"Crossing A Line: Pt. 6" By Liayso, PG
Title: Crossing A Line: Part 6
Author: liayso
Pairing/Characters: Michael/Sara, Lincoln
Category: Het
Rating: PG
Summary: To further their relationship, they have to cross the line that seperates them...
Author's Notes: Set during and after Ep. 15: “By the Skin and the Teeth.” AU after that. You probably read this over at prisonbreakfic.net, but I'm just posting this here as well.
Here she was again, watching and waiting for him to wake up. Sara stared at Michael’s file for the thousandth time that day as he slept on the medical bed nearby. She didn’t understand. How could his test results go from him being diabetic to him not being diabetic? If the recent test was right, then that would mean Michael has been overdosing on insulin all this time, but he hasn’t been showing symptoms of it until right before he fell unconscious. Sara looked towards where Michael slept. His chest rose and fell in soft simple breaths.
‘Michael, what is going on with you?’ she wondered.
“Sara?”
She looked up to the doorway to see Katie.
“Lincoln Burrows is here.”
Sara nodded and straightened out Michael’s file. “Send him in.” She stood up and leaned against her desk as a cuffed Lincoln Burrows stepped into the room.
“Have a seat Lincoln,” Sara said, motioning to the chair near Michael’s bed.
The chains of his shackles clanged together as he sat down. “How is he?”
“He is doing better,” Sara said, crossing her arms. She looked down at the white linoleum floor of the infirmary and took a deep breath. “Lincoln,” she paused, “I’m going to ask you a simple question, and I want you to give me a straight answer.”
She looked back up just in time to see Lincoln bite his bottom lip.
“Okay,” he said with a bit of hesitation.
“Is Michael a diabetic?”
Lincoln looked down at the floor and swallowed hard. “No.”
Sara’s stare was locked onto the death row inmate before her. “Do you know how he has been making it seem like he’s a diabetic?”
Lincoln remained silent.
Sara let out a frustrated sigh. “Lincoln, if I am to help treat Michael, I need to know all the facts.”
The burly man swallowed hard once again. He turned to look at Michael, sighing while deciding if keeping the whole thing a secret was worth Michael’s health. He turned his gaze back to Sara.
“He’s been taking some pill called PUGNAC.”
“PUGNAC?” Lincoln nodded. Sara reached into the back of her mind for anything she knew about the pill. It was an insulin inhibitor; it was cable of fooling the simple tests she had. She looked to her medical cabinet. Yes, she did have the supplies needed to help Michael get better, and she was thankful for that.
Lincoln watched as she began pulling things from the cabinet shelves. “Aren’t you going to ask why he’s been taking it?”
Without turning around, Sara replied, “I think I will ask Michael that once he’s woken up. Right now I have to make sure he’s okay.”
Lincoln lightly smiled at her back and nodded. “So you can help him?”
“Yes,” Sara said retrieving what she needed from the cabinet. She turned around to face Lincoln, only to see in his eyes that he meant something else other than Michael’s insulin problem when he asked if she could help him.
Suddenly the door of the infirmary room creaked open and a C.O.’s head popped in.
“It’s time for Burrows to go see his son now.”
Sara nodded at him. “Okay.”
Lincoln stood up from his chair. “Thank your for helping Michael, Doc.”
Sara nodded at him and walked towards Michael’s bedside to treat him. Lincoln looked over his shoulder as he walked out of the room. He couldn’t help but smile as he just realized that the good doctor cared deeply for his brother. And he knew that those feelings were reciprocated.
--
“You seem a lot better, Michael.”
The swing set creaked as his mother sat on one of the swings, swinging back and forth with Michael pushing her from behind.
“Yeah.”
His mother looked behind herself to see a solemn look upon her son’s face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, planting her feet into the sand to stop swinging.
Michael helped her to stop by grapping the chains of the swing set.
“It’s just...I’m going to have to tell her everything.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” his mother pointed out.
