Chapter 3
She wanted to get out of this cell. It felt like she'd been in there the whole week, but it was only three days and she was going stir crazy. She hadn't seen Jason over the weekend and it had been a mess in here. With Damien and all the other guards it was hell being in prison, and Jason somewhat eased it for Sam. She didn't know what it was, because she'd known him for a full day, but he did, and she was grateful for him being there.
''Well, well, well,'' she heard, and she looked up to see Damien stand in front of the cell. ''I hear your friend Jason works today – maybe he'll take you somewhere private,'' he said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. She just stared at him, remembering Jason's words to keep low. He frowned and walked away, and she sighed of relief. Dana took a deep breath and she could hear her relax.
''That was close – I really hope he was just trying to make you talk,'' Dana said, and Sam nodded. She'd hoped Jason had to work today, because she had to talk to him about this. The women had been kept in the cell all weekend, and she didn't get why no one did anything to stop Damien and his 'followers'. She'd noticed some of the women being pulled up front – getting everything they wanted – and not that she cared, but she thought it was weird.
After she had told Jason she'd think of something for his plan, she'd been thinking a lot. She didn't have much to do, so she made herself crazy thinking about a plan. When she finally had a plan, she had been glad. She'd been thinking she would befriend some of the women in here to get them to talk about what the guards did to them, and she knew it was going to take some time and effort, but she also knew it would be worth it once they did trust her. She wanted to make some trouble, get Damien angry and send her with some of the guards – only to expect he would send her with Jason would be stupid. She couldn't and wouldn't want herself to be in a position where she couldn't get out of, so she wouldn't do that unless she knew he could only send her with Jason. She also had to talk to Jason about it, so she hoped to get some time alone with him during the day.
She'd been thinking about her plan all morning, and she realized it was simple but she didn't think it would work. She hated doubting herself, but she did, and she had to talk to Jason to see if he had an idea of what to do.
''Sam, get up,'' she heard Dana whisper, and she looked up to see her standing next to the bed. Sam jumped up, knowing if she didn't she'd miss breakfast and she really was hungry. The doors opened and they all stepped in line after Damien hollered it through the halls, and as they started to move to the eating hall she looked around if she could see Jason careful not to let anyone see. She didn't see him and she took a deep breath when Damien brushed passed her and slapped her on her butt, but she didn't say anything. She sat down when they were in the eating hall after getting her breakfast, and she looked around. Suddenly she saw Jason standing there, and she felt her heart flutter. It was a strange feeling, something she had never felt before, and she looked down again.
''This is better,'' she suddenly said, meaning breakfast. The last couple of days they had eaten old bread in the morning, and she was glad this was fresh.
''They don't care what they give us, Sam, you should know by now,'' Dana said, and Sam nodded. She could see Dana looking around and when she saw Jason, she widened her eyes. ''Sam, you need to stick with me today,'' she said softly, and when Sam wanted to protest, she looked at Dana but didn't. She couldn't tell her nothing happened with Jason, because it would ruin his cover and she didn't want that.
''Sure – you think that will help?'' she asked, and when Dana nodded she sighed and stayed silent. She wanted to tell Dana, because after spending a lot of time with her in the cell, she really started to like her. She saw her as a friend, even though the circumstances were strange.
''McCall,'' she heard, and she looked up to see Jason staring at her with a blank stare. Dana grabbed her hand and held on to it when she wanted to stand, but Jason saw it and ripped Dana's hand off. Sam knew it didn't mean anything and he wanted to keep up appearances, but Dana didn't and she could see she wanted to jump up and protest.
''Dana, let it go,'' she whispered, and Dana widened her eyes. ''Come on, let it go and keep on eating – don't make Damien notice you,'' Sam added, and Jason sighed hard, letting them know to stop talking. Sam looked up at him and back at Dana, to see her nod.
''McCall, come on, I don't have all day,'' Jason snapped, and he grabbed Sam's arm. Once they were out of the eating hall he loosened his grip, and he took her to the room. But when they walked passed the door, she looked up at him and frowned.
''Where are we going?'' she asked softly, and Jason shook his head letting her know he didn't want to tell. She blinked a couple of times when they arrived in a dark room, and Jason walked to the other side and opened another door, where he let her go in first and closed the door behind him.
