All Chained Up Read Online Free PDF

own perverse curiosity.” She stared at him, waiting with a lift of her eyebrows.
    â€œBaton,” he supplied the single word.
    A guard’s baton.
    Frowning, she looked down at his purpling flesh and touched him there, gently running her fingers over the sensitive area, testing it for signs of an obvious break. She didn’t feel a protruding bone, but she knew the only way to know for certain would be to take an X ray. “You should comply with the corrections officers. This kind of abuse could result in some serious damage.”
    Something flickered in his eyes. She couldn’t determine what it was. It passed so quickly, but a frisson of trepidation dripped through her. “Who said I didn’t comply?” he asked.
    She hesitated, her breath catching, and she didn’t know why it should. The idea that seemingly good guys could be not good, that they could hurt someone when it wasn’t needed, when it wasn’t right . . . well, that shouldn’t be an unfamiliar concept for her. Mean ­people came in all shapes and sizes. She knew that better than anyone. “Are you saying they used excessive force with you?”
    He cocked his head, and for the first time his hard expression cracked. Disgust leaked out. “Are you for real? Where do you think you are, honey?”
    Briar stiffened. “I know exactly where I am. If the guards used excessive force, you should report them—­”
    â€œFirst day here and you know so much,” he murmured, his quiet voice no less deep or menacing. She felt her eyes widen as she realized the moment of her mistake. Her experience was not his, but she had presumed to know anyway. To understand. And then she dared to advise him how to live, how to exist in this cage. “You don’t know fuck all about this place.”
    She flinched. He might as well have said fuck off . That’s what she felt. What she heard. What she deserved.
    Face burning, she turned and picked up the gauze, feeling like that stupid girl who bit off more than she could chew. The teenager at her first party slamming back a shot and then choking on the burn as it slogged its way down her throat. She plucked at the tape holding the roll of gauze together, knowing that whether Dr. Walker wanted Callaghan to have X rays or not, he would want his ribs wrapped. For Callaghan’s comfort if nothing else.
    Mostly she just needed to do something with herself after Callaghan’s stinging words.
    Her hands were shaking as she got the tape free and began unrolling a section. No matter how she willed them to stop, they wouldn’t.
    â€œAh, what do we have here?”
    Her head snapped up at the arrival of Dr. Walker. Relief coursed through her.
    Renewed with purpose, she set down the gauze, stood aside and recounted Callaghan’s injuries, feeling in control again. A professional. Not at all like the rebuked child of moments ago.
    The doctor sank down onto the edge of the bed and examined the head wound first, checking Callaghan’s eyes and asking the standard questions to determine if he had a concussion. He treated him like any other patient. Because that’s what he saw. A patient. He didn’t see the caged animal she did.
    Anticipating his needs, Briar busied herself gathering up the supplies required for suturing the wound, retrieving items from the cabinets. She was glad she had taken the time to familiarize herself with the contents this morning so she didn’t have to bother Josiah, who was now on the phone arranging transport to the local hospital for the inmate with the injured knee.
    She offered Dr. Walker an anesthetic to help numb the area before suturing. “I don’t need that,” Callaghan said, his voice soft, but deep enough that she would have probably heard him from outside the HSU.
    Dr. Walker smiled kindly, as though he wasn’t dealing with a dangerous convict, and accepted the syringe from Briar.