Chapter 11

The Next Day

Kayla was walking up to the witness stand to testify against her father and his former boss. "Do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"Yes"

"Be seated"

"State your name and occupation for the record please?"

"Kayla Dennis, I'm a third year medical student at County General Hospital"

"On the day in question what occured?"

"I was working at the hospital when Ms. Daniels showed up. She informed me that my mother was dying and begged me to come home with her."

"Did you comply?"

"No, because I honestly don't really care what happens to her just as she didn't care what happened to me when I was 13 years old"

"And what did happen?"

"I came home for a day with my friends and she was drunk and just started beating me."

"How badly did she beat you?"

"I had multiple broken ribs, a punctured lung, two torn ligaments in my left shoulder, broken elbow on the same arm, a concussion as well as internal injuries that weren't fully explained to me. After the surgery I lapsed into a coma which I remained in for six days."

"What was done my the courts?"

"Nothing, she was decleared mentally incompetent and no charges were ever filed."

"What were the ramifications of the beating for you?"

"I'm not sure what you mean"

"What activities were you forced out of as a result of the attack?"

"I was forced out of gymnastics as a result of the broken elbow leaving me without the ability to stay in handstands and other required elements in the sport and I also lost my spot on the national team in hockey because I couldn't recover from my injuries fast enough."

"Sounds like a lot to lose for someone so young"

"Considering I was a three time junior world champion in gymnastics just sixty-four days before the attack. Yes, it was extremely devastating."

"It this why you didn't return home?"

"That was one of the reasons and the other reason was that both my father and Ms. Daniels have told me the same thing a half a dozen times and it's never been true."

"Nothing further, your honor."

The defense attoney

"So you saw this as another attempt to get you home for no reason?"

"Other than other beating, yes"

"What did my client do when you informed her that you would not be returning home?"

"She grabbed my wrist and twisted it hard enough to chip a bone in my wrist."

"Which was surgically removed that evening correct?"

"Yes"

"When your shift ended where did you go?"

"To the pharmacy to fill my prescriptions and then headed home"

"Which were?"

"I was prescribed a pain killer and an antibiotic since I'm more susceptable than normal to infection."

"What happened once you returned home?"

"When I was about ten feet away from my apartment I could make out two figures sitting on the porch and figured it was my neighbors that sometimes sit on the porch at night. When I got closer I could see that it was my father and Ms. Daniels"

"What did they do?"

"I told them we had nothing further to discuss and that they needed to leave before I called the police."

"Isn't that a little extreme?"

"No, when she showed up at the hospital earlier that evening I told her to leave me alone and not to contact me again."

"What happened next?"

"My father lunged at me and started beating me. I blacked out"

"When you woke up where were you?"

"On mt couch with Ms. Daniels standing over me as she cleaned the wounds on my face."

"What did you tell her?"

"To get out and that I had someone from work coming and he would clean the wounds."

"Did you actually have someone coming over or did you make that up to get my client out of your apartment?"

"I didn't want her touching me and defending my father just like she did when I was a kid. Covering up the 17 times I was brought into her ER with various injuries all at the hands of my mother."

"Why would she do that?"

"To protect the hospital and my father as usual" she was hoping this line of questioning was coming to an end soon because she was hurting and needed a break from talking. Noticing the lines of pain on Kayla's face the judge intervened. "We are taking a five minutes break, Ms. Dennis are you okay?"

"Yes, your honor I just need to take a small break, I have a broken rib which is hurting from all this talking."

"I understand; do you need some water?"

"Yes, that would help"

Five minutes later court had resumed once Kayla's pain had subsided. "Okay Kayla, are you ready to continue?"

"Yes, your honor"

"Very well proceed"

"Kayla why would she protect her hospital and your father, while allowing you to suffer?"

"Because my father was addited to drugs at the time and a police investigation would have uncovered that."