Sorry this took so long, I rewrote the end part like twice, I think I prefer this one : ) and thank you for all the lovely comments
Chapter two: part two
After printing off what appeared to be a small rainforest worth of paper, Gemma strode on down to the guards locker room, which was situated in the lower level of the prison. Thankfully practice was not due to commence for another few hours so the place was completely deserted. To be on the safe side she still snuck in with enough stealth that a ninja would have been proud of, placing the schedules in each locker while periodically checking around. She laughed at her self for being so ridiculous but it still didn't stop her from tip toeing around the lockers.
Mission completed she was about to make her exit when Coach Emery appeared from the back office, thus ruining her ninja credibility. She was then contained for the following half an hour while the coach discussed defensive tactics (what ever those are, he may have well been speaking polish).
Like any good P.A Gemma was an ace at smiling and nodding and had mastered the technique of drifting off without her eyes glazing over so she managed to look fully concentrated though she was off in la la land. This time she was off considering buying a new handbag she had seen three days previous, sure she didn't really need it but she still wanted it. And then again her mind drifted to Knauer, sure she wanted him but she wanted to keep him....
"And that's why the backs are doing so badly"
Reality was like a slap in the face but unfazed she replied "wow, I've never really understood it till now, the plays were just confusing me". Emery nodded with gusto and before he could launch into another football marathon he was interrupted by the PA system. "Could Gemma Whelan please report to the infirmary"
"Oh I must get myself up there, thanks for all the insight coach, you've really shed a light on the whole football world for me"
"No problem at all ma'am" and he escorted her out.
Rushing to the infirmary she wondered what the emergency was but it was probably paperwork, oh the excitement. And she was right; it was all the updated physical assessment of all the guards on the football team.
"The warden wants these brought to his office" smiled Nurse Garrett, with a certain amount of sympathy.
"Are you serious" watched Gemma, hoping she might say no.
The mountain of papers looked to weigh about the same as a small baby elephant; no way was she going to make it back to the office in one piece.
"fraid not, he wants them ALL up there now"
Gemma whimpered in response. Sure she went to the gym but she was in no way a weight lifter, this would require some serious upper body strength, which she seriously lacked.
"Maybe one of the guards could help" offered the nurse, as Gemma lifted the stack into her arms. Ideas were already forming in her head, playing the damsel in distress would most likely work; it was about time she cashed in all those sugary sweet smiles.
"Be
careful now"
"I'll try"
Shuffling out of the infirmary Gemma scouted about for any guards that were not on watch duty. They were none about of course.
"Boogers" huffed the pa as she carefully walked up the iron steps.
"This is a complete load of arse"
Tiny needle like stabs were already pricking at her arms but she sure as hell wasn't dropping them.
Passing the chaplaincy offices she spied two guards walking towards her.
"Bingo" she grinned.
Picking up speed she made her made her way in their direction, with the full intention of hitting off Guard Mason with her elbow; sure they had to help her, her being a poor defenseless little woman. Well that's what she was hoping on anyway.
Her plan in place and the collision on course it all fell to pieces when the PA announced she was to return to the infirmary.
"Oh for the love of god" she growled which was overheard.
"You ok there" asked Mason, stopping in front of her with his companion. Alex would be furious but Gemma was going to pull the silly little assistant routine and she hoped it was going to have a good success rate.
"You couldn't be a complete gent and run these up to the Wardens office, I know it's a cheeky thing to ask but I'm such a big strong man such as yourself would get them there quicker then little me" she finished with a toothy smile.
It worked "sure, anything for a lady" and he took the stack with little effort.
"You're so sweet; thank you so so so much" another toothy smile.
Gemma's dad was Irish and she had inherited his natural charm, which was usually reliable in circumstances that she needed to talk herself out of, well most of the time anyway.
Now off the hook and with the two guards walking away up the corridor Gemma practically skipped back to the infirmary, she was a true believer skipping was an under rated gait, though she only did it in the privacy of her own home.
Once back in the medical office she was received by Nurse Garrett.
"You called"
"Where'd your paper mountain disappear to" a shy smile.
"You got balls, ill give you that"
"Ha, ill take that as a compliment, so what's the big emergency. Let me guess I have to drag a filing cabinet up to Hazen?"
"Nothing as drastic, one minute folder of x-rays"
"Phew, gimme"
"Doctor Harris has them, but he's in his office having a meeting. Fancy a coffee while we wait?"
