Denise woke in a panic. "What was that?" she whispered. She paused... then heard it again.
BANG! BANG! BANG! It came from the front door. Terrified, she nudged Mitch. He didn't budge, so she shook him lightly.
"Mitch!" she hissed in his ear, "someone is beating at the front door! Go check it out, please!!" she pleaded. She glanced out the window and her heart stopped for just a beat when she saw the red and blues flashing. "Oh my god! MITCH! I think it's the police!"
Mitch jumped out of bed, and flew to the door, which he all but ripped off the hinges.
"Officers, is there a problem? Has someone been in an accident?" Mitch was actually concerned. Denise walked toward the couch, clinging to her bathrobe.
"Mitch Farber?" one officer asked sternly.
"Yes, I'm Mitch Farber."
"Sir, please step out of the house."
"Why?" Mitch's temper flared. "I'm not coming out until you tell me what this is all about!" He crossed his arms in front of his chest and firmly held his ground. Denise cowered in the corner of the couch, trying not to be seen.
"Sir, you're going to have to come with us. There's been a complaint of abuse. Until we can sort everything out, we need to take you to jail. Now STEP OUT OF THE HOUSE."
"NO." Mitch growled the word. "This is ABSURD!" He whirled around to face his wife and snarled, "What the FUCK did you think you were doing? Do you know the kind of shit I can get into at work with you playing stupid fucking games?"
"Mitch! Mitch!" Denise screamed through her tears. "I DIDN'T call the police! I SWEAR to GOD it wasn't me!" Mitch started to sprint toward her, but the officers grabbed him and wrestled him to the ground before he got far.
"That's it, Mr. Farber. You are under arrest for the assault and battery of your wife. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can, and will be, used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you. Do you understand these rights?" Mitch hurled obscenities at the officers and his wife the entire time the officers read the Miranda Rights to him, so the officer jerked his arm sternly and repeated, "Do you understand your rights?"
"Yes, you motherfucker, I understand my rights." He sneered at Denise, "I'll get out, baby. And you had better BELIEVE this is NOT over!"
The officers dragged Mitch, still cussing at his wife and the police to the cruiser.
“This is all a mistake, Officer!” Denise cried. “I didn’t call in any report of abuse!” Denise screamed.
“I know, Mrs. Farber,” replied Officer Benson. “Your neighbors, the Roths did.”
Denise went completely white. The officer saw the bruises on her face and forehead, and noticed she was favoring her left arm.
“I need an ambulance here for domestic violence,” Officer Benson barked over her radio on her shoulder, and gave the address to dispatch.
Denise jumped off the couch and raced to the computer. Her fingers flew as she logged into her email.
“Ma’am, what are you doing?” Officer Benson asked.
“I have to send a few emails so my friends know where I am. If they call and I don’t answer, they’ll panic, trust me!”
“Okay, but make it quick. We still need to get your statement, a statement from your neighbors, and get you off to the hospital.”
“I’ll hurry, I promise!”
She shot a quick message to Anne, since it was too late to call, and then sent one to Andy, praying he would have a chance to read it on his break.
The police questioned Denise about her relationship with her husband while they waited for the ambulance.
“Well, sometimes he gets angry and lashes out at me,” she said, “but that’s normal. Everyone gets angry.”
“No, Mrs. Farber, this is not normal,” Officer Benson stated. “Yes, everyone gets angry, but not everyone hits and hurts people. You need to get out. For your sake and the baby’s – get out!”
“But where would I go?” Denise sobbed. “I have no family here, and I can’t go back home. You just don’t understand!”
“Why can’t you go back home?”
“I called my folks a few months ago and told them I was thinking of leaving Mitch. They told me not to come crying back to them, that I’d made my choices and now I had to live with them.”
“There are places that can help you. Think about it, please! Abusers never change, remember that.” Officer Benson stood up. “The ambulance is here. Let them take care of you.”
The EMTs came through the door and checked Denise over. They splinted her left arm, suspecting it was broken. They pressed gently on her jaw and decided X-rays would be the only way to determine for certain if it was broken or just bruised. Even though she could walk, they strapped her securely onto the stretcher.
“Do you want to file a restraining order against your husband, Mrs. Farber? This will legally prevent him from entering these premises, your place of employment, or be within 100 yards of you anywhere else.”
“I probably should,” Denise sighed wearily. “It won’t do any good, because I’m sure he’ll violate it, but give me the papers to sign anyway.”
“Sign here, Ma’am and we’ll do the rest. Even if it means waking a judge.”
The EMTs started carrying the stretcher to the ambulance and Denise saw the Roths outside their house watching.
“Melanie! Ralph! You PROMISED!” she screamed. “You promised you wouldn’t do this!” She saw Melanie sprint toward her. Melanie took her hand when she got to her side.
“Denise, I know we promised, but we had to think of you and the baby! Please don’t be mad!” Melanie was crying.
“I’m not mad, Mel, I’m scared! He thinks I filed the report!” Denise was crying, too. “Keep an eye on the house, please? His mother will probably bail him out, and he might come back here despite the restraining order. Call the cops if you see him.” Denise wiped away the tears. “And watch out for yourselves, too. If he finds out that it was you, there’s no telling what he’ll do.” The EMTs loaded the stretcher into the ambulance and secured it.
“We’ll come check on you in the morning!” Ralph called out to her.
“Rest and don’t worry,” Mel said soothingly. “We’ll figure this out.”
The ambulance doors closed, and it went screaming down the street. When it was out of their sight, the Roths went inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The doctor came in to see Denise once she got to the hospital.
“The very first thing we need to do is check on your baby. All this stress may have caused distress to the fetus, and you’re not due for a few months, I understand.”
“Yes, Sir, that’s correct.”
“Then we need to get some X-rays done on your arm and jaw to make sure nothing’s broken, although that arm looks pretty bad. I see you have quite a bump on your forehead, too,” he leaned in and touched it gently. Denise winced. “How did this happen? And don’t lie to me, I’ve read the police report.” He looked at her sternly. Denise sighed heavily.
“He threw the remote at me. But it was my own fault! I should have told him earlier what time it was,” she faked a half-smile, “or ducked.”
After the doctor completed the tests and X-rays, he put a cast on her left forearm, and determined the baby was fine.
“We’re keeping you here for a few days to make sure the baby stays healthy and not stressed, and to keep an eye on you, to be sure you’re safe.” The doctor patted her hand reassuringly. “We’re posting a guard outside your door for your protection. Give me a list of people you want to see. No one else will be allowed in here.” Denise wrote down Anne, the Roths, Andy and a few co-workers with whom she was friendly. “Ok, we’ll get this to the guard. You get some rest. I’ll give you something for the pain that is safe for the baby and will help you sleep. Here’s the hand buzzer to call us if you need anything.”
“Thank you Doctor. For everything.”
Denise fell asleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment