Knocking On Death's Door (J. Ortiz) (au)

Chapter Nine

     A couple of days after Juan Carlos's nightmare, Persephone was approached by the warden of the prison. He asked to speak to her in private, so she brought him to her office. She had no idea what the warden wanted to talk about, but she had a feeling she knew who they were going to be talking about.

"What can I do for you, warden?" Percy asked, as they both sat down in her office.

"Please, just call me John," He replied,"and I'm here to discuss the progress in the health of our prisoner, Mr. Ortiz."

"Is he meant to go back to prison after getting out of the hospital, John?" Percy questioned, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms.

"Yes," He answered,"Doctor Tate, Mr. Ortiz still has four months left to serve on his sentence, before he can get a parole hearing. With all of his past offenses, I'm not sure he'll be granted parole."

"And if he doesn't? How long does he have to serve?"

"Three years."

"You seen what happened to him; how he was brought in after what happened in your prison," She argued,"How can it be even remotely humane to send him back to a place where he was tortured and almost killed under your supervision?"

"Doctor Tate, I am aware of what condition Mr. Ortiz was in when he arrived," The warden sighed,"but I can assure you, that will not be happening again."

"And how can you be so sure?" She retorted,"It has happened one too many times."

"All guilty parties have been charged in their connection with what happened to Mr. Ortiz," He said,"but that's about as far as we can go."

"Put him in protective custody." She stated, making the man frown.

"Now, hold on a second, Doctor--" The warden began, but Percy cut him off.

"Mr. Ortiz can not withstand any damage even close to what happened, otherwise he will die. The damage to his internal organs is severe. We're still monitoring, but the damage to his brain is most likely irreversible, meaning one more TBI and he'll be brain dead, or at the least, permanently disabled," She sighed,"We've been so focused on his brain, that we can barely focus on the rest of his internal and external injuries. Whatever happened to his anus..."

"I heard some inmates talking about it. He was...gang r*ped, possibly more than just with their reproductive organs." The warden said, and the woman frowned.

"So, don't you think that bringing him in to just go back to general population is a bad idea?" She questioned,"For all you, the men that did this, have other men waiting for him when he gets back."

"Fine, I'll take it up with the council and tell them everything you told me," The warden sighed,"but I can't promise anything. With his past affiliations, they may just throw out the idea immediately."

"You're the warden, don't you make the decisions?" She asked, and he nodded.

"I do, but when it comes to things like this, I ask for opinions." He replied, making her scoff.

"A man's life is important, no matter who he was affiliated with or what his crimes have been," She stated,"If he isn't a pedo, a r*pist, or a serial killer, than his life matters."

"How much longer does he have in recovery before he can go back?" The warden asked, tired of arguing with the female doctor.

"At least a week. His injuries, especially to his brain and internal organs was pretty severe. We have to monitor his brain activity for at least another week, to make sure that his brain isn't deteriorating." She answered, and the man nodded.

"And if it is?" He asked, causing her to sigh.

"Then we'll have to do some more tests to see what could be going on inside of his head," She said,"there could be a chance that there's another brain bleed or worse. It could mean we have to perform brain surgery to fix it, or if it's too bad...he could die."

"If he dies..."

"Don't worry, John, nobody knows he's here, and nobody knows what happened. I doubt you'll get sued for what happened under your watch."

"I'm sorry, Doctor," He sighed,"I just never had a prisoner stay in the hospital for something like this, and there's a chance he could die from it."

"He's in good hands, I promise," Percy said,"you don't have to worry. We'll be doing another scan in two days, if it's worse, I'll call you, and let you know. If it's better, he should be able to go back to prison Tuesday, or at the latest Thursday."

"D-does he have any issues with, uh, using the bathroom?" He asked, actually feeling a little uncomfortable with his own question.

"We're still monitoring that. He's only been eating solid food for a couple of days. I believe he's healed enough to use the bathroom, but if not, it shouldn't be too long before he can," She said,"my worry, is that he might get a hernia if he's not careful. His abdominal wall has been loosened because of the damage he sustained. With that being said, he may have to stay on some form of miralax or something similar for a while."

"You will have to send prescriptions for him, otherwise we can not legally give him anything stronger than a Tylenol."

"I can do that," She answered,"I will have all of his prescriptions ready by the time he goes back."

     Percy hadn't wanted Juan Carlos to go back to prison. She knew that going back would put his mental health back to where it was when he had first woken up from his coma. She didn't want him to go back to where he was before. He was finally getting better all the way around, and she knew he was just going back to where he was and everything was going to be hell once he was back in prison...