''I found out how to get in this room without anyone noticing and Damien told me it was the room where they take the women who are – lets just say they take their women here,'' Jason explained, and Sam nodded. She saw the bed in the room – it was more like a mattress on some pallets, and shivered when she thought of what happened here. ''The other room is for the rookies, and Damien telling me this is a good sign as it is but I feel bad coming here,'' Jason added in a whisper, and Sam nodded again.
''It's – you can feel the bad energy in here,'' she replied, and when he nodded she sighed. ''Why did you take me here?'' she asked, and he closed his eyes as he sat down on the only chair in the room.
''First I want you to eat something – I brought it in here for you because I know the hospital food is crap, and I know you haven't been eating at all in here,'' Jason said, and she widened her eyes when he said that. ''They tell the new shift what happened every day, and Damien told me you didn't eat, and you need to eat Sam,'' he added sternly, and she nodded and looked down.
''I'm sorry – I just couldn't…'' she stopped talking when he stood and walked toward her. She looked up at him and saw the concern in his eyes, and she sighed. ''I can't eat the food because I don't – I mean I don't feel like eating most of the time and because the food is crap,'' she said, and he nodded.
''I know, so that's why I'm sneaking in something everyday, so you at least have one good meal,'' he told her, and she shook her head.
''But that's not fair to the other women,'' she exclaimed, and she saw him widen his eyes. She stared at him as he thought about that, and he nodded.
''Until we can manage to let them change something around here, you eat what I bring you – everyday – and I'll work on changing the food,'' he told her, and she nodded reluctantly. She didn't want to be the only woman who got nice food, but if he was sure of changing the food around here she wouldn't have that much of a problem.
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Jason watched as Sam thought about his offer and smiled when he realized she really cared about some of the women in here. She didn't want to eat the food because the women in here couldn't eat anything nice, and he wanted to help her make sure they got what they needed. ''Really, I'll help make some changes in here as well, because I know you care about the women here,'' he whispered, and he took her hand. She looked up at him again, and he could see the gratitude in her eyes – and the tears. ''What is it Sam?'' he asked softly, and she shook her head. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and held her.
''I don't know what – what has gotten into me,'' she whispered between sobs, and he shook his head and held her close. He could feel everything in his body on high alert – everything was tingling, and it was a feeling he had never felt before. He walked backwards to the chair and sat down with her on his lap, and she laid her head against his chest as she cried.
''It's ok, Sam – we're going to get you out of here,'' he whispered, and she nodded against his chest and as suddenly as the tears came, they stopped.
''I'm sorry,'' she said, and she started to move off his lap. He held her on her place by wrapping his arms around her once again, and she looked at him in confusion. ''What are you doing?'' she asked softly, and he looked at her lips. She had the most wonderful lips, he thought, and he couldn't help it. He wanted to kiss her. So he moved closer, looking in her eyes and he saw the emotions twirling around. She didn't back out, and he pressed his lips on hers in a gently gesture. He could see her close her eyes and he felt her arms wrap around his neck, and he pulled her closer to his body. He knew he couldn't deepen the kiss, because if he did, he wouldn't be able to stop, so he pulled back. They had to catch their breath, and when they did, she sighed and smiled at him.
''I've been thinking about it the whole weekend,'' he said softly, and her smile went brighter. ''Ok, let's get you some food,'' he said suddenly, and he got up slowly and helped her to her feet, walked towards a little hiding place and took the bag of food out of it. ''I put it there just before my shift so it still has to be good,'' he told her as she looked at the sandwich.
''Jason, thank you,'' she whispered, and he nodded and smiled when she attacked the sandwich, moaning as she ate. ''This is amazing,'' she said with her eyes wide, and he smiled.
''When I thought about it, I went to Kelly's – it's a small diner in the place where I come from – and I thought you'd like this,'' he told her, and she nodded. He couldn't stop smiling and looking at her as she ate, and when the sandwich was gone she looked up at him.
''Thank you so much – I guess I needed that,'' she said, and she blushed. He just nodded as he stared at her. He couldn't believe how beautiful she was, and she was smart and kind. He couldn't help thinking about her all weekend, and he had only known her one day.
