Oksana was furious. How dare Dr Polastri get involved like that? How dare she tell Pargrave that Oksana needed to see a doctor? Oksana was fine. And she wouldn't be seeing the medic now that was for certain. Not after Dr Polastri started meddling. Oksana had thought they were getting somewhere. The past hour had been the most fun she'd had in months, years probably. Dr Polastri's shit game had amused Oksana to no end and she had found herself warming considerably to the other woman. Dr Polastri was sarcastic and funny and there was a certain something about her that had awoken parts of Oksana that had become so used to being dormant that Oksana had almost forgotten about them.

When she had asked Dr Polastri her final question, Oksana had felt a trill of excitement rush through her at the thought of it. The good doctor with her glasses and her spotless outfits, her silly little notebook and her no-nonsense attitude, getting herself off. Her hair would be wild and untamed, her face flushed… She might even allow herself to swear. Yeah, Oksana enjoyed that thought a great deal. That was very nice.

But she had pushed. She had zeroed in on Oksana's weakness. The almost literal thorn in her side. This fucking wound that refused to heal. Dr Polastri had sniffed it out and swirled a finger in it viciously, reminding Oksana of the now constant pain thrumming below her ribs. Dr Polastri had made it sound as if she caredand for a blind second Oksana felt a bloom of warmth at the thought. It had been such a long time since someone cared about her like that. People cared. Of course. Her father cared and Konstantin cared. They wanted her to flourish. They would annihilate anyone who posed a threat to Oksana's life. But they didn't look at her like that. Their eyes didn't flit about her features, trying to assess how she felt. They couldn't tell when she was in pain. They cared. But their affection was shown through gifts. They were not the sort to have ever held her if she needed it. She hadn't been held since she was a small child. That bastard had tried once and Oksana's stomach turned at the sudden memory of it. She felt queasy.

Earlier, Oksana's mind had played a trick on her. She had seen Dr Polastri's look of concern over Oksana's injury and she had been reminded of the last person to look at her like that. That person would hold her arms open to Oksana, would wrap her up in unconditional tenderness and tell her everything would be alright. That had turned out to be a lie though. That tenderness had not been unconditional and everything had been far from alright. Dr Polastri, did not care about Oksana's wellbeing. She was just doing her job. Oksana was a case file, not a cause for concern.

Why hadn't Oksana just lied? When Dr Polastri had asked if she was in pain, Oksana could have lied. It didn't occur to her to lie. Lying came almost as naturally as breathing, and yet Oksana had choked. She'd told the truth as though she had no other choice. What was wrong with her?

"I'm not going to the medic." Oksana said determinedly.

Mr Pargrave sighed heavily. They were once again making the journey from the consultation room where Dr Polastri was presumably packing her bag and readying herself to leave, to the little room that was occupied by the sweaty medic. Oksana wondered if Eve was at this moment letting her hair down again. She could have punched Pargrave for returning just when he did.

"Do we have to have this fight every single time?" Mr Pargrave asked.

"No." Oksana replied, "Because I am not going anymore, Bill. My wound is fine now."

"If your wound is fine, then why did Dr Polastri seem to think you need medical attention?" Mr Pargrave asked.

"Because she is bored and likes to make trouble?" Oksana suggested.

Mr Pargrave laughed.

"That does not sound like the Dr Polastri I know." He said.

"How well do you know her?" Oksana asked curiously. "Can I call you Bill?"

"No, you cannot." Mr Pargrave said with a smile, "And I have known her for years."

"Have you ever fucked her?" Oksana asked nonchalantly.

Mr Pargrave stopped walking.

"Do you want to rethink that question?" He asked warningly.

"Um… Have you ever screwed her? I know she's married, but still… That doesn't stop people from fucking others, you know..." Oksana trailed off with a leering quirk of her eyebrow.

Mr Pargrave shook his head despairingly.

"You know, if anyone is bored and likes to cause trouble, it isn't Dr Polastri." He said meaningfully.

Oksana grinned at him innocently.

"I'm not going to the medic." She reiterated. "I'm fine. I just want to have a sleep. Is that OK?" Oksana asked politely.

Mr Pargrave eyed her suspiciously for a moment. She did look quite tired under the harsh fluorescent lights of the hallway.

