Alex.

Bright blinding light was the first thing she noticed. Wincing and trying to move her head away from the light she groaned.

Pain.

She felt a stabbing pain in her side that seemed to radiate out in waves at the slightest movement. Her groan caused immediate movement in the room and she tried once more to open her eye to see if it was Aydin.

"Try not to move Hun." came a gentle voice, and opening her eyes a little wider Alex takes in the surrounding of her limited line of vision.

Hospital.

She appeared to be in a hospital.

"Where am I? Who found me?" She croaked, then choked as her parched throat strangled on the words.

"Shhh." The nurse soothed, moving to offer her some water, supporting her head gently as she drank greedily. "I don't know who found you" she answered honestly, "just that you were brought in 6 days ago with stab wounds to the stomach, nothing too major though, and a serious bump to the head. You seem quite popular though, there is a guard on your door."

"I need to get out…" Trying to sit up quickly she felt the room sway before collapsing back onto the bed.

"Your not going anywhere for a few days at least. Just you relax and I will let the doctor know you have regained consciousness."

As the room fell silent again Alex tried to process the small amount of information she had gained. She had been here 6 days, that meant it must be Thursday. They were guarding her, so hopefully that meant she was in no immediate danger unless… damn, if Aydin was part of the guard rota she was as good as dead. Lolly had warned her. OK so it had sounded like the normal garbled nonsense, but she had mentioned 'toothpick'. Why hadn't she listened, should have guessed.

Sighing and closing her eyes she wondered if anyone had told Piper. Would she even care? She hadn't cared when her mother had died, she hadn't cared when she had said Kubra would get her. Why would she care now. Unless there were panties and money involved she didn't seem to care about anything. If she had taken her more seriously instead of telling her she was paranoid maybe this wouldn't have happened.

Soon the nurse reappeared this time followed by a man who Alex assumed was the Dr. Letting them work around her, merely grunting at any questions directed her way, Alex wondered if she could get a message out of here. But even as she let the thought form she knew there was no point. Who would she contact. No-one would care.

Vaguely aware of the nurse talking to her again Alex tried to focus.

"… so if the pain increases just press the button here to release more drugs. Now you have a visitor so I will be just outside if you need anything."

"A visitor?" Alex felt her heart rate increase which was confirmed by the machine beeping next to her.

"Its OK. A guard or something from the prison."

"What does he look like?" Alex held the nurses arm to stop her leaving.

"Tall, balding… he said he was in charge." The nurse shrugged. "I can stay if you want."

The description of Caputo calmed her and shaking her head and releasing the grip she had on her arm she watched the nurse leave.

"Vause!" Caputo stood looking down at her. "You OK?"

"Other than a hole in my side and a headache that has had me unconscious for 6 days you mean?" Alex shook her head.

"Yeah well I came to give you and update." Caputo looked uncomfortable. "It has been decided that it is best we move you out of Lichfield, for your own safety."

"Did you catch him? Did you get Aydin?"

"The perpetrator escaped." Caputo rubbed his hand across his face. "It seems he was under the impression you were dead... There was a lot of blood…. Anyway as the inquiry has given us some fresh information it has been decided for your own safety to let the news of your death be, shall we say, unchallenged. We will move you to a Max unit until it is safe for you to return."

"Wait. I have to go to Max?"

"We cant be sure only one guard infiltrated Lichfield. MCC are finally putting some security protocol in place but until we are certain its safer to ship you out."

"Where too?"

"Bedford Hills."

Nodding, knowing there was no point in arguing Alex asked quietly. "When do I go?"

"Doc says they need to keep you here for a few more days, so probably Monday. When you get there you will be assigned a cell mate, just as at Lichfield, and it is up to you how much you share. As far as we can tell Kubra thinks you are dead."

"And Piper?" Alex hated herself for asking but she had to know.

"Chapman, along with the other inmates, know only that there has been an incident. Things have changed at Lichfield in the short time you have been away Vause. Right now a spell at Bedford may not be a bad thing."

Nodding, Alex watched him stand. "I'm sorry this had to happen." he mumbled not looking at her, before exiting quickly.

Piper thought she was dead… would she be sad? Realising how much she had loved Piper Chapman made her feel weak. The woman she had been when they met, strong, adventurous, brave, maybe a little stupid, but ultimately independent, was gone. Now she just felt weak. Physically, mentally and emotionally. She needed these next few days to toughen up and be ready for what lay ahead.

Piper.

The rumours were rife. Someone was dead, but no-one knew if it was an inmate or a guard. Bus loads of new inmates had appeared and the cubes were now doubled up. The confusion of both the escape to the lake and the new inmates meant I hadn't seen Alex for a few days. Now as I searched the dining room I still couldn't find her. Spotting lolly I slid my tray onto the table and smiled.

"Hey!"

She nodded but didn't answer.

"You seen Alex?"

Lolly put down her fork. "She's dead."

"What… look I'm serious, have you seen her?"

"I'm serious too. You must have heard. Toothpick got her. She told you they would get her. You didn't listen! They always win in the end. I cant be seen talking to you, your one of them." And leaving her half eaten food behind she stood and walked away.

Piper looked round confused. Crazy, she was crazy! Toothpick? What was that. And of course Alex wasn't dead… but appetite gone suddenly she emptied her untouched food into the trash and went in search of Healy.

Stella.

Fuck her! Fuck Piper Chapman and her panties and her blonde cute looks. Fuck her!

As she was shunted along with the other new intake she kept her eyes on the ground. Being sent to the SHU she could have handled, and yeah even understood. But max! So unfair!

Caputo told her she was shipping out because MCC wanted the space for new inmates so she was being processed with a bunch of strangers and already the catcalls and shouting made her edgy. How could Piper do this? She had said she understood. Now she had her 9 month completed sentence increases by god knows how many years, and other than take money she had helped earn she had done nothing wrong.

By the time she was processed and ushered to her bunk Stella was drained. The only consolation was. for tonight at least. she had the cube to herself. Making the bed quickly she lay on top fully clothed. Listening to the sounds around her she knew she had many months and years ahead to work out what to do with her life, if she had any life then left to live. This was her own fault. Now maybe she needed to take her own advise. Trust no bitch and work out how to get the hell outta here.

A/N: So I am very new to the OITNB fandom. Binge watched all 3 series and am totally addicted to the wonderful characters. I hope you enjoy my little version of what may have happened next from the points of view of 3 truly wonderful characters. I intend to mix things up a little so stay tuned. A x