Paramedic: "Sir, step back please! Let us work!"
Julian: "She's twenty-six weeks pregnant. She fell hard on the floor after being forced to drink liquid!"
Paramedic 2: "Checking vitals now! Ma'am, can you hear me? What is your name?"
Clara: "Clara... Clara Vance..."
Paramedic 1: "Her blood pressure is elevated! We need to get her onto the gurney immediately and transport her to Dallas General!"
Julian: "I'm coming with you."
Victoria: "Julian, you cannot leave this house right now! The police are going to follow them!"
Julian: "I hope they do, Mother. Because I'll be the one filing the police report."
Police Officer: "Did someone call 911 regarding an assault?"
Two police officers stepped through the open entrance, their boots clicking firmly against the marble floor.
Victoria: "Officers! Thank goodness! This was all a huge misunderstanding between family members!"
Julian: "Officer, I am the homeowner and the husband of the victim. My mother just physically assaulted my pregnant wife in this hallway."
Victoria: "That is a lie! She tripped!"
Maria: "It is not a lie, Officer! I witnessed everything! Mrs. Vance grabbed her by the jaw and poured juice into her mouth until she choked!"
Officer: "Ma'am, stay right there. Don't make any sudden movements."
Victoria: "Do you know who I am?! My late husband was Senior Partner at Vance & Associates!"
Officer: "I don't care who your husband was, ma'am. Step over here."
Julian: "Officer, my wife managed to record the entire interaction on her phone before the assault happened. The phone is in her handbag right there."
Officer 2: "I'm securing the phone as evidence. Sir, is your wife stable?"
Paramedic: "We're moving her now! We need to check the baby's fetal heart rate in the ambulance!"
Julian: "Clara, I'm right behind you! I'm getting into the ambulance!"
Clara: "Julian... don't leave me..."
Julian: "Never again. I swear to you, never again."
Victoria: "Julian! If you walk out that door with her, you are cut off! Do you hear me? Not one penny from the family trust! No inheritance! Nothing!"
Julian turned around slowly, looking at his mother as the police officer held her hands behind her back.
Julian: "Keep the money, Mother. You're going to need every dollar for your bail and criminal defense lawyers."
Victoria: "You ungrateful brat! I gave you everything!"
Julian: "You gave me nothing but misery. Officer, press full charges for domestic assault and felony endangerment of an unborn child."
Officer: "Understood, sir. Mrs. Vance, you have the right to remain silent..."
Victoria gasped as the metallic click of handcuffs echoed in the vast, bright hallway.
Julian didn't look back as he followed the paramedics out into the bright Texas sunshine, climbing into the back of the ambulance beside Clara.
Julian: "How is the heartbeat?"
Paramedic: "We found it, sir. Strong and steady."
Clara let out a deep, shaking breath, squeezed Julian's hand tightly, and closed her eyes as the doors slammed shut.