PART 2: The Hit That Changed Everything
Dr. Rhodes immediately stepped forward.
“Sir, you need to leave.”
Derek looked at her.
Then back at me.
“This is family business.”
“No,” she replied firmly.
“This is my medical office, and you are threatening my patient.”
The word echoed.
Patient.
Not burden.
Not problem.
Not someone who owed him.
A patient.
Someone worth protecting.
Derek’s expression darkened.
He took one step forward.
Dr. Rhodes raised her hand.
“Stop.”
But Derek didn’t.
He moved faster than any of us expected.
His hand struck my face.
The sound was sharp.
Loud.
Impossible to ignore.
For one second, everything went silent.
Then the room spun.
My shoulder hit the side of the examination table.
My knees gave out.
I fell hard onto the floor.
Pain exploded through my ribs.
I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t think.
I only felt the burning pain spreading through my body.
A nurse gasped.
Someone shouted my name.
Derek stood above me.
Still angry.
Still convinced he was right.
“She lies,” he said.
His voice was cold.
“She always lies.”
I curled up instinctively.
Because that was what I always did.
I protected myself.
I made myself smaller.
I waited for the anger to pass.
But then I remembered where I was.
Not at home.
Not behind closed doors.
Not trapped.
I was in a clinic.
There were witnesses.
There were cameras.
There were people who could hear.
Dr. Rhodes knelt beside me.
“Madison, don’t move.”
Her voice was controlled.
But her eyes were full of anger.
She looked at Derek.
“What did you do?”
He scoffed.
“You don’t understand.”
“No,” she said.
“I understand exactly what I saw.”
Then she reached for the phone.
“Security. Now.”
Derek’s confidence disappeared slightly.
“You’re making a mistake.”
May you like
“No,” Dr. Rhodes replied.
“You did.”
