Chapter 14 - Celia Speaks for Herself
The deposition lasted six hours.
Adrian’s attorney asked the questions in a soft voice, as though kindness could disguise cruelty.
“Mrs. Vale, you acknowledge that your husband is a respected physician?”
“Yes.”
“You acknowledge that he has treated thousands of patients?”
“Yes.”
“You acknowledge that you have no medical training?”
“Yes.”
“Then how can you claim to know that the pressure device was dangerous?”
Celia looked at Daria Bell, who sat beside her. Daria gave the smallest nod.
“Because I told him it hurt, and he used it anyway.”
The attorney glanced at his notes.
“Pain is not always evidence of injury.”
“It is evidence that someone should stop.”
Behind the glass, Helena kept her hands flat on the table. She had promised not to interrupt, not to rescue, not to turn Celia’s testimony into another performance managed by someone else.
“Did your husband ever strike your abdomen?”
“Not directly.”
“So he did not threaten the baby?”
“He threatened what would happen during delivery.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“It is what happened.”
The attorney leaned back.
“Mrs. Vale, is it possible your injuries resulted from ordinary contact with medical equipment?”
“The first ones did.”
Everyone in the room went still.
“Explain.”
“The first bruise happened at the clinic when Adrian used the pressure pad. He told me it was part of a study. I didn’t know it was unapproved.”
“And later?”
“Later he used the same pad at home.”
“You are certain?”
“I saw the tread.”
“You were frightened.”
“I was frightened and awake.”
He asked whether she had ever seen Adrian assault another patient.
Celia told the truth about Ruthie Bell.
“Did you report your concerns?”
“I told Margot.”
“When?”
“The week before I found the bruises.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she would look into it.”
The attorney smiled without warmth.
“So Margot did not confirm your story.”
“She confirmed it later.”
“After the board suspended her brother.”
“After she admitted her part.”
“You understand that Margot has a reason to blame Adrian?”
“Everyone has reasons. That does not make the facts disappear.”
The attorney’s voice sharpened.
“You recorded private conversations without your husband’s knowledge.”
“Yes.”
“That was deceptive.”
“So was telling me a device was harmless when it left a bruise.”
“You are not answering the question.”
“I am answering all of them.”
At the break, Celia went into the restroom and vomited. Helena waited outside until she emerged.
“I can stop this,” Helena said.
“No.”
“You don’t have to prove anything today.”
“I am not proving myself to him.”
“Then who?”
“To me.”
The second half of the deposition focused on delivery decisions. Adrian’s attorney presented a document in which Celia had supposedly agreed to let Adrian direct her care during labor.
The signature looked like hers.
“Do you recognize this?”
“No.”
“That is your signature.”
“It looks like mine.”
“You signed it.”
“I signed a general consent form at the clinic. The page they showed me did not contain this paragraph.”
Noah, watching remotely, sent Lila a message.
The document’s metadata showed it had been created three weeks after Celia signed the original form.
The attorney did not know yet.
When the deposition ended, Celia stood straighter than she had entered.
“How did I do?” she asked.
Helena answered carefully. “You told the truth.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“You were clear. You were strong. You were also exhausted.”
“I’m all three.”
Outside, reporters shouted questions. Celia stopped at the courthouse steps.
“I will speak,” she said.
“Are you sure?” Daria asked.
“Yes.”
She faced the cameras.
“I am not a confused wife,” Celia said. “I am a patient who said stop and was ignored. I am a woman whose records were changed. I am speaking because silence protected the wrong person.”
By evening, the video had been viewed millions of times.
Adrian responded with a statement of his own.
May you like
He accused Celia of rehearsing every word with her mother.
Then Margot released the first page of the red ledger.