“I know,” Michael replied, “I want to tell her everything, but I’m afraid of how she’ll react.”
His mother gave him a small smile and stood up from the swing. With her gentle hands she gave her son a soft push towards the front of the swing. “Sit,” she said as she took a hold of the chains from behind. Michael did as he was told and his mother pulled the swing back and let go, giving him a slight shove to get him started on swinging.
“You don’t have to worry, Michael,” she assured him, “she will understand.”
“How do you know?” Michael asked as he gained momentum and began to go higher.
She smiled once more. “Because I know she cares about you, Michael. She will listen to what you have to say. It will take her some time to process everything but in the end I have no doubt that she will be on your side. Just have some faith in her.”
Michael smiled inwardly. It comforted him hearing his mother say that. He no longer felt his mother’s hands pushing him forward as he swung. Michael looked behind himself and saw that she had stepped to the side. She was smiling at him. He grinned back. He would listen to her and have some faith. And with that he leapt from the swing.
--
Michael’s eyes slowly fluttered open to see a blurry vision of auburn hair and a white lab coat across from where he laid. He blinked once more to clear his vision and saw Sara looking through a file, most likely his.
“Sara...” he whispered.
She quickly looked in his direction and was by his side in a matter of a few steps.
“How are you feeling, Michael?”
He gave her a lazy smile. “Okay. Where am I?”
“The infirmary,” she replied, frowning. “Don’t you remember what happened?”
Michael grinned. “I remember kissing you.”
A slight blush pierced Sara’s cheeks as she recalled that moment. “And then you fainted.”
Michael’s grin widened and became playful. “Well, you’re one hell of a kisser.”
Sara smiled and a soft laugh escaped from her lips. She sighed and her face became a bit more serious.
“I know about the PUGNAC, Michael.”
His eyes widened in surprise and silently asked her how.
“Lincoln told me.”
“Is he here?”
Sara shook her head. “He was here but he just left to go visit his son.”
Michael looked at her warily. “Did he tell you everything before he left?”
Sara shook her head once again. “No, I want you to tell me,” she began to walk to her desk, “but we’ll wait until you’re feeling better.”
Michael shook his head and tried to sit up on the bed. “No, I’ll tell you now.” He stared straight into her eyes before taking a big gulp of air. “You should probably sit down.”
Sara pulled her rolling chair across the floor and sat in it, waiting for his explanation. Michael took a deep breath and proceeded to tell her everything.
--
Sara’s mouth was left hanging open once Michael finished his story. He stared at her with concern. She sat unblinking with wide eyes, absolutely stunned.
“Sara?”
No response.
“Please say something.”
She finally blinked. “Are you being serious?”
“Yes.”
“You’re insane.”
Michael slightly grinned and chuckled. “Maybe.”
Sara frowned at him. “You’re talking about breaking out of a maximum security prison, Michael! This isn’t a laughing matter!”
“I know. My brother’s life is on the line. Mine too.”
Sara inhaled deeply and shut her eyes. Michael watched her internally struggle with the new information he’s given her.
“Sara, I know this is a lot to take in, but you have to understand. Lincoln’s innocent. I can’t let these people kill him, not when I can save him. But I need your help.”
Sara opened her eyes and stared straight at him.
“Why are you telling me all of this?”
“I don’t want to lie to you anymore.”
Sara looked away. She was beginning to second guess everything he’s told her, including his confession back in solitary. Michael sensed this.
“Sara, what I said back in the SHU that was the truth. This whole thing, us, it may have started out as a manipulation, but I slowly found myself falling for you each time I saw you.”
Sara looked back up at Michael and saw those beautiful blue green eyes of his water at the corners. Her own eyes began to tear up as well.
“What do you want from me, Michael?”
“I just want you to understand.”
The knob on the infirmary room door began to turn and Sara immediately blinked back her tears as Katie stepped in.
“We need you out here, Sara,” she said.
Sara nodded. “Give me a second, Katie.”
