When Healy woke up he was happy to find Red beside him. He put his hand around her and hugged her from behind.
"Morning beautiful." he murmured in her ear.
"Good morning sweetheart." she answered without turning towards him.
"Are you feeling well?" he asked.
"I'm russian. Vodka doesn't give me headache, but I'm tired."
"So you have a hangover." Healy said amused.
"Shut up." she said.
"I'll have to get to work soon." he said and looked at the clock. It was 10:30. "I'll leave you my second phone if you have to call me."
"I think I can manage on my own, thank you." she said. He planted a kiss on her cheek and got up from the bed.
"But you better be careful at work." she said.
"I heard there was a strict order now, apparently thanks to our dear friend Piscatella." he answered and left the bedroom.
"They should have shot that son of a bitch." Red muttered in anger and continued sleeping.
When Red woke up Healy was already gone. She enjoyed a quiet morning by herself. She felt free and it was so nice to get some fresh coffee and a good sandwich. She took a bath in his hot tube for an hour. She loved being at his place. When she was done with her bath she tried the other dress he had bought her. It was a turquoise summer dress and it fit her quite well. He is good at shopping, she thought and admired herself in the mirror. Even the bra was fitting. She wanted to do something for him. She put the radio on and started cleaning. She felt so energetic that she cleaned the whole house. After that she started preparing dinner. She didn't know when she would have to go back to Litchfield and she knew it would be soon, so she decided to surprise Healy with a romantic evening when he would come home. And she had to do something about Nicky. She would ask if Healy could contact anyone of Nicky's old friends.
She was just about to eat a little when the phone Healy had left her rang. She picked it up and looked at it. Sam's job calling, it said. She smiled. He had even put his own number in it for her. She answered the phone.
"Miss me already?" she asked.
"Red, you need to get back today." Healy said on the other end of the phone.
"What? Back there?" she asked surprised. "Today?!"
"Yes. Today is the perfect time. I've figured things out. Piscatella had a morning shift today, so he just left and I'm the one in charge until my shift ends so if you turn yourself in today I will be the one to decide about your consequences." he told her.
"Sam, I appreciate that you have been thinking about how to make it easier for me, but I can't come back yet. I need you to help me find Nicky." she said.
"There's no need for that Red." he said.
"What do you mean, there's no need? Nicky is my daughter and very dear to me!" she snapped upset.
"They catched Nicky already. That's the other reason why I suggest you get back here today."
"You catched Nicky? Is she okay?" Red asked concerned.
"No, she's not okay." Healy said.
"Is she on drugs?" Red asked concerned and angry.
"Red, you know I can't tell you."
"Sam please."
"Just get back here today before 8 pm. Take bus 16."
"But…" she started.
"It's an order Red." he said strictly and hung up the phone.
She couldn't believe what she just heard. She had to go back, too soon. And Nicky was not okay. Red was afraid that the girl was on heroin again. In panic she looked at the clock. It was 15:30. She ate quickly and put the rest of the beef stroganoff she had made, in the fridge. She put a small note on the box so Sam would find it. So much for the romantic evening she was planning.
She looked at her prison clothes sadly. How could she possibly travel in a bus with those? Fuck it, she thought. If she was to return she could at least do it in style, wearing a nice dress instead of the boring outfit she had been wearing for the past 14 years. She packed them with her in a bag though. She wanted to take her makeup too, so she hid them in her prison clothes. She looked at herself in the mirror once more. She couldn't go out like this. Her hair was too easy to recognize. She digged in one of Healy's wardrobes and found a scarf. She put the scarf around her hair. Now she looked just like a russian babushka. A pair of sunglasses too and she was ready to go. She was about to open the door but remembered that she would probably need money. She had found a piggy bank when she was cleaning. She went to the living room and took 10 dollars from it. A cellphone in Litchfield would also be quite nice so she took the phone Healy had left her and hid it in a pocket in her khaki jacket. Even if they would take the phone away from her, nobody would know that it was Healy's phone. She just changed the name of Sam's job to dorogoi, which meant my love in russian. Then she was ready to go. She opened the outdoor carefully. It was sunny outside. She stepped out and looked around. She locked the door behind her. She had no idea where she was, but to her relief she saw a bus stop near the house. Nobody seemed to have paid attention to her. She walked to the bus stop just like any regular woman would do and looked at the timetable. Bus 16 would arrive in 5 minutes.
After five minutes the bus arrived. 16 Litchfield it said, so it was definitely the right bus. Red hopped in and bought a ticket. She took a seat and looked out of the window. She was not quite sure where she would have to get off but she figured the prison would be familiar enough for her to recognise it. It was a long time ago she had taken a bus ride. It was almost fun, except for the destination.
Half an hour passed and Red hadn't seen anything that looked like the prison yet. She got almost concerned that she had missed her stop until she saw a big building ahead of her. She pressed the stop-button. The bus stopped and Red was the only one who got off. The prison was the only thing near this stop. It was obvious that she was going there. She walked the 200 meters to the prison port and followed a sign that said visitors. She walked in and was met by a guard.
"Name miss?" the guard asked.
"Galina Reznikov." Red answered and took her sunglasses off. "I'm here to turn myself in."
