I looked at the two burly men as I hissed out “Why am I cuffed to the goddamn hospital bed?”
I couldn’t control the tone of my voice, for I was reacting out of panic. I did nothing wrong, yet the way these two guys were staring down at me looked as if I had.

“Effie Harper you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney, and have him present with you while you are being questioned. If you cannot afford an attorney then one will be appointed to represent you before any questioning if you wish. You can decide at any time to exercise these rights and not answer any questions or make any statements. Do you understand the rights that we have explained to you?” The taller of the two recited my Miranda rights fully.

“Under what charges is she being arrested for?” Tony asked angrily.

“Sir, you are not under questioning therefore you have no business in speaking at the moment.” The second officer stated sternly before turning his attention back to me.

“What are my charges? I’m the victim here, so why am I under arrest?” I asked harshly.

“Ma’am you had countless false identities in your possession. With the statements of both Robert and Vanessa Harper you are an accomplice.” Officer Radley—since I got a glimpse of his badge—informed me as I gaped back at them.

“I am not their accomplices!” I shouted in frustration. And those fake ID’s were to protect me from those monsters.” I pleaded my explanation.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but we cannot simply disregard the evidence we have gathered from your statement. We have rules and regulations to follow.” Officer Brimshaw remarked in a serious tone.

“W—what does this mean?” I asked incredulously. My sides were in pain, my head was spinning, and my arms throbbed. I couldn’t be under arrest; I did nothing wrong!

“It means that you will be sanctioned for the next 48 hours until we can schedule a hearing. In that time frame I suggest you speak with a lawyer.” Officer Radley replied with austerity.

I looked at Tony with a panicked expression. My world felt like it was crumbling down, crashing down on me as I was losing control. I shouldn’t have stayed in one place too long. I shouldn’t have fallen for Tony. I should’ve just kept up my usual pretenses and kept moving from place to place. San Diego made me put down one too many anchors, and now I’ll be going to court. Are you fucking kidding me?!

The two officers left shortly after before informing me that once I’m released from the hospital they’ll escort me to jail. I sat in my hospital bed while Tony remained just as silent as me. I have single handedly ruined my life by getting attached.

“Everything will be fine.” Tony finally spoke up as I was beginning to become astray with my thoughts.

“No it won’t Tony. I’m going to jail.” I snapped. I didn’t mean to sound bitter as I said this, but it just came out harshly.

“Effie, you did nothing wrong.” Tony reminded me.

“They found fake ID’s in my purse; they have two statements piled against mines. My case—if you could even call it that—is looking pretty fucking bleak.” I nearly shouted from the amount of rage building up within me.

“All you need is a good lawyer. I’ll help you Effie, I’ll be with you every step of the way.” Tony replied trying to calm me down while rubbing my arms. He was currently facing me; his eyes pleading with the promise that everything will be alright.

“I can take care of myself!” I snapped—once again I was trying not to take my frustration out on Tony, but I couldn’t help the noxious words from spilling out.

Tony sighed, understanding that I wasn’t really upset with him.

“If you knew what was good for you then you’d forget about me and just leave.” I mumbled while looking away.

I felt Tony’s calloused fingers grip my chin, tilting my head so I was looking into his eyes. “Effie Harper” He uttered, using my real name for the first time. “You are the most toxic, addictive, mesmerizing, and compelling type of…bad I ever met.” He added earning a halfhearted chuckle in response.

“I want your destruction, I want your sarcasm, I want every piece of you—all the good and the bad because Effie I love you; everything and anything about you.” Tony finished. His words made my head spin and my heart ache. I would’ve cried then and there if I wasn’t so worried about my current legal situation.

“Why do you even put up with me?” I asked while letting out a small laugh.

“It’s because I love you, you idiot.” Tony chuckled in response then planted a sweet and chaste kiss on my lips.

“I love you too.” I murmured against his lips, smiling broadly as he bent down for another kiss.

---

I couldn’t help but tug at nervously at the collar of my shirt. I was sweating and my hands were shaking from my jumping nerves. It was currently the day of my court and I was waiting outside of the courthouse, pacing back and forth.

It had been a month since I was released from the hospital, and within the month Tony and I found a decent lawyer with a 93% conviction rate—Cathleen Lucerno. Tony was there every step of the way just like he promised, helping me. I felt bad because he’d skip a few bad practices and recording sessions to be with me. Vic and Jaime understood and never gave Tony grief about it, but Mike was still keeping his distance from me—at least he wasn’t acting like a complete ass though. Cathleen helped build a pretty solid case to a point where it looked like I’d be getting off scott free even though I was innocent.

“Will you calm down Eff, you’re making me nervous.” Tony commented as I rolled my eyes at him.

“I just wanna get this day over with.” I groaned.

“Don’t worry babe, you’ll be fine.” Tony murmured while rubbing my tense shoulders.

It was then that I saw Cathleen walking up the court steps with a solemn look on her face. Whatever she was about to tell me just looked like it wasn’t gonna be anything good.

Notes

I am not happy with the way this chapter turned out, but I literally had writer's block so I decided to just write anyway. I think I wrote and re-wrote this chapter like three times. But yeah here's my late update. I apologize for the lack of quality, and I'll understand if you hate me because I fudged up on this one.

@lostinthemusic i hope you can salvage the mess I left you with. Good luck babe! :D

Thanks for reading guys!! <3