"No, ma'am. I can wait for dinner, ma'am."
"Instructor Carey, you should know I observed a red mark on her back running from her right shoulder diagonally to her left hip," Gage said.
Carey rubbed her left temple, knowing the slight pain would turn into a massive headache before the night was over. "How did it happen?"
"Robocop shoved me when I was getting in and I fell against the bench, ma'am," Grace said.
Carey looked at Gage. "How bad is this mark?"
"It's red, but the bruising around it doesn't look too bad," Gage said.
"Are you in pain, Waters?"
Grace shook her head. "No, ma'am."
"Tell me, in detail, exactly how you got that mark," Carey said, exchanging concerned looks with Gage.
"When she finally showed up, she put the shackles on me and I got in the van," Grace said. "When I turned around to sit down, she shoved me and told me I shouldn't have been allowed to go to take the test in the first place. That's when I hit the bench. Then she pulled me up and pushed me onto the seat, ma'am."
Tearing off the paper she had been writing notes on, Carey pushed the pad and pen over. "Start with coming into this office this morning for transport and put down every single detail until this minute. If you sneezed, I want to know about it. If you bumped your foot against a step, I want to know. Every detail, and don't even think about exaggerating or adding things that didn't happen."
"Yes, ma'am," Grace said. "Ma'am?"
Carey exchanged a concerned look with Gage. "Yes?"
Grace looked at her with all seriousness. "I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't mouth off to her or give her any trouble, I swear it. And I didn't go anywhere. I really didn't, ma'am."
"Don't say anything else until you have that statement written," Carey said. "Sue, stop by the mess hall and pick up a dinner for her, then get Marilyn. I need both of you to make observation reports." She reached for the Rolodex. "I'll call for the nurse."
"You think that's really necessary?" Gage asked.
"She was injured while outside of our custody," Carey said. "I'm not explaining to the brass why there's a report of an injury with no medical documentation."
"Do you want anything?"
Carey used her thumb and forefinger to rub her temples. "A king sized aspirin," she said, picking up the phone. Gage left, shutting the door behind her.
"Fuller Medical Group."
"Yes, this is Joanna Carey of Sapling Hill. I have a girl here that I need to have examined."
"This is the service. I'll notify the nurse on call."
"Thank you." Carey hung up the phone. It was the part of the job she hated the most, being an administrator when what she wanted to do was mentor the teen sitting across from her. She wished she could just tell Grace she believed her, but she had to remain completely neutral until the investigation, if there was one, was complete. Despite having her own paperwork to do, Carey watched as Grace filled one page, then started on another. When the teen finished, she set the pen down and looked at Carey expectantly.
"Everything in there is exactly what happened?"
"Yes, ma'am."
The door opened and Instructors Gage and Donaldson entered, setting a dinner tray on top of the file cabinet. "Grace, the statement you just wrote is a true and accurate representation of what happened today, is that correct?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"And that entire statement is in your handwriting, is that correct?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Has anyone helped or told you what to write other than my original instructions?"
"No, ma'am."
Carey looked at her watch. "It's 1745. Waters, write down the date and time, sign your full legal name, then hand it to Instructor Gage."
"Yes, ma'am."
Carey handed the observation forms to her blonde coworker. "She's going to eat first, then take her in the back and do a visual."
"Do you want a picture?"
Before Carey could answer, she saw Gage nodding. "It's a good idea," she said, opening the top drawer and removing the key to the supply locker where the camera was kept. She wanted to ask how the test went, how Grace felt, but that was impossible at the moment. "Grace, other than your back, are you injured anywhere else?"
"I don't think so, ma'am."
"All right. Go ahead and eat," Carey said, taking Grace's signed statement from Donaldson. As she read it over, her headache worsened. As much as she believed what Grace said had happened, she knew it would come down to the teen's word against a corrections officer. Marking her initials in the lower left hand corner of each handwritten page, Carey made a notation in her incident report referencing the statement, then finished filling in the various parts of the form. When Grace finished eating, Carey had her escorted to another room to strip and have the mark on her back photographed. Then it was more paperwork as the nurse arrived with forms of her own both before and after examining Grace. When the evening ended, Carey had a stack of papers, a headache that refused to go away, and the promise that the next day would be just as bad when the corrections officer's report was turned in.
It was almost lights out by the time Grace was allowed to leave the infirmary and return to the cabin. The illumination from inside told her that Instructor Carey was already there. Please don't want to talk about it, she thought as she climbed the steps. I just want to go to sleep and forget about the whole damn day. Stepping inside, she found the dark-haired woman sitting in the recliner. "Hello, ma'am."
"Come sit down," Carey said, gesturing at the couch. "Are you still hungry?"
"No," Grace said as she sat down. "I'm fine."
Carey leaned forward, putting the footrest down and resting her elbows on her knees. "Grace, talk to me."
"I've already told you what happened," Grace said.
"Not about that," Carey said. "The test. I remember how stressful it was for me to take the SAT."
"I've never taken a test that hard," Grace said. "I thought I'd never finish it."
"How do you think you did?"
“I don’t know. I think I did okay. On the math part anyway." She shook her head. "The verbal was really hard. I um…I didn't finish the last section," she admitted. "He called time and I still had five questions to go."
Carey smiled and leaned back in her chair. "Only five? You never saw someone fill circles in so fast when I took the test. I think I had twenty."
"You guessed at the last ones too?"
"Yes, they say not to but I panicked when the proctor called time," Carey said.
"Me too." Grace smiled, feeling a little better.
Carey steepled her fingers. "The investigation precludes me from talking to you about what happened with Officer Baker, but I will tell you that I'm proud of the way you restrained your mouth. At least when you returned. I could tell you were angry."
Grace nodded. "I was, but I knew you'd be upset if I lost it."
"I would have," Carey said. "You're showing real progress, Grace. The last time you were dropped off by a correctional officer you had to have your mouth gagged. I'm not saying that to embarrass you. I'm reminding you of where you've been and how far you've come." She snapped her fingers, making Grace look at her and not the coffee table. "You realize it's been over a week since you've made me drop you?"
"Six days," Grace corrected. "Remember, I caught my toe on the corner of the couch."
"You're right," Carey said. "I've been around sailors with much cleaner language than you use." Resting her elbows on the armrest, she laced her fingers together. "There was a time when I doubted you could go six hours, much less six days."
"Me too," Grace said. "It seemed like everything I did got you mad."
"Some things made me mad," Carey said. "The eye rolling for one."
"I've been real good about that," Grace said.