Chapter 21
Ilsa and Amelia walked into their hotel room, and the first thing Amelia did was unlock the connecting door, opened it, and rushed into Raymond’s arms. With her wrapped in his arms, she could breathe easier.
“That was brutal.”
“Yeah, are you okay?”
“Yes.” She tightened her grip on him, then stepped back.
They had booked two rooms, and it was supposed to be Jason and Raymond in one, with Ilsa and Amelia in the other, however, they had discussed ahead of time that they would get connecting rooms and they would be with their respective partners for the night.
They had been doing that since the trial had started.
When she felt better, she stepped back and looked at the other three with a frown.
“What’s wrong?”
“Who were those gentlemen sitting in the back of the courtroom? I noted they were taking notes furiously.”
“Oh,” Raymond said with a laugh. “Five of them were lawyers for the hospital, they will be in our position at the table when they take Ervin and Perkins to trial for the medical malpractice, deaths, and injuries.”
“Your defamation trial is to set the precedence of how bad these guys are,” Jason said, then chuckled.
“How hard was it to put doctor before their names when you were on the stand? I noticed that only once you used their last names without the title. I don’t know if everyone caught it, but it was a glaring omission. ”
“Jesus,” she sighed and took the bottle of water Ilsa handed her. “That was so hard, I had to really concentrate on not just saying their last names. Though they don’t deserve it, I had to use their title as professional respect. If I slipped up, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, it was hard for me to say their title too.” Raymond hugged her again, removed his suit jacket, and loosened his tie.
“What happens next?”
“The three of us sit down and go over our closing arguments.”
“Do you want to order room service or go down to the dining room for dinner?”
“Actually,” Jason said with a grin. “I would kill for a pizza. Sometimes I miss pizza delivery where we live. Throwing a frozen one in the oven just isn’t the same.”
They all shared a laugh, and agreed. While Amelia went over to the other room to change, she called the order in, and went back to sit in a chair and watch them. She didn’t speak until she went down to the lobby to pick up the food order, and when she returned, she saw them picking up their papers.
As they ate, she looked at them. “What happens after you give the closing argument?”
“They will give theirs first, then I’ll give mine. The judge will instruct the jury what they can and can’t decide on, then when they reach their decision, they tell the judge, who in turn will call us all back to hear what they decided.”
“Don’t think it’s going to be a quick decision,” Ilsa said. “It could take hours or even days for them to reach a verdict. We not only got these hotel rooms because we didn’t want to drive three hours each way, but we wanted to be close when the jury was out.”
“Okay,” Amelia continued to eat her pizza, and they talked about non-trial stuff until Raymond reached out and took one of her hands in his.
“What is it, Amelia? You look worried.”
“I guess I am. Their lawyers questioned everyone you brought up to the stand for a week. However, they refused to ask any questions of Shay or myself. Then when it was their turn to bring up rebuttal witnesses, they said they had none.”
“That could be because they didn’t have anyone to call,” Ilsa said gently.
“We called everyone that worked with you at the clinic to the stand. Not one of them said anything good about Perkins nor Ervin. We even called up some of your former patients. We’re saving the other ones for the next round. ”
Someone’s phone went off, and it was Raymond, he looked at the caller ID and whipped his head around to Amelia. “Do not say a word, it’s opposing counsel.”
Amelia frowned and Ilsa wrote furiously on a napkin, she saw, ‘Deal,’ and nodded.
“Morris,” Raymond barked into the phone after picking it up on the sixth ring.
“It’s Edwards.”
“Let me put you on speaker, I’m with Black and Miller.” He looked at the others with a smirk and put his finger to his lips when he looked at Amelia. “We’re all here, what do you have?”
“We’d like to offer your client a deal before closing arguments.”
“No deal.”
“You didn’t hear what we’re offering?”
“You don’t have anything to offer that we would be interested in.”
“You’re not going to hear me out?”
“Fine, let’s hear what you have.”
“We’ll settle for ten thousand dollars.”
“And?”
“And that’s it.”
Raymond started to chuckle, then it turned into a full belly laugh, and he hung up on the man. He was still laughing when he shook his head and looked at Amelia. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, I think I’m too shocked to be offended by that offer.”
“Yeah, no matter what they offer, I’m not taking a deal from them. I’ll take my chances with the jury.”
“Yeah, I agree,” Jason said as he picked up a piece of pizza and bit into it. “Yeah, this pizza was a good idea.” They all laughed as they ate their own pizza, and relaxed as they ate, drank water or soda, and talked about life. No one said a word about the trial, or the upcoming closing arguments.
When Amelia crawled into bed that night, she snuggled up with Raymond, and fell asleep with his arms wrapped around her and slept soundly for the first time since the trial had begun.
The next morning, she invited herself into the shower with Raymond, and after rubbing the soap over his back, they made love beneath the streaming water.
It was the first time they’d made love after the trial started.
They slept together every night, but hadn’t made love until just now.
As they finished making love, and the shower, they got out to dry off and had small smiles on their faces.
They dressed and made small caresses as they got ready for court.
Raymond went over to knock on the connecting door, allowing Jason and Ilsa their own privacy, and turned to look at her with a smirk.
“Hands to yourself at the table.”
“Yes, Sir,” she said with a laugh, and gave him a salute. That was how Jason found them. He took one look at them, shook his head, and said his own stern warning.
“No touching.”
“I know.” But she stood on tiptoe and kissed Raymond one last time, then held up her hands as she walked away.
She went into the room registered to Ilsa, and closed the connecting door behind her.