Katie nodded back and stepped out. Sara stood up and took a deep breath to compose herself. She began to walk towards the door.
“Sara...” Michael called out after her.
Without turning around she interrupted him. “Michael, please. This is all just too much right now.”
And with that she turned the doorknob and left Michael alone in the room.
--
Sara did her best that day to keep herself busy with other patients to distract her from thinking about Michael and what he had revealed to her. She did it so well that by the end of the day she was absolutely drained, physically and mentally. So it was no surprise that when she went home, she crashed into her bed, immediately succumbing to the sleep that she desperately needed.
--
When Sara opened her eyes, she found herself standing in the sandbox of the playground she used to play in when she was a little girl. It was completely empty and very quiet. Sara remembered how when she was little, the playground was always bursting with life as little kids ran around, playing. Sometimes they would slip and fall and she would be the first at their sides, ready to help with a band aid in hand.
Sara smiled at the old memories. She began walking towards the swing set. Things were so much simpler back when she was little. Sara sat herself in one of the swings and leaned the side of her head against the chain to her left. She let out a soft sigh. Back then she didn’t have to deal with boys and all the problems they brought.
“A penny for your thoughts?”
Sara jumped at the sound of the soft voice that was just spoken. She looked to her right and found a petite dark haired woman sitting in the swing next to her. The woman was smiling at her. Then she giggled.
“Well, I don’t really have any money on me, but I would still like to know what’s on your mind, Sara,” the gentle woman spoke again.
“Do I know you?” Sara asked wondering how she knew her name.
“No,” she shook her head, “but you do know my sons, Lincoln and Michael.” She grinned teasingly. “Michael especially.”
Sara’s eyes widened. She was talking to Michael’s mother! But wasn’t she dead?
“I must be dreaming,” Sara said, letting out a small breath, “but how can I be dreaming if I know that I’m dreaming?”
Michael’s mother laughed. “Michael asked the same thing when I first came to him in his dreams.”
Sara couldn’t help but smile at the woman. She exuded a certain type of warmth, the same kind of warmth Sara felt coming from Michael from time to time during their visits.
“So what is on your mind, Dr. Sara Tancredi?” She asked again. “It wouldn’t happen to be that stubborn son of mine, is it?”
Sara only stared down at her feet as she dug the tip of her shoe into the sand, trying to avoid having to make eye contact with her. This only confirmed Ms. Scofield’s assumption. She chuckled.
“He’s been invading your thoughts a lot lately, hasn’t he?”
Sara only nodded.
Michael’s mother smiled. “It’s not just one sided either. He thinks about you a lot as well.”
Sara finally looked up at her and noticed that Michael had inherited those mesmerizing eyes of his from his mother.
“He does?”
“Yes.”
Sara turned away, blushing like an embarrassed school girl. Michael’s mother only grinned at her.
“He loves you, you know,” she said, “That’s why he told you everything about the breakout.”
Sara looked back at the woman next to her and something in her eyes told Sara that she was speaking nothing but the truth.
Michael’s mother turned forward and pushed with her feet. She began to swing back and forth slowly. “I want to thank you, Sara, for looking after Michael, for helping him... and for loving him in return.”
Sara breathed deeply. The dark haired woman swinging on the swing just revealed to her something about herself that Sara had not yet admitted to herself.
She loved Michael.
Sara smiled to herself. Despite everything, she loved him. Even now, now that she knew all his secrets, she still loved him. She was no longer falling in love with him. She was in love with him.
Michael’s mother saw her smile inwardly and she slowed her swinging to a stop. “I don’t think there’s a more perfect person out there for Michael than you, Sara. You’ve made him open up in ways that I thought he never could.”
“You pushed him to it,” Sara said, remembering how Michael told her about his dreams.
“Yes, but in the end, it was his decision.” The dark haired woman stood up from her swing and began walking out to the middle of the sandbox. She picked up a stick along the way and began drawing a line in the dirt.
