David's expression tightened.
“Don't worry about me.”
The paramedics carefully placed a support around Daniel's neck and prepared the stretcher.
As they lifted him, Daniel let out a quiet groan.
David moved forward instinctively.
“Careful!”
“We've got him,” Chris assured him.
The stretcher was secured.
Margaret stood near the driveway, her phone still recording.
Before the ambulance doors closed, she leaned closer.
“Daniel, I'll look after your garden.”
Daniel turned his head slightly.
“Thank you, Margaret.”
“Don't worry about anything here. Just get better.”
David climbed into the ambulance.
As the doors shut, he looked through the small rear window.
His father lay beneath a thin blanket, his eyes partly closed.
For the first time since stepping out of the house, David felt afraid.
Not angry.
Not determined to fight.
Afraid.
He had seen his father fall before. He had seen him stumble over a hose, trip on a garden stone, and scrape his knee while repairing a fence.
But this was different.
The paramedics were asking questions he did not know how to answer. His father's breathing was irregular, and the blood pressure monitor continued to beep.
David looked down at his hands.
They were shaking.
He had fought the officer because he believed he had to protect his father.
But now he wondered whether he had made the situation even more dangerous.
The ambulance began moving.
Outside, Mark Harris stood beside his patrol car, watching it leave.
Margaret lowered her phone.
“Officer,” she said.
He turned.
“What?”
“You should know that I have the recording.”
Mark's face remained still.
“Good for you.”
“And I saw you grab Daniel.”
“You don't know what you saw.”
“I know exactly what I saw.”
The officer stepped closer.
“Ma'am, I suggest you be careful about making accusations.”
Margaret did not move.
“I suggest you be careful about what you do to people.”
Mark stared at her for several seconds before turning away.
He opened his patrol car door and reached for his radio.
His voice was controlled when he spoke into it.
“Dispatch, this is Officer Harris. Requesting a supervisor at my location.”
He paused.
“An altercation occurred during a call. One subject has been transported by ambulance.”
He listened.
Then added:
“I have sustained an injury.”
He glanced at the blood on his hand.
“Possible assault on an officer.”
Margaret heard every word.
She looked down at her phone and checked the recording.
The video was not perfect. It began after the confrontation had already started, and the angle was partly blocked by the fence.
But it captured something important.
It showed Mark standing over Daniel.
It showed his hand gripping the older man's shirt.
It showed David rushing toward them.
And it captured the officer ordering the family to stay back after Daniel had fallen.
Margaret saved the recording.
Then she sent a copy to herself.
She knew this was no longer just a neighborhood argument.
Something serious had happened.
And she was not going to let the truth disappear.
***
At the hospital, David sat beside his father while a nurse checked his vital signs.
The emergency department was busy.
A child cried somewhere behind a curtain. A doctor hurried past with a medical chart. A television mounted above the waiting area played the afternoon news with the volume turned low.
David barely noticed any of it.
His attention remained fixed on Daniel.
A nurse gently pressed a sensor against his father's finger.
“Mr. Brooks, can you squeeze my hand?”
Daniel did so weakly.
“Good. Can you tell me where you are?”
“At the hospital.”
“That's right.”
The nurse smiled.
“Do you know why you're here?”
Daniel glanced toward David.
“Because I fell.”
David looked down.
He did not like hearing his father describe it that way.
The nurse continued her examination.
“Your son said you were involved in an altercation before the fall.”
Daniel remained silent.
“Did someone hurt you?”
David leaned forward.
“An officer grabbed him.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“David.”
“What? It's true.”
The nurse looked between them.
“I'm going to document what you've told me. Mr. Brooks, you can explain what happened when you're comfortable.”
Daniel nodded faintly.
A doctor entered a few minutes later.
He introduced himself as Dr. Patel and reviewed the initial assessment.
“Mr. Brooks, we're concerned about the impact to your head and the pain you're reporting in your side. We're going to run some tests, including imaging, to make sure there isn't an internal injury.”
Daniel nodded.
“Am I going to be all right?”
“We're going to find out more first. You're in the right place.”
David stood.
“Can I go with him?”
“Once the team is ready, we'll let you know.”
Daniel reached for his son's hand.
“Sit down.”
David obeyed.
“You look worse than I do,” Daniel said quietly.
David gave a humorless laugh.
“That's impossible.”
“Your nose.”
“It's fine.”
“Don't lie to me.”
David looked away.
The doctor examined the blood around his nose.
“You should also have that checked.”
“I'll be fine.”
“That's not a medical assessment.”
Daniel gave a weak smile.
“Listen to him, son.”
David finally nodded.
“All right.”
The nurse brought him a clean gauze pad.