Warning: This chapter contains (possible) upsetting material as well as slight thoughts of suicide.

Chapter Eleven

With increasingly more blood draining out of Lorna's body, Nicky panics and runs with her to find Red. She comes to a halt when she arrives in the front of her cube – seeing her sitting in her chair with a book in hand – and hurries closer to her. "Ma! We have a bit of a problem!" She shrieks, pointing to the tremoring woman in her arms.

Red throws her book aside and turns to look at her daughter. Seeing the blood trail on the ground that seems to go from her cube all the way out, a frantic feeling overwhelms her. "Who's bleeding?! Is it Lorna? What happened girls?" Her tone full of deep worry and concern as she stands up to get a closer look. She can feel her heart shattering inside her at the possibilities that might have caused the petite woman to bleed.

"Alex saw her in the bathroom—sitting in a puddle of her own blood! They both think it's because she might be miscarrying! Ma, you know more about pregnancies than me…what do you think? She's not having a miscarriage, is she?" Nicky hopes to God that's not what this is. She's not sure how Lorna will cope after another baby-loss.

Sighing, Red gently takes the brunette into her arms and closely examines her. "The chances are very high that that's exactly what this is—I'm sorry, Lorna; I know how hard it is to hear this, especially when you've already had to go through another loss… But the amount of blood you seem to be losing—there's no way it's just natural spotting or anything. We're going to have to take you down to medical. You need to be checked out and thoroughly examined by a doctor."

She feels Lorna's body tremble in her arms, making her hold on tighter to her as she gives a comforting kiss to her head, "It's going to be okay, sweetheart; we'll get you through this."

Sitting in the prison's medical office, Lorna timidly watches the physician get an IV ready on the counter behind the table she sits on. She bites her lip nervously, her eyes staring down at the marble flooring.

The doctor finishes his task and comes over to Lorna with a needle in his hand, "I'm going to put this in real quick, and then you're being transferred to the hospital. You've lost too much blood and need to have a blood transfusion—plus they need to run tests to see what's going on with the pregnancy."

"Hospital?! No-no I can't go there," Lorna shakes her head furiously. "I'm still pregnant, right? I didn't lose the baby, did I?!"

"You need to go to the hospital, and you are. The chances are very low that you didn't miscarry—with the amount of blood you've lost, it's most certainly because of a miscarriage. But that's why we're sending you to the hospital, so that you can get a proper diagnosis. You'll probably only be there a night or two, depending on what they find," he responds while placing the IV into her hand and keeping it in place with a large piece of tape.

An hour later has Lorna lying chained to a hospital bed as a nurse hooks her up to an IV bag and starts the blood transfusion. After she finishes, she comes to her bedside and gives her a sympathetic stare, "The doctor will be in shortly; she's going to perform an ultrasound to see if you've had a miscarriage or not. If you have, she'll have you stay here a few nights for observation—if not, she might keep you here longer to make sure everything is all right with the pregnancy."

Lorna keeps silent, watching the nurse leave the room. Not long after, the door opens and in comes a female obstetrician – bringing along a movable ultrasound screen. She wheels it over to the side of the brunette's bed. Looking down at her patient, a friendly smile appears on her face. "I hear you've had some pretty bad bleeding going on this morning. Is that correct," her eyes dart down to the chart she's holding, "Lorna Morello?"

"Yes," Lorna meekly nods her head, peering worriedly up at the doctor. "That-that doesn't mean I l-lost my baby, right?"

"Well, the chances are quite high that a miscarriage is what's caused the bleeding – but we won't know for sure until we complete this ultrasound. So, let's have a look," the doctor says, pulling up the gown on Lorna's body and applying the cold gel over top of her stomach. She grabs the transducer and begins moving it around over where she put the gel.

