Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN IN RED
Elena was taken back to the emergency department.
Imaging showed no new catastrophic spinal injury.
No major fracture.
No intracranial injury.
Her shoulders were bruised.
Her pain had increased sharply.
But the wheelchair had been stopped before the final drop.
That mattered.
The doctors did not promise it meant nothing had changed.
They observed her closely.
Jessica was detained by hospital security and then police.
Detective Laura Chen arrived within the hour.
The stairwell had cameras at both landings.
Not every step was visible.
Enough was.
Jessica entered behind Elena.
Placed both hands on the wheelchair handles.
Shoved.
No accidental bump.
No unclear contact.
Then stood at the top while the chair descended.
Laura asked Elena:
“Do you know her?”
Elena looked at Harrison.
He sat against the wall outside the curtain, head down.
“No.”
Then:
“I didn’t.”
Laura looked at Harrison.
He raised his eyes.
“She’s Jessica Blake.”
“How do you know her?”
Harrison’s mouth opened.
Elena answered for him.
“She’s his mistress.”
Harrison flinched.
Laura remained neutral.
“How long?”
Harrison said:
“About eleven months.”
Elena stared.
Eleven.
The number felt almost more shocking than the word affair.
Her original accident happened four months earlier.
The affair existed before her wheelchair.
Then Jessica began shouting from the adjacent police interview room.
“You told me she was gone!”
A nurse closed the door.
Elena looked at Harrison.
“What did you tell her?”
He said nothing.
“What did you tell her about me?”
Harrison’s eyes filled.
“That we were separated emotionally.”
“We weren’t.”
“I know.”
“That you hated me?”
“No.”
Jessica’s voice carried again from the hallway.
“He said he was only staying because she couldn’t walk!”
Elena felt cold.
Harrison closed his eyes.
There.
The hidden structure.
He had not only cheated.
He had turned Elena’s disability into an excuse.
Then Detective Chen asked:
“Did Jessica know Elena’s hospital schedule?”
Harrison looked up sharply.
“No.”
Laura held his gaze.
“She knew exactly which rehabilitation floor Elena was on.”
May you like
Harrison stared.
“And she knew which stairwell had no staff station.”
