Two and a half months. That's how long it had been since Alex saw the halls and the faces of Litchfield Federal Prison. She had spent the first month drifting somewhere between life and death, in a coma that the doctors seemed initially pessimistic about. Gradually, however, her condition had improved, and after four weeks of immobility, she had finally opened her eyes. It had taken another six weeks to make a full recovery, and since Alex's attack had been a gross neglect on account of the prison, they were only too happy to let her have as much recovery time as she needed. First, there came the physical recovery, as she slowly started to regain feeling in her arms and legs. Both her arms had been encased in a heavy plaster when she woke up, and during the first two weeks she couldn't move at all, because her attacker had broken her shoulder, which needed to heal fully until she could move on to more thorough physical therapy.
While the physical recovery was painful, however, what Alex remembered most of her weeks in the hospital was when she for the first time remembered her attack. At first, when the images had started coming back to her, she'd had a panic attack, and the nurse had to give her a sedative. In the following nights she'd had bad nightmares, but no more panic attacks. At first she had balked at the idea of trauma counseling. She felt little inclination to talk about the encounter, and on the whole therapy had never done much for her. After a week of nightmares, however, she'd started to come around to the idea. When she considered the fact that she was in the hospital, and not in prison, she considered that here they might actually have qualified counselors who might actually help her.
She had still been reticent, at first, when Miriam sat next to her bed with a writing pad and a sympathetic look. The counselor had to draw her out at first with some questions, but she was careful never to overstep, and thanks to her interviews Alex was able to talk through her attack without hyperventilating. When after three sessions the nightmares gradually started to lessen, Alex was finally convinced that the therapy was helping, and she made as many appointments as she could get — knowing that she'd have to return to prison at some point.
After two weeks of consciousness, Alex had received a visit from Caputo. Alex had been suspicious at first, but the man had been nothing but polite and friendly. Too friendly, Alex thought. Caputo brought her up to date with everything that had happened since her attack — everything pertaining to her, at least, because Caputo slipped up a couple of times, which gave Alex the impression that more had gone wrong than he was willing to let on. The important news, however, was that Aydin had been arrested minutes after the attack had been discovered. Caputo assured her that nothing like that would ever happen again — after Alex's attack they had done thorough background checks both on the guards they had recently hired, and on the guards they hired after that. None of them had a drug-dealing past. If she should recognize any of the guards at all, however, Caputo emphasized, she had leave to come straight to his office.
Another consequence of Aydin's arrest was that (1) Alex was safe now and (2) if they could manage to connect Aydin to Kubra, and they could write him down an extra charge for attempted murder, a retrial for the drug lord might not be so far away. While relieved at this news, however, Alex was suspicious. She told Caputo that she didn't want to testify unless she was certain that her safety was guaranteed. She was willing to identify Aydin as her attacker, but any testimonial of hers which might tie Aydin to Kubra and the Ring, she was (so far) unwilling to give. Caputo understood, though he assured her that her safety was top priority right now. Any details of the case, Caputo told her, she would discuss with her lawyer later, who would get in touch with her as soon as she had fully settled in again. Alex nodded at the information. It was a relief, but after what happened, she felt too suspicious not to keep her guard up.
Alex had no expectations when she stepped back over the threshold of the building that had held her captive for the last few months. With Miriam, she had prepared for her return, and she felt almost calm when she stepped through the hallway on her way back to her bunk.
There were several things she had, however, not been prepared for. She had been confused by the number of people she didn't recognize while walking back to the 'Suburbs,' and when she entered the sleeping hall and saw the bunk beds that had suddenly appeared, she had to control her breathing. She almost had difficulty finding her bunk back, but she was both comforted and surprised to see that her bunk had remained untouched; another bunk bed had been soldered on top of her own, but there was no evidence that anyone else occupied it. She frowned, looking around for some familiar faces to bring her up to speed.
She found those familiar faces in the cafeteria, when lunchtime came around. She sighed in relief as she spotted her regular group — Morello, Yoga Jones, and, a pleasant surprise, Nicky. Almost all of them rose when they spotted her approaching.
'Good to have you back, Vause,' Nicky said, nodding her wild-haired head.
'You too,' she said, surprising herself by laughing. 'You got out of Max, then?'
Nicky inclined her head. 'Only a little after they took you to the hospital, actually, so it was all kinds of weird.'
'Yeah, things haven't been the same,' Morello confided. She smiled at Alex. 'It's good to see a familiar face, what with all the newbies here...'
'Yeah, what is up with that?' Alex said, settling down and putting her spork in an unidentifiable stewish-kind of dish. 'What the hell happened while I was away?'
She raised her head when she was met by silence. She smiled, confused. 'Seriously, tell me. I've been gone for two and a half months, I'm sure I've missed some things.'