And it was true. Oksana did feel tired. She felt tired and overly warm. She was probably getting some kind of illness. One of the myriad problems with residing in a populous prison was that when a bug entered the building, it spread fast. Oksana had been fighting off a drowsy feeling since the day before. It had faded into the background whilst she was with Dr Polastri, but now it was creeping back in at the edges. And she was hot, her forehead felt a little clammy.

"You're not just taking the piss?" Mr Pargrave asked seriously, "Your wound isn't causing you any bother?"

"Nope." Oksana said shaking her head and popping the P at the end of the word. "I'm just sleepy. I read a lot last night." She explained with a yawn.

"Well, OK." Mr Pargrave agreed. "But if it stops healing then we're going straight back to the medic." He said emphatically.

"Agreed." Oksana said with a solemn nod. The action made her feel a little dizzy. "I will tell you immediately if it gets bad again." She promised sweetly.

"Alright," Mr Pargrave sighed, "let's go."

Internally Oksana allowed herself to feel victorious. Dr Polastri had tried to meddle and failed. Oksana wouldn't be going to the doctor. That would teach the other woman for trying to tell her what to do. That would teach her for pretending she gave a shit about Oksana. Now, Oksana was going to have a well-earned nap and then she would start planning her guesses for next week's game. Oh, and she still needed to finish her reply to Konstantin. A nap first though. Definitely.

A few days had passed since Eve's most recent appointment with Oksana. She had played the tape over several times, she had heard herself allow Oksana to take charge of their discussion, had listened to the younger woman back her into a conversational corner until she was forced to answer that highly personal question. What had Eve been thinking? She had let that happen. She had suggested the game. She gave Oksana a free pass to her personal life. It was so unlike Eve. But still, it had been a stressful week.

Currently Eve found herself at Soft Play. She should be at the office, compiling her final report on an inmate. Instead she was at an indoor play area for children who were below a certain height on a cartoon giraffe's neck. This had been a gesture of goodwill. An olive branch for Niko. A sign that she was able to choose her family over her work.

Eve had collected Leo from school. She had talked for at least seven minutes with one of the other mothers at the school gate and had only remembered her name after herself and Leo got in the car and drove away. Actually that wasn't true. Eve still didn't remember the woman's name. She remembered that she was 'Isabel's Mum' as those were the monikers that parents knew each other by. She supposed that made her 'Leo's mum.' Eve should be used to people not knowing her first name, but that title felt somehow more uncomfortable than Dr Polastri.

And so here Eve was, in a small converted warehouse full of brightly coloured inflatable obstacles contained within padded pillars and netting, surrounded by a ball pit moat. Happily, this was not the sort of activity that parents were encouraged to participate in. Less happily, the whole place smelled strongly of feet and the coffee was shit. But Leo was thrilled by the excursion with his mother. And Eve could make some notes on Oksana's case whilst periodically waving at her son from her spot at a red plastic seating area that was only mildly sticky.

She took a sip of her coffee and regretted it. Eve absent-mindedly wished she had her Dictaphone with her so she could play the tape again, but it was in the car. It wouldn't be all that responsible to nip out and retrieve it. Notes would have to do. She still didn't feel as though she had much of a grasp on Oksana Astankova, so Eve set about considering the observations she had made. Oksana was playful. She was volatile. She showed no remorse, and yet she claimed she had committed her crime for a purpose. Eve got the impression that Oksana felt she had been enacting justice when she had… done that. Oksana thought very highly of herself. "No. Not every convicted murderer. Just me." She was rash, she passed on a question out of spite. She assumed Eve had no children.

"MUM!"

Eve looked up from her notes.

"Look!"

Leo was hanging onto a knotted rope, perched on a padded shelf and evidently preparing to fling himself into the pit of brightly coloured plastic balls beneath.

"MUM, WATCH!" He yelled.

Eve nodded enthusiastically at him and waved. She wasn't going to yell back across the room.

"ARE YOU WATCHING?" Leo shouted again.

Eve glanced around her.

"Yeah, I can see you, sweetheart!" She called back, not quite matching her son's boisterous volume.

Leo grinned and used his sock-clad feet to propel himself from the shelf, swinging on the rope before letting go and dropping into the ball pit, sending plastic balls scattering every which way. Eve thanked God for the net mesh that kept those things contained. Leo's head and shoulders emerged from the pit.

