Preface: Nicky and Red have been out of Litchfield for 1 and a half years and live together in an apartment in Queens.
"Can we please watch something other than The Real House Wives, Ma?" Nicky was getting annoyed at Red constantly going through the channels and then always settling on something less than suitable for her.
"What do you propose?" Red asked giving her a side eye.
Nicky shrugged. "What about House Hunters? That show gets me excited about the future."
"You plan on getting fancy extravagant house someday?" Red chuckled.
"Oh yes! Huge mansion on the beach, helicopter pad a couple of acres away. People will have to pay me to use my side of the beach. But don't worry, you can have a share in it to." And they both laughed.
"Ok, my dear, well here you go." And Red handed her the remote. "You can watch whatever it is you'd like; I'm going to take a shower."
Red stood up but swayed a little. She paused and stood still.
"Ma, you alright?" Nicky stood up quickly and put her hand on Red's elbow to steady her.
"Yes, just dizzy." Red mumbled.
"Is it going away?"
"Yes."
A few seconds passed.
"It's gone now. That was odd." Red sounded normal from what Nicky could tell.
"Ok. Well do you need help walking to the shower?" Nicky was still concerned.
"I'm good. But thank you." Red smiled at Nicky and then walked towards the restroom.
Her steps were normal and she wasn't swaying, Nicky noticed.
Nicky, satisfied once she heard the water running, sat down and started looking for House Hunters. Sometimes, Nicky thought that she could work her ass off, save a shit ton of money, and buy her and Red and beautiful house on the beach for real. Red was always talking about how when she was younger she always said she wanted to retire on the beach. But she said that that dream faded when she got thrown into prison and now there is nothing to retire from.
Nicky was working a 9-5 job as an electrician. For once she was grateful for the skills that her job at Litchfield gave her. She was making great money and was able to support her and Red comfortable to the point where Red didn't need to work. Nicky said if she couldn't retire on the beach then she should at least have fun at this point in her life on.
Red hadn't heard from Dimitri in years at this point and for some reason that Red never found out, her sons moved back to Russia.
"As long as they don't get involved in the kind of shit I got involved with, I don't care where they are." Red would say the first and only time Nicky had brought it up.
Red and Nicky were content with it just being them for as long as it would be. Red was not interested in finding another man and Nicky swore to Lorna that she would wait for her once she got out in a couple more years. Nicky had no problem waiting because she had Red to keep her company.
'Oh, Red.' Nicky sighed aloud when she thought about how much Red continued to do for her. It was incredible to think that this woman was so loving and loyal to her for reasons Nicky still couldn't figure out. Red would always say "There are a million and a half reasons why I love you, Nicky." before bed each night. And Nicky came up with a clever response back, "And I'll love you until I can figure them all out." She loved he mother, no doubt.
Nicky finally found the channel that House Hunters was on. Oh it was the International edition, they were in Florence, Italy. Nicky remembered Red telling her about a time, before she married Dimitri, where she lived in Florence and fell in love and s engaged to an Italian man named Roberto, but it didn't work out. Red promised she would take Nicky to Florence one day.
Nicky was dozing off on the couch when all of a sudden she heard a very loud noise. A second later, she heard something that she never wanted to hear.
"Nickyyy!" Red's bloodcurdling scream came from the shower. She sounded as though her intestines had been cut out from under her. The most disturbing sound Nicky had ever heard.
Immediately, Nicky stood and ran to the shower. She opened the restroom door.
"Ma? What is it?" Nicky walked over to the shower where the closer she got the more it smelt of a hot nickel that had been in your pocket for hours.
With no response, Nicky slowly pulled back the shower curtain and that is when Nicky's heart skipped to many beats for comfort.
"Oh my God! Red! Red! Can you hear me?" Nicky was panicking.
Blood.
Everywhere.
So much blood.
Red had fallen and hit her head on the edge of the tub.
So much blood.
Nicky leaned down to feel for a pulse but had a hard time because her own tears were blurring her vision bad.
Nicky gently placed to fingers on Red's neck. The second her fingers made contact with Red's skin, Red groaned. Ok, that was all Nicky needed, some kind of response.
Why all of this blood?
"Mommy can you hear me? I need to know you're going to be okay!" Nicky didn't know what to say or what she was saying.
She reached up and directing the shower head off of Red's body and towards the back of the shower so the blood can wash away down the drain.
Blood was everywhere.
"I'll be right back, ok?" Nicky ran to find the phone and dialed 911.
"911, what is your emergency?" the operator sounded all too calm for Nicky's liking.
"My mother fell in the shower! She must have hit her head on the edge of the tub. There is blood everywhere! Help us!" Nicky was frantic.
"Ok, I've got your location off based off your phone call. That is the address where the ambulance should head to?"
"Yes! Hurry!"
"Ok, what is your name?"
"Nicky." Nicky said in a voice that shook because of her sobbing.
"Ok, Nicky are you with your mother right now?"
