On the split screen, Alima paused her phone conversation and Jasmine walked over to mute the music before heading into the lobby. Jasmine indicated to Alima that she’d get the front door, then opened the door to greet the woman.
Will wouldn’t forget the next ten minutes of footage as long as he lived.
By the time the police arrived, Alima had Katie with her outside the building. She unlocked the door so the police could enter. They rushed in, yanking Jasmine off Ginnie and pressing her face-first against the ground, securing her hands behind her like a criminal as Ginnie yelled about having been brutally attacked.
Meanwhile, Will thought hollowly, Jasmine was the one with blood all over her face.
“They had to determine who was attacking whom,” Jeffries said, evidently seeing the look on Will’s face. “Ms. Li appeared to be the aggressor.”
He had no words to give her that she would want to hear.
Ginnie persisted in ranting as the police also secured her in handcuffs. Alima stood outside giving a tear-filled explanation to the police. One of the EMTs approached Katie, who stood still and unmoving by Alima’s side.
Will could only imagine how much therapy his daughter would need after all this. Hell, they’d probably all need it.
The detectives stopped the feed once Ginnie was loaded into one of the squad cars and Jasmine was released from her restraints. They turned to him.
Jeffries spoke first. “We appreciate your assistance with this, Mr. Campbell. We’ll need a copy of this footage as evidence.”
“Of course.”
“Thanks.” Exchanging a look with her partner, she said, “We may have some follow-up questions for you, but I think we’ve got everything we need for right now.”
Baskin nodded. “Ms. Li has been transported to Piedmont Hospital. She was experiencing pain in her chest and the EMTs wanted to get her X-rays in case any of her ribs were broken. She also appeared to have a broken nose.”
Will swallowed hard. “Thanks for letting me know. There’s supposed to be a big event here in a couple days. Will you be done with whatever you need to do here so that can still happen?”
“With this footage, we can be done in here by the end of the night,” Baskin said.
Will turned at the sound of his dad’s voice out in the lobby. “Sorry. Can you take these?” He removed the earmuffs from Katie and handed them to Baskin.
“Sure.”
He met his dad in the lobby. He was staring at the blood.
“It’s Jasmine’s,” Will said in a tight voice. “She’s okay. I’m sure the detectives will explain, but I need to get to Piedmont Hospital. Katie needs me too, so I’m bringing her with me. Would you please help the detectives with the security footage they need and do whatever needs to be done to get this place ready for the Open House?”
His dad’s eyebrows fell into deep slashes over his eyes. “Katie and Jasmine are both okay?”
There was no sense saying that “okay” was a relative term. He just nodded.
“I’m on it,” Frank said. “Go to Jasmine.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
It took some convincing to get Katie to let go of him long enough to get her into her booster in the back of his truck. What finally worked was him saying they were going to see Jasmine.
Fifteen minutes later, they were personally escorted to Jasmine’s room in the ER by one of his biggest fans. The fan had enough training to be empathetic and comforting rather than asking for an autograph, something Will would remember when it came time to leave.
Alima, May, and Jasmine’s father were already gathered around her bed by the time Will got there. He was deeply relieved to see them, knowing they would provide her comfort.
“Hey,” he said as all eyes turned to him.
Katie stood beside him, gripping his hand. When she spotted Jasmine, she released him and ran to the bed, grasping the edge of the mattress and bracing her arms like she was going to lift herself.
“Wait a sec, kiddo,” he said.
“It’s fine,” Jasmine said, patting the bed beside her. “Come on up.”
Jasmine’s dad helped Katie onto the bed since he was closest to her. She curled up against Jasmine’s side. Will saw Jasmine wince and felt it like a stab to his own chest.
“How many are broken?” he asked.
“Just one,” she said. “It’s nothing.”
No, he thought. It was everything.
“We sure had an adventure today, didn’t we, Katie?” she said.
Katie didn’t respond. Her head rested on Jasmine’s shoulder and she stared into the distance with a dull