''Let's get this started, Sam. Tell me about your plan,'' he said, and she looked down. ''What, don't you have a plan?'' he asked, and she nodded.
''I had a plan and I liked it, until I thought of something that didn't help with the plan,'' she said, and he nodded. She told him about her plan, about how she wanted to lure Damien out and have him mad. She had thought about making him mad and letting him send her with Jason, but he could also send her with another guard, and it wouldn't help the plan at all.
''You're right. It would be a great plan when it was only Damien and I but there are too many guards to think he would always send you with me. Now, I thought of something a little more complicated, but I think it could work,'' he said, and she nodded and waited for him to continue, so he did. ''While I continue to befriend Damien, you get some of the women to trust you – tell you what is going on, you know?''
''Yeah, I thought about that too,'' she said, and he smiled at her. She really was smart.
''It's going to take some time, but we have that – in the meantime we can try and get the food to be fresh and – of better quality. Now we need to find a way to get him alone. I think we need him to – I'm sorry,'' he whispered suddenly, and he walked toward her and grabbed both of her hands.
''You want me to get him alone in here,'' she said, and he shook his head. ''You thought about it, though – maybe it's a plan – get him here alone with me and you follow, then you can kill him and say it was self-defense. Or protecting me,'' she added, and he shook his head again. He did think about it, but he didn't want her to put herself in that kind of a position.
''I really don't-''
''I really think it would work – if you want to befriend him that's fine – I can help you with that, but I think this is the much quicker plan and it can work – you just have to be in time to help me,'' she interrupted him, and he nodded. She had a point there. ''Jason, I'd like to tell Dana – she's really worried about me and I don't want to lie to her,'' she suddenly said, and he nodded.
''You can tell her, but only her and tell her to keep it to herself,'' he replied, and she nodded and smiled up at him.
''Thank you – I really had a hard time convincing her I was ok the last time,'' she said, and he nodded. He had never wanted to put her in a position where she had to lie to a friend, and he was glad she asked him, because he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize the plan, and this way she would tell someone what they were doing without getting it out.
''Now lets just say we plan this a little more – I mean I'll talk to Sonny – you must know him too if you know me – and we will figure out a way to make this work, and in the meantime you tell Dana, and I'll take care of the cafeteria – then we meet here again – like this,'' he said, and she nodded.
''Sounds like a plan,'' she replied, and he nodded and opened the door. He grabbed her arm again, but waited until the halls before he stared glaring at her and winking at her. She shivered, and only because he knew it was fake he saw right through it, but she was good. He could see fear in her eyes and he was surprised at how good she was. The women around them screamed at him, and when he put her back in her cell he turned around without looking at her again, because he knew he would want to stare at her all the time and it wouldn't help with the plan. He walked back to the front to eat his own sandwich.
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Sam patted Dana on her shoulder to get her attention, and Dana looked at her with concern in her eyes. ''Are you ok?'' she asked immediately, and Sam nodded and gestured for her to come sit next to her. When Dana climbed out of her bed and sat next to Sam, she grabbed her hand and just held it.
''Dana, I'd like to tell you something but you have to promise me you'll keep it to yourself,'' Sam started, and Dana nodded.
''I promise,'' she replied, and Sam nodded.
''Jason, the guard – he's not bad. He's undercover and that's all I can say about that, but I'm helping him get Damien to stop doing what he's doing,'' Sam whispered, and she watched as Dana's eyes widened and she gasped.
''O my god, I didn't think – I didn't even notice it,'' she whispered, and Sam nodded. ''Damn you're good, girl,'' Dana added softly, and Sam smiled.
''Listen, I only told you this because you were worried and I didn't want to lie to you anymore, but now you know you have to act like I didn't tell you this and when Jason takes me with him, just act like you did before – it will only mess with the plan if you don't act scared anymore and it wouldn't help either,'' she said, and then she frowned at the double talk. She shrugged and looked at Dana again, ''I'm not going to tell you the plan but you don't have to worry about me anymore, ok?''
''Thanks for telling me Sam, I really appreciate it. Thank you,'' she whispered, and Sam nodded. Suddenly Dana wrapped her arms around her in a hug and Sam was surprised, but wrapped her arms around the other woman and smiled.
''No I think things are going to change here,'' Sam said. She was sure of it.
