I'm glad you guys are liking the story, and thaks for all the reviews, favorites and follows. I've sort of got an idea of where this is going now but any feedback or ideas are welcome. Just like the show, its going to be a bumpy ride, but I'll try not to disappoint =)
Piper
When I woke up, they moved me to a different room. This one was smaller than the last, but at least I had my own room with my own personal man-in-blue standing guard outside the door.
It was three o'clock in the afternoon and the doctor had just left. I didn't understand most of the terminology he had mumbled and I could tell he was judging me. Who could blame him? For all he knew, I was just another lowlife who had done something terrible- like assault or murder- to be incarcerated, and then got into a trivial fight about territory in the yard, resulting in my being stabbed. Or maybe he thought I had done this to myself in order to get out of prison for the holidays. I mean, whatever food this place had to offer would most likely be better than Litchfield's, right?
Anyway, he told me my injury had been rather un-fatal, which I thought was a good thing, but I didn't miss the apparent disappointment in his tone. My intestine had suffered a small tear and they had had to remove my appendix since it had also been 'knicked'. Thinking back to when Alex had asked where she should stab me, I was grateful that my knowledge of human anatomy hadn't been far off.
I looked over to the door when it opened unexpectedly. Seeing Fig enter, I heard the heart monitor spike and fought to control my anxiety. If I wasn't careful, that damn monitor would give me away, seeing as I knew she wasn't here just to say 'hi'.
"Miss Chapman," she greeted in her usual nonchalant tone. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine. I feel fine. What about you?"
She raised an eyebrow and glanced at the monitor as it spiked again. Turning her eyes back to me, she made her way to the chair beside my bed, her high heels making an obnoxiously loud 'click-clacking' noise against the linoleum floors. Once she was seated, she crossed one leg over the other and rested her her hands on top of her knee, leaning forward, "This is not how I would like to be spending my holiday, so let's say we just skip the niceties and cut to the chase, alright?" She stared at me expectantly as I swallowed down my rising fear and concentrated on keeping my heart rate steady. When I nodded, she continued, "I don't think we really need to go over what happened. You acted in self-defense, am I correct?"
I nodded again, not trusting my voice.
"Good. Now, here's how we can make this easy for both of us; first off, Caputo brought it to my attention that you were involved in the incident that landed Doggett in Psych." I opened my mouth to speak but she held up a hand to silence me. "You don't need to confirm this, I've seen the report of your confession. The reason I bring this up is, well, you put her in there, then you had her released, and a few days later you two have an altercation that leaves one of you with a stab wound and the other in a coma."
The monitor went crazy, "She... she's in a coma?" My mind couldn't even begin to process this information before Fig began to speak again.
"Broken nose, broken jaw, fractured vertebrae, cranial swelling... and so on. So, you see how the chain of events that led up to this could be bad for you. Reviewing the records, some people might believe that you had her released from Psych to gain your vengeance for whatever you two were fighting about."
I felt like I might pass out. The doctor said that elevated heart rates were a bad sign during recovery and I feared the nurses would come in when they saw what was going on with my heart monitor. "I-I didn't... That's not true!"
"Relax and let me finish," she said, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest as she waited for me to calm down. I managed to get my heart rate down to an almost normal pace after a minute of focused breathing. "Now, I told you I could make this easy for both of us, and here's how; I can make it so such things as vengeance and previous incidents stay out of the report. It can easily be believed that Doggett came after you for putting her in Psych and you, being injured and scared, may have gone a little overboard while fearing for your life."
I considered her offer, knowing that everything she said was true. There really wasn't a choice to make. "I suppose that you'll want something in return for this?"
She smiled, "Just your word that your husband will keep this quiet; no articles, no radio shows, etcetera. You don't really want the Feds investigating you, do you? Making this a cut-and-dry, straightforward act of self-defense is in everyone's best interest."
I nodded, realizing Alex had been right; they would do anything to avoid scandal or a bad reputation. Obviously, Fig had a lot to hide and having the Feds sniffing around Litchfield was something she needed to stop from happening, which was a good thing but also a bad thing. It was bad because it meant there was no use telling her about what Healy had done; nothing would happen to him. "If I get Larry to agree to this, then I won't get any sort of punishment, right?"
"You'll go back and serve your sentence with no added time. And, pending a mandatory Psych evaluation, you'll stay in minimum security."
I bit my lip, wondering what a Psych evaluation entailed. It couldn't be too bad, and I was sure that this deal was better than any other I'd be offered. There was just one thing that I had to ask, "Is there any chance you could assign me a different counselor?"
Alex
I sat in the cafeteria, picking at the noodles in front of me. I had to admit they were better now that Red wasn't running the kitchen, but I couldn't bring myself to eat. My stomach was still queasy and I was lucky to go five minutes without thinking about last night's events. I had completely skipped breakfast despite not getting barely any sleep. At least I was able to catch a long 5 a.m. shower.
