Hey!

Am back with a new story and i hope you will like it, it's a AU and a bit different but am looking forward to writing it and for you to discover this story! I really hope you'll enjoy it!

As for the schedule for this story i'll try to post once a week, probably less cause School is starting back again and it's a lot of work but anyways, I am excited to take you along with me for this new adventure!

Just let me know what you think!

ENJOY

-A

Chapter one

"Are you ready for this?" the young man asked concerned, taking a sip of his beer. He looked at the woman next to him, who was just smiling, she seemed excited. She didn't really know where she was going, or how she would handle this new change, but she was ready to jump in the unknown.

"Of course, I am, I am excited to start" the brown woman answered with an honest smile on her face. She was aware of the concern he had, but she was even more ready to show him she was able to handle herself just fine.

"Gabby, you're a great doctor, and I know you'll do great, but am concerned…"

"You don't have to be, I can handle it" Gabby said.

"You know it's not you the problem, it's the people you're going to be around" He explained, still trying to get her to maybe change her mind.

"Please, I have to do this, so stop worrying so much, plus it's not your job, you've got enough on your plate with your kids already"

"Hey, I can worry about my little sister, it's my job as your big brother!"

Gabby smiled at her brother. Antonio, who was few years older than her, was a police officer, and her best friend. She knew that Antonio supported her for whatever she wanted, but he cared so much about her, he wanted her to be safe. "Tonio, it's a great opportunity, and I am sure it's going to be fine, and it's important for me."

Antonio nodded, and smiled "Of course Gabs, I know it's important, it's just… Uncommon and I don't want you to be in any kind of danger."

Gabby patted her brother's shoulder "Well, if something does happen, you're a cop, you'll deal with it, but am not worried." She smirked. She was sassy, and she knew how much it bothered her brother. She played with that a lot, and that annoyed her brother, because he was so protective of her.

"Fine, I guess I'll just have to trust you" Antonio said, he was about to drink again, but Gabby took his beer away from him and drunk what was left in the bottle. "Hey! It was mine!" Antonio exclaimed.

Gabby laughed "Sorry, you'll just have to go home" She said with a grin.

Antonio rolled his eyes, and after collecting his stuff he walked to the apartment's door. Gabby followed him and gave her brother a big hug. "Drive safe" Gabby said gently.

"I had one beer, don't worry, you have a good night sleep. Tomorrow is a big day. Please be careful though" Antonio said to his sister, still a bit worried.

"Tonio, you're going to need to trust me, I promised I'll be just fine" She smiled.

"Am glad I taught you how to throw some punch" he laughed, seeing his sister roll her eyes, before pushing him out.

"I'll call you to tell you about it" Gabby promised. Antonio smiled and finally her was out of the door, walking to his car. "Oh and give a kiss to the kids for me"

"I will" He waved at Gabriela, and finally drove home.

Gabby cleaned up the mess from dinner and decided to go to bed. Tomorrow would be a new beginning and it would definitely change her life forever.

Today was her first day, and she was so ready to discover some new aspect of her job. Gabriela had successfully got through Med school, and at 26 years old, she was a young doctor into her residency. She loved it and was finally doing her residency in Chicago.

She didn't have the same path as every other resident, most of them want to work in Hospital as soon as possible, but it wasn't Gabby's case.
Indeed, instead of going to work in a hospital like everybody she decided to do her first internship in a drug and addiction center during a year.
She quickly realized she loved these kinds of challenges and decided to apply for her new internship in another facility, in Stateville Correctional Center. Which was the reason why her brother was so reluctant and worried about.

Working in prison was never something she envisioned before, but after working with people suffering from addictions, she wanted to see what it felt like to work with people, stuck in jail, who probably had problems and needed a little help.

Gabby knew it was a huge challenge, it was a dangerous job and knew that she would need to be extra careful, but she was determined to work there.

Gabby was going to replace the prison's doctor who was retiring. Obviously, he'd be there for her first few weeks to make sure she could handle it, but also make sure the prisoners would behave towards her.