As she moves the transducer around, she looks on the computer screen to see what's going on inside her patient's uterus. A surprising discovery is what she finds, "It looks like you've still got one baby in there—but you were pregnant with twins and miscarried the other. There's two separate sacs, which means they were fraternal. Wow, even the placenta is still here…that's odd. We're going to have to get an MRI done to see what's caused this."

"What? I-I had two babies inside me?!" Lorna's mouth gapes open as she stares at her doctor in shock. "How-how could one die though? That, that makes no sense!" Tears stream down her cheeks.

The obstetrician nods her head, continuing to examine the images on the computer screen. She sighs and gives a sympathetic stare to her young patient. "Sometimes things like this just happen and there's no explanation. It doesn't always make sense why one would die and not the other, but it could be due to a chromosomal abnormality or there could be something going on with your body—which is why I am having you get an MRI of your abdomen. If there is a problem, the other twin could miscarry as well."

Pacing around the prison furiously, Nicky slams her fists repeatedly into the walls. "Yo Nichols—ya better chill before a CO catches you assaulting the poor wall," Tricia says, walking over to her from the dorms.

Nicky lets out a frustrated groan and gives one last punch to the wall. "Yeah, yeah whatever. I don't really give a fuck what the COs do—they made Lorna go through hell and now she's stuck in the fucking hospital!" She scrapes her nails against the wall behind her.

"She's in the hospital? Now, what the fuck happened?" The blonde wonders, sitting down beside her.

Furiously nodding her head, Nicky exhales deeply. "Yeah, unfortunately! She was bleeding and Alex found her in the bathroom—brought her over to me and I—I had no idea what to do about it…I fucking hate that Lorna has to suffer even more, it's bullshit! Ma thinks it's a miscarriage and if that's fucking true—how the fuck is Lorna gonna cope? How much can one person fuckin' handle, ya know?"

"Jesus," Tricia sighs, shaking her head sadly. She looks over at her redhead bunk-mate and notices a faint tear falling down her cheek—it immediately causes her concern. "Ya really care about her, yeah? You got a tear comin' outta your eye, Nicky."

"Well, no fuckin' shit I care about her—I-I love her," Nicky blurts out. Her eyes widen the minute she realizes what she's said. "I mean ya know, course' I love her—she's my best friend."

The blonde shakes her head, nudging her gently on the shoulder. A small smile spreads on her face as she peers heavily into her eyes, "Oh no, Nicky; ya love her. Ya love her a lot more than just a best friend would. There ain't nothin' wrong with admittin' ya true feelings!" She reaches over to give her hand a reassuring pat.

Nicky rolls her eyes, crossing her arms defensively over her chest. "Yeah, well, the last thing Lorna needs is to be worrying about my feelings for her. She's got enough fucking shit to deal with."

Lorna waits for what seems like hours before anyone comes back in her room. Her nerves are high; she taps her nails anxiously against the sides of the hospital bed she's handcuffed to. As soon as the door opens, her brown eyes instantly look over at it—taking note at the apprehensive expression on her doctor's face. This can't be good, she sadly thinks.

"So, Lorna," the doctor softly starts, walking over to her bedside and staring empathetically down at her. "I've got the results of your MRI scan and they're not exactly pleasant. The reason the placenta is still inside and not the baby is because there seems to be a tumor in your uterus. I don't think you've miscarried the baby—I'm thinking the tumor is so large that it's sitting over top of this twin. And that's not good, because it will suffocate the infant. What I recommend we do is exploratory surgery. I need to look inside and get a biopsy of this tumor—to see if it's malignant and to see how it's going to affect your pregnancy. Chances are very low, unfortunately, that either twin will survive. Of course, we won't know for sure until after the surgery."

Hearing the news brings both relief—that her babies haven't died—and fear—that there's a tumor inside of her and the chance that it might be cancer. "Wha-what exactly will it mean if-if this tumor is c-cancer? W-will my babies be okay?" Tears fill up her eyes as she stares uneasily up at the obstetrician.

