Degeneracy♡

chapter 12: DEBRIEF

Last night, we spent six hours in a&e with my wrist. Thanks a lot, Sebastian. My mum found me sobbing uncontrollably on the floor when she got home and took me straight to the hospital. She begged me to tell her what happened; I'm not going to let a round three happen.

This morning, my eyes are puffy as fuck because I was crying for most of the night and I feel emotionally drained. I put some high coverage concealer over my bags and try to disguise the redness of my eyes with dramatic lashes. It doesn't do a great job, but it'll do for now.

My brother gave me a lift the prison. He wants to know why I have a wrist support on, but I don't tell him a thing either. 

"Was it an incident that happened in the prison?" He asks.

"No," I answer, bluntly.

The rest of the journey was silent. I don't know whether Luca will be angry because I have no information to give him. Oh god, if he's anything like as angry as he was yesterday, I will fully be murdered. 

I thank my brother for the lift and luckily, he will be back to pick me up. I can see from the carpark that Vera is watching me through the window. Oh lord, she's going to fuss even more seeing as I have a wrist support on. It's just a sprain, it's not like it's broken.

"Isobel! What happened to your wrist?" Vera shrieks.

"I... fell, so..."I awkwardly lie.

"How? How did you fall?" She interrogates. 

"I slipped in my kitchen when I was mopping the floor." I lie once again.

"But you were ill yesterday? Obviously not ill enough to carry on with you domesticated chores, Miss Shelby." She goes back to her usual self.

"I dropped a cup of tea and I had to mop it up," I tell her, getting slightly annoyed.

"Miss Shelby, truancy will not be tolerated. I don't care that you only have three more days working here. Any kind of mischief will not go unnoticed." She rants.

"I-I know..." Tears well up in my eyes. 

Vera's face softens substantially. "Oh, Isobel, I didn't mean to upset you." She starts.

"It's..." I take a breath, putting on a brave face. "It's okay, I would just like to start working now." 

"Yes. Yes of course. You'll be on floor one room checks. You won't need supervision for that."

I make my way up to floor one. Vera has actually become my second mum recently. She gets irritated a lot, but she's so lovely and understanding most of the time. We always have a good old natter on our breaks together. 

I unlock cell one on the first floor. Only half the floor one prisoners are actually up here. Most are having their therapy around now. No one is in the cell so I carefully have a look around. 

Suddenly, the cell door slams behind me making me jump out of my skin. I turn around to see Luca, luckily. 

I place my hand on my heart, exhaling deeply. His face is nowhere near as menacing as it was yesterday, but he does look slightly on edge. 

"I didn't mean to make you jump." He mumbles. 

"I-it's okay," I answer him.

"What happened to your wrist?" Luca asks with a very concerned tone, taking a step closer.

"N-nothing." I swallow hard. 

"Well, obviously something's happened." He spits taking another step forward.

"Nothing's h-happened" I lie. 

He grabs my wrist making me hiss. 

"See. Something has happened." He says, loosening his grip.

"I just fell," I whisper. 

"If you 'just fell' then why wouldn't you tell me?" He questions.

"Because I don't want to talk about it. Why are you here anyway?" 

"I've come to say that... I found out that it wasn't you who had been feeding information to the officers..." He says. 

"Are you apologising?" I ask, stunned at what I had just heard. 

"I wouldn't go that far, baby." He chuckles. 

"Okay then." I disappointedly say. 

"But the rules still stand. Don't talk to anyone outside of my circle about what is going on here, do you understand?" He bellows. 

"Yes." I squeak. 

"Good." He says, moving even closer so that my back is against the wall. It isn't in a threatening manner. Yes, it does suggest domination and power, but it's gentle and thoughtful. Not rough and merciless. 

His face is inches away from mine as he stares directly into my eyes. Our faces come closer together. His eyes break contact from mine briefly as he looks at my lips. We are literally millimetres away from kissing when I turn my head away so his lips touch my cheek instead of my lips. He still keeps them there for a long period of time. I feel safe with Luca. I really shouldn't, but I do. 

He takes a deep breath in. "Right, I think this cell is clear of anything." He says before taking my hand and guiding me out cell one. I look down the corridor to see a few prisoners staring at us through their cells. 

"If you inbreds say anything to any of the prison staff about this, I swear to God, I'll have someone rip your teeth out one by one!" He shouts, making them stop staring. "And I'll see you later." He smirks at me and kisses my forehead gently before stomping away. What just happened?