"I couldn't refuse if I wanted to"
So for the next glorious twenty minutes Gemma sat on her behind sipping coffee with Emily (Nurse Garrett) and waited for the doctor to emerge from his office. Gemma rarely got to socialize with the other staff members since she was mostly confined to her desk or following Hazen around the football pitch, so she was glad for the chance to get to know some of the medical staff and she found Nurse Garrett to be one of the admirable people on Allenville ground.
Checking the clock she realized she had been sitting here for almost forty odd minutes and she began to get worried that the warden would be getting impatient, you did not want to be on the end of Hazen's pissy rants but she knew if he was annoyed it would have been announced over the system by now.
Finally the doctor's office door creaked open and Doctor Harris appeared with the fore mentioned file in hand." I believe this is yours" he drawled.
"Thanks Doc" Gemma replied with sincere gratitude.
" you may want to get yourself back up to that desk of yours, Allenville's new superstar is supposed to be getting processed sometime soon"
Gemma merely raised an eyebrow in response; this was just going to be another Z-Lister again. Lynette was always doing this to her and it was a constant let down.
"Some former football MVP, its all been hush hush though. He is due now apparently"
This bugged her to no end, being privy to all prison gossip was a given, how the hell had she missed this little nugget.
Gemma was not impressed but responded thusly "well ill get myself up there and find out all the gory details, thanks doc, Emily" who was now on her fifth cup of coffee.
It was getting to inch toward the afternoon and it was at this time the allowed inmates were put out to the exercise yard, meaning moving around the prison was a nightmare as it took longer to move through the sections with all the heightened security.
As she rushed along Gemma could detect a somewhat hushed silence coming from the yard which was normally a loud and busy area. The hushed silence made her listen more carefully but as no alarms rang out she knew it wasn't anything serious.
"Weird" she muttered.
She was furthered annoyed when she got stuck in one of the double gates for a ridiculous amount of time when the second gate decided it wasn't going to open. Grumbling to herself about being delayed she barely noticed Dunham pass her when she reached the copy room. Paper work in hand he was laughing to himself, the sort of laugh that should have concerned her.
Turning the corner while shaking her head over Dunham's strange behavior she walked right into a situation she would have normally avoided. In the long corridor Captain Knauer was positioned squatting in front of a collapsed inmate in a white jump suit that advertised he was new. The inmate was gasping for air and unable to stand due to his hands being handcuffed so he was powerless to do anything as Knauer raised his head with his night stick.
Gemma didn't utter a word and stepped back behind the corner and hoped she had not been seen. She considered going back to the copy room to wait it out there but she knew Hazen was probably going to be pissed enough of her amount of time being away so she stayed put.
"Cause the warden doesn't run this prison, I do, understand?" snarled Knauer.
"Not entirely"
The sound of the stick hitting the torso made Gemma flinch and the inmates gasps made her want to put her fingers in her ears but she stared at a nearby filing cabinet instead, because she couldn't think of anything else to do.
Her patience was rewarded with Knauer barking "get up" and the sound of shuffling disappeared.
Gemma let out a long breadth; she had not even noticed she had been holding it. Thankful it was all over she straightened out her shirt and fixed her hair. Gripping the folder to her chest she continued to the Wardens office, somewhat still rattled.
She was greeted by Lynette but watched by one of the guards.
"You ok honey" asked the secretary, her face full of concern,
"You're looking a bit pale"
"Oh it's the heat" laughed Gemma.
"It's like a sauna in that infirmary"
Satisfied Lynette went back to her work but Garner didn't look as convinced, his eyes searched her face though his expression didn't change.
Sighing loudly Gemma picked up the all important folder which she had thrown on her desk.
"I'd forget my head if it wasn't screwed on"
"Two peas in a pod you and I" smiled Lynette as the PA knocked sharply.
"Yes!" barked Hazen. Gemma cautiously poked her head in first, waving the folder like a symbolic white flag "the folder you wanted sir"
"Oh yes, leave it on my desk please"
You could practically cut the tension with a knife and Gemma wanted out of the room and as quickly as possible.
Hazen turned his back to stare at the plaques on the wall as she walked to his desk but three pairs of eyes watched her every step, one which she could feel burning into her back. Setting the folder down she walked back ignoring all eye contact, just staring at the door. Passing Knauer she got the feeling he was about to say something so she made the mistake of looking at him. He however maintained the silence and his eyes seemed full of knowing.
"Shit he did see me" she thought closing the door.