Sighing sadly, the doctor gives another empathetic look. She slowly shakes her head. "Honey, if this is cancer—you might not be okay. And on top of that, whether it's cancer or not, this is still a tumor and it will need to be removed. I can't promise you that the babies will survive, but I promise myself and my team of doctors will try to do everything we can to save the three of you," she softly says, her heart aching with the sorrow news she's given. This is the one downside to her job, dealing with possible cancer in a pregnant patient.

"Are you allowed to have your family with you? Because right now, that's the only thing that can help you through this. You should not be going through this alone. I'll ask the officer outside if you can call a family member to come down here."

Lorna nearly chokes on a sob. "If-if there's a ch-choice, save-save the babies," she cries, her body faintly shaking.

It's not the first time a patient has told her that, but it doesn't break her heart any less to hear it. "Try to rest; I'll see if I can get the officer to allow a member from your family to come stay with you. I really don't like the idea of having you go through this alone."

Red tries to focus her attention on the book in front of her. She tries to keep from thinking about the blood and heartrending cries of her Italian prison daughter. It shatters her heart deeply to know that the young woman might be facing another loss. And the fact that she has to spend time in the hospital—alone—brings even more pain to her heart. She can't imagine what the poor girl must be feeling right now.

"Ma?" Nicky's voice rings through her ears as she comes to sit beside her on the bed. "You okay, ma? Ya look a little down…I mean I am too, knowing what Lorna's dealing with—poor kid," she says, resting her head on the Russian's shoulder and staring up at her with concerned eyes.

Setting the book aside, Red wraps her arms tight around her daughter's waist. "I'm fine, my sweet Nicky," she gives a soft kiss to the top of Nicky's head. "Yes, my heart aches for that young girl. Too much pain she's been dealing with…how can one person suffer through so much?"

Nicky nods in agreement, looking sadly up at her. "How long ya think they'll keep her in the hospital? I hope she's not by herself…they should at least let her family come see her; she can't deal with this shit alone!"

"I don't know…hopefully not too long—she needs to be surrounded by people who care about her and I highly doubt they'll let her family visit while she's there. These officers have no empathy, dear Nicky," Red sadly replies. And she knows that's the truth – they've never cared for any pain that any of the women in here might have had to go through; all they are to the officers are criminals.

"I just—I worry how she's gonna cope when she comes back…What-what if she thinks the pain is too much to deal with?! What if – what if she does somethin' stupid, ma?!"

Red crosses her arms, knowing where this is going and doesn't like it one bit. She raises her eyebrows as she gives a firm stare down to her daughter. "Do you think she's going to have a chance to do anything like what you're thinking? Do you think any of us would be dumb enough to leave her to own devices?"

Sighing, Nicky stares back at her with uncertainty. "And how exactly can we know what she's doing at all hours of the day, ma? Her bunk-mate ain't gonna do much to help and then I gotta go to electrical for half the day…so how the fuck can we keep an eye on her?"

"I'll talk to Healy—see if he can maybe move Lorna to stay with me. That way I can keep an eye on her at night and you don't have to worry constantly for her. And I'll get her to help me in the kitchen when she's not on van duty—believe me, my daughter, we will keep her from doing anything regretful. She will be okay with us."

Lunch time rolls around and Nicky reluctantly sits down at her table with a tray of not-so-appetizing mashed up beans and rice. She rolls her eyes, slamming her hand angrily down on the table. It pisses her off to know that her best friend is forced to stay in the hospital—away from those who care about her—and suffer alone through the loss of another child. Especially when one of the COs is the one to blame for all of this.

"How's Lorna? Is she okay?" Alex asks, taking a seat beside the fuming redhead. The mental image of blood won't leave her mind; she hopes for Lorna's sake that it isn't from a miscarriage.

Shaking her head roughly, Nicky stabs her fork harshly on her tray. "I highly doubt she is," she grits her teeth, "She's in the hospital – all alone and cuffed to a damn hospital bed – she ain't fuckin' okay. She's not gonna be okay when they're fucking forcing her to suffer alone! Fucking dumbasses these officers are. All they care about is themselves!"

