Chapter 17: The Law

I awoke. I couldn’t move. I felt nauseous and lightheaded. A light was shown in my eyes. When I could finally focus, a stranger’s face was looking down at me and I became aware of a siren and the motion of the vehicle we were in turning a corner. I felt like I was going to throw up. I struggled against the restraints around my chest, holding my arms down.

“Relax, relax,” said the stranger.

“Wh m I?” My lips were swollen, and it was hard to talk.

“You’re on your way to the hospital.”

“Wha appen? Where mm wife?”

“Someone made a call to 911. The police found your front door open and you passed out on the couch with a needle sticking out of your arm. You’re probably lucky they found you or you might not have woken up.”

“Wha? I ave to geh ome. M’ wife...”

“The police will try to contact her. There was no one else at your house when they got there. So, what happened to your face?”

“Poleece? I need to tok to dem.” My jaw ached. I felt one of my teeth wiggle when I pressed my tongue against it. But that hurt too.

“Don’t worry; we want to talk to you too.” Just then I became aware of another man in the ambulance. “I’m Sergeant Thomalson Mr. Henderson. You are Bradley Henderson?”

“Yez tha srigh. Listen, you ave to fine m’ wife. I ave to t, t, tell you wha appen.”

“Mr. Henderson, I have to advise you of your rights. You’re under arrest for the possession of a controlled substance.”

“Unner rest? Bu...”

“You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney.” He droned on as the implications of my predicament became clear. “Do you understand your rights Mr. Henderson?”

“Yez, bu you don unerstan.”

“Do you waive your right to have an attorney present during this conversation Mr. Henderson?”

“I, uh...”

I must have passed out because the next thing that I knew I awoke in a hospital room. I tried lifting my arm but there was a clank and I realized that I was handcuffed to the bed. My face hurt, but it didn’t feel so swollen. “Hello?” I said, testing my voice. I lifted my head. It hurt like hell, so I laid it back down on the pillow. After a few minutes, a male nurse came into the room and began taking my blood pressure. “I need to talk to the police,” I said just before he put a thermometer in my mouth.

He said nothing. Finished he wrote some notations on the chart at the foot of my bed and finally, he said something. “He’s all yours now.” A uniformed policeman stuck his head around the corner and then disappeared.

“I need to talk to him,” I pleaded to the nurse. My head hurt, but at least my mouth was no longer so swollen that I couldn’t talk.

“Sorry the police told us not to talk to you.” He left.

An hour later the door opened, and Sergeant Thomalson walked in with the uniformed cop outside the door. “Do you remember me Mr. Henderson?”

“Yes. Did you find my wife?”

“Mr. Henderson, I’m going to read you your rights again ok?” Without waiting for a response, he read me my Miranda rights. “Do you understand these rights sir?”

“Yes of course; I’m an attorney.”

“Do you wish to have an attorney present Mr. Henderson?”

“No, I haven’t done anything wrong. But my wife...”

“Please sign this counselor.” He handed me a statement that verified that I understood my rights and waived my right to an attorney. With some difficulty, because my left hand was still handcuffed to the bed, I signed the form.

“This morning we got a search warrant for your house. We found a fairly large amount of illegal drugs. You’re in a lot of trouble Mr. Henderson.”

“But what about my wife? Listen the drugs aren’t mine. My neighbor, Tony Monassario, planted them there”

“And why would he do that Mr. Henderson?”

“To uh...” I couldn’t think of a reason. My mind seemed foggy. Then I remembered. “He has my wife. You’ve got to get her away from him.” I think that I saw him smirk.

I took him a minute to respond. “Alright, I’ll have my partner stop by Mr. Monassario’s house and inquire about your wife. In the meantime, I need to take your statement.”

“Please have your partner go over right away. I think that she may be in some danger.”

He sighed. “Ok, I’ll be right back.” He left the room. Thirty seconds later the nurse from earlier came through the door with a wheeled cart. The door was only open for a few moments, but I heard the sergeant say to his partner, “Just see if his wife’s there Sal, but make sure you’re respectful to Big Tony; you understand?”

“Respectful of Big Tony?” I thought. What was going on?

The sergeant returned. The nurse looked at him and then at me. “We’d like to get a blood sample. Would that be ok Mr. Henderson?” The sergeant looked at me expectantly. Suddenly the lawyer in me took over.

“I don’t think so.”

The nurse looked confused and looked over at the sergeant. “Mr. Henderson,” said the sergeant, “you want to clear your name, don’t you? We would just like to...”

I didn’t let him finish. “Sergeant, I think that I’ve changed my mind. I’d like to talk to an attorney.”

“Suit yourself.” He held the door open for the nurse to wheel the cart back out. “I’ll see if they will discharge you. Oh, and by the way, since no one was home, we had Animal Control take your dog. Your wife can pick it up at the Pound.” He left.

Two hours later the sergeant returned with a doctor. The doctor looked at my chart and then took out a penlight and shined it in my eyes. “He’s all your’s sergeant.” He left.

The sergeant walked over to the closet where they keep patient’s clothes, opened the door and pulled out my blood-stained robe. “Here’s your robe.”