Taking a seat at her desk she checked the Wardens emails but her concentration was not up to par. The stupid situation in the corridor was going to be a pain in the ass, if the prisoner reported Knauer and called Gemma as a witness she was either going have to lie and say nothing happened, or worse tell the truth and she may as well quit now.
She could practically feel the anger building up and it was completely focused at Knauer. She hated lying and she was now going to have to and it would all be a big awkward mess.
As the Wardens door opened and the prisoner in the white jumper suit was pushed out she stared at the computer screen, it was a vain attempt at pretending she was too busy to talk to Knauer. How ever the captain remained in the office while Garner shoved the inmate down against the bench that was pushed against the wall.
Lynette was immediately striking up a conversation with the prisoner but Gemma was just not paying any attention due to her silent seething. The only thing that registered was the warden shouting "well get him motivated damn it" which was followed by Knauer exiting the office door.
Gemma flicked her eyes up just as he threw a look in her direction but still nothing was said, the silence was interrupted by the inmate "we all good?" as he was shoved back down the long corridor, "yeah, we're real tight" growled Knauer.
As the three men disappeared out the door way Lynette and Gemma watched the shadows on the far wall, Knauer's raised arm, accompanied with the night stick was raised high before it came down repeatedly. Lynette tutted again before getting to her feet.
"Nasty business" she muttered, walking to the doorway to close the inner door shut. The yells of the prisoner were shut out for the moment and the women went back to their work, not discussing the events outside the door.
**********************
Gemma had successfully avoided running into Knauer for the rest of the day as she did not have to leave her desk once, which she was hugely grateful for. It was not till the end of work she was aware she may run into him, it was not like she was going to be able to sneak out with out being noticed. Gathering her things and some files for typing at home, she filed the rest of the paper work and checked the warden's office quickly to see was it to be cleaned.
The warden had left with Dandridge about an hour earlier for a charity event, leaving Lynette and Gemma to man the fort. The office was however spotless so she waited on Lynette to finish up before the two women walked down to the exit.
Thinking she was home free she said her goodbyes to Lynette once they were in the car park and made her way to her car. The temperature outside took a dip and the cool evening breeze was welcomed. Throwing her things in the back of the car she was about to get into the car when a presence behind her turned her head.
And of course it was Knauer.
"Evening"
"Hey" She felt very awkward and it was showing. He tried to put her at easy with friendly banter but they both knew why he was here.
"Doing anything exciting tomorrow for your day off?"
"Haven't decided anything yet"
"Listen eh, I want to talk to you about what happened earlier" Gemma remained silent while he continued.
"I'm sorry you had to walk into the middle of that but the prisoner was getting out of hand and had to be restrained, you know how Hazen loves his zero tolerance policy"
Gemma still remained silent.
"So I just wanted to clear it up with you, you know the lies the inmates make up most of time"
To this Gemma responded with "you don't have to justify yourself to me Captain"
This threw him slightly, he was unsure of her tone.
And what she followed with surprised even her.
"Frankly I don't even know why you think I would care about what you get involved in, its your business" and the minute she said it she wished she had kept her mouth shut.
Knauers first response was the clenching of his jaw as he hooked his thumbs into his belt. His tone however was the give away.
"Glad we got it cleared up" it dripped with spite which was returned.
"Me too, goodnight"
"Night"
He then turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Gemma fuming at her car. Why did she say that, why! Once inside her car she felt like smacking her head of the steering wheel but just turned the ignition key instead. Driving out of the car park and on to the open road she gripped the steering wheel till her knuckles went white.
Trying to ignore the burning sensation in her chest she tried to focus on the road but the over whelming feeling began to choke her and she tried in vain to stop the tears. She felt the warm drops trickle their way down her cheeks and in the end she gave up and stopped the car. She spent the next few minutes sobbing her lungs up and by the end she felt about ten pounds lighter. She had not cried like this since her father had died when she was 17, not when Mark had cheated on her three times, not when she had walked out on his sleazy self two years previous and not when she packed up and left Dublin behind to follow her mother to the states.
Wiping away the remaining tears she let out a long and relieved sigh. It was as if she had shut the book finally on the heartbreak of those past years, she had only made herself suffer from holding it in for so long. She was annoyed for making herself believe that Knauer was a knight in shining armor and her rage towards him was misdirected. She was annoyed she had made him out to be Mr. Perfect, in all honesty what guy was.
Starting the engine again she pulled out onto the road with a bit more clarity. She felt like kicking herself for snapping at him in the car park, she would have to do some ground control when she came back to work, if it wasn't too late.