The black-haired inmate sighs sadly, looking down at her food, "Poor girl. I wonder how long she'll be in there?"

Yoga Jones stares over at the two in concern and confusion. Her eyebrows arch upwards. "What happened? Why's she in the hospital to begin with?"

"Bleeding and probably havin' a fuckin' miscarriage – which is all thanks to fuckin' shitty ass Mendez! That slimy piece of shit bastard," Nicky growls, stabbing her fork even harder onto the food—causing some of it to fly in the air and land on her shirt.

"Oh, Morello," the yoga instructor sadly starts off, "That poor young woman has done nothing but suffer the entire time she's been in here. If it's not one thing, it's another. I can't imagine what she must be feeling right now; she must be so upset and broken up over this tragedy…and especially since this the second loss she's had in only three months."

Nicky exhales a deep, frustrated, breath as she nods in agreement. "I need you three to promise me somethin'?" She inquiries, looking to see all their eyes quizzically on her. "When she comes back from the hospital, we all need to look out for her and keep an eye on her. We need to keep her from having time to herself because she's gonna be in real bad shape, probably, and I don't want her doin' anything she shouldn't. Ya get what I'm hintin' at here?"

"You think Lorna would resort to suicide?" Alex genuinely wonders, staring at her with wariness.

The redhead shrugs. "I don't know but I do know the kid ain't too fond of letting her emotions out and she'll let herself drown silently in her pain. That doesn't give me a good feeling about letting her have too much privacy, ya know? So, are we clear on this? We all needa be there to help her cope and get her through this."

"Lorna, sweetheart, ya gotta wake up," Franny stands by her sister's bedside, gently running a hand through the sleeping girl's hair. She presses a soothing kiss to her forehead, her eyes peering gloomily down at her. Her heart soars for the young brunette; it pains her to hear that her sister has even more suffering to go through. She wishes there was more she could do for her – a way she could take all the hurt away.

Brown eyes slowly peep out. Everything seems blurry and hazy, Lorna can just barely make out her sister's face. When she tries to sit up to get a closer look, a strong wave of pain hits and she lets out a yelp. "F-Franny? W-why does everything hurt?" Her eyes squint in the direction of the taller brunette.

Carefully grabbing her frail—and handcuffed—hand, Franny gives it a delicate stroke. She stares down at the petite woman—her eyes filled with sympathy, hating to be the bearer of bad news once again. "Probably cause' ya just gotta outta surgery, Lornie. They told me somethin' about there being a tumor in your uterus? And they went in to get a biopsy of it—at least that's what your doctor planned to do, she said…"

"What? They-they already did it? I thought—I didn't think she meant they were doing it today! I-I wasn't ready! Are my-my babies okay?! Franny, did she say how the babies are?"

"Wait—babies? As is in more than one?! She hasn't mentioned anything to me about the pregnancy, Lorn," Franny strokes her hand softly, bending to press a motherly kiss on her forehead. "You need to worry about yourself right now, sweetie; close your eyes and rest." She softly tells her, running her hand delicately across her forehead.

Their conversation is interrupted by the door opening. The obstetrician cautiously comes in her patient's hospital room with a defeated look on her face. She walks over to stand next to Lorna's sister, staring sadly between the two of them. "Lorna, I'm glad to see you're awake. I hate to ruin the moment but I have some unfortunate news to share with the two of you," she gently begins, "The operation didn't go too well. The tumor is miraculously large—it's so big that not only is it inside your uterus but parts of it are covering other organs surrounding the uterus…That's not a good sign and probably infers that this is cancer we're dealing with. And the one baby had—we had to take her out, the tumor was completely covering her – which would explain why we only saw the placenta on the ultrasound – and it suffocated her…I'm so sorry to tell you this, I know it's not what you wanted to hear."

