Song of the Blackbird (Albatross Prison #1)

by DB Michaels

  Clang! Clang! Clang!

  “What the hell is that?” Chambers asked.

  Emma rubbed her temple with her good hand. Yes, definitely a full-blown migraine. Zigzag lines crisscrossed in front of her eyes.

  “It’s the heater,” Ms. Marcs said from the doorway. “Are you okay, Dr. Edwards? You want us to wheel you to the Urgent Care? You can wait there. The ambulance should be here any minute.”

  “I’m fine.” She winced as another clang burst out. “I have a migraine. And my wrist hurts.”

  “Where?” Chambers gently prodded her wrist and asked her to wiggle her fingers. “They can get the X-ray in the ER.”

  “I don’t need the ER,” she said again as another clanging sound erupted. The noise was going to kill her. She had to get out of here. Emma stood and took a tentative step. A wave of light-headedness slammed into her, almost knocking her over. Before she knew it, Chambers had swung her up in his arms like a sack of potatoes.

  “What are you doing?” she shrieked, twisting in his arms. “I can walk. Put me down.”

  Chambers only grunted and kept going. The other officers hurried after them as he carried her down the hall to the Urgent Care.

  “Where the hell is that ambulance?” Chambers bellowed as he placed her gently on the gurney in the main treatment room.

  “They said ETA is fifteen minutes.” Ms. Marcs wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Emma’s arm.

  “I’m going to the tank.” Chambers shot a peremptory look at the nurse. “Don’t let her get out of that gurney.”

  “Never saw him this worked up before.” Ms. Marcs shook her head as Chambers exited. She handed Emma an ice pack. “Ransom is going to get the beating of his life. Poor Mr. Chambers is probably going to get suspended.”

  “What?” Emma’s heart slammed against her chest. “Suspended? Why?”

  “He likes to take justice in his own hands.” Ms. Marcs clucked her tongue. “Last time he beat up an inmate, they gave him a warning. This time I’m sure it’s going to be worse.”

  “Please call him back.”

  “He’s not going to listen.”

  “Well, he should.” Emma slid out of the gurney. She grabbed the railing as a wave of light-headedness hit her. “I’m not going to sit around and watch him get in trouble on my account. Where is he?”

  “You can’t leave, Doc.” Ms. Marcs rushed to her side. “He’ll kill me if he sees you out there.”

  “Then go find him.” Now her brain felt like it was on fire. Why was she still hearing that clanging sound when it was back in the other room? “Tell him I’m going to go look for him. Unless he comes back right now.”

  “Just stay in that gurney.” Ms. Marcs helped her lie back on the stretcher. “I can’t promise anything.” The nurse clucked her tongue again before heading out.

  The ice pack felt cool and refreshing against the soreness in her wrist. Clang! Clang! Clang! Emma winced and closed her eyes, wishing she’d asked for a Motrin. Oh, God. She hoped Chambers wasn’t going to lose his job because of her.

  “Em, are you okay?”

  Emma opened her eyes.

  Sam stood next to her, his eyes lit with concern. “What did that bastard do to you?”

  “It’s just my wrist. I’m fine.”

  “You don’t deserve this.” He darted a glance at the doorway and squeezed her arm. “Find another job, Em. You shouldn’t be here.”

  “It’s only a sprain.”

  “Listen.” He shot another look to the entranceway. “I gotta go. My shift ended already. Custody will kill me if they find me here. Promise me, Em. Go home and don’t come back. I’ll write, I promise.”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  “What the hell is going on in here?” Chambers loomed in the doorway, his fulminating glare directed straight at her brother.

  “I called him to get me another ice pack,” Emma said hastily. “Thanks, Morris. You can go now.” She tried to reassure her brother with a smile.

  “Yes, Doc.” Sam bent his head and scurried out of the room.

  Poor boy. She hoped he wasn’t going to get in trouble over this.

  “You’re okay?” Chambers asked, his breath a little short, as if he’d run all the way here.

  “Of course. Why?” Emma forced out a smile.

  “She said you passed out, that she couldn’t wake you up.”

