Page 6 of Pain (Kiss of Death MC #6)

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.”

“Jermaine got in the way trying to get out of the way,” I started.

“Stab wound from a shank. Now he has a sucking chest wound and probably a hemothorax.” I removed the shirts I had balled up to control the bleeding and immediately Jermaine started breathing easier, confirming the suspected lung injury.

I snagged a pair of trauma shears that shouldn’t be near my reach and started cutting off Jermaine’s shirt. I needed to get to the wound.

Nadine moved to Jermaine’s side, using sterile water to wash the site carefully so we could see the wound underneath the blood. Once cleaned, I examined the wound as best I could.

Dr. Martinez handed me a pair of gloves. “I called for an air ambulance, but this guy’s going to need immediate intervention.”

“You got a chest tube kit?” I glanced at Dr. Martinez while Nadine placed an occlusive dressing over the wound to keep air from rushing into Jermaine’s chest cavity with every breath he took.

Too much air trapped between the lungs and the chest cavity would compress the lungs and be even more deadly than the current situation.

“I do. You realize you can’t legally do this. Right?”

“I’m more than happy to assist you, Dr. Martinez.”

“And you know very well you’re way the fuck more qualified to do this procedure than I am,” she snapped. “Just do it. But if you fuck this up, I will totally throw you under the Goddamned bus.”

I snorted. “No, you won’t.”

“Don’t test me, Pain.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I stepped back out of the way as Nadine and Dr. Martinez prepped the area while I washed my hands and put on a clean shirt.

This was what we did. It felt so much like an ER I could almost make myself believe the last few years had been a bad dream.

Except the ER came with its own set of problems I tried to avoid at all costs.

The inappropriate humor in that department had kind of offended me at one time.

The energy in Emergency Room was vastly different from Surgical Departments.

If I ever saw any of my old colleagues again, I’d have to apologize. Or something.

Thirty minutes later, I had the chest tube inserted and Jermaine was visibly looking better. From what I heard, the helicopter was here but still trying to make it through security. Such was life in prison with a medical emergency.

“I can’t offer you much, man,” Jermaine said, grabbing my hand in his, “but I’ll have your back as long as we’re in the same facility.”

“Just look after Chuck when you get back.”

“Yeah. Poor kid don’t stand a chance.”

I stepped back as the flight team came in and swiftly took over. Dr. Martinez filled them in and took over and I moved back to my little area to change my clothes -- again -- and wash my hands.

“Dr. Raven?”

I turned at the sound of Nadine’s soft voice. She sounded hesitant, but the fact that she’d approached me at all told me it was important. “Thanks for your help earlier, Nadine.” I smiled at her over my shoulder as I put on an orange top over my white T-shirt. “What can I help you with?”

She blushed and ducked her head. This side of Nadine always made me smile.

She was so like the girl I’d observed five years ago.

Out there, when she had to interact with anyone on a professional level, she was all business and confidence.

I could already tell she was a good nurse, but today had proven to me exactly how competent and capable she was.

“I just wanted to say thank you. Dr. Martinez could have done that procedure, but she didn’t want to.

She says it’s not fair to think we can do procedures on prisoners if we’re not a hundred percent confident in our own abilities.

” She lowered her gaze. “I like that she thinks that way. Not all the staff here do.”

Instantly, I was on alert. I knew Grayson was guilty as sin of multiple things -- I was taking care of him -- but if he’d threatened or hurt Nadine, I’d kill the motherfucker in front of God and everyone as a warning not to fuck with my woman…

Fuck.

Fuck !

I was so Goddamned fucked as to not even be fucking believed.

Guess Knuckles was right after all. And I’d have to make sure that fucker, Roberts, knew to warn everyone off.

“What do you mean, Nadine? Has someone threatened or hurt you?”

She immediately shook her head. “No. Not me.”

“I know about Grayson,” I said without further discussion. “What I want to know is, has he threatened you? I know he intimidates you. Saw it the first day I was here.”

“Yeah. He does. But no. He’s never threatened me. I feel threatened sometimes, but he’s never said or done anything overt. I think it’s a warning to keep my mouth shut about his extra activities here.”

I turned slowly, careful not to get in her personal space, even though I really wanted to.

Not to intimidate her or even to drive home a point.

I wanted in her personal space because I had a right to be.

I wanted her to welcome me, to expect that I’d pull her close when I was near.

And, Christ! Now that those thoughts were in my head, I knew I’d never be free of them.

“Listen to me, Nadine.” I waited until she met my gaze with hers. “Don’t test Grayson. If you see something, go to Roberts or me, but don’t confront him in any way. Don’t go digging. Leave all that to me.”