"It-it was a g-girl?" Lorna's voice shakes with sobs, she grips her sister's hand tighter as she stares tearfully up at her doctor. "W-what about the-the other baby? You won't let that one die too, will you?! I fucking told you to save my babies not me! Why would you let them die?!" Her voice gets louder and angrier, she kicks the blanket—since she can't really move her hands.

"Please calm down, sweetie," Franny softly pleads the younger woman, stroking her comfortingly on the forehead. She gives a soothing kiss down to her head, continuing to gently stroke her face. "The doctor didn't do anything to cause her to die, Lorn…it's the tumor that's killed her and you're lucky it hasn't killed you too! You need to worry about yourself—you have cancer, Lorna! You can die from this and if you die, the baby dies. There's no way to save the baby if you die. And I fuckin' refuse to let you make such a decision like that!"

Lorna only cries harder. She stares up at the doctor with shattered eyes, "D-d-did you remove the tumor? It's not gonna kill the other baby, right?!"

"Lorna; you have to understand that when we remove the tumor, the baby comes out with it. We're going to have to remove the entire uterus as well as any other reproductive organs to make sure none of it is left behind. And that means we have to take the baby out; I'm so sorry. But we need to do this as soon as possible. I'm going to run down to the lab to see if the results are in yet for the biopsy."

Nicky hasn't been called down to the visitation room in over a year. So, when she hears her name over the loud speaker she does a doubletake. Who could possibly be here to see her? She made it very clear to Marka Nichols that she never wants to see her again, and all her old friends couldn't care less about her now.

She slowly walks into the room and sees a woman – who somewhat resembles an older version of Lorna but with lighter eyes and a taller height – she assumes this to be the person who's come to visit her. It must be her sister, she thinks. Once she makes her way closer to the woman—who's hand is held outwards—she shakes it with her own. "Are ya Lorna's sister?"

"Yes, I'm Franny. Ya must be Nicky? She's real fond of ya, and has been going on and on about ya recently. So, I figured I'd come pay you a visit and let ya know what's going on with her," the older woman says as they sit across from each other at the table.

Nicky nods eagerly. It's been a hell of a week without her favorite brunette here to talk to and spend time with. She's barely been able to focus on anything with how much she's been worrying for the young inmate. "We're all worried for the kid; she's been through too much in here… How's she doing? Do you know when they plan to release her from the hospital?"

Franny sighs, and shakes her head. "Probably not for a few more weeks—she's just had surgery to remove her entire reproductive system and found out she has cancer. I can't even—this just makes no fucking sense to me. Why does my sister have to go through all this bullshit? Ever since they fucking sent her to this place, her entire life has been fallin' apart. One thing after another; when is she ever gonna catch a damn break? This ain't fucking fair to her…at all," she angrily says.

"Holy shit! Ya gotta be kidding? She's got cancer now? Fuckin' shit…that musta been why she was bleeding so much! Is—she lost the baby, didn't she? God, poor thing," the redhead feels her heart breaking. She can't believe how much this poor woman has been forced to go through; no one deserves to suffer as much as she's suffering. "I ask the same question sometimes…How much can she handle? This is just too much shit!"

"I fuckin' wish I was kidding; we already got one family member with cancer and now our Lorna's got it too! It's not fucking fair. Life is not fair to her," Franny grits her teeth, scratching her nails roughly against the surface of the table.

"She told me bout' your mom and how she has brain cancer…I'm so sorry—cancer's fuckin' evil! I wonder – does Lorna have the same cancer? Maybe it's a DNA thing or somethin'?" Nicky stares empathetically across at the older woman, reaching to place her hand over top of hers—in the hope to give her some sort of comfort.

Shrugging, Franny lets out a frustrated groan. "I don't know what kinda cancer it is! They fucking call me up and tell me my baby sister's in the hospital—about to fucking go under the knife—and when I get there, the doctor tells me she's got a tumor in her uterus. Now, they say it's cancer and they don't know what fucking type it is! Fucking clueless idiots—so they're puttin' her through all these damn tests and making her life miserable."

