Until Proven Guilty

by Rachel Sinclair

  “I saw Amelia, and she told me that Nate was in the bathroom. For a long time.” I shook my head and smiled. “He’s at that age.”

  Harper furrowed her brow. “You better check on him.”

  “Why? Trust me, when I was his age, I was also in the bathroom for a long time, and I didn’t want anybody checking on me.”

  She shook her head. “You just should.” She pointed at her arm. “My hair’s standing on end.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll knock on the bathroom door and tell Nate to be ready for dinner in a half hour and we’ll just order something for him from the GrubHub thing. I don’t want to disturb him too much.”

  “Just go,” Harper said in an urgent voice. “Please.”

  “Okay, okay,” I said, going upstairs to the bathroom. It was the bathroom that everybody used, because Nate’s room didn’t have an adjoining bathroom.

  I knocked on the door. “Nate, buddy, just wanted to let you know that GrubHub is going to be here in a little bit. We’re probably getting Chinese. I’ll order you some Orange Chicken, what do you think?”

  I didn’t hear anything on the other side.

  “Nate? It’s dad. Did you hear me?”

  Silence.

  All at once, my heart started to race. “Nate, answer me! Nate!”

  I opened the door. It was unlocked.

  Then stopped in my tracks.

  Nate was lying in the tub, covered in blood.

  Chapter 37

  All the way to the hospital, I obsessed. I questioned myself. I should have never taken Mom’s case. I should have taken that sabbatical. I should have given Nate those anti-depressants. I shouldn’t have assumed that he was happy just because he seemed like he was.

  Harper drove to the hospital, tailing the ambulance that was screaming down the street to the nearest hospital. I was next to her, and my mother and Amelia were in the backseat. Harper put her hand on my knee.

  “It’s going to be okay. We managed to catch him on time. The paramedics said that we got him on time,” she said calmly.

  I shook my head. “No. God, I pray that he makes it through, but Harper, even if he does, he’s not okay. He’s not okay. I don’t know what happened. He seemed like he was happy. He seemed like he was happy.” I put my head in my hands. “What happened?”

  “Dad, I know what happened. Nate and Austin, they had a fight. I know they had a fight, because they weren’t talking on the phone anymore,” Amelia said from the backseat.

  Just what I was afraid of. Nate’s happiness depended too much on external factors, so it was very fragile.

  What made it all worse was that Austin and Nate were on the same basketball team. Austin’s mother gave them rides all the time. I gave them rides, too, and I had gotten to know Austin a little bit over the past few months. I liked the kid.

  But if Austin and Nate had a falling-out, Nate probably wouldn’t want to be on the team anymore. He was that kind of sensitive kid. He wouldn’t want to be around Austin anymore, so he probably would just quit the team.

  In other words, Nate’s world was falling apart. It was really going to be up to me to help him stitch it back together.

  We got to the hospital, where I went to the ER desk and explained who I was.

  “You’ll have to wait in the waiting room,” the front-desk clerk said to me. “They’re working on him right now. We’ll let you know when you can go back and see him.”

  I nodded my head, feeling numb. Harper was right next to me, her arm around my back, but I could barely feel her. I was rolling around my self-recriminations, over and over and over.

  This was my fault what happened. My fault.

  I sat down on the seat, and Harper got up and came back at some point with a sandwich and a cup of coffee. I looked over at Amelia and my mother and saw that they were already eating their own sandwich, and they were both drinking pop.

  “You have to eat, Damien,” Harper gently said. “We’ve been here for three hours, and you need to eat.”

  Three hours? How could that be? It seemed like we just got there. I guess that time had no meaning.

  I looked at the sad sandwich and realized that, in spite of myself, I really was hungry. I took a bite, and then another, and, before I knew it, the sandwich was gone and I was hungry for more.

  Harper handed me a couple of bags of chips, and I ate those and drank a coke. It seemed like I was in a haze and the food and drink was bringing me back to reality. “Thanks,” I said.

  I looked up at the desk, and I decided to go up and see what I could find out. “My son, Nate, he was brought in here a few hours ago,” I told the woman, who, I think, was a different person than before. She looked similar to the last woman, but not exactly the same.

  “Nate Harrington?” she asked.

  “Yes, Nate Harrington,” I said.

  “I was just getting ready to send somebody out to speak with you. He had emergency surgery and a blood transfusion, but he’s out of surgery and in a recovery room. We’re going to admit him to the hospital. We’re just waiting for a bed to open up.”

  I felt a great sense of relief and apprehension rolled into one. “Thank you,” I said.

  I followed her back to a series of rooms that were separated only by curtains. In one of the rooms was Nate in a bed. He looked so tiny. He was hooked up to an IV, and I saw that his wrists were heavily bandaged. He was apparently sleeping, but I went over to sit next to him anyhow.

  I took his hand, his tiny little hand, and kissed it. I gripped his little hand in mine so tight, I was afraid that I was going to break it somehow. “Nate, buddy,” I said to my sleeping son. “I’m so sorry. I’ll be there for you, I promise. Your grandmother’s case is done, and I’m going to take off as much time as you need me to take off to make sure that you’re okay. I know you probably can’t hear me, but I love you, buddy. I love you, and I can never lose you.”

