Once on the ground floor, Sophie went outside and wrapped her
flimsy sweatshirt around her. She’d walked a couple of blocks
when her attention shifted away from her troubles for a second
time. A protest march was going on outside the family planning
building, creating an energetic charge in the air. She stopped to
watch.
The demonstrators carried signs, and they shouted out their
messages: “Pro-choice,” “Pro-child, Pro-choice,” “Mind your own
uterus!” Sophie smiled. Now this she could engage with. She
grabbed a sign that was stuck in a snowbank and started march
ing. She took a quick selfie and sent it off to Adam.
There were men marching too. She joined the parade of peo
ple marching back and forth on the sidewalk. She felt a bond
with the protestors, a sense of comradery fighting for women’s
rights. The energy of this greater purpose was contagious. She
forgot about Danny, the NICU, and Dr. Wagner for just a few
minutes as she joined in. On the other side of the crowd, she
saw Dr. Sheldon and Christy. Even Carol was out here march
ing. Sophie waved. She cheered when she saw employees holding
signs with the WMI logo and shouting to protect women’s rights.
She was swept up in the spirit of the demonstration—loud and
passionate.
Sophie was still reveling in her emotional high when the
police showed up. They told the marchers to move on, that they
were blocking the sidewalk. She started to leave when some of
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THE VERY BEST OF CARE
the demonstrators shouted back at the police. Loud voices yell
ing their protests led to violent pushing and shoving. She tried to
duck out of the crowd, but the crowd closed around her. When
she fell to the ground, she shielded her head as people stepped
over her.
She stood up, only to be knocked harder in different direc
tions, everywhere but where she wanted to go—which was away
from the crowd. More police came and started arresting the
demonstrators. Sophie tried to get away. She pushed with all her
might to get out of the crowd that had become too dense to pen
etrate. She was stuck in the middle of a group of the rowdiest
demonstrators. The cops pushed some of the demonstrators into
a police van, and Sophie was swept in with them.
At the police station, the booking officer told Sophie she
would likely be released once everyone had been processed. The
clock read two o’clock. There was only an hour until Mitch’s
hearing, and Madeline was counting on her. Her recording and
testimony were required to nail Mitch. Without those, Madeline
would have no choice but to let him go. She reached for her
phone to call Adam.
“Damn it!” They’d taken it from her. Her mind raced.
Another thought gripped her. What if DSS found out about this?
Would it go on her record? Had she just risked Danny going to
foster care? What had she done?
She took a couple of deep breaths and tried to calm down.
She told herself that everything was going to be okay. With as
much calm as she could muster, she spoke to the officer behind
the desk. He told her she was free to go once she’d signed some
forms. She waited for the officer to collect the paperwork, which
seemed to take forever. She watched the clock as she scribbled
her name at the bottom of the three pages that required her signa
ture. Next, she found the officer who had her phone, and ran out
of the station. She ran as fast as she could, jumping snowbanks,
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JULIE HATCH
skirting the puddles of slush, and dodging pedestrians. She had
to slow up to cross the streets but otherwise ran like she used to
run when escaping her drunken father. She burst through the
hospital doors and looked for the clock. It was 3:05. Shit. With no
time to change her clothes, she ran to the auditorium. She texted
Adam: On my way
