Chapter 3

“I don’t understand you,” Camelia said under her breath, shaking her head dramatically.

She was confused, and at the brink of going crazy; that was if she hadn’t already gone crazy.

She believed deeply that any more drama or silly plot twists and she would be sent to an abyss of mental breakdown.

“You should, considering you gave the diagnosis and prescriptions for the drugs that made one of your patient’s illnesses worse. Don’t play the good cop, that ship sailed. We would appreciate you not speaking anymore Mrs Noah,” the cop said as Raphael cuffed her sleeve and pushed her into the ready car.

Camelia laughed; she had spent most of her 20s studying to be a physician. And not only had she graduated summa cum Laude, but she had also gotten awards of recognition in under two years of her practising. 

This was impossible! 

She knew it but didn’t just understand where the sudden claim was coming from. 

“Call my husband! If we eventually figure out this was a mistake, you and all the rest of your incompetent cops would pay! Oh, you would be so sorry you ever did this!” Camellia ranked as the officer chuckled. She was seeing red, cramped in the middle of two officers like she was some criminal instead of the doctor that she was.

The cop turned to her and smirked. 

She felt the urge to slap the grin off his face. What was funny? Her life was falling in shambles all around her and she was in the middle of two awful smelling cops. 

Did they even realize she was carrying a baby? 

“If your husband is Francis Noah, then he already knows of this. He showed us where to find you, ma’am,”

“You are a liar! He cannot do that!” She said, her voice icy darts firing weak shots at him, but she wasn’t sure anymore. 

Could it be possible that Francis truly hated her and he had abandoned her?

Raphael watched her from the rearview mirror; pity laced his expression. A cop wasn’t meant to feel pity for suspects and criminals, but he knew this one needed all the pity she could get because her case was heavily twisted and life-shattering.

“We’ll see about that. Now, remain quiet.”

~ 

Camellia had only been to a police station once in her life and that was when she was about eight and she had lost her way. 

She was a particularly law-abiding citizen and made sure her vehicle’s license was up to date, never crossing speeding limits, not even during emergencies. 

Never did she have to face the wrath of the law and never did she imagine she would be pulled into a large state building with cuffs on her sleeve and her whole life in her mouth.

“Sit here!” Raphael ordered as he shoved her into a chair, she groaned as she fell back on the chair, her hair covering her face. 

Camelia looked all around her, through the miserly and dirty strands of her hair, long-haired junkies and scrawny school boys sat at different parts of the space she was thrown. 

Even a little girl who looked nothing more than six stood there looking at her with beady eyes and expressionless face.

She didn’t want to be here!

“I need to call my lawyer,” Camelia begged and before she could say anything else she heard the shrill sound of a very familiar and annoying voice. Mrs Crenshaw?

“There she is! You sly doctor! I knew I should have never trusted you!” Elizabeth Crenshaw said as she came closer to Camelia, the smell of her perfume got to her first. She looked gorgeous and every piece of clothing on her looked like it was meticulously chosen.

Camelia stared at her in even more awe. One would imagine nothing else could surprise her again, but she was beyond surprised. She was dazed and confused.

Mrs Crenshaw was one of the hospital’s oldest and most regular patients. She came with her husband and had more drama every time she did, and the doctors knew that about her, but her drama had never been malicious. 

She was just a silly woman but it seemed that was wrong.

“What is going on! Why am I here?” Camelia pleaded more than asked and a flash of pain flickered over her eyes. 

“Do you know what your wrong prescription did to Rogers? You sent my husband sickness over the notch.” She reached for a tissue in her bag as she sniffled. 

Raphael and another cop stood not too far from them, watching and waiting just in case. 

“My Rogers has to be on life support, he suffers more complications, heaven only knows if he can make it,”

“Mrs Crenshaw, you know I prescribed the same meds for your husband! I have dealt with him for a while now. Why would I make such an awful mistake?” Camelia cried and Mrs Crenshaw did not think before she made her next move.

Her hands shot from her own face to Camelia’s in a heartbeat, feeling relieved and lighter when she saw her cheek go red from the impact of her palm on her face.

“You bitch! Didn’t you write me the prescription! Didn’t you tell me to get him those drugs, and to hell if I would let you go scot-free? I hate you and I hope you rot in here!” 

Camelia didn’t hear for the next minute; she only saw Elizabeth’s mouth moving; a deafening ring sounded in her brain as the aftermath of Elizabeth’s slap crept into her. Her eyes widened, and quickly, the policemen took Mrs Crenshaw away while she struggled and kicked in her hands.

The slap didn’t even hurt; compared to all that was happening, it was barely anything, but she knew something was wrong. 

Mixed up Mr Crenshaw’s prescription? Very unlikely, she was being ganged up against, she was framed! 

“You saw that? You earned yourself the slap; now, if you keep quiet and be a good criminal, you won’t cause more anger to anybody,” the chief security officer of the hospital said angrily to her as he paced the small, cramped-up space. 

She could still hear Mrs Crenshaw shout from outside. 

“I need my lawyer, either my lawyer or my husband. Mostly, my lawyer says I am innocent, and I need to prove it. I can’t be held here, it’s against the law!” Camelia cried, she didn’t know what she was saying. She was unsure of every word that left her lips but she said them anyway. 

The cop, who had not said anything, finally spoke up. “What part of this don’t you understand Mrs Noah? That nobody cares or that you are guilty? Your husband has ordered we don’t help you out and I doubt any lawyer would be showing up for you. You would be in our custody till the court day unless the Crenshaws and the hospital drop the charge,”

“Custody?”

“Until you get a lawyer or you’re bailed out, you will be held in a cell with the rest of your kind.”