David requested medical assistance and instructed the witnesses to remain available while the initial information was recorded.
He did not immediately accuse Marcus of misconduct, but he did not accept his account without examination either.
Natalie watched carefully.
She appreciated that someone had finally begun asking questions rather than issuing commands.
Still, she wanted to ensure that the evidence would be preserved before the corridor returned to its usual routine.
NATALIE BROOKS: "Please make sure the security recordings are saved."
David turned toward her.
DAVID LAWSON: "We'll preserve the footage, ma'am."
NATALIE BROOKS: "From every camera covering this hallway, including the minutes before he approached me."
David nodded.
DAVID LAWSON: "I'll include that in the request."
Marcus looked at her sharply.
OFFICER MARCUS REED: "Why are you so concerned about the cameras?"
Natalie held his gaze.
NATALIE BROOKS: "Because I want the truth documented."
He appeared ready to respond, but David stepped between them.
DAVID LAWSON: "Officer, give her some space."
Marcus reluctantly moved away.
The security officer then asked Natalie whether she needed help standing.
She accepted his assistance, rising slowly while keeping one hand against the bench.
Her legs felt unsteady, and she paused until the dizziness passed.
David helped her sit on the nearest bench.
A few papers remained scattered across the floor.
Her dark leather folder lay open beside the wall, its contents partly exposed.
Among the documents were notes for a hearing, a printed schedule, and a sealed envelope she had intended to deliver to her chambers.
David noticed that some pages had been stepped on during the confrontation.
DAVID LAWSON: "Would you like someone to collect your belongings?"
NATALIE BROOKS: "After the scene has been documented."
DAVID LAWSON: "All right."
Her answer surprised him.
Most people in her position would have been focused entirely on the injury.
Natalie was concerned about the evidence.
She knew how quickly an incident could become a dispute over conflicting recollections.
She had seen documents misplaced, recordings overwritten, and important details omitted from official accounts.
The fact that this had happened to her did not make those risks any less real.
A few minutes later, two more courthouse employees arrived.
One was a medical responder carrying a small emergency kit.
The other was a supervisor who began asking David for an account of what had happened.
Marcus stood near the courtroom door, his arms crossed.
He had stopped speaking to the witnesses, but his eyes continued moving between them and Natalie.
He seemed to be searching for some sign that the situation might still be resolved in his favor.
Then the footsteps at the far end of the corridor grew louder.
An older man in a dark navy suit hurried toward the gathering crowd.
He was sixty-one years old, with deep brown skin, short gray hair, and a serious expression.
His name was Samuel Carter.
For more than twenty years, Samuel had served as a bailiff at Harrington County Courthouse. He knew the building's procedures, its staff members, and the judges who worked behind its courtroom doors.
He was not easily startled.
But when he saw Natalie sitting beside the bench with blood at her lip, he stopped abruptly.
His gaze moved to the officer.
Then to the scattered papers.
Then back to the injured woman.
For a moment, he seemed unable to believe what he was seeing.
SAMUEL CARTER: "What happened here?"
David turned toward him.
DAVID LAWSON: "We're documenting a physical confrontation. The woman has been injured, and several people witnessed it."
Samuel barely seemed to hear the rest.
He was staring at Natalie.
He recognized her face immediately.
He recognized the emerald-green blazer, the gold earrings, and the dark leather folder lying beside the wall.
Most importantly, he recognized the woman herself.
Natalie Brooks was not an unfamiliar visitor who had wandered into a restricted corridor.
She was the judge scheduled to preside over proceedings that morning.
Samuel had seen her only a short time earlier, when she had passed through the courthouse entrance and exchanged a brief greeting with a clerk.
Now she was sitting injured on a wooden bench while an officer stood nearby, apparently unaware of the identity of the person he had attacked.
Samuel hurried toward her.
SAMUEL CARTER: "Ma'am, are you hurt?"
Natalie looked up at him.
For the first time since the confrontation began, she recognized someone whose presence did not immediately demand an explanation.
NATALIE BROOKS: "I'm injured, Samuel. I need the incident documented properly."
Samuel's expression tightened.
He glanced at the blood on her tissue.
Then he turned toward Marcus.
SAMUEL CARTER: "Officer, step away from her."
Marcus looked irritated by the interruption.
OFFICER MARCUS REED: "I'm handling the situation."
SAMUEL CARTER: "Not anymore. Give her some room."