“The thing is, Sara, this whole ‘opening up’ thing has to go both ways for it to work,” she said, finishing the line. She walked back towards Sara on the swing set and took a hold of her hands. She pulled the doctor up to her feet and led her to the line. She stepped out of Sara’s line of vision to reveal a little boy sitting on a park bench on the other side of the line. Sara looked closely and saw that the little boy was in fact Michael. They had the same piercing blue green eyes. She looked back to the woman standing next to her.
“Where do you stand when it comes to Michael, Sara?” his mother asked her.
Sara looked down at the line in front of her and then she looked back at the little boy waiting for her in the distance. She smiled.
--
Michael spent the night in the infirmary. His mother didn’t come to him in his dreams last night and he could only wonder what happened to her. The morning sun shone brightly outside. Its rays pierced through the window he was supposed to be breaking out of and made the whole room appear brighter. The door to the room creaked open and Michael looked up to see Sara enter.
She strode in silently, only glancing at him as she walked to her desk.
“You look a lot better, Mr. Scofield,” she said as she walked over to him to check his vitals and such.
Michael watched every move she made, trying to figure her out. “Sara...”
Sara hushed him as she pressed her stethoscope up to his chest to check his breathing. “Breathe.”
Michael did as he was told, all the while staring at her intensely. But she didn’t seem affected by his eyes. After breathing in and out a few times, Sara removed the metal object from his chest and pulled it from her ears.
“Well, Michael, you’re healthy enough to head back to Gen Pop.”
His brow curled up in curiosity. “Gen Pop?” Why wasn’t he going back to the SHU?
Sara smiled at him, reading his thoughts. “I told the warden that your little fainting episode was probably an allergic reaction to something in the air of the Solitary cells. He’s allowing you to go back to your own cell in A Wing.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to help you Michael,” she replied, “and this is how I’m going to do it.”
Michael stared at her, with his mouth slightly agape. Then realization hit him and he smiled.
Sara had crossed the line. And she was going to help him.
Author: liayso
Pairing/Characters: Michael/Sara, Lincoln
Category: Het
Rating: PG
Summary: To further their relationship, they have to cross the line that seperates them...
Author's Notes: Set during and after Ep. 15: “By the Skin and the Teeth.” AU after that. You probably read this over at prisonbreakfic.net, but I'm just posting this here as well.
Here she was again, watching and waiting for him to wake up. Sara stared at Michael’s file for the thousandth time that day as he slept on the medical bed nearby. She didn’t understand. How could his test results go from him being diabetic to him not being diabetic? If the recent test was right, then that would mean Michael has been overdosing on insulin all this time, but he hasn’t been showing symptoms of it until right before he fell unconscious. Sara looked towards where Michael slept. His chest rose and fell in soft simple breaths.
‘Michael, what is going on with you?’ she wondered.
“Sara?”
She looked up to the doorway to see Katie.
“Lincoln Burrows is here.”
Sara nodded and straightened out Michael’s file. “Send him in.” She stood up and leaned against her desk as a cuffed Lincoln Burrows stepped into the room.
“Have a seat Lincoln,” Sara said, motioning to the chair near Michael’s bed.
The chains of his shackles clanged together as he sat down. “How is he?”
“He is doing better,” Sara said, crossing her arms. She looked down at the white linoleum floor of the infirmary and took a deep breath. “Lincoln,” she paused, “I’m going to ask you a simple question, and I want you to give me a straight answer.”
She looked back up just in time to see Lincoln bite his bottom lip.
“Okay,” he said with a bit of hesitation.
“Is Michael a diabetic?”
Lincoln looked down at the floor and swallowed hard. “No.”
Sara’s stare was locked onto the death row inmate before her. “Do you know how he has been making it seem like he’s a diabetic?”
Lincoln remained silent.
Sara let out a frustrated sigh. “Lincoln, if I am to help treat Michael, I need to know all the facts.”
