Free Life Sentences by Tekla Dennison Miller Page B

station across from Pilar’s office. Another patient waited. Her curt answer let Pilar know that the conversation was finished for her. But not for Pilar. She decided that she might have a few more questions about him. She planned to keep her eye on both of them, and would definitely check into Johnson’s file. Meanwhile, Pilar picked up the spilled aspirins Jane left on the floor.
    C HAD RETURNED LATE THAT afternoon for his meds. Jane had finished distributing prescriptions to a line of prisoners from a small opening in the shield surrounding the nurses’ station. Pilar was writing up a chart behind the counter. One other prisoner was in the waiting room near the entry gate. He was the afternoon porter who, like Tommy, was assigned to keep the infirmary hospital sterile.
    Pilar looked up from the chart briefly. Chad’s eyes were focused on her while Jane, her hands in surgical gloves, explored his mouth to make sure he’d swallowed the dose. Holding his tongue, Jane fingered Chad’s gums.
    Trying unsuccessfully to concentrate on the notes in front of her, Pilar was positive that Chad had been admiring the way her body curved over the chart rack. She sneaked a look.
    The nurse tugged hard on Chad’s tongue. He winced and shifted his attention to the ceiling above Jane. “Get a good look,” the nurse said. “That’s as close as you’re going to get to that doctor.” She yanked off the gloves, tossed them into the trash, and reached for another pair.
    “A man can dream, can’t he?”
    An arresting smile lighted Chad’s face. Pilar slowed her writing and tilted her head to eavesdrop. Suddenly, she felt as though a cold wind blew through her body. Pilar inspected the air-conditioning vent above. It was motionless.
    Jane wasn’t charmed. Instead, she placed her hands on her hips like a mother about to scold her son. “That’s about all you can do in here, Wilbanks, is dream. Now, get on your way.”
    “See you tomorrow then,” Chad told the nurse, but still he gazed at Pilar.
    A shaft of afternoon sun sliced through the narrow window, warming the top of Pilar’s head. No doubt it also highlighted the red in her hair. Pilar shivered.
    Chad nodded in a way that indicated he fully enjoyed Pilar’s awareness of his flirtations.

chapter six
 
MAKING ROUNDS
    P ILAR HAD TO MAKE rounds in the segregation units. There was no way to get out of it. Rounds were required. So, she finally faced the inevitable. Wearing a lab coat and carrying a clipboard with note paper, she left the administration building, “The Building” as the prisoners called it, for the cellblock. It was the first time she had been inside since the warden’s orientation the day she arrived nearly a month earlier. The idea of meeting prisoners on their turf was unsettling.
    The security gate shuddered until it finally slammed closed with an earsplitting bang. Pilar was locked outside of her protected environment and deposited alone into the bowels of the institution. Pilar patted her pocket to make sure she hadn’t forgotten her personal body alarm. If she needed help, she could push the alarm and alert central control who would send officers to her aid. It was often the only thing that saved a victim from her assailant in a prison.
    As Pilar walked past the recreation yard, she marveledat how the prisoners’ uniforms created a wall of blue. The men huddled near the yard fence in small groups. She searched for Chad in each gathering, though he wouldn’t hang out with just any crowd. She guessed his congregation would be of a higher quality than the usual yard gangs.
    Most prisoners moved like robots near the yard’s perimeter, while others jogged or jumped in place to keep warm. They all kept their distance from the fence so as not to set off the alarm or attract the gun tower officers. While they talked and smoked, their eyes followed three other officers circulating among them; their heavy breathing became mist that spiraled into the cold