“Give me your shirt.”I didn’t phrase it as a question and the kid wiggled out of his white, prison-issue tee and handed it to me.I shoved it over the wound in the Jermaine’s chest.“Roberts, let medical know he’s got a sucking chest wound.”
Roberts keyed his mic, relaying the information.“Sounds bad.”He made the comment to me as things calmed down in the yard.
“It is.They’re going to have to medevac him out.”
“Great,” Jermaine said, his voice getting weaker, sounding slightly drowsy now.“My first time flying and I’m probably gonna die.”
“I mean, with that attitude…” I trailed off and Jermaine barked out a small laugh before motioning me to come closer to him.
“Listen, man.I deserve to be here.But Chuck over there, he’s just a scared kid.”
“And you’re not?”Surprisingly, that comment came from Roberts.
“Yeah, I guess I am.But I’ve been tryin’ to look out for Chuck.”
“I know.”Roberts didn’t turn around.“I’ll watch him while you’re gone.But I don’t babysit.You’ll get your ass back here and take back over.”
OK.I’d tolerated Roberts before.I might have just a tiny bit of respect for him now.I didn’t know the guy well, but I knew from watching him he was a man of his word.If he said something definitively, he stood by it.Of course, more often than not, he would give a non-answer or deflect.But if he said something, he meant it.I also had the suspicion he’d phrased himself the way he did so the kid knew he wasn’t going to die.Which I hoped gave Jermaine something to fight for, too.
“How’d you two click up?”As I continued to talk with Jermaine, I noticed a medical team was coming with a gurney.Maybe the kid would get a fighting chance.
“We went to school together,” Chuck spoke up.
“Yeah.And Chuck knew I didn’t have money for breakfast or lunch and would order doubles for himself and give me half.”
“Christ,” I bit out.“You two got no business in this fuckin’ place.”
“Tell me about it.”I could practically see Roberts rolling his eyes.
The gurney stopped in front of us.All the prisoners in the yard had been moved back to their cells and it was only me, Chuck, and Jermaine in the yard other than the medical staff and Roberts.Another two guards emerged from the building hurrying to Roberts.
“Go with this one to the infirmary.”Roberts indicated Jermaine.“I’ll take these two back to their cells.”
“I got a gash on my side,” I said, turning so Roberts could see the wound.I really wanted to go to make sure Jermaine got the treatment he deserved.I only had about three months left before I finished my sentence, but Knuckles had managed to get me a job in the infirmary for the duration.Which had the added benefit of getting to know Nadine better.
Roberts snorted.“Uh-huh.Go on, then.”He grinned with genuine amusement.“Tell Nadine I said hi.”
“Fucker.”My retort had no heat in it, but it had to be said.
“Yep.I’ll look out for Chuck.”He grabbed the kid by the upper arm.“Gonna have to lock you in your cell, though.You good with that?”
“He’s good with it.”Jermaine bit out.“He’s perfectly good with it.”
The kid’s face was ashen now.He was still fighting, but I could see fear creeping into his eyes as he realized he was in pretty bad shape.
They carefully rolled Jermaine onto a backboard before lifting the backboard onto the stretcher and heading for the infirmary.I followed close behind.Jermaine turned his head so he could see me, clinging to my gaze like I was his lifeline.Fuck.I didn’t need anyone looking at me like that.Not here.Because I knew there was no way in hell I could save him beyond the immediate situation.
Roberts must have cleared a path to medical because we rolled with the stretcher straight inside the infirmary without stopping.I had my attention on Jermaine, not paying much attention to anything around me, which hadn’t happened since before I went inside.It was disconcerting in some ways because not paying attention in here could get me killed.But also, I was amazed at how easy it was to slip back into my old life.Even if it was only a few minutes.
We burst through the double doors, the chill of the infirmary wrapping around us like a cold embrace.
“Can someone get two lines started please?”I called out as the staff entered.It was the afternoon shift, just before shift change.Which was lucky for Jermaine because the infirmary was fully staffed.
“I’m sure I don’t need to remind you I’m in charge, Dr.Raven?”Dr.Martinez always addressed me as Dr.Raven, even though I’d pointed out I wasn’t a professional any longer.She responded with, “You earned the right to be called doctor when you graduated medical school.Revoked or not, you still graduated.”Having said that, she was still territorial.
“Not at all, Dr.Martinez,” I answered.“I was anticipating your needs.”I nearly grinned at her.I would have, too, if the situation weren’t as bad as it was.
“I see.Well, give it to me, then.”
