Victoria Thorne we are formally charging you with infantile abuse. You will be assessed for your mental state as we hold concerns about you harming yourself or others. You will be held in custody until such time as a magistrate's court hearing can be arranged."
"What does that even mean?" asked Victoria bewildered looking at the two policemen, one after the other, searching for answers.
The other policeman, the one who had given her the blanket moved towards her, she looked at his badge it said McGuinty. She watched him cautiously as he sat down in a chair next to her and said kindly, "Miss Thorne that means that you are being charged for abusing the baby.."
"Emily!" Victoria shot back, pulling the blanket even tighter, stretching it's stitching so that little beads of her skin popped out of the woolen holes.
"Yes, you are being charged for hurting Emily and will have to stay here until a court hearing can begin, which may take a few weeks."
Beginning to get hysterical Victoria began to babble "No, No! You don't understand, I can't stay here, I have to get back to my daughter. Please I didn't hurt Emily, you can't put me in jail. I didn't do anything wrong, please go and talk to Danny, my husband, he will tell you it is just some big mistake, please ask him. I'm telling you the truth, I didn't hurt Emily."
McGuinty shook his head apologetically.
"What about a lawyer, I want a lawyer, and my phone call?" Victoria didn't even know if that was the law or if it was just what she had been led to believe from too many late night sitcoms. Where the hero of the show found himself getting arrested and before they threw him into the jail cell he said, "Aren't you forgetting my phone call. " The all-important call that would solve all of his problems and set him free...
This wasn't a late night sitcom, and with sickening dread Victoria realized she wasn't the hero. Did people who were charged with hurting little babies have any rights at all?
No, this was real life. It was happening to her and in a half an hours' time, unlike the sitcoms she watched, she knew that everything wouldn't end happily. Things wouldn't just go back to the way they were.
"You can make a phone call on the way to your cell and Legal Aid will appoint you a lawyer," said Crawley, approaching Victoria and taking her by the arm. Then he flicked his head in the direction of the door to McGuinty.
Standing up McGuinty looked at Victoria and opened his mouth to say something. Thinking better of it, he briskly walked towards the door and unlocked it as they all left the interrogation room.
As she held the telephone in her hands Victoria found herself in a tricky situation. She had planned on calling Danny, but she physically couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't bear the pain of hearing Danny say he thought she had hurt Emily. On impulse she found herself calling Demi's mobile.
"Victoria, Oh my god are you alright?"
Fighting back tears at hearing Demi's voice Victoria whispered, "They are going to lock me up Dem, at least 2 weeks until a trial....They think I hurt Emily, I'm so scared, Dem please you have to believe me I didn't...
"I know you wouldn't, it's ok Vic I will do anything I can to help you and Danny.
"Emily, is Emily ok?"
Demi hesitated, "I have just come from the hospital, Danny is a mess, and there has been no word on Emily. I have Amanda, she will be fine with me for as long as needed and I will let Danny know you called."
"Thank you Dem," said Victoria sniffing.
"Is there anything I can do to help you Vic."
"Clothes, could you ask Danny to bring me some when he comes? And one more thing, Dem, please promise you won't tell Danny about last night, we all have enough troubles right now."
"I won't, everything is going to be ok Vic, I will come and see you soon."
McGuinty tapped her on the shoulder and said quietly, "Times up."
The line was dead. Victoria listened to the beeping sound for a moment, trying to ignore McGuinty, still cradling the phone up to her ear. She didn't want the conversation with Demi to be over. Victoria couldn't help but feel as though everyone in her life was being stripped away from her, and that telephone she held tightly in her hands was the last link to the life she so desperately wanted to go back to.
Losing patience Crawley snatched the phone from Victoria and hung it up, taking one of her arms and waiting for McGuinty to do the same he said, "It's time to go," as they started walking.
McGuinty and Crawley led her along a dark corridor, with the same fibrous flooring, until they come to the last door at the very back of the station. Through the door was a holding cell block. It was empty and still had the same cave like appearance and mustiness about it as the interrogation room, but the floors were plain concrete, making it even colder and darker.
There was an iron bed without any sheets to the left side of the room, a toilet and basin in the far right corner. Close to the end of the bed was a small round white plastic table with one chair and a small makeshift shelf on the wall with a few magazines sitting on it. The room was bare, impersonal, dank and dirty looking. Not exactly what she would have imagined a jail cell to be like, but not far off.
Victoria stood in the room as the door was closed loudly behind her and McGuinty and Crawley disappeared from view, "It's all just a silly mistake, you'll see," she whispered.
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Thanks for stopping by to read the latest chapter of BROKEN, I will be updating agin very soon â¤ï¸