  “Oh. Sorry.” Emma swallowed. The guy looked like he was about to explode. “Please don’t get mad at Ms. Marcs. I told her to get you. You didn’t do anything to Ransom yet, did you?”

  “No. I was about to but that damned nurse came in, swearing that you were unconscious.” Chambers’s scowl deepened. “Now the guy’s on his way to the hole, with his nose and face still in place. Damn it. He almost killed you.”

  “So he’ll be punished. He’s going to the hole, right?” Emma licked her lips. So much raw rage emanated from the man. “Ms. Marcs said you may get suspended if you do anything to him.”

  “That damned nurse should keep her mouth shut.”

  “Excuse me. The ambulance is here,” Ms. Marcs said in a small voice. She flicked a nervous glance the warden’s way and stayed clear out of his path. Luckily he didn’t seem to pay her any attention, his eyes fixed on the EMTs entering the room.

  It turned out to be the same crew who had transported Mr. Barkley earlier, Robertson and Garcia.

  “Hey, Doc. You hurt?” Garcia asked, his friendly face filled with concern.

  “Only my wrist.” She held up her right hand. “How’s Mr. Barkley? Is he okay?”

  “Abdominal infection, like you called it. He’s in ICU, but doing okay, last we heard.”

  “ICU? Why? Is he on pressors?” The poor man. Pressors didn’t bode well.

  “Not sure if his blood pressure needed the pressors. But probably. It was really low when we left him.”

  “I don’t know who the hell Barkley is and I don’t want to know,” Chambers said. “Stop wasting time and take her to the hospital.”

  “I only need an X-ray,” Emma insisted. “Is there an urgent care walk-in clinic close by? Too bad I can’t order my own X-ray here.”

  “She got slammed against the wall.” Chambers stepped closer and gave her his usual scowl. “She’s been complaining of a headache and can barely walk.”

  “I have a migraine. I don’t need the hospital.”

  “Let’s do a quick exam, shall we?” Robertson shined a light in her eyes and asked her a few simple questions. “She looks all right to me,” he pronounced.

  Chambers emitted a low, disapproving growl.

  “Can you stand up and walk?” Garcia asked hastily.

  “Sure.” Emma sat up slowly, knowing she’d better pull this off. Good, the pain had subsided a lot. Her head no longer felt like a pressure cooker. A few more steps and then she’d be home free. She took a deep breath and put one foot in front of the other. A wave of nausea swept over her. She grabbed the closest object, which happened to be Chambers’s arm. He steadied her with his hands, and the next thing she knew, she was retching all over his pristine suit.

  “Oh, my God.” Her face felt like a furnace. “I’m so sorry.” She tried to wipe the slime away, which unfortunately only made it smear even more. Her cursed stomach chose that moment to heave again.

  “Here.” Someone shoved a kidney basin her way and luckily Chambers’s suit was spared another attack.

  “Sit down,” Chambers said in a flat voice. “You’re going to fall.”

  And Emma was sure he wouldn’t catch her this time. Not if he dared risk another slime attack. She lay down and closed her eyes, eternally glad she didn’t have to look at him. At least the nausea subsided a little bit.

  “Can somebody please just take me home?” she asked, not caring that her voice came out in a whine. “Maybe Dr. Brown? I need to sleep it off. I’ll take the X-ray tomorrow.”

  “Brown left early today. His kid’s sick,” Chambers said. “Pack her up, gentlemen. You kno
w she needs to go.”

  “Uh, Doc.” Garcia’s voice sounded close to her right ear. “I’m afraid your boss is right. Better be safe than sorry.”

  “Alright. Fine.” Emma kept her eyes closed. There was no point arguing. Chambers was never going to leave her alone until she complied, and God knew he probably wanted to go home to change as soon as possible. That was the least she could do for him.

  “Something wrong with your eyes?” Chambers’s voice sounded only a foot away.

  The stench of vomit was overwhelming. She turned her face away and held her breath. Dear God, could this day get any worse?

  “The light hurts.” It was partially true but the main reason was looming right next to her. “Please go away. You stink.” Damn. Had she just said that out loud? Emma groaned in mortification.

  The stench receded, but she was definitely not going to open her eyes. Chambers probably thought she was a major catastrophe. A major rude catastrophe.