A tray plopped down across from me and I looked up to see Nicky take a seat.
"You look like shit," she pointed out.
"Thanks."
"No problem." She took a bite of her food and then set the fork down. "How long you gonna keep this 'I'm fine' bullshit up?"
I stared at her for a second before asking, "Have you heard anything about Gina?"
She rolled her eyes, my attempt to change the subject wasn't at all subtle. "Fine, have it your way. No, I haven't heard anything yet. From what I'm told about the burns, she'll probably be gone for at least another week."
I nodded and continued to stare silently at my tray until we were joined by an overly excited Morello.
"You won't believe what I just heard!" she whispered conspiratorially, leaning over towards me and Nicky.
"What'd you hear?" Nicky pressed when the girl took the seat beside her.
Morello looked around the cafeteria before leaning in again, "So, get this; Big Boo said that she heard from Taystee, who heard from Black Cindy, who heard from-"
"Dude!" Nicky cut her off, exasperated. "Enough with the grapevine shit, just tell us!" I had to bite my lips to keep from laughing.
Morello sat back and furrowed her eyebrows, "Jeez, Nichols. What's your problem?" When Nicky just shook her head, she continued, "Anyway, Big Boo told me that Poussey overheard Bennett and O'Neill talking this morning. It turns out Pennsatucky is in a freaking coma!"
"Holy shit," Nicky breathed then laughed. "Who woulda thunk Chapman could throw down?"
I wasn't sure whether to be relieved that Doggett wasn't dead or not. Being in a coma didn't exactly mean she was in the clear.
"Did they say anything about Piper?" I asked, hating myself when I realized how desperate I sounded.
Nicky gave me a look of amusement and I tried to ignore it.
"Boo didn't say anything about her," Morello answered apologetically. "But, you know, that's probably a good thing. If she was dead or something, everyone would know by now, don't you think, Nicky?"
The blonde nodded, "That's true. Plus, if she can get knifed and then beat a bitch into a coma without it slowing her down then it couldn't have been that bad."
I stood up and grabbed my tray, "I'll see you guys, later."
The thought going through my head as I left the cafeteria was one that I resented. I couldn't stop myself from believing that I wouldn't be okay until I could see that she was. But once I did, once I knew she was okay, I'd be done with her. I had to be.
I was walking back towards the laundry room when Black Cindy came walking down the opposite way.
"Yo, your girl's like the new Miss Claudette! Ain't nobody gonna fuck with her, now," she called out at me with a laugh then continued on her way.
I clenched my jaw in frustration and annoyance, "She's not my girl."
Piper
It wasn't long after Fig had left that Larry came in, startling me.
"Hey, you seem more alert today," he observed with a smile.
I gave him a confused look, "What are you talking about? Why are you here, Larry?"
He shrugged, seeming nervous, "Well, us Jews.. we don't really celebrate Christmas, but I figured I'd get you a present."
I raised my eyebrows, shocked that he was being so nice to me after he had broken off our engagement just the day before. "A present?"
He nodded and walked closer, pulling out a brown paper bag, "Before you say anything about the bag, it was necessary since the nurses would've tackled me if they saw me bringing you this," he reached in the bag and pulled out a pint of my favorite organic ice cream from Whole Foods and a plastic spoon. My mouth started watering right along with my eyes. "Because of your surgery, I know you can't eat anything solid or else I would've gotten something else, but here," he explained, handing it to me. "Merry Christmas."
"Thank you," I whispered. As much as I wanted to taste the ice cream, I had to ask again, "Not that I don't appreciate it, because I really do, but... Why are you here? I thought you hated me."
He sighed and sat down, reaching out to put a hand over mine. "Pipes, I could never hate you. I mean, I don't forgive you for what happened... not yet, at least. But I was in the wrong, too. I guess I never really understood how bad it is in there. I thought that you were exaggerating about it and I didn't see that you were actually in trouble. I can't help but feel that you being here is partially my fault."
"It's not your fault; it's mine," I assured him. "I don't blame you for not forgiving me. But I want you to know I'm sorry for all the bullshit I've put you through. You deserve better." Was it a bad thing that I didn't feel as shitty as I did yesterday about our relationship being over? I loved Larry, I knew that, but I would be okay without him. The fact that it was so easy to come to terms with this spoke volumes.
He shook his head, "When I got that call... when they told me you were in the hospital, that someone had stabbed you.. That's when it hit me, Pipes. I could've lost you, forever... And it made me realize that I don't want you out of my life."
The heart monitor spiked and I wished I could turn the damn thing off. I stared at Larry, confused. "What are you saying?"
He gave a small smile, "I'm saying that I love you, so much, and I want to make this work. We can get through this, together, like we were supposed to. That is, if you still want to."