  I put my head down on the bed next to him, and closed my eyes.

  I lost track of time, again, because, before I knew it, a doctor in hospital scrubs informed me that a bed had opened up and that they were going to admit Nate and they needed to transfer him. “Please wait in the waiting room, and we’ll let you know when Nate is transferred to a regular room,” the doctor said.

  “Thanks,” I said. I went back to the waiting room, where Harper, Amelia and Mom were all asleep in various chairs. The television overhead was still playing something, it looked like a news program of some sort. There were a few others who were also in the waiting room, and almost everyone was asleep.

  I looked at the clock and realized why everyone was asleep - it was 4 AM.

  I went over to Harper and nudged her awake. “Harper, do you mind taking Amelia to your home? And I hate to ask you this, but-“

  She nodded. “I’ll take both your mom and Amelia to my house. I have enough bedrooms that they can stay with me for as long as they like. Don’t worry, we have it handled.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “I have to wait here for Nate to be transferred to a room, and then I’m going to go up there and sleep in the hospital chair. He needs to see me when he wakes up.”

  “Of course,” Harper said. “And if the jury comes back, I’ll handle it. I’ll tell the judge what happened and I’m sure it will be okay.”

  She understood, and I loved her for it. “Thank you.” I put my hand on her shoulder. “I have to go.”

  She roused Amelia and Mom and I helped her herd them back to her car. The night air was heavy with fog and it was still pitch-black outside, although I knew that dawn was just around the corner.

  “Thank you again,” I said to Harper after everybody was buckled in.

  “Don’t mention it,” she said. “You’d do the same for me.”

  She was right about that.

  I would do anything for her.

  Chapter 38

  The next day, Nate slept until around noon, and I was there when he woke up.

  He looked like he had no id
ea where he was or how he got there. “Dad,” he said, looking around the room. “What?”

  “Nate, you’re in the hospital,” I said. “I found you in the bathtub. You were…hurt. I brought you here.”

  I knew that he was slightly drugged up, as much as a child of his age could be. “Dad, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I know that you don’t want to deal with me, you have enough going on with grandma.”

  “Shhhhhh…don’t apologize. Don’t ever apologize for something like this. I love you, buddy. Your grandma’s case is over, we’re just waiting for the verdict. I won’t leave your side, buddy, I’m here to stay.”

  He smiled weakly. “You don’t have to stick around, Dad,” he said to me. “I’m okay.”

  “No, you’re not,” I said. “You’re not okay, but you will be. I promise you, you will be.”

  He stared at the ceiling, looking like he was counting some non-existent dots. “Dad, I’m gay,” he said. “And I really liked somebody, but he doesn’t like me back. Not right now, anyway. He did like me back, but he doesn’t anymore. I don’t want to be on the team anymore, he’s on the team, and he turned all the guys against me. He’s been spreading rumors about me, and I just don’t want to be around any of them.”

  I took his hand in mine. “Son, I love you no matter what. Thank you for confiding in me. I’m sorry that you got your heart broken, and I know that it hurts. I don’t really know what to say, except to let you know that I’m here, I’ll never leave, and I love you just the way you are.”

  He smiled a slight smile. “I love you, too, Dad, but I’m really tired.” He closed his eyes.

  I sat back in my chair, and fell asleep myself.

  A few hours later, I got the text.

  Not guilty.

  Harper and my mom, now free as a bird, were going to be heading over to the hospital and wanted to take me out to dinner.

  I should have been over the moon with relief and joy that Mom beat her charge, as she should have. But I wasn’t. All I could feel was guilt and worry about Nate. I was completely focused on him.

  I looked over at Nate and smiled. “Looks like I’ll be gone for a few hours, but I’ll be right back, I promise.”

  He was asleep, so he didn’t really hear me.

  He was physically fine, thank God.

  But he was far from okay.

  For information about upcoming titles in the Harper Ross Legal Thriller series, sign up for my mailing list! You’ll be the first to know about new releases and you’ll be the first to know about any promotions!!!! http://eepurl.com/cTUHFP

  Also by Rachel Sinclair

  For information about upcoming titles in the Harper Ross Legal Thriller series, sign up for my mailing list! You’ll be the first to know about new releases and you’ll be the first to know about any promotions!!!! http://eepurl.com/cTUHFP

  Harper Ross

  Bad Faith - http://amzn.to/2x8Q8Nr

  Justice Denied - http://amzn.to/2x8trZN

  Hidden Defendant - http://amzn.to/2eEcHhU

  Injustice for All - http://amzn.to/2wDJtJu

  LA Defense - http://amzn.to/2xNsVxB

  The Accused - https://amzn.to/2HZ7P4K

  Damien Harrington

  The Associate - http://amzn.to/2wE1lnT

  The Alibi - http://amzn.to/2x8QnrF

  Reasonable Doubt - http://amzn.to/2yDRmOI

  The Hate Crime - https://amzn.to/2vNR5uD

  Secrets and Lies - https://amzn.to/2yiRlkr

  Emerson Justice

  Dark Justice - https://amzn.to/2RL6bLu