Disclaimer: I do not own the show or it's characters or the storyline. All I own is the writing and whatever is not in the show.
Author's Note: This is based on the last two episodes of season 5, but written how I imagine it should have happened. There will be a second chapter.
Lonely Affair
Lorna is half-asleep leaning on the medicine cabinet behind her when she hears a familiar raspy voice calling out her name. The sound of that voice brings a warm sensation over her—she hasn't talked to her since she saw her having sex in the hallway with another woman. Deep down, she knows it's her own fault; she knows that talking to Nicky about her potential pregnancy and marriage is the cause of that and hates herself for always managing to ruin things between the two of them.
Cautiously, she stands up and walks over to the door—staring into the somewhat pained brown eyes of her on-again-off-again best friend-slash-potential lover. "Nicky? What on earth happened to you? You don't look too good," the brunette softly says, unlocking the door to let her in. Her eyes linger worriedly on the taller inmate's face, desperately searching for clues.
"Gee, thanks kid," Nicky's voice exhaustedly remarks. She sighs, though, letting her hands lightly brush across the other's forehead. "Let's just say, what happened last night makes a drug withdrawal sound ten times better. And with that said, there happen to be any good drugs in here? I need somethin' to take away this pounding headache."
Shaking her head violently, Lorna gives a firm stare towards the older woman. "You are absolutely not taking no drugs, Nicky! Hell no. What happened—what was so bad that it makes ya wanna go through a withdrawal?" She grabs Nicky's hand and has her sit down with her on the ground.
"Nothin' ya needa be concerned about, kid," Nicky lets out a frustrated groan. Looking closely at the woman sitting beside her, Nicky sighs sadly—no matter how angry Lorna's actions can make her, she knows she can never truly leave her. Her hand gently reaches over to touch the smaller inmate's hand, "Are you doin' okay, Lorna?"
Lorna sticks her hand up in her face, shaking her head. "I ain't answering that til' ya tell me what the hell happened with you!"
"Look kid, what happened last night is something I know will terrify ya and keep you worrying all night—I prefer not to do either of those things to ya. So, let's just drop it, yeah?"
Her bottom lip lightly frowns while her concerned brown eyes peer delicately up into Nicky's. She allows one of her hands to gently grab at one of the other woman's hand, giving it a soft stroke with her thumb. "Please just tell me, Nicky. I need to know what happened to ya—did one of the guards do somethin' to ya?" Lorna warmly questions, keeping her eyes on her friend.
"Somethin' like that you could say...he didn't do anything to me, directly," Nicky slowly answers, her headache seeming to worsen at the memories of the horrific events of the previous night.
"Which guard was it? What do you mean he didn't do nothin' to ya 'directly'?"
Gazing down at the cold tile floor, Nicky traces her finger around the marble pattern that covers it. She slowly shakes her head. "That monstrous Piscatella—apparently Red was not crazy when she kept saying he was coming—he kidnapped me and a few others, including ma. Thank God he didn't fucking take you too, kid, because I know you wouldn't have been able to handle what he put us through," her voice lowly states.
Lorna's hand cautiously covers one of the redhead's as her brown eyes peer delicately up at her. "What-what he do to ya?" Her voice quietly inquires. She brushes her thumb tenderly over her friend's knuckles, trying to bring some comfort to her.
"Nothing too outrageous…he did fuckin' use a knife to slice some of ma's hair off, though—I wish I could have fucking taken that knife from him and stuck it right in his neck! I can't stand that bastard," Nicky nearly growls, her face reddening with anger at the horrific memory. She can feel her hands shaking with the amount of fury she's experiencing.
Caressing her knuckles, Lorna feels her heart soar for the older inmate. Her eyes widen at the thought of Nicky's having to witness such a sight. "He-he actually did that to Red? And-and you had to watch it? I'm real sorry, hon; I'm so sorry you had to go through something so scary! Does-does he still have Red? Where is he?"
Letting out a sigh, Nicky's anger immediately softens at the brunette's comforting yet frantic words. She cups her porcelain cheeks into her hands and stares affectionately into her orbs, "Don't be, kid. I'm fine—Red's fine, and so is everyone else. One of the golden girls—Frieda I think it is—she clucked him in the back of the head and now he's lying unconscious in the prison basement…tied up, of course. Hopefully, she'll finish the job with that poisonous tea of hers or else I fucking will. He doesn't deserve to live anymore, not after the hell he's put ma through!"
Lorna gently runs her hand through Nicky's—for once—neatly groomed hair. "Where is she?"
