Chapter 2 - The Red Stain on Skyline Hall
The cold marble floor pressed hard against my cheek as blood spread through the delicate silk of my cream blouse.
Dr. Priya Rao held my shoulder gently, her hand steady, warm, and deliberate, anchoring me to the present while the world around us spiraled into chaos.
"Don't move, Leah," Dr. Rao said softly, her voice an oasis of professional calm. "Keep your neck straight. Help is coming."
Above me, Nolan was still smirking, though a nervous flicker had invaded his eyes as two uniformed Charlotte police officers strode into the hall, flanked by paramedics pushing a gurney.
"Officers! Thank God you're here," my mother, Vivian, rushed forward, her champagne dress rustling violently. "My daughter had a minor spill. She’s... she’s paralyzed, you see, and sometimes her balance gets unstable. We were just trying to help her into a chair for our family portrait."
My father, Charles, stepped beside her, putting on his authoritative police-consultant voice. "I’m Charles Mercer, former Captain with the CMPD. Everything’s fine here, boys. Just an unfortunate medical clumsy spell."
One of the responding officers, a seasoned sergeant with sharp eyes, looked from Charles to the pool of blood surrounding my right hand, then at my overturned black wheelchair.
"Is that true, ma'am?" the sergeant asked, kneeling beside Dr. Rao and me.
I swallowed past the metallic taste of blood and fear in my throat. I looked up at Nolan, whose hands were still resting casually near his pockets, his knuckles slightly scraped.
"He locked my wheel brakes," I said, my voice quiet, trembling, but perfectly clear. "He grabbed my arms. He yanked me out of my chair and dropped me onto the platform because I wouldn't move out of his engagement photo."
A sudden hush fell over Skyline Hall.
Claire Whitmore gasped, taking three slow steps away from Nolan, her hands pressed against her mouth. "Nolan... you... you touched her chair?"
"She's lying!" Nolan shouted, his face instantly turning a mottled, furious red. "She’s unstable, Claire! She’s been resentful ever since her accident! Ask my parents! She makes up stories for attention!"
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"I have video," Dr. Rao said calmly, holding up her smartphone toward the sergeant. "I recorded the entire interaction from the moment Mr. Mercer locked her wheels to the moment he dropped her onto the glass."
Nolan’s face drained of every drop of color.