  She felt the paramedics lift her onto another stretcher. They strapped her down with some belts and began rolling her out of the room. They halted near the exit to say something to the guards. Emma didn’t smell any more vomit. Probably safe to open her eyes now. Drat. Chambers’s silver eyes stared right back at her. He’d shed his jacket and was in a blue long-sleeved dress shirt.

  “Why are you still here?” Emma squeaked out, knowing her face was probably as red as a lobster.

  “Close your eyes. The lights are pretty bright out here.”

  “You okay, Doc?” Ms. Marcs stood on the other side of the gurney. She gave the warden a wary glance. “All the patients are asking about you. Wishing you the best.”

  “The patients?” Emma couldn’t help but smile. At least she wasn’t a complete disaster. “Who are we talking about?”

  “Well, all the guys in room four, and even grumpy hernia man. And Mr. Nash too.”

  “Mr. Nash.” She reached out a hand. “Is his heater fixed? It was freezing in there this morning.”

  “Afraid not.” The nurse shook his head. “Maintenance takes forever sometimes.”

  “But it’s so cold in there. I don’t think the blankets will be enough.” Emma tried to get up but the belts were too tight. “Can you move him to a warmer room?”

  “All the rooms with heaters are full.”

  “He can’t be in that room.” Emma chafed against the belts. “Give me the list of patients. Maybe I can discharge someone so you can transfer him.”

  “Stop moving.” Chambers stilled her hands with his big paw. He seemed remarkably unfazed for a man she’d thrown up all over on. “You’re not discharging anyone. We’re going to the hospital, remember?”

  “But he’ll freeze in that room. And I’m feeling better already. A few more minutes isn’t going to hurt.”

  “Smith,” Chambers bellowed. His familiar minion magically appeared. “Call Maintenance and tell them I want Nash’s heater fixed. Today. And tell them to get rid of that infernal clanging sound, too.”

  “Yes, sir.” The man dashed off, eager to do his duty.

  “Ready to go?” The EMTs pushed the gurney outside, where a medium-sized ambulance greeted them. Odd. She thought it was evening already as so much had happened, but the sun was still bright.

  “What’s the matter? Does the sun hurt your eyes?”

  “No. I mean, only a little bit.” Emma hated how one lie spiraled into the next. “Sorry about your suit. You don’t have to go with me. I’ll be fine.”

  “It’s policy. One of us has to go with you.” His eyes blazed at her. “And how could you worry about my suit? That bastard almost killed you. I’ll follow in my car.” With that, he abruptly left and the paramedics loaded her into the ambulance.

  After a short ride, they finally arrived at the emergency room. Some techs wheeled her to the trauma suite, a huge freezing room with monitors everywhere. Emma was fishing for a pen in her massive purse to fill out the paperwork when Chambers entered.

  “Has anyone seen you yet?” He loomed over her.

  “No.” Damn. The pen was nowhere in sight and her hand was hurting again.

  “Here, use mine.” Chambers handed her a fancy engraved fountain pen and kept looking at her with his strange eyes.

  Why didn’t he say anything? Maybe he wasn’t in a chatting mood. Come to think of it, she wouldn’t be either if she’d been vomited on and forced to go to the ER for an employee who wasn’t even that sick. She tried to concentrate on the paperwork.

  “Ow.” Emma dropped the pen. Her hand hurt like hell.

  “Give it to me.” Chambers grabbed the paperwork and sat down next to the gurney. “I’ll fill it out for you. Emma Eve Edwards, right?”

  “Yeah.” How the heck did he know her middle name? Right, he had access to her personnel papers. He must’ve looked her up to make sure Regionals hadn’t committed some grave mistake in hiring her.

  “Age?”

  “Twenty-nine.”

  “Marital status?”

  “Single.”

  “Phone number?”

  And so it went. On and on. The guy did it without complaining, recording everything precisely in his bold, distinctive handwriting. When they were done, he flagged down the nurse and handed over the paperwork as well as her insurance card and driver’s license. He stayed by her side the whole time except for when the doctor stepped in to examine her. It was strange having him in the room. He worked on his laptop but checked on her once in a while to make sure she didn’t need anything.