"She and the rest of the family are all down in the basement—trying to stay out of this mess up here. Now enough about that shit, I rather focus my energy on something less traumatizing," the other curtly responds. Her brown eyes pour heavily down into Lorna's, wanting desperately to know what kind of mess she might have gotten herself into now. "What have you been doin' all day, kid? Still playing doctor, yeah?"
With a slight gulp, the brunette gives a curt nod. Her eyes peer down at her hands. She instantly regrets the subject change—the last thing she wants to talk about is herself. Not when she's already angered Nicky with previous discussion of her now real pregnancy. She certainly doesn't want to bring up the fact that she has a drawer full of positive pregnancy tests—that, she knows, will only make the redhead hate her even more and she definitely doesn't want that.
"Something's bothering ya, yeah?" Nicky sighs, noticing the dazed look on the other's face. She gently lifts her chin so that their eyes are met with one another. "What's the problem, Lorna? Talk to me. It's your turn to vent—you made me tell you about my horrific night, now you tell me about yours."
"No, there's nothing bothering me. I just—I feel bad for what ya went through."
Shaking her head with some irritation, Nicky stares sternly down into her eyes. "Don't lie. I can see right through it, kid. Tell me what's the matter!"
Lorna lets out a sigh. "It's nothing important, Nicky. Don't worry bout' it." Her eyes sadly gaze down at the floor; she traces her hand around on the fabric of her khakis, trying to keep her eyes anywhere but on the woman beside her.
"It is important if it's making you upset, Lorna! Please just fucking tell me what it is," Nicky practically bags her. Her hands hold lovingly onto the smaller woman's face as her big orbs gaze softly into hers.
Groaning, Lorna cautiously gives up and complies. "Fine, but I know it'll make you mad and probably hate me even more than you already do—"
Before the Italian can even finish her sentence, Nicky immediately stops her with a warm embrace and tender kiss on the head. "Hate you even more than I already do? The fuck makes ya think that kinda shit, kid? I could never hate you, no matter how frustrating you can be sometimes. Just tell me what it is, Lorna. I won't hate you for it or get mad—probably not anyway," she warmly answers, wrapping her arms snug around the brunette's waist.
"After-after I told you I was pregnant—even before taking any test to confirm it—I-I called Vinny and he drove up here and well, I wanted to tell him somehow about the baby, so one of them Spanish girls took me up to the roof. And when I saw him standing in the crowd of people, I-I told him. He didn't even say anything—he just immediately got in his car and left…now he won't even fuckin' answer my calls! It's true, Nicky, I am pregnant—I took a dozen tests and they all came back the same. Here, look," she cries out, opening the drawer behind them to reveal the load of pregnancy tests each with a positive result.
"Holy fuck," Nicky mutters, staring in awe at the many positive tests. She sighs, peering back down at Lorna with a guilty expression starting to wash over her face. "You really are pregnant, babe. I'm sorry I didn't believe you before; I just can't imagine a little tiny human comin' outta ya, kid."
Her lips softly press against the smaller woman's temple. "Fuck that piece of shit Vinny! He obviously doesn't deserve a woman like you in his life if he's gonna run away the minute he finds out he's impregnated you with his child! You deserve better, Lorna—don't settle for some asshole like him, he ain't worthy of your love."
Lorna shakes her head, staring sadly down at her stomach. Tears slowly fall from her eyes at the thought of going through a pregnancy in prison without even the father involved in it. "He-he's my baby's father though—I don't want my baby to be without a parent while I'm stuck here! My sister has her own kids to worry about and my mom is barely aware of her own fucking self! And there's no way my dad will want another baby in the house—I don't want my own baby put into the system, Nicky! Please tell me what to do," she tearfully begs, gripping tightly onto the older woman's shoulders.
"Shh, shh, shh," the redhead softly soothes. She gently pulls Lorna into her arms, rubbing her back in comforting circles. "First, ya need to calm down and breathe. You have nine months to worry about all that, kid. Getting all worked up isn't gonna do ya any good. I know being pregnant in here is not the most appealing thing but I promise I'll help you in any way I can. Vinny obviously doesn't care and therefore does not deserve you nor your baby, so just try to forget about that son of a bitch."
Staring tearfully up at her, Lorna grips desperately tight onto her shirt. "How are you gonna be able to help me? The baby can't stay in prison—I'm gonna have to give him up to the fuckin' state, Nicky! I'll never get to see him!"
Brushing her fingers delicately through the Italian woman's brown hair, Nicky gives a soothing kiss to the top of her head. "Lorna, please take a deep breath and just calm down. You don't need to be worrying about this right now, kid. We have to worry about getting the hell out of this riot before we all end up with more time on our sentences. That's what is most important right now. Let's go back down to the basement—we're all staying down there until this fucking chaos ends."