She sighs, taking a minute to just breathe. It worries her deeply to know that her younger sister is stuck suffering with cancer and the death of both her babies—on top of still working through the death of her first-born—and that she won't be able to be with her much longer since she'll be sent back here soon.

"Can I ask you somethin, Nicky? Somethin' real important that I need you to promise that you'll do for me," Franny stares firmly across at the redhead—her blue eyes boring into big brown ones.

Nodding, Nicky replies with, "Yeah, sure; what is it?"

The older woman inhales a deep breath before questioning her. "When Lorna comes back here, will ya look out for her and make sure she takes care a herself? She worries me. She's never been good with sharing her emotions and will pretend everything's fine when it's not—she'll bottle it all up and—and she might ya know, do something real dumb. I don't trust her. I can't and I need ya to promise me you'll keep an eye on her for me!"

"Of course; we all will—we'll make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. I won't allow her to neglect herself, I refuse to. And I know she's horrible with her emotions—I worry for her to. She's been through too much in such a short time-span…"

The minute Lorna sets foot back in the prison, an instant queasiness forms in her lower abdomen. Memories flood her mind of the last time she was here—the day her life would be forever changed. She shakes her head and continues to follow silently behind the officer who escorts her inside and down the hall to her cube. Other inmates who pass her give her pitying stares, which she so chooses to ignore.

Lorna's face scrunches up with confusion when the officer brings her to her cube—or what must be her new cube, she wonders. She sees Red's sitting in the chair near her rusty dresser and focusing her eyes on the paper in her hands.

"All right, inmate, here's your new bunk. You're temporarily off from van-duty, so rest up while you can," the officer says before leaving the cube.

Red sets the paper down on her dresser and gets up from the chair. She looks Lorna carefully over—noticing how thin she's gotten and how weak she seems to be; her heart breaks a little more for her. "It's good to have you back here, Lorna. How're you feeling, honey?" Her voice gently calls out as she walks towards her and wraps her in a soothing embrace.

"This—I'm kinda confused…is this my new cube? I thought—don't ya like havin' this to yourself, Red?" Lorna stares up at her with an eyebrow arched a bit.

"I thought it would be best that you have a bunk-mate who might be able to help you through this, Lorna. And we both know Boo isn't that kind of bunk-mate. Living with her wouldn't do you any good. Besides, I sometimes get lonely and wouldn't mind sharing my cube with you," the Russian mother kindly replies, stroking her hands comfortingly through Lorna's brown hair.

She presses a motherly kiss on the top of her head and looks sympathetically down into her eyes, "Now let's be honest and tell me how you're feeling. Nicky informed me of your situation after she talked with your sister a couple weeks ago. I've heard about the cancer and losses you've been through, sweetheart, and I'm so sorry to hear about it."

Lorna sighs, but doesn't make an effort to move away from the embrace. "I feel empty…numb—I just, I don't understand. What did I do wrong? I musta done somethin' to deserve this, huh?" She peers desperately up at the older woman, needing some kind of assurance.

Red's arms tighten around her as she sits down on the bed with her. Her eyes sternly stare down at her; she shakes her head and runs a hand through her hair. "You did nothing, Lorna, absolutely nothing to deserve this. You don't deserve any of this and you better not even think like that," she firmly affirms her.

"You know, why don't you lie down and rest? You look exhausted, honey," she gently places her on the bed, wrapping the blanket around her. Her fingertips brush gently around her forehead, over and over to try to lull her to sleep. "I'm going to find Nicky and let her know you're finally back—she's really missed you. Of course, we all have, but you mean a lot to her." Once the other's eyes droop shut, she bends down to give a soothing kiss to her head and then quietly leaves the dorm.

