Piper laid herself down to sleep on her bunk bed like she had done so many nights before. 730 nights, to be exact. She had counted the bleak mornings and even more bleak nights she had spent in this depressing facility and the amount of months, weeks, hours made her hard to breathe. The people around her changed. One day a new girl came, an old-one got out only to return again. They had become indifferent to her. Life was indifferent. Piper didn't remember when was the last time she had woken up without feeling trapped and defeated. Hell, she was in jail; one cannot be more trapped than that.
730 nights. 15 months had turned into two years, all because of that idiotic, Appalachian hillbilly. Piper had lost all her hatred while throwing those punches that made Pennsatucky's lips bleed. Piper didn't carry any grudge. Painful, crippling remorse was her only companion as the incident led her to SHU. She felt like she deserved every possible punishment for lashing out like that but it didn't make it any easier. Pennsatucky's words echoed in her head as she walked the steps down to SHU.
After she had managed to get back, everything felt so light for a while. All the people around her, even the cafeteria food made her smile. What didn't make her smile though was the fact that Alex was not there when she came back and Larry didn't answer her phone calls. She stopped trying to call him after a while. She didn't, however, stop thinking about Alex. Piper tried to gather some information on Alex, where she had went, was she transferred or was she in SHU. Piper could not shake the thought that maybe Alex had been in the next cell all along while she stared the grey walls in solitary. Maybe they had been together without even knowing it. The thought both comforted and terrified her. All she knew was that the thought of Alex, not Larry, had kept her from losing her mind while being totally isolated from everything and everyone for so long. Alex was her beacon of light, her only hope during those days and nights she had spent reflecting herself and her life. She had planned carefully what to say to Alex when she got out of SHU, she had prepared a little speech. It was a shame that Alex was not there to hear it. Piper's heart shattered.
730 nights had passed. The morning after the 730th night was a little different. There was toilet paper spread everywhere like silk ribbons in banquets. People were laughing, some crying too. Some were secretly or not so secretly pleased. It was Piper's time to go. Only she didn't know where to, as she wasn't quite sure where her home was anymore. Not with Larry, that was for certain. Piper laughed and cried with her roomies, as she in her head called them, and said her goodbyes to her peers. Maybe they weren't so indifferent to her after all.
Her steps on the prison ground made a sound that echoed off the concrete walls. She skipped like a school girl, only barely touching the pavement. She had asked her family not to come pick her up. This was something she wanted to do herself. All Piper wanted was to hop on a bus, have a shower without somebody peeking at her and eat a first decent meal in years. She was a simple girl, prison had taught her that. Piper had reached the end of the prison yard. She stopped for a while to reflect on the massive, menacing building that she had called her home for such a long time. Nope, she was never coming back here, that was for sure. Piper heard footsteps behind her. She flinched and was suddenly very alert; prison had taught her that as well. She was surprised to hear a familiar, deep voice behind her. 'Hey there kid. I've been waiting for you', the voice said. Piper turned around slowly to face the person behind her. The woman smiled at her and added coyly, 'So, Cambodia then, is it?' –'Yes, I love Cambodia.' Piper said with a smile, and closed the distance between them with few swift movements. 'You really thought I could let you go, Pipes?' was all Alex was able to mumble between the kisses.