Page 16 of Butterfly

Green nodded in agreement and beckoned Jonesy and Ollie to follow.

Captain stopped Ollie on the way past. “Hey…”

Ollie waved at the others to go on without him.

“You okay?” Captain asked. “I heard there was some…tension on the wing yesterday.”

“I’m fine.” Ollie lowered his gaze. “I just… I didn’t know about…”

He left the rest unspoken. He imagined someone had filled Captain in.

Captain sighed. “If you ever feel threatened—”

“Teddy’s never—”

“If you ever do,” Captain interrupted, “you tell me. I’ll get you transferred to my cell.”

Captain was one of only three inmates who had a cell all to himself.

“Swear to me, Ollie.”

“I swear.”

“Don’t do anything you don’t want to do, understand?”

Ollie nodded.

Captain changed his stance from military stiffness to something more relaxed.

“How’s it going with the therapist?” Ollie asked.

“It’s going well. We just kind of…hang out. He never asks anything personal; I’ve told him it’s off-limits, so we talk random stuff.” He smiled. “And the support group I run with him and Abby had more sign-ups last week.”

Ollie didn’t know much about the support group. Doctor Jarvis, the prison therapist, had set it up for all the ex-military personnel in Hollybrook so they could support each other while they were inside. A representative from the Ministry of Defence came to Hollybrook every Wednesday, and Captain helped with the sessions.

Ollie smiled. “That’s great.”

Captain let go of a content sigh. “Knowing I’m doing something to help those like me, that’s a good feeling.”

Ollie reached up and squeezed Captain’s shoulder.

“Now go on,” Captain murmured, giving Ollie a small push. “They might’ve already shut the gate.”

Ollie hurried towards the corridor, knowing lock-up was only an hour away and they closed the yard half an hour before that. His gaze fixed on the door at the end, shut but not necessarily locked, he still had time.

The pain to Ollie’s face was so sudden and startling he tipped back, landing on his arse. He caught the blood gushing from his nose with his cupped hand while he stared accusingly at the culprit.

Not an inmate, but a gate.

A huge steel gate, which was clearly shut.

How had he not seen it?

It was right in front of his face.

The ringing in his ears died down enough for Ollie to hear Green roaring with laughter behind him. Jack held out his hand and pulled Ollie back to his feet. He snapped his fingers in front of Ollie’s eyes while he continued to hold blood in his hand.

“How the hell did you miss that?” Jack asked.

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