Nicky sits in Red's chair beside the sleeping Lorna and holds one of her hands tightly in hers. She keeps her eyes on her friend—watching closely for her to finally awaken. It's been an hour that she's sat here and watched her sleep. The moment her mother came to her about Lorna's being back, she ran to find her. She refuses to ever leave her side again—unless she's forced to for her work shift.

A few minutes go by and Lorna begins to stir—her eyes slowly pop open, searching their surroundings. Nicky smiles sadly down at her, getting up off the chair and carefully scooping her head off the pillow so she can sit herself there and lays the brunette's head onto her lap. "Hey, kid. I'm so happy to see you back here…d'ya have a good nap?" Her fingers gently trickle against the sides of her face.

"Nicky," Lorna gently says, snuggling into her embrace. She forces herself into a sitting position—ignoring the pain that radiates in her abdomen—and squeezes her arms tight around Nicky's neck. "I missed ya so much."

Having the petite brunette in her arms brings a warm smile to the redhead's face. She holds her tight, kissing her tenderly on the head. "Aw kid, I missed ya too—so fuckin' much," her voice soft against Lorna's ear. Cupping her head in her hands, Nicky stares at her with a more serious expression now. "How are ya feelin'? Are you okay, kid?"

"I have cancer, Nicky…Don't really know how okay I am with that—and my babies are gone. I-I w-will never get to experience a pregnancy again! Oh my God—that-that was my last-last pregnancy forever! I guess-I guess I just ain't meant to be a mom or nothin' or meant to be happy. I'll just shrivel away to nothin', I guess."

Nicky's arms tighten around her as her eyes stare softly down at her. She kisses her gently on the head, "I know you do, kid; I'm so sorry! But I'm gonna be right here for ya. I won't leave you—I'll take care a ya and so will Red and the resta our family. We're all gonna be here for ya, Lorna; whatever you need, ya just tell us." Her hands rub up and down the distraught woman's back.

Her heart hurts deeply for the young inmate; she looks into her eyes, love very apparent in her own. "I'm so sorry you have to deal with all this shit, kid. No, no, baby that's not all what this means…you are meant to be a mom, one day; there are so many other ways to have a child, Lorna. But you don't need to worry about that right now, you gotta worry about yourself. You are meant to be happy—this shit just happens sometimes…I guess. And to sweet, loving, people like you who don't deserve to suffer! You don't deserve to go through any of this fucking shit," she roughly says, holding her tight against her own body.

"What's there for me to worry about myself for? I ain't got nothin' left to live for…my babies are all dead and I got fuckin' cancer—who knows? I might be joining them soon. I hope so, anyway, I just wanna be outta my misery. I can't take anymore fucking pain, Nicky; I really fucking can't!"

Nicky feels a few tears well up in her eyes at hearing this. She lays Lorna's head softly on her chest, kissing her head warmly as she gazes lovingly down at her. "Baby, you have so much to live for—don't fuckin' talk like that. You're too young to die, Lorna. And I'm not gonna let ya even ponder such thoughts, kid. Absolutely not. I-I love you; I fucking love you so damn much, and if-if you were to die, my heart would crack into little tiny pieces…I just—there's no way in hell I'll let ya die or think about dying."

"I know, I know you're hurting so much and you can't handle anymore. But dying—that's not the answer, baby. That's why I'm here. I'm here to help you—to take care of you and bring you whatever kinda comfort I can. I'll do anything you need to me to do to make you feel better—if ya want me to just sit and hold ya, then I'll fuckin' do that. Ya wanna scream and yell, by all means go ahead. But you will not die; I refuse to let you. You will get through this, you will and I'll be right here with you. I won't fuckin' leave you, kid. I mean it. I love you; I can't let you suffer alone." Nicky's lips press lovingly on Lorna's in a soft and soothing kiss. She lays back against the pillow, placing the brunette softly onto her chest. Her hands stroke gently up and down her back, slowly luring her to sleep.