“Deputy Summers, stop this right now!” Sheriff Stevens commands as he pins him into a corner. Deputy Hudson holds the officer back too. A couple more officers swarm in, holding back this enraged man. The veins in his forehead and neck are prominent. His piercing eyes are bloodshot with rage. Sweat is dripping from his forehead. He’s breathing with such intensity, I think he may collapse. I’ve never seen that much anger in a person. He lets out an exasperated growl. His lips purse in a tight inhalation, right before giving way. His nostrils flare so wide they could split apart. His face crumples, and he lets out a howl. This man breaks right in front of us. Tears pour from his eyes. Snot drips from his nose. His body loses all the tension it had been holding and turns practically into a puddle. The sheriff, deputy, and officers stop holding him back, and Deputy Hudson now helps hold him up.

“Scott, buddy, it’s going to be okay. I would have done the same. I actually tried to do the same.” Deputy Hudson pats his friend on the shoulder.

I lean against the wall. Oh my God. That’s Kelly’s husband. He’s a cop.

Adam is writhing in pain on the floor, barely awake. Deputy Hudson and the officers are coercing Scott out of the room. Sheriff Stevens looks at Adam and shakes his head. He shouts for someone to call an ambulance. Then his eyes bounce to me, and it’s the first time he’s noticed I’m here and that I’m hurt. He runs to me, wrapping one arm around me and inspecting the cut on my forehead.

“Sarah, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” Sheriff Stevens says, clearly embarrassed for what has taken place in his police station. There’s also a tenderness there. He cares that I’m hurt. He touches the cut, and I wince in pain. “Sorry,” he says again.

“It’s okay. I’m fine.”

“Let’s get you cleaned up and looked at.” He tries to escort me out. I push away from him and kneel beside Adam. Another officer is trying to wipe up the blood with paper towels.

I push the blood-soaked hair off his forehead. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he says. I get paper towels and try to wipe some of the blood away from his eyes so he can see me, so he can see that I’m here for him. I run my hand along his cheek, reassuring him that I’m going to take care of this, that I’m going to be there for him.

I turn back to Sheriff Stevens. He closes his open mouth.

“This is unacceptable!”

“I know. I know. I’ll take care of this. Officer Summers is on administrative leave. He shouldn’t have been here. He wasn’t supposed to be here.”

“Then why was he here?”