Nurse Fielding remained silent for several seconds while thinking carefully about the situation. “If we report this without evidence your father might dismiss the accusation,” she explained quietly.
Suddenly I remembered the security camera installed at the Briggs house across the street. “Their camera faces our front porch and it records everything,” I said while trying to stay focused.
The system automatically erased footage after forty eight hours.
Nurse Fielding handed me two ibuprofen tablets and a glass of water while making a quick decision. “You have two hours before your father arrives home from work,” she said firmly.
“Go get that recording and bring it back here.”
I walked nearly two miles through cold wind until I reached my street again. The Walsh house stood quiet and empty across the road while the small blinking security camera remained fixed above the Briggs front door.
I climbed their porch steps and knocked on the door with shaking hands. Diane Briggs opened the door and her eyes widened in shock when she saw my condition.
“Grace what happened to you?” she asked quickly.
I pointed weakly toward the camera above the porch. “Yesterday around three o’clock,” I said before my legs suddenly collapsed beneath me.
The world went completely black.
Chapter 4
When I opened my eyes again I heard the steady beeping sound of a heart monitor beside the bed. Warm blankets covered my body and soft hospital lights glowed above me.
Diane Briggs sat in a chair beside the bed while holding a tablet in her hands. “You collapsed on my porch and your temperature was one hundred four degrees,” she explained gently.
“The doctors say you developed pneumonia from the cold and rain.”
Fear rushed through my chest as soon as I understood where I was. “My dad and Tiffany,” I said weakly.
“They cannot hurt you anymore,” Diane replied firmly while turning the tablet toward me. “I saw the video recording from our security camera and I contacted the police immediately.”
A few minutes later a detective named Paul Hargrove entered the hospital room while holding a small folder. “Your father and stepmother are currently waiting outside the room,” he said calmly.
“They believe this situation is simply a medical emergency and they do not know about the video yet.”