Chapter 6 - The Reckoning Begins
By Sunday evening, Ryan found himself sitting not in his comfortable living room, but on a rigid plastic chair in the waiting room of Scottsdale Memorial Hospital, looking like a ghost of the man who had strutted out of his house two days earlier.
The hospital doors swung open, and Detective Miller walked in, accompanied by a social worker. Their expressions were stone-cold, carrying the heavy weight of professional disgust.
"Mr. Ryan Jameson?" Detective Miller asked, flashing a badge.
Ryan stood up so fast his chair screeched against the linoleum. "Officer... where is my wife? Where is my son? I want to see them!"
"Your wife is recovering in room 412, and your son is under protective pediatric care," Detective Miller said firmly, crossing his arms. "You can save the dramatics. We’ve spoken to the medical staff, neighbors, and your mother."
"My mother?" Ryan stammered, sweating profusely. "What did she say?"
"She told us that you were informed your wife was struggling postpartum, and that you deliberately ignored her pleas for help to go on a birthday trip," Detective Miller replied, his voice dropping into a dangerous chill. "When hospital staff tried to reach you for emergency surgical consent, your phone was turned off. If your neighbor hadn't seen the ambulance arrive and called 911 on your behalf after seeing you drive away, Mrs. Jameson would be dead in a morgue right now."
"I... I thought she was exaggerating!" Ryan pleaded, his voice breaking into a pathetic whine. "Every woman complains after childbirth! It was my thirtieth birthday!"
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"Your birthday," Detective Miller repeated, shaking his head in sheer contempt. "Well, Mr. Jameson, consider this your present. You are being officially served with a restraining order, a domestic neglect investigation, and impending divorce filings. You are not to approach your wife or your child under any circumstances."
Ryan staggered backward, his knees hitting the plastic chair. The reality of his actions finally, brutally slammed into him. His arrogance, his selfishness, and his absolute refusal to care for the woman who gave him a child had destroyed everything he owned in less than forty-eight hours.