After grabbing her purse, she and Ilsa walked out of the room, went to the elevator, and took it down to the lobby.
They were waiting at the hostess station when the men joined them, just like every other morning.
They took advantage of the free breakfast the hotel offered, taking their time, talking strategy, and when it was time to leave for the courthouse, Amelia felt relaxed and in control for the first time since she had overheard the conversation in the hall at the clinic all those weeks ago.
“Are you okay?” Ilsa asked quietly as they finished their meal.
“Yeah, there’s something about today that feels freeing. I don’t know what you’re going to say, or opposing counsel, but I feel good about the outcome.”
“Good, but don’t wear that grin in the courtroom,” Raymond cautioned. “Keep your face neutral, just like you have for the entire trial. The last thing we need is for the jury to think that you’re gloating, or think that you think it’s a done deal.”
“God, no, I would never think that. I’ll shut up.”
“No, you don’t have to, just keep up like you have been and everything should be fine.”
“I’m not worried, but how long do you think today will take. If it’s closing arguments, then we won’t be there until five, right?”
“Right. Opposing counsel will go first. I’m assuming they will posture, and go on and on, luckily, this judge only allows forty-five minutes per argument.”
“Someone can talk for that long?”
“Yes, I’ll take fifteen minutes, twenty, tops. I’ll state the evidence, the results of their actions, and my statement will be backed up by the evidence I presented.”
“Will the jury be allowed to view the evidence when they make their decision?”
“Yes. They can’t make an informed decision without it.
Before you ask, if they have any questions or need clarification on anything that either side presents, then they will write it all down, give it to the bailiff, and he will bring it to the judge.
The judge then makes the decision to come to us, or answer it himself. ”
“Just you three, or their side also?”
“Depends on what the question is,” Ilsa said gently. “All you have to do is sit there and listen. I know that sounded harsh, but there’s nothing more for you to do.”
“Okay.” Amelia sighed heavily, finished her coffee, and excused herself from the table. After using the facilities, the four of them walked the block and a half to the courthouse.
Shortly after nine that morning, the judge called for closing arguments from the other side, and for the next forty-seven minutes, Amelia listened to the lawyer rip her to shreds, she didn’t know she had tears streaming down her cheeks, listening to all the lies being said about her until both Raymond and Jason pressed a handkerchief in each of her hands.
As much as she wanted to jump up and scream at them, she knew she couldn’t do anything.
It barely registered with her that Raymond had risen to speak, or what the judge said to the jury.
She only became aware of her surroundings when people started leaving.
“Are you okay?” Raymond asked gently, and sucked in his breath when she looked at him. Her entire expression showed anguish.
“No, can we go back to the hotel room?”
“Sure,” he said, but looked around.
“I’ll go with her,” Ilsa said, and took Amelia’s elbow in hers.
Thirty minutes later, Amelia was laid out on one of the beds in the room she was assigned to, and couldn’t stop crying.
When she felt the bed dip behind her, she never moved.
The only saving grace was she smelt Raymond’s cologne, and she rolled over to bury her face in his chest, and cried harder.
It was a good fifteen minutes before she was able to stop.
“Sh, I got you.”
“Why were they so mean? I didn’t do anything to them, and I sure as hell didn’t do what they accused me of.”
“I know that, and hopefully the jury knows that. I know you don’t want to hear this, but that’s how lawyers work, they cut down the person suing their client, to try to make them look bad. I believe I presented strong evidence and can only pray that the jury will make the right decision.”
She lay there for several more minutes, then finally lifted her tear-stained face to him. “I’m sorry for losing it.”
“You didn’t lose it, and this is not a laughing matter, nor is it funny, but your expression during the opposing teams summation moved a lot of the jurors. When I made my own closing arguments, they never looked at me, all twelve of them couldn’t take their eyes off you.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“No,” Jason said from the doorway. “Are you okay?”
“I will be, I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. Your reaction was the perfect response to them misaligning your character. It proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that what they said about you not only hurt you professionally, but also personally. The hardest part of this entire trial is that now we wait. We can’t do anything until the jury comes back. ”
“Will they be sentenced when the verdict comes in, or is there a waiting period?”
“It usually depends on the individual judge. They have the decision, and right, to sentence immediately, or wait and weigh all the options. I’ve been doing some research on this judge, and in the past, he has been known to sentence immediately.”
“Oh,” she said quietly, then sighed heavily. She got off the bed and went into the bathroom to wash her face, and collect herself. When she came out, she wouldn’t look them in the eye.
“You have nothing to be embarrassed about,” Raymond said firmly as he handed her a cup of coffee. “Your reaction was from the gut, and wasn’t fake, the jury will see that.”
They stood or sat drinking coffee and making idle conversation while they waited for the call that the jury was back.
“I have one more question, then I’m going to drop it until after we get the call.”
“What’s that,” Raymond asked.
“How soon after the jury returns with their verdict can we get the hell out of here? I want to go home.”
Raymond rose from his seat, went to her, gathered her in his arms, and held her tightly. With the fingers of one hand, he gently lifted her chin and kissed the tip of her nose. “That same day.”
“Thank you, I’m going to go pack.” She left the three of them in the ‘men’s’ bedroom, and went into the women’s. When Raymond started to go after her, Ilsa stopped him with a hand on his arm, and a shake of her head.
“Let her process.”
He knew she was right, but it was hard seeing the woman he loved torn up like this. But he settled back in his chair, and made sure he could look into the adjoining room to watch her movements.