The silence inside the courtroom became unbearable.
No one moved.
No one even breathed loudly.
The scar stretched across my shoulder and down toward my collarbone — thick, uneven tissue left behind after shrapnel tore through me during an explosion overseas.
I slowly pulled my blouse back into place and faced the judge again.
“That injury,” I said calmly, “was documented by the United States Army after an attack that killed two people standing beside me.”
My mother’s face drained of color.
But Judge Marian Sterling wasn’t finished.
The Judge Asked for Official Records
“Do you have military documentation to support your testimony?” the judge asked.
“Yes, Your Honor.”
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