This prison is full of criminal men, and seeing a woman inside these walls could give them the wrong idea. But Gabby knew that, and she was definitely capable of dealing with them. She was a woman, but she was able to handle a lot. Now… Handle these situations was a lot different…

That morning, Gabby arrived at the prison, ready to meet with the director and the doctor she was replacing. She was sitting in the director's office when the two men walked in. Gabby stood up smiling. Both men smiled at her and shook her hand.

"You must be Dr Dawson, it's a pleasure to meet you" The director said, before sitting at his desk in front of Gabriela.

"Thank you, Sir, it's an honor to be here!" Gabby answered looking at both men. The older doctor patted her shoulder gently.

"Are you ready to work here?" he asked. "It's a difficult job, it's nerve wracking, sometimes it can be dangerous, and you are a woman, surrounded by thousands of men"

Gabby nodded understanding where this was going, "Dr Williams, it's true, I am young, I am a woman, and I am brown, but I am a doctor, I need to learn how to do my job, I know this is going to be tough at some point but I am ready to face it" Gabby said firmly, she really wanted to make a good impression and prove herself.

"Gabriela, I've worked here for a long time, and in all my years I've seen a lot, some of these guys out there are nice, friendly, and wouldn't do anything to you, but some others are pretty bad, so after some reflection and with your agreement, we'd like you to deal only with a part of the prisoners, for your safety we'd rather you taking care of the nice and non-violent men if that's okay" Dr Williams said.

Gabby nodded understanding the concern "Yeah I understand and it's fine with me, I just want to help these people"

The director Sullivan, who had been pretty silent finally talked "Dr Dawson, you're an incredible doctor, and I've read a lot of good things about you, and I really want these guys to feel at ease with you, and I think they will feel safe around you, this is what we want for them. Obviously, they are here because they did something wrong, and some of them have a lot of time to spend here, but they also need a chance to prove they can change, and I hope you'll be able to help them."

"Of course, I am not here to judge them, I really want to help" Gabby said smiling. Dr Williams nodded and walked to a big box, picked it up, and gave It to Gabby. "What's that?" She asked.

"Inside this box you'll find all the medical files of the prisoners you are in charge of" Dr Williams said. "Obviously you also have info about why they are here, for how long and a lot of personal info, I would recommend for you to read it, before meeting with them. You have about 20 guys, right now, but maybe you'll be able to take care of more, we'll see" he finished.

Gabby nodded "I… I feel like maybe I should just let them come to me, I want them to trust me, so… Maybe letting them talk and tell me what they want would be better…" she said hoping they wouldn't disagree with her

"Dawson, you do whatever you feel like doing, we just want you to have the info, just in case, but you don't have to read it if you don't want to." The director said.

After explaining to Gabby everything she needed to know, from the rules with the prisoners, the safety rules and other important points, they showed her where she was working: the infirmary, and where she would meet her patients.

Somewhere, in this huge prison, a man was sitting on his bed, in his cell, reading a book. He'd been here for about a year now, and every day was terrible. He spent his days scared for his life, hoping for one more day.

He spent his days thinking and rehashing what had sent him here, how he ended up in jail, at 27 years old. He had a beautiful life, a great job, an amazing fiancé, and a bright future ahead of him, but now, he didn't have any of it.

"Casey, day dreaming is over, you have a visitor!" a guardian said pulling him out of his thoughts.

The young man stood up and walked to the cell's door, he passed his hands through the small hole, and was handcuffed. The guardian walked Matt where the visits took place.

Walking inside the room, the prisoner raked the room with his blue eyes, falling on the person, sitting at a table, waiting for him. Finally, he sat down in front of the man who was visiting him and waited for the guardian to walk away before finally cracking a small smile.

"Hey, it's good to see you Kelly" he said gently.

Kelly smiled, "You too Matt, how are you doing bro?" he asked. He was coming in prison every time he could, he was visiting Matt.

Matt was glad to see his best friend, he was one of the rare people who was visiting him, and he quickly learnt to cherish this short time every week. "Am okay, thank you for coming" Matt said gently, he was really grateful for Kelly, it was a piece of the outside world coming to him.

"Matt, how many times do I need to tell you? You don't have to thank me, I am here, and I'm going to be here until you get out of here, you hear me?" Kelly said firmly but keeping a smile on his face. He knew it was important for Matt to see that he kept a smile.

