Chapter 98

Sweat rolled down my face and dropped onto the cracked ground beneath me. The sun burned overhead like it had a personal problem with us. Every movement sent a sharp ache through my injured leg, but no one cared. We were expected to keep working anyway. A few steps away, the big male nurse stood with his arms crossed, watching us like prisoners in a work yard. His eyes never stopped moving, always looking for someone to punish. A sudden cry rang out. I turned just in time to see him shove a young woman forward with his boot because she wasn’t pulling weeds fast enough. “Get moving!” he barked. Something inside me snapped. I hurled the stone in my hand at the dirt near his feet. “Don’t touch her!” He spun around, glaring. “What’s your problem? She’s nothing to you.” I pushed myself upright, ignoring the pain. “She doesn’t have to be. You’re supposed to be a nurse, not some violent idiot throwing his weight around.” He walked toward me, slow and threatening. “You want me to finish what I