"DID YOU SEE?" He yelled at Eve.

"I saw!" Eve called back, "That was great." She added nodding exaggeratedly so that he could see.

"I'M GOING TO DO IT AGAIN!" Leo yelled and then stood up to start wading his way out of the balls.

Eve waved at Leo again until he was out of sight. Apparently he had to complete the obstacle course again to find himself back at the rope swing. Eve's attention returned to her notes.

Did Oksana seem capable of empathy? Eve couldn't answer that. There hadn't been any sign of it so far. But Eve had hardly asked any questions that might lead her to be able to answer that one. Eve would love to see Rebecca's notes on Oksana, they would probably be hilarious. She couldn't imagine how their sessions had gone, but with every second spent with Oksana, Eve was less and less surprised that Rebecca had been reduced to tears. Oksana knew what she was doing. Most of the time. That injury was worrying though, there was definitely something going on there. Oksana's reluctance to show weakness was typical of someone with an inflated ego. But that alone didn't make her a—

"He's adorable."

Eve looked up from her notes in confusion. There was a woman standing beside her. She was younger than Eve and had a friendly, approachable look about her.

"Sorry?" Eve asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Your son," the woman laughed, "He's adorable."

Eve glanced quickly back up to where Leo had leapt onto the rope swing, but he wasn't there. She looked back at the woman.

"Oh, thanks." Eve said. "Yeah, he's… that's Leo." She added uselessly.

"Do you mind if I sit?" The woman asked.

Eve shot a look around at the other tables in the red, plastic seating area. Plenty of them were vacant. This woman could certainly find a table to sit at by herself. Why did she want to sit with Eve? Jesus. Was this woman hitting on her?

"Sure." Said Eve uncertainly. What was this about? Did this woman like the look of Eve and want to share a cup of awful coffee with her? Eve didn't have time for unsolicited flirting from women in children's play areas, even if said woman was more than quite attractive.

"Thanks." The woman sighed. "I'm Jennifer." She added as she sat opposite Eve.

"I'm working." Eve replied and then her eyes widened. "Sorry!" she gasped, "That was rude. I mean, I'm Eve. My name is Eve… and I'm working."

To Eve's relief the woman just laughed lightly.

"I see that, Eve. Don't worry, I won't disturb. I just wanted to be a bit closer so I could keep an eye on the kids." Jennifer explained.

"Oh." Eve replied, taken aback. "That's… Yeah, good idea. Got to, you know, make sure they're… alright."

"Exactly." Jennifer replied with a conciliatory smile. "You're a mum. You get it."

"Of course." Eve replied quickly.

Jennifer looked at Eve for a moment and then glanced at Eve's notebook, before looking at her once more.

"Seriously. Carry on." Jennifer said encouragingly.

"Right. Thanks." Eve smiled and picked up her pen. She wrote 'doesn't masturbate' on a new line before circling it.

Jennifer cleared her throat and Eve looked up just in time to see Jennifer's gaze flicking away from Eve's notebook and back to the obstacle course. Eve returned to her notes and added, 'lots of sex. Bullshit?'

"MUM!"

Eve dropped her pen and sighed before looking up at the padded shelf where Leo was perched again.

"I see you, Leo." She called.

Leo nodded and swung himself off the shelf with gusto before dropping out of sight into the ball pit once more. Again, his head and shoulders emerged.

"DID YOU SEE?" He practically screamed, prompting amused laughter from Jennifer.

"I saw. You're so good at that!" Eve said self-consciously.

"YEP!" Leo shouted proudly.

Eve chuckled. She was surrounded by egos.

Just then Eve's phone buzzed on the table next to her notebook, she squinted at the caller ID and was surprised to see the number of the prison that held Oksana. Eve found herself answering the call at once.

"Dr Polastri." She said authoritatively.

"Eve, hi. It's Bill." Came a familiar voice. Eve felt herself relax, but not entirely

"Oh hey, Bill. Everything OK?" Eve asked cautiously.

"Yes, fine. Fine. Well, not quite fine. I'm just calling to say you don't need to come in this week." Bill said conversationally.

"I don't need to… why?" Eve was confused.

"Astankova is in the hospital bay." Bill explained quickly.

Eve felt her chest clench. That was an odd reaction, but she could examine that later. Or not.