At the uncomfortable looks her three companions shared, her eyes registered an empty seat. She looked back up. 'Where's Piper?' she asked.
A collective sigh rose from the table, and Alex's heart started thudding in her chest. 'She isn't skipping lunch again, is she? Or is she still caught up in her panty business?' Alex rolled her eyes, reminding herself that she was supposed to be mad at Piper.
When no answer transpired, Alex cocked an eyebrow. 'Anyone?'
Morello spoke up. 'Alex...' she said, regretfully. 'Piper's in psych.'
Very slowly, Alex lowered her spork. 'What?'
Now the news had been broken, the others seemed suddenly more communicative. 'Nobody really knows what happened,' Yoga Jones put in, 'but after your attack, she lost it. When she first heard the news, she was hysterical. We had a tough time calming her down, so they wouldn't put her in SHU.'
'Well, she calmed down, but after that...' Nicky said. 'When I came back from max, I was shocked to see her. She was skipping meals —'
'She'd completely dropped the panty business,' Yoga Jones said.
'— and when they took her to psych, I heard it was because she'd been tattooing herself, or something like that?' Nicky shook her furry-haired head. 'I tried to talk to her while she was still here, but it was like she couldn't put a word past her lips. Of course, we had no idea what went on in her head, but we knew it had to be about you...'
There was a pause. 'Oh my God...'
'I'm sorry, Vause,' Nicky said. 'I wish I had better news for you on your first day back.'
'Oh my God...' Alex repeated. She frowned. 'Does she...' She took a breath. 'Does she know I'm still alive?'
The three inmates shared a glance. 'It's unlikely,' Morello said. 'We tried very hard to get some news about you, but the guards wouldn't tell us anything. It was only yesterday that Healy told us you were coming back.'
Alex frowned. 'Wait, you knew I was coming back?' she said. 'They don't do that, normally, do they?'
'Yeah, it was weird as shit,' Nicky said. 'He told us to take care of you, and everything. I think Caputo gave the guards instruction to treat you nicely.'
Alex stabbed her food. 'Well, a bit too late for niceties, but good to know.'
'Yeah, yours is the only bunk that hasn't been assigned a top bunkie,' Nicky said. 'And between you and me,' she added, leaning in, 'your rep has soared since your attack. It was all anyone could talk about for weeks, and that's saying something, considering the mass breakout they had...'
'Mass breakout...' Alex started. 'No, wait.' She took a breath. 'One thing at a time.' She looked at Nicky. 'My rep has soared? You mean me getting attacked helped my reputation around here?'
'Makes sense when you think about it, though,' Nicky said, shrugging. 'I mean, you were important enough in the outside world for some crazy drug lord to send a hitman, who had to infiltrate the prison for the single purpose of killing you? I mean, that's some mad shit, Vause.'
Alex snorted derisively. 'Yeah, I see what you mean,' she said. 'Well, I'm glad my almost getting smashed into pieces did some good around here.' She stopped stabbing her sad excuse for a meal when Piper flashed through her head. 'But Piper,' she said, looking back at her fellow inmates. She traced her thoughts back to where the conversation had first left the blonde. 'She doesn't know I'm alive?'
'I don't think so...' Yoga Jones said, almost apologetically. 'If we have trouble getting information up here, it seems unlikely that any of it will reach her down there.'
Alex took off her glasses, sighed, and buried her face in her hands. 'Shit. Shit, shit, shit!'
'Vause,' Nicky said. 'Hey, Vause!'
Alex looked up.
'It's not your fault, okay?' Nicky said. 'Besides, hadn't you split up?'
'We were...' Alex said. 'But she... I...' And she could imagine it all. Piper, sick with grief, worry, and guilt, because she hadn't taken Alex seriously when the woman had told her Kubra was after her. Because she hadn't believed that Kubra could get to her here. Here, in a prison that was supposed to keep its inmates safe. Alex breathed in, and her nostrils flared. Piper had been right. What had happened to her, and what had consequently happened to Piper, was nobody's fault but the prison administration. If security wasn't such a joke down here, none of this would have happened. Everyone started back when Alex slammed her spork on the table and stood up.
'Where you going?' Nicky said. She pointed at her platter. 'You'll miss your delicious lunch.'
Alex didn't laugh. 'I'm going to fix this,' she said.
Nicky spread her arms. 'How?' she asked.
'They can't keep her in there,' Alex said. 'They have no right.' She looked down at her fellow prisoners. 'How long has she been in there?'
The three shared a look. 'Seven weeks,' Yoga Jones confided.
'Seven weeks?' Alex said. 'Jesus.' She shook her head. 'They can't keep her in there. They can't. I'm gonna get her out.'
'And how're you gonna do that, then?' Nicky asked.
Alex rolled up her sleeves. 'Watch me.'
