Wettekinwas stamped on the silver name tag on the guard’s shirt, which I eyeballed as I scooted the walker out and past him. It took everything in me not to say something about the way he was cowering. It would get me put right back in that dismal room. The other guard stood poking at his phone, ignoring us.
Wettekin did his best impression of a sneer, but I could see through him. He was scared of me. Scared of the fucking world. I knew him. Fuck—I was him. “Am I going to have any problems out of you, Gaffin?”
“No,” I rasped and cleared my throat. “What time is it?”
With a snotty little eye roll, he said, “Eleven in the morning. Get someplace that isn’t going to cause me fucking problems. I don’t have time to escort you anywhere.” He stared down his nose at me.
Nodding, I hesitated. I wanted to ask Wettekin about Laken and Drew, but in the end I walked off because he had a mean set to his mouth, even though I wasn’t sure what direction I should be going. Once I got back into the main building, I passed through F block and looked in on my cell in E. Nothing much had changed, though someone had made the bed, which was weird and nice. I went through D block, and opened the doors to the short hallway that led into C block and came to a halt.
The doors coming from the other direction slammed open. Orlov, who I’d learned pretty quickly not to engage, stood there with a scowl on his plump lips. For once, his short brown hair was a mess, rather than styled within an inch of its life. I dropped my gaze and went to step around him. He reached out and snatched the front of my stinky white T-shirt and dragged me off to the side of the doors. The only thing that saved me from getting hurt was the fact that Orlov wasn’t a big man. My heart jackhammered and I tried to shove him off, but he knocked me back into the wall hard.
“Greene was watching your ass. Why?”
Terror pelted through me as his words sprayed spittle on my face. My instincts were to slug away, but I’d just come out of that isolation hell. My body quivered. I was going to shake apart. “You’d have to ask him.”
“I can’t, you fucking maggot. He’s still in the goddamned hospital. Fucked up by rat shit like you.” There was something in Orlov’s eyes that let me know he’d imagined himself stabbed and bleeding, dead in this prison.
“How bad was he hurt?” I asked quietly.
Orlov laughed. “Why? That’s the real question. Why was he hurt? Me? The cons, men like you, they hate me. Him? Not so much.” He poked me on the chest and smirked. “So why?”
“What happened? Dr. Bond brought me the walker and a toothbrush and wouldn’t say. Violation of privacy.” I searched his face desperately, and his dark brows furrowed.
“Why do you care?’
I ducked my head and swallowed. There was nothing I could say that wouldn’t possibly get Drew in trouble, and it galled me that I had no right to ask, not really. “Like you said, everyone likes Greene.”
Orlov cracked his baton against the wall at my side, and I jumped because I hadn’t noticed him taking it out of the loop on his utility belt. “Perforated bowel. A nick, but that’s still some shit that can kill you. Literallyshit. A deep muscle tear in his leg.”
My stomach tossed. All that sounded serious. This was my fault.
“I’m asking again.” Orlov used the cool tip of his baton to tilt my chin up. The walker was between us, but he shoved it aside and used a hand on my throat to trap me in place. “Why was Greene covering your ass for you? He told me Beast was behind his attack, and all the fucking roads in this shitstorm seem to lead to you. I’ve talked to half the people in this fucking prison since Greene was jumped, and I’m fucking tired. I want answers. Now.”
“Drew didn’t want me hurt.” The baton was pressed so hard under my chin I almost couldn’t open my mouth to talk. Orlov blinked at me. I could have kicked myself. Other inmates probably didn’t call him Drew. “Greene. Greene didn’t want me hurt.”
Orlov’s smile was not friendly as he shook his head. “I don’t give a shit about you. I don’t. Or Greene, either. I don’t want to be lying inmy ownblood. I’m not making myself a target. Whatever issues you have, you solve them. Whatever Greene is doing with you that he shouldn’t be, I don’t give a flying fuck. Why is Beast after you? That is my only fucking problem. Beast, and keeping a lid on him.”
“What are you saying?” I froze inside, but Orlov finally lowered his baton so I could straighten up again.
“I have E block until Greene’s back. Unless you can tell me something? I can’t get anyone in this prison to talk about jack shit. Each of the men who attacked Greene were magically there all on their own, seemingly without coordination, and decided to attack Greene on a whim. A bolt from out of the fucking blue. It’s like a fucking David Copperfield production around here.” He dragged my walker back in front of me and stepped away.
“Yeah, all that seems unlikely.”
Orlov sneered, and unlike Wettekin, his was real. He thought I was worse than dirt and didn’t care if I died. “No shit. If you figure out something that’s fucking helpful, find me. I’m tapped out, and I couldn’t care less if someone turns you into a bloody smear.” He put his baton back into the loop on his belt and laughed, but he seemed exhausted more than anything. Orlov pushed open the doors to D block and rushed away to terrorize someone else.
My head spun with the information about Drew and I wanted to die. He was injured that badly? Because of me? It was harder to push my walker as I decided it was late enough to go to the cafeteria. I wanted to shower first, but there was no way I was going to risk being alone in the regular shower area right now. Besides, I’d barely eaten in the SHU. The more I thought about Drew, and him hurt in a hospital bed somewhere, the angrier I got.
When I arrived at the cafeteria, the smells of something halfway decent—burgers—drifted out to greet me. There was a long chow line, and the low buzz of conversation was quieter than usual. All around, people hunched closer to their trays than they had last time I’d eaten a meal here. Men who got along sat a little closer together, almost in huddles. The people sitting alone seemed like targets that would be easy to pick off. I shuddered.
Tatum sat in the far right corner where he usually did with his people. There seemed to be fewer men with him. The one who jumped Laken and me was definitely missing. I studied Tatum, but when he glanced up, I dropped my eyes to the floor. Fury surged through me, and I stood there for a moment. I’d lived so much of my life terrified of one man, and now he was hurting everyone around me—again.
When I finally peered upward, it was because a set of feet stopped just inside my line of sight. I jerked my head up, and Laken smiled. He looked worse than usual, paler and skinnier, and his right arm was wrapped in gauze to the elbow. He laid a hand on mine where it rested on my walker, then jerked away quickly, probably because he didn’t want to give a guard a chance to bark at him. He was a friendly kid. The pinched wrinkles around his mouth made me think the not-touching thing was starting to get to him.
From one second to the next, he beamed at me. “I heard they stuck you by yourself. That isn’t fair, since we were the ones attacked. Are you okay?”
My heart twisted as I stared at his bandage. “Yeah.” I nodded at his arm. “You?”
Laken glanced down at his injury and shrugged. “It’s okay. I think they forgot about putting me in the hole because I was bleeding everywhere. I’ll be joining you at PT, though. Some of my tendons and shit are fucked up.” He held up his hand and only two of his fingers were wriggling along with his thumb.