“I know there are different cliques and groups inside. I know that you sometimes police each other depending on the infraction. But you just got here. Are you sure this is something you can handle on your own?”

I grinned at her. “Are you worried about me, Miss Brentner?” I had to resist the urge to move closer to her.

This wasn’t the place or the time. And even though I’d worked in her area the last few months, if I got too close to her physically the guards wouldn’t hesitate to take me out.

Not because they’d be protecting Nadine, though that’s the report they’d give.

No. They’d kill me because they had an excuse and a very reasonable expectation they’d get away with it.

“Of course! I don’t want you hurt. In case you hadn’t noticed, not all of the guards are as helpful and humane as Roberts.”

“Don’t kid yourself, honey. Roberts is as vicious as everyone else. He simply has a decent moral compass and will do what he’s paid to do, and part of that, at the moment, is looking out for my interests.”

“What?” Nadine’s eyes were wide and she looked more than a little confused, but she’d heard what I said and understood it. She just didn’t want to believe what she was hearing.

“It’s not important. You just need to know he’s as dangerous as any of the guards here, but if you find yourself in a situation and Roberts is near, you stick to him like glue. Understand?”

“No. But I’ll remember what you said. I’ve never seen Roberts be intentionally cruel. More than once, he had just cause to shoot an inmate and managed to talk his way out of it.”

“You have no business working here, Nadine. Go work in a hospital OR. Or a nursing home. Or anywhere there is at least a chance of a good buffer between you and everyone else. You’re too trusting.

Roberts has a reason for everything he does.

He’s not overly aggressive, but you’re deluding yourself if you don’t think Roberts could kill for even half a reason if he thought it would benefit him. ”

She gasped, taking a small step back. “That’s a hell of a thing to say about someone.”

“And when you knew me, I’d never have said it. But you need to hear it because this place will chew you up and spit you out if you’re not careful.”

“I’ve worked here for a couple of years now. I know I’m not going to make a career out of this, but the money is good for now. When I get to where I hate coming to work, I’ll find something else.”

“The problem with that plan is you won’t see it coming until it’s too late.

” I kept my voice low, gentle even, but I needed her to understand.

“You won’t wake up one morning and decide you hate this place.

One day, something’s gonna happen that changes you forever, and by then the damage will be done. ”

“You just told me this place changes people. You’ve been in the system a while now. How do I know you’re not trying to scare me away for your own reasons?”

“That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it.” I kept my voice low, but I could feel the intensity bleeding through. “I’m talking about your physical safety. Not your job satisfaction.”

She crossed her arms, and I could see that stubborn streak I remembered from years ago. “I can take care of myself, Pain.” I thought she was using my road name to remind herself I was a different person and not the man she’d known before.

“Can you?” I stepped closer, just barely within the acceptable distance. “Because from where I’m standing, you’re walking around here like you’re still in some suburban hospital where the worst thing that happens is someone gets snippy about their Jell-O.”

Her gray eyes flashed. “Don’t patronize me, Dr. Raven. I know exactly where I am.”

“Do you? Because Grayson isn’t just some asshole guard with an attitude problem. He’s dangerous, Nadine. Really fuckin’ dangerous. The kind of dangerous that ends lives. And you…” I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated as hell. “You still look at people like you expect them to be good.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing. Everything. Fuck, I don’t know.

” I glanced around the infirmary, making sure we weren’t drawing attention.

“Look, just promise me you’ll stay as far away from Grayson as you can.

Roberts and Johnson are supposed to be making sure he’s never in your area unless one of them is with him, but accidents happen.

So keep your head on a swivel, girl.” I bit out the words, harsh and demanding.

I hated the fear on her face. It wasn’t like I was going to let anything happen to her.

The second I suspected Nadine might possibly be in danger, Knuckles added to the guards he had on me to do whatever I needed. Which I promptly put on Nadine.

“I’ll be careful. Some of the guards have started walking the women to their cars.”

“As long as you always go with either Roberts or Johnson. Understand?”

She cocked her head, her brows drawing in confusion. “Why are you telling me all this? Why do you care?”

How to fucking answer that? “I don’t know, Nadine. Maybe it’s because you’re a link to my former life, or maybe it’s just your innate goodness that draws me in. Whatever makes me care is too strong to ignore.”

I really wasn’t sure she was going to say anything else, but finally, she nodded her head. “OK. I’ll do what you asked me. Roberts or Johnson, and I will not look into Grayson. I’ll bring any concerns with him to you.”

I couldn’t help but beam at her. “That’s my good girl.”

“Don’t push it, Pain.” She pointed a finger at me, but I saw her lips twitch as she fought a smile.

“It’s what I do best, sweetheart.”