Chapter 12 - What Ward Saw
Nia didn’t contact Ward to thank her for the statement.
She wanted to. But Bell had been clear about discussing testimony, and gratitude could become pressure without meaning to.
Instead, she sat with counsel while the relevant accounts were reviewed.
Ward had been assigned to restock supplies along the hangar’s side wall. She had heard Nia call for a hold, then heard the emergency request for the separate kit.
She ran to fetch it. Another medic took the equipment from her near the casualty area.
From that position, she couldn’t say exactly when Nia had spoken to Hale. She hadn’t claimed she could.
She had said what she knew.
So had Eli’s partner, who described Nia reaching him before the cart arrived. So had the responding medic, who recalled Nia giving a useful handoff rather than arguing beside the stretcher.
The accounts varied in smaller details. Someone remembered the alarm before the shout; someone else remembered it afterward.
Counsel didn’t treat those differences as proof that somebody was lying.
The clinical review found no support for the allegation that Nia had withheld appropriate help to punish Hale. Her decision to reject the unreliable cylinder was supported by the equipment findings.
She would still have to answer for the earlier evaluation she had initialed. One finding didn’t erase another.
When Lang gave her the written outcome concerning the emergency response, Nia read it slowly.
She had wanted the page so badly that she expected relief to feel louder.
Instead, she went to the restroom, locked a stall, and sat with her hands over her face until the shaking stopped.
Later, she encountered Ward by the courtyard gate.
Ward looked at the envelope Nia carried.
“They finished that part?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Nia hesitated.
“I won’t ask about your statement.”
“Okay.”
“I just wanted to say—”
Ward shifted her backpack.
“You don’t need to. I wasn’t going to lie because I was mad.”
Nia nodded.
Ward pointed at the envelope.
“Keep a copy somewhere you can find it.”
Then she went inside.
Three months after the incident, Nia received notice that she would be required to testify in an administrative proceeding concerning Hale’s continued service.
It was not a criminal trial. The board would hear evidence and make findings and recommendations; further decisions belonged to the responsible authorities.
Nia put the notice beside her course study guides.
Eli’s name appeared in the witness list too.
That evening, he sent her a message.
I’m still going to tell them. I’m just scared.
May you like
She answered without asking what he planned to say.
You can be both.