"What? Why is she there?" Eve asked in a hurry. She listened as Bill cleared his throat and paused.

"There was a slight… stabbing incident a couple of weeks ago. She said everything was fine, that she was healing nicely. But… It got infected. She collapsed yesterday in the library." Bill recounted hesitantly.

If Eve had to guess, she would say that Bill was feeling a little guilty for this development. Eve couldn't blame him. She had told him Oksana needed to see a doctor. Why did he think she would have said that? For a little light entertainment?

"A slight stabbing? What does that mean?" Eve asked, unable to disguise the level of emotion she found herself experiencing. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jennifer turn sharply to look at her.

"It was only a plastic spoon, Eve. More of a deep cut than a, you know, stab wound." Bill explained. Eve wasn't sure whom he was trying to convince.

"MUM!"

Eve looked up to see Leo yet again at the rope swing. She nodded and waved at him.

"Is this why she was in pain last week? How did the doctor miss an infection?" Eve asked into the phone. And why hadn't Oksana mentioned getting stabbed to Eve? Was that not the sort of thing they might discuss? Apparently not.

"She didn't see a doctor last week. She said it was fine." Bill reiterated. Eve was stunned.

"MUM! WATCH!" Leo yelled. Eve sent a more exaggerated wave his way. She was aware of Jennifer's eyes flitting between Eve and Leo. Eve felt her irritation levels rising.

"Excuse me?" Eve hissed into the phone, "She didn't see a… Of course she said it was fine! She has an ego the size of fucking Russia!"

Jennifer coughed loudly and Eve lost her battle against rolling her eyes, but did turn away from Jennifer.

"Eve! Calm down. Why are you so worked up? She's on antibiotics. She'll be fine. But not in time for your appointment this week." Bill said, speaking calmly as though trying to impart that level of calm to Eve through the phone.

"I want to see her anyway." Eve said stubbornly.

"Why?" Bill asked curiously. And Eve… didn't have an answer for him.

"I'll come to the hospital bay." She said, ignoring his question.

"She's not particularly pleasant at the moment." Bill warned.

"I can imagine. But still, I will come in tomorrow, OK?"

"MUM! YOU DIDN'T WATCH!" Leo shouted from the ball pit.

Eve glanced up at him. He was right. She hadn't watched.

"You did great, honey! You're like a spider monkey." Jennifer called to Leo. Eve's eyes locked on her.

"Tomorrow? Well, OK. But Eve, you really don't need to." Bill was saying into the phone.

"See you tomorrow." Eve muttered back to him.

"See you—"

Eve hung up. Her eyes still on Jennifer, who now shifted a little under Eve's gaze.

"Sorry for jumping in there. It must be so hard to juggle being a mum when you have work to do." Jennifer said sympathetically. "It sounds like your job is… intense."

"You don't work?" Eve asked.

"I couldn't possibly. Little ones take up so much time, don't they?" Jennifer simpered.

"Sure." Eve remarked and then began gathering her notebook into her bag and slipping into her coat.

"Leo!" Eve called, "Time to go."

She could see Leo's shoulders slump in disappointment all the way from where she was standing. But he dutifully stood and traipsed towards the exit of the soft play area, grabbing his trainers from the shoe pile and as he did so.

"We only just got here." Leo grumbled as he reached Eve.

"We've been here an hour," Eve pointed out, ruffling his hair. He shrugged away from her hand. "We need to make a stop in town on the way home, OK? We can get ice cream while we're there." She promised.

Leo's frown dissipated.

"What are we getting in town?" He asked.

"Something for my new client. She's not feeling so good." Eve said vaguely as she stooped to tie Leo's laces. He could do it himself now, but it was much quicker if Eve got involved.

"Ice cream for her?" Leo asked.

"No." Eve laughed, "Not ice cream."

"But ice cream for us?" Leo double-checked, his tone deadly serious.

"Do spider monkeys eat ice cream?" Eve asked dubiously.

"Um…." Leo dragged out, clearly thinking hard on this question. "Yep!" He declared.

Eve chuckled, and put her hand on Leo's shoulder to guide him towards the exit. They needed to hurry now to make it to the shops before they closed. It was only half way through their impromptu shopping trip that Eve remembered she had meant to start her draft report on someone else that afternoon rather than add to her notes on Oksana.