The burly man swallowed hard once again. He turned to look at Michael, sighing while deciding if keeping the whole thing a secret was worth Michael’s health. He turned his gaze back to Sara.
“He’s been taking some pill called PUGNAC.”
“PUGNAC?” Lincoln nodded. Sara reached into the back of her mind for anything she knew about the pill. It was an insulin inhibitor; it was cable of fooling the simple tests she had. She looked to her medical cabinet. Yes, she did have the supplies needed to help Michael get better, and she was thankful for that.
Lincoln watched as she began pulling things from the cabinet shelves. “Aren’t you going to ask why he’s been taking it?”
Without turning around, Sara replied, “I think I will ask Michael that once he’s woken up. Right now I have to make sure he’s okay.”
Lincoln lightly smiled at her back and nodded. “So you can help him?”
“Yes,” Sara said retrieving what she needed from the cabinet. She turned around to face Lincoln, only to see in his eyes that he meant something else other than Michael’s insulin problem when he asked if she could help him.
Suddenly the door of the infirmary room creaked open and a C.O.’s head popped in.
“It’s time for Burrows to go see his son now.”
Sara nodded at him. “Okay.”
Lincoln stood up from his chair. “Thank your for helping Michael, Doc.”
Sara nodded at him and walked towards Michael’s bedside to treat him. Lincoln looked over his shoulder as he walked out of the room. He couldn’t help but smile as he just realized that the good doctor cared deeply for his brother. And he knew that those feelings were reciprocated.
--
“You seem a lot better, Michael.”
The swing set creaked as his mother sat on one of the swings, swinging back and forth with Michael pushing her from behind.
“Yeah.”
His mother looked behind herself to see a solemn look upon her son’s face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, planting her feet into the sand to stop swinging.
Michael helped her to stop by grapping the chains of the swing set.
“It’s just...I’m going to have to tell her everything.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” his mother pointed out.
“I know,” Michael replied, “I want to tell her everything, but I’m afraid of how she’ll react.”
His mother gave him a small smile and stood up from the swing. With her gentle hands she gave her son a soft push towards the front of the swing. “Sit,” she said as she took a hold of the chains from behind. Michael did as he was told and his mother pulled the swing back and let go, giving him a slight shove to get him started on swinging.
“You don’t have to worry, Michael,” she assured him, “she will understand.”
“How do you know?” Michael asked as he gained momentum and began to go higher.
She smiled once more. “Because I know she cares about you, Michael. She will listen to what you have to say. It will take her some time to process everything but in the end I have no doubt that she will be on your side. Just have some faith in her.”
Michael smiled inwardly. It comforted him hearing his mother say that. He no longer felt his mother’s hands pushing him forward as he swung. Michael looked behind himself and saw that she had stepped to the side. She was smiling at him. He grinned back. He would listen to her and have some faith. And with that he leapt from the swing.
--
Michael’s eyes slowly fluttered open to see a blurry vision of auburn hair and a white lab coat across from where he laid. He blinked once more to clear his vision and saw Sara looking through a file, most likely his.
“Sara...” he whispered.
She quickly looked in his direction and was by his side in a matter of a few steps.
“How are you feeling, Michael?”
He gave her a lazy smile. “Okay. Where am I?”
“The infirmary,” she replied, frowning. “Don’t you remember what happened?”
Michael grinned. “I remember kissing you.”
A slight blush pierced Sara’s cheeks as she recalled that moment. “And then you fainted.”
Michael’s grin widened and became playful. “Well, you’re one hell of a kisser.”
Sara smiled and a soft laugh escaped from her lips. She sighed and her face became a bit more serious.
“I know about the PUGNAC, Michael.”
His eyes widened in surprise and silently asked her how.
“Lincoln told me.”
“Is he here?”
Sara shook her head. “He was here but he just left to go visit his son.”
Michael looked at her warily. “Did he tell you everything before he left?”
