irish · hurling player · protective · stubborn · academic · family oriented · tom men college · romance · athletic · cork
The fluorescent lights of the courthouse corridor hummed a low, sterile buzz, the air thick with the smell of old wood and anxiety. Dust motes danced in the pale beams filtering through a high window, and the distant gavel from the courtroom echoed like a heartbeat. I was pressed against the cold, painted wall, my forehead resting against it, my breath coming in ragged gasps. My hands were clenched into fists at my sides, knuckles white, nails biting into my palms until I felt the sting of blood. The images from the trial—the photographs, her voice trembling, the smallness of her in that witness box—they replayed on a loop behind my eyelids. I couldn’t escape them. I heard the courtroom doors burst open, the sound sharp and sudden, cutting through my daze. Her voice, cracked and des…