Surviving Fox River | Prison Break

Chapter 23

I stood in shock at the burn. It was still bubbling, which meant it happened not too long ago.

"T-take the unif-f-f..." Michael struggled to speak, but I got what he was trying to say. I started to peel the uniform off his skin and he yelled out in pain.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry." I apologized quickly, stopping. He gritted his teeth and sweat was rolling down his face.

"D-don't s-stop." he forced out, gripping the bars of the bunk bed. My heart rate sped up as I continued peeling the guards uniform off of him. When it was off, I helped put his blue shirt on and Sucre put pants on him.

"We need to get him to the infirmary." I told Sucre. His eyes widened with panic.

"The guards are gonna think we did this to him." he said, helping Michael up. Michael kept grunting, trying not to be loud, but I could tell he was in a lot of pain.

"Who cares. He needs to go. Now." I said firmly, putting one of Michael's arms behind my neck. Sucre complied and we all but dragged Michael out the cell, pushing people out of the way as we went.

"You can't leave past this spot." A guard said when we got to the entrance of the A-wing.

"We have to get him to the infirmary." I told the guard. He looked at Michael and didn't even have to think twice about if we were lying or not because his burn was peeking out of his shirt.

"I have three inmates on their way to the infirmary. Looks like a burn injury. Be on the lookout." The guard said in his walkie-talkie and let us through. Michael was very heavy, especially since he wasn't holding up any of his weight. I gritted my teeth as we made our way to the infirmary, passing multiple guards on the way there. When we finally got there, Sara was already prepared.

"Oh my god! What happened?" she asked, rushing over to Michael. "Put him right here." she directed, pointing to the bed. We carried him over there and place him facedown.

"Don't freak out, okay?" I told my sister and she nodded. I slowly pulled Michael's shirt off and she gasped, hovering her hand over his burn.

"How did this happen?" she asked again, but Sucre and I were silent. If she knew, then she would have to report it and we didn't need another liability to hinder our plans. She narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. "This is a dangerous thing you guys are doing." I opened my mouth to speak, but she beat me to it. "Don't worry, sis. My lips are sealed. Just...be careful."

I didn't answer because that was one thing I couldn't promise her. I nudged Sucre and we left Sara to tend to Michael. "I need to get rid of the guard's outfit." Sucre said as we walked back to the A-wing. "I'll give it back to my cousin when he comes to get the laundry."

"Alright. I wonder if Michael did what he had to do down there before he got burned." I mused, rubbing my neck. When we got to the A-wing, the prisoners were filing out, and the guards stopped us.

"It's time for the second yard time. Get in line." We were pushed into the line and I rolled my eyes, happy that I was going to be out of there soon. If I didn't leave, someone was going to get hurt.

"You still gonna be Nancy Drew and spy on the mobster and the rapist?" Sucre asked, whispering. I cracked a smile at his accurate nicknames and looked around to make sure they weren't around before answering.

"Yeah, I have to be sure." We stepped outside and Sucre patted my back.

"Good luck, chica. And don't get caught." He winked and walked through the gate and into the yard. I slowed down a bit and I spotted T-bag and Abruzzi walk into the break room with no problem. I looked around to make sure there were no guards around before I snuck behind them. They walked into the break room and since I couldn't go inside without getting caught, I walked over to the side where there was a window and stood on two crates to peer in.

"So, uh, what's so important that we couldn't talk about this earlier?" I heard Abruzzi ask. T-bag ran his tongue over his lips and chuckled.

"I overheard you and the others talking about how there wasn't gonna be enough room for one person." T-bag said, walking around slowly. Abruzzi narrowed his eyes.

"And your point is?" T-bag stopped in front of him.

"My point, John, is that I got the slightest inkling that y'all are gonna toss me off this ship that's sailing to paradise." He raised an eyebrow and Abruzzi scoffed.

"No one said anything about leaving you behind. We haven't discussed it yet." T-bag chuckled lowly and walked closer to Abruzzi.

"You think I'm stupid? The most logical thing to do is remove the old man, but Mrs. Burrows and her little snotty ass had to step in. Now, if y'all ain't getting rid of him, who's next in line?" Abruzzi said nothing and T-bag started laughing manically. "Exactly. Me! I'm the one getting voted off this ship since none of y'all care for my well being and quite frankly, I don't like that. If someone has to go, it ain't gonna be me." He reached behind him and pulled out a shank. Abruzzi immediately held his hands up.

"Look buddy, I have nothing to do with any of that. It should be Scofield you're talking to. Or Melanie." Abruzzi said, stepping back. T-bag sneered.

"Too late." He lunged forward and drove the shank in Abruzzi throat. I almost fell off the crates from shock and I watched as Abruzzi fell the the ground on his back, convulsing. T-bag threw his shank down and leaned over to whisper in his ear. "My spot is secure." He said before running out. I ducked down so that he wouldn't see me and when he was gone, I looked down at my hands and I saw that I was trembling.

I shook off my shock and ran into the break room, kneeling down next to Abruzzi. "John! Oh my god." There was so much blood pouring from his throat and he made a choking sound as he tried to speak. "No, shh, shh, don't try to talk. I know who did this. I'm gonna go get help, okay?" I told him before sprinting to find a guard. "Help! Somebody, help!" I cried out, waving my arms to get a guards attention. Bellick turned around and got Geary to come with him.

"What's going on, Burrows?" Bellick asked.

"J-John. He's-he's.." I couldn't even get the words out because I was in so much shock.

"C'mon, spit it out, girly. We ain't got all day." Geary snapped. I just gestured for them to follow me and the minute they saw Abruzzi, they were speaking into their walkie-talkies.

"Inmate down in break room. He needs immediate attention. Bring the chopper." Bellick said. I went back next to John and I held my hands over his, which were over his throat, trying to stop the blood from gushing out.

"It's okay, John. You're gonna be okay. Don't die on me, okay? The helicopter will be here any minute now." I kept saying, not realizing that tears were starting to slide down my face. Abruzzi reached up and wiped my cheek and I held in a sob. He couldn't die, not right now. He had a family. A wife. Kids. We were sort of becoming friends, if Abruzzi allowed himself to have friends.

"Miss, I'm gonna have to ask you to move so that we can get him to a hospital as quickly as possible. He's losing a lot of blood." I didn't move, only chanting 'you're gonna be okay' over and over again. I felt someone slowly remove my hands and guide me out of the break room.

I stared straight ahead as the person led me into the yard. When the gate shut behind me, I walked over to where I could see John being put on a stretcher. Even from here, I could spot his body still convulsing a bit and I looked down at my hands. They were stained bright red from his blood and I closed my hands into fists.

"Melanie!" I didn't turn around, but I heard footsteps behind me. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Sucre asked frantically ad I shook my head, still looking at my hands. T-bag had did this. Abruzzi's blood was on my hands because of T-bag. "What happened?"

"I seem to be hearing that question a lot today." I said monotonously, ignoring his question. I squeezed my fists tighter. "If John doesn't make it, I'm killing T-bag."

"Mel, I don't think that's a good idea. T-bag has a lot of loyal supporters." I turned my head to look at Sucre.

"I'll just kill them all then." His mouth opened and closed like a fish at my statement. First, Linc's execution was in three days, then Michael got burned badly, and now Abruzzi was fighting for his life. If anything else went wrong, I don't think I would be able to stop myself from hurting someone or even taking their life. Especially if it was T-bag's.