  Thank goodness the ER doctor, a man named Dr. Aikins, cleared her for discharge after a few hours of endless waiting. Her head CT turned out fine, just as Emma had predicted. Her wrist was sprained, but not broken. Dr. Aikins applied a tight ACE bandage around it and told her to take it easy for a few days.

  “I can still work, right?” Emma asked. Her nausea and headache were gone now that they had given her some morphine and Compazine.

  “I’d take the next couple of days off if I were you. You won’t be able to use that hand for a while.”

  “It’s not broken. I’ll be fine.” And besides, Sam would be worried to death if she didn’t show up tomorrow.

  “Let’s see how you feel tomorrow,” Chambers suddenly said out of the blue. She hadn’t known he was paying attention to the conversation, so absorbed did he seem with his laptop.

  “Your boyfriend’s right. You should take it easy.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend.”

  “No, definitely not,” Chambers said, all too readily in Emma’s opinion. “I’m her boss.”

  “Oh, sorry.” Dr. Aikins cleared his throat. “You were so involved with her care, I’d just assumed.”

  “Wrong assumption.” Chambers snapped his laptop shut. “Can we go now?”

  “Sure.” The doctor gave him a wary glance before leaving the room. They were about to follow when a familiar sight greeted Emma’s eyes. She silently cursed her luck.

  “Emma.” Her ex, John, hurried to her side. “Are you okay? Why didn’t you call me? You know I work here.”

  Damn. She’d completely forgotten. John looked as dapper and handsome as ever with his wavy brown hair, light-blue eyes, and easy smile. The long white coat only added to his appeal. She turned away to gather her things.

  “Emma?” John reached for her arm.

  “Who the hell are you?” Chambers’s face was as grim as ever.

  Emma hastily stepped between them. “John, this is Mr. Chambers. Mr. Chambers, Dr. John Carmichael, an old friend of mine.”

  “Are you dating him? Is that why you haven’t returned my calls?” John asked.

  “What? No. He’s my boss.”

  “From UCLA?”

  “No, from Albatross.”

  “That godforsaken prison?” John cursed and threw her an accusing look. “I can’t believe you went through with it. Why are you in the ER?”

  “I sprained my wrist.”

  John glanced at the tape on her arm. “Then why
did you need an IV?”

  “I had a headache. You know, my migraines.”

  “Are you getting enough sleep? You know that always sets you off.”

  “What is this? The Inquisition?” Emma said, sick of all the questions. Her wrist throbbed and all she wanted to do was go home and go to bed. “Good-bye, John. I have to go.”

  “Wait, Em.” He grabbed her arm. “Can we talk? Please?”

  Emma pulled back. Couldn’t the guy take a hint? Her day had been tough enough. She didn’t need this right now.

  “Please.” John reached for her again.

  “She said no.” Chambers’s big paw shoved John’s hand away. “Leave her alone.” He ushered her out. John’s eyes seemed to bore into her back all the way to the exit.

  “What a mess.” Emma shook her head when they reached the parking lot. “This is definitely the worst day of my life.”

  “Tell me about it.” Chambers’s big body seemed to vibrate with tension. “Come on. My car’s this way.”

  Emma hesitated. She didn’t want to intrude on him more than she already had. “Can you call me a cab? They can drive me to my car, and I can take it from there.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t drive. You just got morphine.”

  “Oh. I forgot.” The man’s silver eyes bored into hers, sending a shiver up Emma’s spine. It wasn’t quite fear she felt, but something else. A sense of danger. Excitement even. Was the morphine getting to her? “The cab can take me home.” Now why was she feeling a little breathless? It must have been the medicine. Or was it because of those silver eyes? They were downright striking.

  “Where do you live?”

  “In Corona.”

  “That’s right on my way. Hop in.”

  They’d reached his car by now, a sleek black Porsche. He held the door open. It’d be silly to insist on waiting for a cab. Emma slid into the car and gave him her address, which he plugged into his cell’s navigation system. Chambers’s huge body dominated the entire front of the car as soon as he sat. His massive arms seemed strong enough to rip the steering wheel off its stem. Strangely enough, Emma no longer found his size intimidating.