Disclaimer: see previous chapters.
A/N: I know it's been a REALLY long time since my last update, but I was completely burnt out. All the writing and updates in such a short time (each time I would update, that is) wore me out, and then there was school to contend with. But I'm on Christmas vacation now, so there will be some updates. Can't tell you how many, but there will be some.
Chapter Twenty-Four: At Last, Justice
"I don't think I can do this," Amanda said. She was sitting on the couch in Peter's apartment, waiting for him to come out of his room. It had been 4 months since her shooting, and the trial was underway. That day, Amanda was to testify in front of the jury, and she was nervous as hell.
"I don't think I can do this," she repeated. "I'm so scared…I haven't been this scared since I came back from the hospital." Her nightmares had come back again, much worse than before. More than once, Peter had run into her room at night to find her thrashing on the bed and screaming. Each time, she had woken up in tears.
"You'll do fine," Peter said as he came into the living room. "Just tell them the truth about what happened."
"What if it's not enough?" Amanda asked, her fear beginning to show. "What if they acquit them? What if I end up doing what Jordan did? I'll lose everything…" Her ramblings were stopped by the ringing of the telephone.
Peter walked over to the phone and answered it. He listened for a while, then said, "All right. We'll be there shortly." Amanda knew what the phone call was about before Peter even picked up the phone. It was now or never.
"Could you please, in your own words, tell the jury what happened to you on September 10th, 2003?" asked the attorney. Amanda swallowed hard. She wished that Renee was the prosecuting attorney on the case, but she hadn't been allowed to prosecute the case in court.
"Damned personal bias rules," Amanda thought. She had already rehashed the events of the night that her mother was murdered, and they had moved on to her shooting. The DA sensed she was afraid and said, "Take as much time as you need, Miss Hoyt."
Amanda swallowed again, and then said, "I was at the morgue, helping Dr. Townsend set up a wireless network for the morgue's new computers. Dr. Cavanaugh came into the room and told me I had a visitor in the conference room. I went to the conference room, stopping to talk to a few friends along the way, and found my sister there. We talked for a few minutes, and then I was told I had a visitor in the hallway. I walked out of the conference room, stopped for a moment to talk to Dr. Townsend and Dr. Winslow, and met my other visitor. It was my brother, and we exchanged some verbal blows, which led to a small altercation. Afterwards, I got into an elevator and went down to the lobby, intending to go home. Dr. Winslow followed me to the lobby, and managed to calm me down slightly. I heard a gunshot, and my body tensed up. A few seconds later, I looked down at the side of my shirt and realized that I had been shot. I drifted in and out of consciousness for a long time after that, before I finally passed out. I woke up in the hospital five days later."
"Were you able to see the face of your attacker?" the DA asked.
"Yes, I was. During one of my moments of consciousness, I turned my head to the side, and I saw the attacker on the floor, with policemen standing over him. He was in handcuffs, and he was facing me."
"Do you see your attacker anywhere in this courtroom today?"
"Yes," Amanda said. She pointed to the man at the defense table, who grinned at her and mouth the words "Bang Bang" as she looked at him, in an effort to get her to waver. "That's him, right there," Amanda said, not wavering for an instant.
"No further questions, your honor," the DA said. "The prosecution rests." The defense attorney stood up next, a woman who was not much taller than Amanda.
"Miss Hoyt, you mentioned that you had an altercation with your stepbrother before your shooting?" the defense attorney asked.
"Yes," Amanda said.
"Were there any witnesses that could verify that he himself did not follow you down to the lobby after Dr. Winslow?"
"Yes, there are."
"Are there any witnesses that are NOT related to you in some way, that could verify this?" the attorney asked smugly.
Amanda was starting to get rather pissed off at this woman. She had seen enough courtroom dramas on TV to know that the attorney WANTED her to get angry.
"Yes," she answered, keeping an even tone to her voice and a normal expression on her face. The defense attorney blanched slightly. She hadn't expected her to answer so calmly. It threw her off balance, and messed up her plans.
"No more questions, your honor," the defense attorney said. "The defense rests."
"Very well," the judge said, turning to Amanda. "Miss Hoyt, I would like to thank you for being so cooperative today. I understand this must have been very hard for you. You may step down."
Amanda nodded her thanks to the judge and walked out of the courtroom, sighing with relief. She had done her part. Now all they had to do was wait.
"Has the jury reached a verdict?"
Amanda grabbed Peter's hand and held it tightly. It had been four days since deliberations had begun. They had received a call saying that the jury had reached a verdict, and they were sitting in the courtroom. On Amanda's left were her sisters and brother, and her stepfather. On her right were her father, Peter, and Jordan.
"We have, your honor," the jury foreman said. She handed the paper to the bailiff, who handed it to the judge. The judge read the verdict to himself, then handed the paper back to the bailiff, who returned it to the foreman.
"Read your verdict," the judge said. "On the first count of the indictment, attempted murder."
Amanda listened intently for the words she had longed to hear, clutching Peter's arm as the foreman read the verdict.
"We find the defendant guilty," the foreman said. Amanda silently cheered. The bastard had been found guilty of trying to kill her.
"On the second count of the indictment, murder in the first degree," the judge said.
"We find the defendant guilty," the foreman said. Amanda began to cry. She felt Peter's arms go around her, and heard him say, "It's all over now. They got him." The judge thanked the jury for their service and adjourned the court.
Outside the courthouse, Amanda and her siblings hugged each other tightly, and wrenched promises to visit soon from each other. Amanda was silent on the car ride back to Peter's apartment, all the while thinking about how she had finally gotten justice for her mother.
A/N 2: Shout-outs!
canadianfan1984- Yeah, he is a pretty good dad. He's starting to get the hang of the whole parenting thing. Which is gonna come in handy in later chapters…please keep reviewing! I know it's been a while, but I do intend to finish this story!
Dan- Boy, do I ever understand that! Laughs OK, so there wasn't much Amanda/Peter stuff in this chapter either, but the trial was the most important thing. I PROMISE there will be more Amanda/Peter stuff in the next chapter. Until then, keep reviewing!