Free Life Sentences by Tekla Dennison Miller Page A

going to check out my heart and lungs?” Chad asked. How did he manage to make such a simple sentence sound so seductive?
    “No need.” Pilar turned away from his probing gaze and fussed with papers. “I’ll get the officer to take you back. Your prescription will be ready for the afternoon med call.”
    “Thank you,” he responded in stilted sincerity. “You’re more efficient than the last doctor we had here. He was just waiting on his retirement.”
    “That’s a high appraisal for a routine exam,” Pilaranswered as she turned to him. “But, I appreciate the compliment.” At the moment, everything she’d learned in training was fuzzy. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so quick to acknowledge his praise. No, first day jitters, that was all.
    When Chad left, Pilar wanted to lock the door and sit alone for a while to go over what had just happened. She had treated a handsome, articulate man about her age who happened to be a serial murderer. Was she attracted to him? Or, did he frighten her? For a moment, she brushed the ideas away and attributed her ease with Chad Wilbanks to knowing so much about him. He had become too familiar.
    Images of Lorrie’s agonized face and Susan Mitchell’s smile complicated her thoughts.
    M ID AFTERNOON , P ILAR WAS coming down the hall when she saw a prisoner hand Nurse Carson a stack of forms. Pilar noticed Jane’s body stiffen when the man ran his forefinger along her wrist. Hearing Pilar’s footsteps, they moved apart and Jane called out, “Doctor Brookstone. Wilbanks’ tests are back from the lab.” Her face glowed. She never looked away from the sullen man whose institutional pallor made his skin look like ash. Pilar couldn’t help compare his color to Chad’s healthy flesh tone.
    “Since when do we allow prisoners to work in the lab?” Pilar asked the nurse, and motioned to the man as he left the area.
    “Since we can’t get enough help,” Jane answered. “Besides, he’s smart, a low security risk; it’s good training. And, in Johnson’s case, I keep a close watch on him.” She handed Pilar the lab results. She noticed Jane didn’t wear any rings, despite having told Pilar about her husband and two children. “Tommy’s real job is the main porter for the infirmary,” Jane explained further. “When we’re short handed, he’s our runner.”
    Jane sounded too enthusiastic. But, Pilar was exhausted from the day’s call-outs. She didn’t want to discuss the issue further. She probably over-reacted anyway. “Call Wilbanks up for his meds then, Mrs. Carson.”
    “Done. And, please call me Jane or Carson. We’re going to be together too long to be so formal.”
    The nurse appeared to wait for Pilar to offer the same privilege, but Pilar didn’t. Not yet. Not until she knew what was going on. Anyway, Pilar didn’t know how long she’d be at Hawk Haven and she didn’t want to risk a whole career on a moment of poor judgment.
    Pilar glanced at prisoner Johnson’s stringy, shoulder-length, dishwater blond hair as he walked through the gate toward the cell blocks. Jane, face flushed, also watched Tommy’s exit, though unconcerned that Pilar may have detected her dreamy state.
    “Why is Johnson in prison?” Pilar asked.
    Jane jerked around so fast she dropped a bottle of aspirin. She ignored the scattered pills and asked “Why do you want to know?”
    “Just curious how prisoners get to work in an area I consider high security.”
    “They earn it, just like Tommy did. He kept his nose clean and stayed out of trouble.” Clearly, there was more to their relationship than nurse and prisoner.
    “Will you elaborate, please?” Pilar asked.
    “Tommy has been a good prisoner. He’s had no bad behavior reports, so he has reduced his security level from close to medium custody. If he continues on that path, his level will go to minimum.”
    “At which time I assume he will be paroled.”
    “Yes.” Jane picked up the clipboard and went to the nurses’