"I know, it's just… Am very glad that you keep coming, it means so much to me" Matt said feeling the need to tell his best friend. "So, tell me, how are you?" Matt asked.

"Am good, it's been crazy but yeah am okay" Kelly said

"How is work?" Matt asked looking at his hands, that were on the table.

Kelly looked at Matt, he knew they should probably talk about it, but it was still hard for both of them, "We don't have to talk about it Matt, if-" Before he got a chance to finish, Matt cut him off.

"No, I… hum… I just want to know how everybody is doing…" Matt said with sad eyes.

"Yeah… Well everybody at 51 is okay, but… It's not the same without you… Everybody misses you a lot, and they wish they could come more often but… You know it's complicated" Kelly explained, not wanting to hurt his friend, knowing he didn't get much visits.

"That's okay, I know it's tough for everybody, I don't blame them…" Matt said. He had been working at 51 for 8 years as a lieutenant, the people there were his family, but everything came crumbling down a year ago…

Matt knew the relationships he had in the past, were broken. He wished he could do something about it, but he couldn't. "And… My mom?" he questioned then.

"I saw her this morning, she is doing… You know as good as we can imagine… She really wanted to come and see you but she couldn't today" Kelly explained. Matt always took news from his mother, he wanted to make sure someone was looking out for her, and Kelly had taken this role very seriously.

"Thanks for keeping in touch with her… I know she is okay, she tells me in her letters, or when she comes here, but with my dad not being here that much and my sister always travelling it's a bit hard for her…"

"You'd do the same for me, your mom is strong, and so are you, we'll pull through this okay?" Matt nodded, trying to keep a smile on his face. Kelly could see Matt wasn't very happy, and he understood that. "So, tell me what you've been doing?" Kelly asked wanting to make Matt talk.

"You know… I've been talking to a chaplain, he thinks I should work with him more, he wants me to search something inside of me or whatever… I don't know… Explore what God means to me I guess… It's BS" Matt said unconvinced scratching his forearm.

"Have you been to church recently?" Kelly asked, he knew Matt had a deep faith before coming to prison, but ever since he got his sentence, Matt had banished God from his life.

"Not really. Am not sure I want to go" Matt answered honestly.

"Why not?" Kelly asked.

"I just don't know if I still believe, I mean… He couldn't protect me from this… He sent me here while I was a true believer, I was going to church, working as a firefighter, helping people, giving for so many charities, but I got here anyway…". For the young man, God had let him down a long time ago, and he was really trying to understand why.

"You know it's not how it works… It's not because you do everything perfectly that God will protect you. Listen brother, I know this situation is terrible, but you're going to go through it, and He is going to help you, you need to go back to church, and try to forgive him, but more importantly forgive yourself okay?" Kelly said, he really wanted to hug his friend, but he couldn't.

"You're right, I'll try." Matt promised.

"What else do you do?" Kelly asked.

"I've been doing some sports and helping my cellmate with reading" Matt said with a grin. "He is not dumb, but he never went to school, and he wants to learn so I'm helping him" Matt said happy to tell this story.

"That's great Matt! How about the other inmates, are they… are you safe here?" Kelly asked, he was worried about Matt being here. He was surrounded by so many gang members, murderers or drug dealer, he could be killed at any minute for all he knew.

"I… I am more of a loner. They don't bother me much anymore. I don't sleep much at night, keeping an eye open, I take showers in my underwear, and I eat on my own, but other than that I've been okay…" Matt said trying to reassure his friend.

"You gotta stay strong huh?" Kelly said.

"I will, I promise… Did you… hum… Any news from the investigation?" Matt asked hoping for some news but seeing Kelly's face he realized nothing had changed.

"Matt, am sorry, we're doing everything we can, but we don't have anything…" Kelly looked up at the clock and realized one hour had passed and knew it was time for him to go. "Listen man, our time is up, so I have to leave you, you should call your lawyer, to have more info maybe, but…"

"Yeah… Kelly please take care of everybody for me, make sure my parents know I am fine, and that I am looking forward to see them."

"I will, and I'll keep digging, but I can't make any promises…" Kelly said.

Matt nodded and sighed "He is going to take me down…" He said, feeling defeated as Kelly looked at his friend, sad and beaten.