There was no shouting match, no grand confrontation, no scene worthy of the movies.

There was competence, and procedure, and the slow, sober machinery of the law doing what it is built to do.

The paramedics attended to Teresa with gentle efficiency, assessing her injuries and her alarmingly high blood pressure and making the decision, which they were qualified to make and I was not, to take her to the hospital for a proper evaluation.

One of the officers began quietly taking her statement, letting her go at her own pace.