Sara shook her head once again. “No, I want you to tell me,” she began to walk to her desk, “but we’ll wait until you’re feeling better.”
Michael shook his head and tried to sit up on the bed. “No, I’ll tell you now.” He stared straight into her eyes before taking a big gulp of air. “You should probably sit down.”
Sara pulled her rolling chair across the floor and sat in it, waiting for his explanation. Michael took a deep breath and proceeded to tell her everything.
--
Sara’s mouth was left hanging open once Michael finished his story. He stared at her with concern. She sat unblinking with wide eyes, absolutely stunned.
“Sara?”
No response.
“Please say something.”
She finally blinked. “Are you being serious?”
“Yes.”
“You’re insane.”
Michael slightly grinned and chuckled. “Maybe.”
Sara frowned at him. “You’re talking about breaking out of a maximum security prison, Michael! This isn’t a laughing matter!”
“I know. My brother’s life is on the line. Mine too.”
Sara inhaled deeply and shut her eyes. Michael watched her internally struggle with the new information he’s given her.
“Sara, I know this is a lot to take in, but you have to understand. Lincoln’s innocent. I can’t let these people kill him, not when I can save him. But I need your help.”
Sara opened her eyes and stared straight at him.
“Why are you telling me all of this?”
“I don’t want to lie to you anymore.”
Sara looked away. She was beginning to second guess everything he’s told her, including his confession back in solitary. Michael sensed this.
“Sara, what I said back in the SHU that was the truth. This whole thing, us, it may have started out as a manipulation, but I slowly found myself falling for you each time I saw you.”
Sara looked back up at Michael and saw those beautiful blue green eyes of his water at the corners. Her own eyes began to tear up as well.
“What do you want from me, Michael?”
“I just want you to understand.”
The knob on the infirmary room door began to turn and Sara immediately blinked back her tears as Katie stepped in.
“We need you out here, Sara,” she said.
Sara nodded. “Give me a second, Katie.”
Katie nodded back and stepped out. Sara stood up and took a deep breath to compose herself. She began to walk towards the door.
“Sara...” Michael called out after her.
Without turning around she interrupted him. “Michael, please. This is all just too much right now.”
And with that she turned the doorknob and left Michael alone in the room.
--
Sara did her best that day to keep herself busy with other patients to distract her from thinking about Michael and what he had revealed to her. She did it so well that by the end of the day she was absolutely drained, physically and mentally. So it was no surprise that when she went home, she crashed into her bed, immediately succumbing to the sleep that she desperately needed.
--
When Sara opened her eyes, she found herself standing in the sandbox of the playground she used to play in when she was a little girl. It was completely empty and very quiet. Sara remembered how when she was little, the playground was always bursting with life as little kids ran around, playing. Sometimes they would slip and fall and she would be the first at their sides, ready to help with a band aid in hand.
Sara smiled at the old memories. She began walking towards the swing set. Things were so much simpler back when she was little. Sara sat herself in one of the swings and leaned the side of her head against the chain to her left. She let out a soft sigh. Back then she didn’t have to deal with boys and all the problems they brought.
“A penny for your thoughts?”
Sara jumped at the sound of the soft voice that was just spoken. She looked to her right and found a petite dark haired woman sitting in the swing next to her. The woman was smiling at her. Then she giggled.
“Well, I don’t really have any money on me, but I would still like to know what’s on your mind, Sara,” the gentle woman spoke again.
“Do I know you?” Sara asked wondering how she knew her name.
“No,” she shook her head, “but you do know my sons, Lincoln and Michael.” She grinned teasingly. “Michael especially.”
Sara’s eyes widened. She was talking to Michael’s mother! But wasn’t she dead?
“I must be dreaming,” Sara said, letting out a small breath, “but how can I be dreaming if I know that I’m dreaming?”
Michael’s mother laughed. “Michael asked the same thing when I first came to him in his dreams.”
