Kindlin stepped into the courtroom, feeling a little more relaxed after two hours of sleep the previous night. Hey, at least it was something.
The car ride home had been silent, but by the time they were home and crawling into bed, Nick needed to make sure Kin would be okay. They'd ended up talking until 3 in the morning. They had to wake up at five in order to get out of the house at six and be to the court by seven.
Kindlin sat down in her chair, twiddling her fingers nervously, and hardly even noticed when Nick sat down next to her. It was a few moments later when the grand jury filed in, sitting down in their assigned seats. Then it all began.
~ * 3 Hours Later * ~
The last testifier stepped down, signaling that it was time for the jury to go and make their decision. Kindlin and Nick had both testified the day before - they'd been the first.
The jury filed out of the court room, and the rest of the people stood up and left for the two hour recess, while the jury made their decision. Kindlin was too incredibly nervous to go out for lunch, like most people did, so her and Nick just sat in the car. The radio was on quietly, but neither of them were paying attention to it.
When the court was called back, Kindlin stepped into the room, her hands shaking.
Nick grabbed her hands in his and made her look at him, "Kin, it's gonna be okay..."
She looked up at him and met his eye, "Alright," her voice wavered... but she knew if he was there, it would be okay.
Nick gave her a small kiss and they took their seats yet again, just as the jury came back into the court room.
"We've reached our decision," one of them stood. "The case of 'Kross versus the parents' will not go to trial. Wendi Kross will receive 1 month in jail and 1 month in treatment-"
Kindlin jumped up to protest, without another thought, and just as her mouth opened a loud shriek came from the door of the court room.
"NOO!"
Kindlin turned and saw Jen standing there, her face a ghostly pale. She made eye contact with her and somehow they both conveyed to the other the same thing, without any words at all.
"Permission to approach the bench, your honor?" Kin asked meekly.
The judge nodded after a short hesitation.
They both headed to the judge, standing confidently, yet at the same time looking afraid. What if he wouldn't listen to them?
"Order!!" the judge yelled out, hitting the gavel against his bench.
Everyone grew silent.
Judge Moe turned to the two young women standing in front of him.
"Your honor, please," Jen whispered, adamantly. "If you'll please just have the jury take back their decision until tomorrow... your honor, we have a-a witness."
Judge Moe scrunched up his bushy eyebrows, "A witness?? Who??"
"My husband."
He sighed. He was a middle-aged black man who believed in fairness. And though he had all the rights in the world to deny these two women of their plea, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. After all, he had children himself... and he was skeptical of Wendi Kross' innocence.
"You have permission. Court will readjourn at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning," he called out, and with that he stepped from his bench.
