Page 76 of Love Rewritten

I catch Mr. Grant smiling a little before he turns around. “Ms. Cooper, do you have any residual physical effects from the attack?”

“No.”

“Thank you. No further questions.” He returns to his seat like that was a drop-the-mic moment, and all I can do is sit here, pretending like I’m not breaking all over again. I won’t give Sam the satisfaction of seeing me fall apart again.

Trisha stands again and slowly wanders toward me as she addresses the judge and the gallery. “I want to bring attention to the fact that there was a total of seven calls to the Oxly Police Department all within a year of each other from Ms. Cooper. Five out of the seven involved physical harm from Mr. Johnson. Each time, she was not provided with the help she should have received.” She pauses and turns to me. “Ms. Cooper. I have one more question. Were you in fear for your life on the date in question?”

I nod vigorously, but remember I need to actually speak for the record. “Yes.”

Chapter 28

Dallas

Mymomreturnstoher seat after her final question. This whole thing has been completely surreal. When I met Abby, nothing could have prepared me for something like this. And now all I can do is sit here and wait, doing almost nothing. My mom had asked if I would testify as a witness to what I saw that day, and I had said yes almost before she finished asking the question. There was no hesitation. I would do it now, and I would do it again in a heartbeat if I needed to down the line. Anything to get him the charges he deserves.

Abby is dismissed to return to her seat, and I reach my hand out to give her shoulder a squeeze when she sits. She’s shaking. She offers a small smile, but I can tell how forced it is. She’s freaking out. Not that I blame her. I just wish I could do more or give her some reassurance, but I don’t want to give her false hope. No one knows how this will play out.

“I would like to call Dallas Kraus to the stand,” my mom says.

Here we go. I stand, make my way up, get sworn in, and my mom starts the questioning with all the same ones she prepared me for. I focus on her, not wanting to draw attention to the anger that’s slowly expanding in my chest. “Mr. Kraus, can you tell me how you came to know the victim?”

“I offered for her to move in with me after she broke up with Sam.”

“Can you confirm you were there on the day of the incident in question?”

“I was, yes.”

“And can you point to and tell me who you saw that day with Ms. Cooper?”

I point to Sam, making full eye contact with him this time. “Samuel Johnson was standing over her when I pulled up.”

“Thank you. Can you explain what you saw?”

The memory comes out easily, almost too easily, and it’s an effort not to cringe through the whole description. I catch Sam shaking his head out of the corner of my eye. It only adds to the growing anger and hatred. There’s also some pride. I feel like I’mfinallyable to do something about all of this. He knows what he’s done. He just doesn’t want to admit to it or want anyone to spread the information. I finish with Abby getting placed in the ambulance, unsure if I should continue to what I saw at the hospital.

“Mr. Kraus, have you seen Mr. Johnson physically assault Ms. Cooper before this incident?”

“Yes. One other time.”

“When was this?”

“The final day of classes for the semester at a party.”

“Can you describe what you saw?”

“We were at an end-of-the-year house party a few blocks from campus. Abby was being pulled out of the house by one of her wrists by Sam. He was angry about something and when Abby tried to get him to stop pulling her, he turned around and backhanded her. I think he would have gone back in for a second hit, but there were a lot of people, and I managed to get myself between them before he could.”

This scene feels like it was so long ago that I’m almost surprised the information comes out of me so easily, especially with how quickly the memory makes my blood boil.

“Did the hit look intentional?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. No further questions.”

Mr. Grant is already up and in front of me before my mom has finished taking her seat. “Mr. Kraus, why were you in the area on the date in question?”

“Abby lives with me,” I remind him. “I was on my way home from the gym.” The scowl from Sam is hard to ignore, but I force myself to keep my eyes on his attorney.

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