Page 10 of Atone in Darkness
No answer.
Her concern for him only fanned the flames of her growing anger. He wasn’t the one she was really mad at, but he was the only handy target for her temper. “Damn it, Chase, answer me when I talk to you.”
Thestubborn man waited until he swallowed before he finally slowly lifted his gaze to meet hers. For the first time she realized that the right side of his face was swollen. No doubt it hurt to eat much less talk.
“I’ll get you an ice pack for your jaw. Where else are you hurt?”
“Don’t bother acting like you really care.”
When he returned his attention to his meal, she planted herself right infront of him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
The fury in his ice-blue eyes had her backing up. “I know you ordered them to come for me again. Something about wanting another round of tests to verify your findings.”
“How could you think that? I have no control over the guards. They get their orders from someone else.”
The stubborn set of his bruised jaw made it clear hewasn’t buying it. “You’rethe only one who looks at my lab results, and you’re the only one I talked to about them. If you didn’t issue the orders, then how come they came in laughing about looking forward to our nextinteraction? I sure as hell never used that word to describe what they do to me.”
She dropped into the only chair in his cell. One of her greatest fears was that someone was listening in, maybe even watchingher every move while she was in her lab. That seriously creeped her out, and she couldn’t help but scan the ceiling yet again for some sign of a camera. If there was one, she didn’t see it.
“What’s the matter, Doc?”
The softly spoken question was the first crack in his icy demeanor since she’d arrived. She kept her voice down, too, in the no doubt futile hope that their conversation would remainprivate. “I swear I didn’t talk to the guards yesterday, and I hate what they do to you.”
She glanced back up at the ceiling. “I’m sure we’re being observed. I’m just not sure if they have audio only or if there is visual surveillance, too. I know someone accesses my files regularly.”
He studied her as he slowly chewed another bite, wincing a bit as he swallowed. “I’m trying to believe you.”
His continued distrust might be justified from his point of view, but it still hurt. Back to the matter at hand. “How badly are you hurt this time?”
He pointed at his jaw and then turned to show her a jagged cut just inside the hairline above his right ear. “Surface cut. Bled a lot, but it’s fine now.”
She held her hand up in front of his face. “Follow myfinger from side to side.”
He trackedit just fine, which was a relief. “Finish your meal, and I’ll get that ice pack for you.”
She also brought him a couple of ibuprofen. It killed her that she couldn’t do more for him or find some way to protect him from other abuse. He swallowed the pills without comment and stretched back out on his bed with the ice on his face.
Knowing there wasn’t anything else she could say or do that wouldimprove the situation, she walked back out of the cell and let him sleep. While he rested, she’d watch over him, wondering the whole time if someone was watching over her, too.
