Free Her Imperfect Life by Maya Sheppard Page A

arrested Tom. They said he hurt her.”
    Shayne took over. “Okay, Renee, you know you need to be strong for your kids. What did Tom do? He’s already been arrested, so the police have a good idea of what happened. Come on, honey. You can tell us.”
    Renee let out a large sob. Marah dug into her purse and pulled out a package of facial tissues, giving it to Renee. “Renee, if Tom threatened you again . . . I need to know so I can protect you. The children need to be protected, too.”
    “He . . . grabbed her. He threw her . . . on the . . . ground. (Several sobs.) He picked her . . . up, and . . . held her in his arms . . . like a . . . little baby. He was . . . (sob) yelling at her. She was crying, choking. Screaming. He, oh, my God! He slammed her . . . little body . . . against his . . . knees! She . . . stopped (several sobs.) crying.”
    Marah’s body chilled at the graphic description of how Melissa had been hurt. Her mind automatically catalogued the possible injuries the child had suffered. Internal injuries. Possible head injuries. Broken back. Spinal injuries. My God, Melissa could die! “Renee, how did you try to protect her? Did you try to make him stop?”
    “I tried, Marah! I tried. I yelled at him to stop. I put my hand on his shoulder and he tried to punch me.”
    Marah’s smooth forehead crinkled in confusion. How could he punch her if he had both arms around Melissa? Something’s not adding up. She shook her head and looked at Shayne, communicating her confusion.
    Shayne, seeing the confusion and worry in Marah’s light hazel eyes, nodded. He had picked up on the discrepancy as well. “Renee, just calm down, honey. Tom can’t get to you. Deep breath in and deep breath out, just like I taught you. Relax. Melissa and Scott both need you, so you’ll need to be strong just for a while. Okay?”
    Renee closed her eyes, tears seeping out, and breathed in and out just as Shayne instructed her to. Nodding slightly, she acknowledged that she understood what he was saying. “I looked at Tom. It was like he didn’t even see us. All he saw was his . . . his rage. He kept raging on her, and I tried to tell him that she’s only three and she’s still learning to obey. I tried, Marah! I really did!”
    Marah saw the doctor come out, looking grave. “Mrs. Jones? I’m Doctor Avalos. I need to give you an update on your daughter . . . we’ve had to put her on life support . . . we don’t expect her to survive her injuries. If, by some miracle she does survive, she’ll be paralyzed, probably from the chest down.”
    After hearing the update, Marah separated herself from Shayne and Renee to call Luke.
    “Luke, it’s not looking good. She’s on life support. If she does survive, she’ll be paralyzed from the chest down,” Marah said, feeling leaden.
    “Damn. I got word from the detective leading the investigation. I don’t know what mom told you, but eyewitness reports are saying that she didn’t try to intervene to protect Melissa. Neighbors heard all the shouting and crying. They were standing outside when Tom . . . when he hurt her. They didn’t see Renee trying to stop him, Marah. She’s going to face criminal charges, regardless.”
    “Damnation. Thank you. I’d better get back – the police want to interview Renee. At least one of us should be with her,” Marah said.
    “Go. Keep me informed, please.”
    “Got it.” Marah returned to the small group, hearing Shayne speaking.
    “I’m her counselor. I know she needs to talk to you. You’ll be able to interview her  more easily if I can be there to help her stay calm . . . right now, she’s nearly hysterical.”
    “That’s fine. Is there a room we can move to?” asked one officer. After the doctor pointed out an empty cubicle, the group moved there and the police began questioning Renee. When they were done, one officer pulled her handcuffs from the back of her belt. The other officer told Renee that she was under arrest, then