I awake in a hospital, my left hand cuffed to the bed railing. My head is pounding, but not nearly enough from the beating I remember receiving. There’s an IV hooked up to me. Ah, that’s it. A nice drip of painkillers flowing right into my bloodstream is why I don’t feel the full ramifications of the thrashing I took. There are no windows in this room, so I have no idea what time of day it is or how long I’ve been out for. This is precisely what I expected it to be—a small hospital room, with sterile white walls and white floors. The heart rate monitor beside me beats at an even pace, reassuring me that I’m still alive. I feel my face with my fingertips noticing ridges, bumps, and things definitely out of place. I can’t see out of my left eye, and I bring my fingers to it feeling the swollen bumpiness of my eyelid.

I’m about to call for a nurse when I remember something, something from when I was lying on the floor of the interrogation room writhing in pain, dipping in and out of consciousness. I remember Deputy Hudson’s voice, the words that left his mouth. He called the officer that attacked me Scott. Kelly’s Scott. He’s Kelly’s husband.

Things just got a whole hell of a lot more complicated. How did I not know he was a cop? How did Kelly never tell me? No wonder she was scared. No wonder she felt like she couldn’t get away. Look at him. He was massive. I’m not a small man, and I didn’t stand a chance against his gorilla fists. Imagine what Kelly had to go through. Just imagine. Poor Kelly. I know Scott did this. He could have easily pulled this off, and with him being a cop, he would have known how to. That’s just it. He’s a cop. He couldn’t have made any mistakes, right? I’m completely screwed.

A nurse enters nonchalantly. She’s thumbing through a clipboard of papers. She glances at me, notices that I’m awake, and it startles her. “Oh heavens, you’re awake!”

I try to sit up, and she runs to me, telling me to stop. She readjusts the machines hooked up to me and then scurries out.

A few minutes later, Sheriff Stevens enters. He kicks his feet a bit as he walks in. I can tell he’s not happy, but that unhappiness isn’t with me. “How you holding up?”

“Fine, I guess.”

“Listen, Adam. I’m sorry that went down the way it did. It wasn’t right, and I want you to know that Officer Summers has been suspended.” He runs a hand through his hair as he speaks.

“He should be in jail!”