Nicky stands up, gently pulling Lorna up as well, and starts to walk out of the room with her. The minute they step outside the tiny medical station, they're greeted with an even more chaotic mess than just hours ago. Inmates are being tackled to the ground in almost every direction. Guards—mostly unrecognizable ones—are flooding the hallway, harshly handling the women.
A sigh escapes the redhead as she tightens her hold on Lorna. She presses a warm kiss to her head and cups her face in her hands, staring softly into her eyes. "Change of plans—you're better off if you go surrender to these guys. You got a baby to worry about, kid," she gently says while giving her a tight squeeze another kiss to the head.
"No, Nicky! I refuse to go if you ain't," the brunette contemptuously cries out. Her grip on the taller woman's body only tightens.
"Baby, this is for yours and that kid a yours best interests. It'll be okay, I promise. But ya gotta go and I have to go back to Red and the family to make sure they know what's going on. It's safer if you just go surrender yourself and tell them you're pregnant, okay?"
Lorna doesn't budge, only holding tighter onto the other. Tears stream down her porcelain cheeks, "I don't care if it's safer or not, Nicky. I really don't wanna be without you—I wanna go with you! Being without you and going through this is more scary than whatever happens if I follow you down to the basement!"
Wrapping her arms snug around the shorter woman's waist, Nicky feels her heart soar with love and pain for her. She lets her hands run tenderly up and down her back. "Fine, you can come with me. But it might not be the safest decision, babe. Piscatella's still unconscious down there and when these guards come find us—they will, believe me—we will be in even more trouble…Ya sure that's what ya want, kid?" Her big brown orbs peer warmly down into the brunette's.
Nodding profusely, Lorna leans onto her and gazes gently up into her eyes. "This might not be a good time or nothin' but I-I kinda love you, Nicky. I can't see my life without ya—that's why I can't leave here if you're not leaving too. I can't risk that, not when I don't know if I won't see ya again! So, there's no way I'll surrender. I don't care what happens as long as I'm with you," she quietly says as they sneak their way to the basement door.
Once the door's closed, Nicky stops at the top of the stairway. She can't help the small smile that slowly spreads across her face. "I love you too, baby—I've been fuckin' waiting years to hear ya say it back. I don't care how horrible the timing is—it still makes my heart flutter with joy to hear those words come outta your mouth," her voice purrs lovingly against the other's ear. She pulls her in for a soft peck on the lips and brushes her hands through Lorna's brown waves.
"I guess that was kinda smart a ya, though, to not wanna risk us not seeing each other for God-only-knows how long. I'll give that to ya, kid. I still don't know how safe the idea is for ya to be risking your sentence length, on the other hand. But I ain't gonna force ya to do something you don't want. Just know that I'll do whatever I can to protect the both of us, yeah?" Her arms pull Lorna up to her chest, giving a loving embrace to her for several silent moments. After which she gently releases her and has her follow her down to the basement where the majority of their family resides.
Red rushes over the second she sees them. Her eyes look the two younger inmates over. "What's going on up there, girls? It sounds like a stampede of elephants or something, she curiously wonders.
"Well, it seems the riot may be ending—forcefully and gruesomely, of course. Guards are going wild up there and dragging other inmates out," Nicky coldly responds, giving a tight squeeze to the short woman standing beside her.
"Where've you been, Lorna?" Piper genuinely questions from her spot on the couch beside her girlfriend.
Lorna stares down at the ground, not sure what kind of answer to give. She certainly doesn't want to announce her pregnancy to anyone else—at least not until this huge riot mess is finally over. "Just, uh, up in the medicine room," her voice barely louder than a whisper.
The redhead standing beside her grabs one of her hands and squeezes it soothingly. "She was just playin' doctor and boy does that suit her," the last part is said in a voice that only Lorna can hear. Her fingertips gently stroke against the other's knuckles. "Anyway, enough small talk, we gotta figure out how to not be caught by those guards and quick because it's not gonna be long before they come down here!"
But before they have the chance to figure anything out, the sound of loud footsteps and the door being slammed has all of them instantly fill with fear and terror. Lorna instinctively clings to Nicky, her face as pale as a ghost. She knows it was her choice to stay with them and risk harsher punishment but that doesn't make it any less scary for her.
Nicky senses the small woman's fear and pulls her close in her arms. She stares lovingly down at her, letting her fingers brush soothingly along the skin of her cheeks, "It's gonna be okay. I'm here; I'll protect the two of us, baby."