Sara couldn’t help but smile at the woman. She exuded a certain type of warmth, the same kind of warmth Sara felt coming from Michael from time to time during their visits.
“So what is on your mind, Dr. Sara Tancredi?” She asked again. “It wouldn’t happen to be that stubborn son of mine, is it?”
Sara only stared down at her feet as she dug the tip of her shoe into the sand, trying to avoid having to make eye contact with her. This only confirmed Ms. Scofield’s assumption. She chuckled.
“He’s been invading your thoughts a lot lately, hasn’t he?”
Sara only nodded.
Michael’s mother smiled. “It’s not just one sided either. He thinks about you a lot as well.”
Sara finally looked up at her and noticed that Michael had inherited those mesmerizing eyes of his from his mother.
“He does?”
“Yes.”
Sara turned away, blushing like an embarrassed school girl. Michael’s mother only grinned at her.
“He loves you, you know,” she said, “That’s why he told you everything about the breakout.”
Sara looked back at the woman next to her and something in her eyes told Sara that she was speaking nothing but the truth.
Michael’s mother turned forward and pushed with her feet. She began to swing back and forth slowly. “I want to thank you, Sara, for looking after Michael, for helping him... and for loving him in return.”
Sara breathed deeply. The dark haired woman swinging on the swing just revealed to her something about herself that Sara had not yet admitted to herself.
She loved Michael.
Sara smiled to herself. Despite everything, she loved him. Even now, now that she knew all his secrets, she still loved him. She was no longer falling in love with him. She was in love with him.
Michael’s mother saw her smile inwardly and she slowed her swinging to a stop. “I don’t think there’s a more perfect person out there for Michael than you, Sara. You’ve made him open up in ways that I thought he never could.”
“You pushed him to it,” Sara said, remembering how Michael told her about his dreams.
“Yes, but in the end, it was his decision.” The dark haired woman stood up from her swing and began walking out to the middle of the sandbox. She picked up a stick along the way and began drawing a line in the dirt.
“The thing is, Sara, this whole ‘opening up’ thing has to go both ways for it to work,” she said, finishing the line. She walked back towards Sara on the swing set and took a hold of her hands. She pulled the doctor up to her feet and led her to the line. She stepped out of Sara’s line of vision to reveal a little boy sitting on a park bench on the other side of the line. Sara looked closely and saw that the little boy was in fact Michael. They had the same piercing blue green eyes. She looked back to the woman standing next to her.
“Where do you stand when it comes to Michael, Sara?” his mother asked her.
Sara looked down at the line in front of her and then she looked back at the little boy waiting for her in the distance. She smiled.
--
Michael spent the night in the infirmary. His mother didn’t come to him in his dreams last night and he could only wonder what happened to her. The morning sun shone brightly outside. Its rays pierced through the window he was supposed to be breaking out of and made the whole room appear brighter. The door to the room creaked open and Michael looked up to see Sara enter.
She strode in silently, only glancing at him as she walked to her desk.
“You look a lot better, Mr. Scofield,” she said as she walked over to him to check his vitals and such.
Michael watched every move she made, trying to figure her out. “Sara...”
Sara hushed him as she pressed her stethoscope up to his chest to check his breathing. “Breathe.”
Michael did as he was told, all the while staring at her intensely. But she didn’t seem affected by his eyes. After breathing in and out a few times, Sara removed the metal object from his chest and pulled it from her ears.
“Well, Michael, you’re healthy enough to head back to Gen Pop.”
His brow curled up in curiosity. “Gen Pop?” Why wasn’t he going back to the SHU?
Sara smiled at him, reading his thoughts. “I told the warden that your little fainting episode was probably an allergic reaction to something in the air of the Solitary cells. He’s allowing you to go back to your own cell in A Wing.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to help you Michael,” she replied, “and this is how I’m going to do it.”
Michael stared at her, with his mouth slightly agape. Then realization hit him and he smiled.
Sara had crossed the line. And she was going to help him.