"Yes."
"Alright, Nicky what I want you to do is see if you can't find out just about how big her head wound is. Do you think you can do that?"
"Well she is on her back so I'd have to move her. Can I do that or should I leave her?" Nicky was in such distress she had tunnel vision and felt sick to her stomach.
"You can see if you can lean her a little bit on her side."
"Ok."
Nicky knelt down to her mother's side. She looked at her chest, it was rising and falling slowly and shallow but she was breathing.
"Ma, I'm going to move you a little bit so I can see how bad this is, ok?" Nicky didn't want to move her and risk hurting her. Nicky didn't even know if she was hurt in any other place than her head.
Nicky put the phone on speaker and set it down on the floor and explained to the operator what she was doing.
She put one hand underneath Red's side and the other underneath her back so that could lift Red into a sitting position.
So much blood.
The second Nicky started to lift Red up, she began to cry out in pain.
"Mommy its ok, I just have to see your head, ok? You're doing so great. The ambulance will be here any second to take us to the hospital so you can get all better. You'll be ok in just a little bit." Nicky tried to soothe Nicky in the best way she could while not letting her own fear get in the way of her comforting her mother.
Nicky finally got Red up high enough so she could look at her head.
Red gasped as if she were short of breath and Nicky put one of her hands on Red's cheek.
"Hey." Nicky said and couldn't hold back the tears in front of Red any longer. "You're going to be ok. There isn't anything in the world that can bring you down. You are strong. And the longer we are in this situation, the more you prove that, ok? You will be ok, I know you, Mommy." Nicky was choking on sobs but couldn't help it.
She looked into Red's eyes and saw an emptiness that had never been there before. Red looked at her and then Red's eyes filled with tears.
Too much blood to be safe.
"Oh my god." Nicky said softly in horrific disbelief. Blood was running down Red's back like a trickling faucet.
Nicky picked up the phone.
"It's big. I'm scarred. This is the kind of stuff you see in movies and the person always dies in war." When Nicky was worried, she rambled on and on.
"Well Nicky, the fact that she is still responsive at this point tells me that it is possible she will come out of this. The paramedics will be there in 3 minutes according to the GPS."
"Ok, thank you."
"She'll be fine, Nicky. With as much love as I heard you have for her when you were walking her through what you were doing, she'll be just fine." And the operator hung up.
"Gonna…die..." These were the first word Red had spoken since this has happened.
"No, no. No, you're not. Stop it." Nicky was crying uncontrollably thinking just how true Red's words probably were.
Nicky stood up to find a robe to put on her mother so she wasn't still naked when the paramedics arrived. While she was rummaging around in the closet, she heard the faintest,
"Nicky…"
And she rushed to her mother's side.
"I'm here Ma. I'm right here." And Nicky reached out a hand to gentle wash some blood of her mother's cheek and forehead.
"In...back…closet…behind..clothes…there's a safe..2..days after..you .in…prison..bring.." Red paused for a minute or so to catch her breath and gather her thoughts.
Nicky just continued to brush her fingers along her mother's cheek, to comfort her as much as possible. All the while feeling her eyes get heavier and heavier with the tears continuing to build up and fall down.
"Bring...to hospital..." Red finished.
"Of course, Ma. Whatever you need." Nicky wished she could hug her tightly.
"Nicky…with everything I am…you must know...I love you…a million half…reasons."
"Oh, Mommy." Nicky cried. "I'll love you until I can figure them all out."
There was a knock on the door and the paramedics opened the door themselves.
"In here!" Nicky yelled.
"How long ago did this happen?" the first paramedic asked.
"About 15 minutes ago." Nick managed between deep breathes.
The first paramedic set up the stretcher and the other one walked over to Red and looked her over.
Red's eyes were closed but she was still breathing; Nicky was reassuring herself of that every few seconds.
At this point both paramedics were on either side Red and were counting down to when they would lift her and put her on the stretcher.
The second they lifted her, Red screamed which caused Nicky to shudder and for her heart to break even more so which she didn't think was possible.
So much blood dripped from her head.
Every pain verbalized by Red, Nicky felt. Every pain etched on her face, Nicky felt. All of the fear in her eyes when they made eye contact every so often, Nicky felt.
Red was on the stretcher and being wheeled out to the ambulance, Nicky following behind.
Once in the ambulance, the paramedic hooked Red up to an IV and started to bandage her head until they arrived at the hospital.
Red reached her hand out for Nicky's.
"Nicky..." Red spoke so gently.
Nicky took her mother's hand in her own and rubbed her thumb on the back of smooth skin.
"If I die… I love you." A single tear rolled down Red cheek.
"Ma, if you go, I go." Nicky pulled Red's hand up to her lips and kissed in softly.
"I love you too." Nicky said as silent tears flooded her eyes.
Nicky looked at her heart monitor which seemed to have been at an odd pace. She looked at the paramedics concerned and then looked at Red, who had slipped into unconsciousness.
