Chapter 2 - Wyatt at the Bedside
Wyatt had not slept since Sadie was admitted.
His white dress shirt was creased at the elbows.
His dark trousers were dusted from kneeling beside her bed.
His luxury watch still ticked neatly on his wrist, absurdly polished against the chaos of her injuries.
He had arrived before dawn and found her under clinical daylight, face bruised, arm bandaged, lips cracked from dehydration, eyes filled with a fear she tried to hide from him.
She had whispered only one thing when he reached for her hand.
Don’t let them in.
He had promised.
Now Gregory Davis stood in the room, and Wyatt understood the promise was not emotional.
It was physical.
Gregory shoved against him again.
“Get out of my way.”
Wyatt’s eyes went wide with controlled rage.
“You are not touching her.”
Brenda’s mouth twisted.
“How dramatic. He thinks she’s some helpless little saint.”
Sadie flinched at the sound of her mother’s voice.
Wyatt felt the movement behind him, and whatever restraint he had left became colder.
The doctor was not in the room yet, but two nurses were blocking Melanie near the doorway. One kept her palm up, firm but careful, while the other looked toward hospital security down the hall.
Melanie’s entitlement cracked into panic.
“You can’t keep family out.”
Sadie’s voice came weakly from the bed.
“They are not here for me.”
Everyone heard it.
The attorney near the doorway tightened his grip around the sealed folder.
His silver hair and dark navy suit made him look formal in a room built for pain. He had been there only minutes before the Davis family arrived, asking Sadie careful questions and labeling evidence bags without pressuring her to say more than she could survive.
Now he looked at Gregory with recognition that was not surprise.
Gregory saw him and snapped, “Who are you?”
The attorney did not answer.
Instead, his gaze moved to the clear evidence bag in Sadie’s hand.
The damaged phone inside had a cracked screen.
The stained fabric was folded carefully.
No contents were shown.
No statement was revealed.
Only preservation.
Sadie held it against her chest like it weighed more than her own body.
Wyatt turned slightly toward her.
“You don’t have to speak.”
Sadie looked past him, directly at her parents.
May you like
“Yes,” she whispered. “I do.”
Read Chapter 3 👉 Because Wyatt wanted to protect Sadie from speaking, but Sadie knew silence was how her family had survived for years.
