The woman behind the desk looked from Maya to me, and whatever she saw in my face made her stop typing casually.
People& Society
A nurse came out in blue scrubs and took Maya back.
I followed until they made me wait.
That hallway smelled like disinfectant and burned coffee.
I had spent half my life in hallways like that.
This was the first time I felt like the walls were closing in on me.
At 6:02 a.m., Arthur called again.
“I’m on my way,” he said.
“You don’t have to drive all the way here.”
“Yes,” he said. “I do.”
By 7:30, Maya had been examined.
The staff documented the bruising.
They noted the swelling.
They recorded her statement.
A hospital intake form became the first official piece of paper the Vanguards could not polish away.
