“She’s always dramatic.
She complains about everything.
I thought she would knock for a minute, calm down, and come back inside.”
“You locked her out,” Alejandro said.
“I was teaching her not to act helpless.”
The admission hung in the air.
Paola realized what she had said and quickly added, “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
But the room had already heard the truth.
Not an accident.
A lesson.
Alejandro’s mother wiped her face with trembling fingers.
“I heard the banging,” she whispered.
Everyone turned toward her.
She looked at me, not at Paola.
“I came into the kitchen because I heard something hitting the glass.
Paola told me you had gone outside to cool down.
She said you were making a scene.”
My throat tightened.
“You saw me?”
Her eyes filled again.
“I saw you point at the lock.
I saw you holding your stomach.”
“And you didn’t open the door.”
“I tried.” Her voice cracked.
“Paola grabbed my wrist.
She told me to leave you there.”
Paola spun toward her mother.
“Why are you making it sound like that?”
“Because that is what happened.”
For the first time since I had met her, Alejandro’s mother did not soften her words to protect her daughter.
Paola looked around the room, searching for an ally.
Her father stared at the floor.
Her mother stood beside my bed.
Alejandro had moved between Paola and me without seeming to realize it.
Paola’s expression changed from fear to anger.
“This family always takes her side now,” she said.
“Ever since Alejandro married her, everything has been about her.
Her pregnancy.
Her appointments.
Her problems.”
Alejandro stared at his sister.
“My wife and daughter nearly died, and you are jealous of the attention?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“It is exactly what you said.”
A nurse appeared in the doorway with a hospital administrator and a uniformed officer.
The sight of them drained the color from Paola’s face.
The doctor spoke calmly.
“Because this injury involved deliberate confinement and a pregnant patient, the hospital initiated a safeguarding report.
The police need statements from everyone who was present.”
Paola stepped toward the door.
“I’m not talking to anyone without a lawyer.”
The officer did not touch her.
He simply moved aside and indicated the hallway.
“We can speak out there.”
Before Paola followed him, she looked at Alejandro.
“You’re really going to let them treat me like a criminal over a mistake?”
