The sheets felt crisp and clean and the room smelt faintly of disinfectant and chlorine. It was quiet, apart from the odd sound of a door opening and closing, but there seemed to be something wrong with her hearing. The sounds appeared to be coming from a long distance away, as if she was standing at the other end of a tunnel.

Her thoughts were scattered and confused and she couldn’t quite get them to gel coherently in her head in order to work out what was going on.

She looked down. Just that small movement of her head sent a sharp jagged pain through her neck. She shifted slightly in the bed and her entire body responded in the same way. It hurt all over.

What the hell had happened to her?

She noticed that the white sheets were stained with blood.

Now it was coming back to her.

Blood in…

She was in the prison hospital. That’s where she was.

Bailey turned her head slowly from left to right, wincing as she did so. She was the only person in the ward. The other beds were neatly made and empty. The place seemed remarkably clean, lacking the signature grime and decay which marked the rest of the prison.

Concussion. That was the reason she couldn’t think straight. That was the reason for the weird thing with the sounds.

She gingerly touched her eye with her forefinger. It was tender and sore. That was why she couldn’t see through it properly – because it was all swollen up.

Bailey looked around for a mirror, but there wasn’t one in the room, which was probably a blessing.

She ran her tongue around her teeth. They were all still there, thank god, but at least one of them was loose enough for her to wiggle it with her tongue.

Slowly, methodically, she checked the rest of her body. She appeared to have a cut lip, multiple bruises on her forehead, and her ribs… Jesus her ribcage felt like—

The door to the ward swung open. She looked up. It was Amber. As soon as Amber saw her, her jaw fell open with shock. Bailey had no need for a mirror – Amber’s expression said it all.

‘You look awful,’ whispered Amber.

‘I feel awful,’ she said hoarsely.

Amber sat down gently on the side of her bed.

‘I want you to tell me who did it,’ she said, her eyes smouldering with fury.

Bailey knew that Amber had her best interests at heart. She was just doing her job and she meant well. But to reveal who’d beaten her up would be to undo everything that she had just worked so hard to achieve.

Bailey shook her head. ‘Nobody. I just slipped and fell.’

Amber rolled her eyes in frustration.

‘You slipped and fell?’ She sounded very sceptical.

Bailey shrugged and nodded. ‘What can I say? I’m just clumsy.’

Amber placed a caring hand on her forearm. ‘Don’t be afraid, Bailey. Don’t be intimidated by the bullies in here. We can protect you from them. We can put you in segregation.’