Legal Prejudice

Chapter 23

Daniel sat in his car and pulled out his phone. He sighed seeing the multiple missed calls and texts. He ignored those and couldn't face ringing anyone, so he messaged Robyn and Max separately to let them know he'd seen Allie, she was going to be okay and would be released from the hospital the following day. He just wanted to get home and pour himself a stiff drink.

Back at the hospital Susan had gone for coffee while she waited for Michael to drop her home. He sat next to Allie's bed and stroked her hair as she drifted off, and as soon as he was sure her breathing was soft and even he quietly left the room. He found Susan in the waiting room and she passed him the coffee she'd bought for him and they headed out. When they got back they headed in and waited for John. Michael knew he'd need to give a statement, and he wanted to know what had happened with Stuckey.

John came in looking determined. Kissing his wife he said, "He's been charged and requested bail. There's a hearing tomorrow at eleven." Michael nodded grimly, "Tell me he won't get bail." John sighed, "The judge should refuse, but I'm going to be there to make sure."

"I'm coming with you." John nodded, "You'll need to come and make a statement. Why don't we go do the statement early and then we can both head on over to the court. They've seized his laptop from the office. He had the receptionist letting him know whenever Allie had meetings out of the office, so he'd been planning this for a while. She claims she just thought he was a senior guy keeping tabs on a junior lawyer and it was no big deal." Michael clenched his teeth, "It's Candice. She really doesn't like Allie and that's probably my fault." Susan rubbed his arm, "Allie said Candice disliked her on sight, long before she actually even met you." John continued, "There was chloroform in the car." Susan shivered.

Michael stood, "Susan would you be able to go and get Allie from the hospital and take her back to her apartment in the morning while I go with John?" She stood up to hug him, "Of course I will, I've got a key for her apartment so I'll call there on the way to get her some clothes. I'll call and get her, and you guys can come over to her apartment when it's finished."

The next morning Susan arrived at the hospital with a bag from Allie's apartment and found her waiting to have the IV removed so she could leave. She was relieved to see her face was a much more normal colour than the night before, and once she was dressed they signed the paperwork and left. Back at the apartment Allie took a shower and came out to sit on the couch with Susan who'd made them a couple of drinks. Susan tried to reassure her, but Allie couldn't help but feel nervous about what had gone on in court. Eventually the doorbell rang and Susan got up to let John and Michael in. John said, "No bail" as Michael crossed the room to hold Allie. The tension released she sobbed into his shoulder and he sat down resting her in his lap, stroking her hair to soothe her. After a couple of minutes she scrubbed her face dry and muttered, "Sorry, I was just so scared they'd let him out." John crossed the room and she jumped up to hug him saying quietly, "Thank you".

Once they'd left Michael turned to Allie playing with a strand of her hair, "I'm going to take care of you. Would it be okay if we went up to my place? We can take some of your stuff and always come back if you like later. I thought it might be more relaxing up there for you, but it's fine if you'd rather stay here." Allie thought about it for a minute then said, "Change of scene might be good. I'll just grab some stuff." Michael suddenly remembered, "Oh, by the way Max and Daniel were in court too. They found your phone and laptop in the garage. They've kept the laptop in work but gave me your phone." He handed it over from his pocket and she could see it was out of charge, "Don't worry, it's the same as mine. I've got a charger upstairs." She nodded and gave him a brief smile, "Thanks. How were they, Max and Daniel?" Michael took her hand and tilted her chin so he could look directly at her, "They're desperately sad about what happened to you Allie, but we're all going to get past this I promise okay?" She smiled, nodded and stood on her toes to kiss him, "Thank you."

They spent the rest of the day quietly up in Michael's apartment. He made them omelettes for lunch and he sat with Allie's head in his lap on his large balcony furniture overlooking the beach but away from any stares. In the evening Michael ordered take out, but he noticed Allie looked exhausted after her disturbed night in the hospital. "Do you want to go to bed baby?" he asked. Allie looked up from where she was lying on his shoulder, "I'm really struggling to stay awake Michael. Can I ask a favour?" He drew back "Of course you can, anything."

"Can I sleep with you tonight? I just don't want to be alone." He sat up, "Yeah, of course you can." She went to use the bathroom while he used the one in his room. Then he came back to her on the couch holding out his hand. He led her to the bed and he climbed in behind her, resting her back on his chest and softly kissing her neck. Within minutes she was asleep.