Chapter 4 - The Fall That Never Happened
Liam ordered the nurses to move fast.
“Trauma bay two,” he said. “Full workup. CT, X-rays, labs, photos for documentation. Page social work and security.”
Ethan stepped in front of him. “Security? That’s unnecessary.”
Liam didn’t even look at him. “Move.”
One nurse pulled the gurney through the double doors. Another reached for my blood pressure cuff with trembling hands. Her eyes kept flicking toward Ethan.
He noticed.
That was when his voice changed.
Only a little.
Enough for me to hear the man from home beneath the polished husband.
“My wife is hurt,” he said. “I don’t appreciate being treated like a criminal.”
Liam stopped at the foot of the bed.
“You brought in a patient with patterned bruising, facial trauma, possible rib fractures, and marks consistent with force around her throat,” he said. “You gave a false mechanism of injury. So yes, Mr. Carter, security is necessary.”
Ethan’s face went still.
A nurse sucked in a breath.
I had never heard anyone say it so plainly.
False mechanism of injury.
Not clumsy. Not stressed. Not confused.
False.
Ethan looked at me then, and the warning in his eyes was immediate.
Don’t.
My heart began to race.
The monitor betrayed me with a sharp, faster beep.
Liam saw it.
He moved between us.
That small motion nearly made me cry.
For years, Ethan had always found the angle. The doorway. The hallway. The car seat. The private corner where nobody stood between us.
Now my brother did.
“Claire,” Liam said, his voice changing when he spoke to me. Softer, but still urgent. “You are safe in this room. Do you understand?”
My lips parted.
The first word scraped out barely audible.
“Files.”
Liam froze.
Ethan’s head snapped toward me.
“What did she say?” he demanded.
Liam ignored him. “Claire, say that again.”
I swallowed through the pain. “Files. He wants…the password.”
Ethan moved before anyone expected it.
He reached toward the bed.
Not far.
Not enough to touch me.
But enough.
Liam shoved his hand back with one gloved palm and stepped close enough that Ethan had to retreat.
“Get away from my sister,” Liam said.
The words hit the room like a gunshot.
My sister.
The nurses stared.
Ethan’s confidence finally cracked open.
“Your sister?” he whispered.
May you like
Liam reached for the wall phone.
“Secure this unit,” he ordered. “Call the police immediately.”
