Chapter 13: Savoy Corpse Reviver
A/N:
Savoy Corpse Reviver
Type
Cocktail
Primary alcohol by volume
Brandy
Served
Straight up; without ice
Commonly used ingredients
1 part Brandy
1 part Fernet Branca
1 part White Crème de menthe
Preparation
Shake ingredients together with ice, and strain into a glass.
Baby I've been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the march arch
When Piper comes back from surgery she's still out like a light. The lung specialist - a tall, dark man this time - talks to you about the procedure and what's probably going to happen from this point on.
A chest tube was inserted to drain the fluid, in the side of her body. Stitches were placed to hold the tube and a bandage is covering the area. According to the doctor, it'll probably be a couple of days before they can remove it. They'll biopsy the liquid to check for anomalies and she should recover well, barring any complications.
You're nervous and anxious. You want Piper to wake up and smile at you so you know she's ok. You're waiting for permission to see her when your phone rings. It's mom.
"Alex?"
"Hi, mom." It's as far as you can go before you start weeping. Diane soothes you softly from the other end of the line, her voice calm and melodic as she prompts you gently to talk about what's happening.
You haven't managed to introduce Piper to her yet but you talk about the girl so much your mom feels like she already knows her. Diane tells you she'll come to the hospital to be with you and despite wanting to tell her not to; you don't want to be a nuisance, you end up telling her to come.
After half an hour they let you in to see Piper. She's hooked to tubes and machines. The tube down her throat was taken off because the doctor said she was breathing on her own. They left a mask because although she is breathing on her own it is still a little labored, so they wanted to give her abused lungs a rest. They'll run some more tests in a couple hours and if her oxygen levels are back to normal she'll go back to the cannula.
Her face is turned towards you, one hand resting on her stomach on the side that has the tube and the other on the bed, fingers slightly curved. You take note of every single patch of skin and every nuance of her body. You notice she's too thin. Thinner than last time you were at the hospital. The medical bracelet hangs on her wrist and you stare at the letters, eyes watering.
Never in your life you felt this level of hopelessness. You want to take her in your arms and back to your bed. You want to take her to dinner, to make love, you wanna sit on the couch under a pile of blankets and watch horror movies. You want to adopt a dog and name it something silly like Bacon. You want babies with her cute smile and back dimples.
You want to hear her laugh and watch her eat in that careful way she has. Each bite carefully planned and measured. You watch her face; perfect eyebrows, eyelashes brushing her too high cheekbones. Her fairy nose and thin lips, glossed with the vaseline the nurse rubbed on them so they won't get chipped from the lack of lubrication.
You sit on her bed, needing to be closer than the chair. Her hand is cold when you grab it, extra carefully because of the drain on her side and the IV hooked to her hand. Her poor abused hand, already turning purple around the needle.
As the minutes pass, you keep yourself sane by telling her every single thing in her that made you fall in love. For example how whenever you go to sleep, Piper has to lay on her belly and swing her right foot back and forth as she literally lulls herself to sleep. She's told you she'd been doing that since she was a baby.
Or how she hated chicken.
Or the way she could read super fast and you kept asking her questions to see if she'd actually read it or was just running her eyes over the pages.
How she can move her nose like the Bewitched and looks like a cute bunny.
Her laugh and how for someone so bruised she's so free with it. You tease her because she laughs at those silly internet memes online.
Her love for TV series and the way she ships some couples and roots for them like they really exist.
How she can be a little snotty but completely dorky at the same time.
The way every single time she listens to a song you can tell how she's feeling. Her emotions are deeply connected to music.
You love how she's an insanely good cook who makes the best lava cakes you've ever tasted.
How amazingly sexy she is without even realizing.
The birthmark above her left nipple.
The way she tastes after her first morning coffee.
There's so much you haven't discovered about her. There's so much you want to know. Your voice breaks and you lower your forehead against hers, desperate to feel her in anyway you can.
"Ouch…"
Her voice is awful and her face is contorted in pain but when you raise your head from hers you have a huge smile on, despite your watering eyes. She pulls her mask down and moves a little to get comfortable.
"Pipes! Hi, kid."
"Hi…" She smiles with her whole face: eyes, mouth, nose. Your heart squeezes when you think she must be in pain but still smiles at the sight of you.
"How are you feeling? You scared the shit out of me, babe." You drop your forehead to hers, cupping your hand over her jaw and ear. Your lips nibble the sweet-smelling skin above her eyebrow, relieved to find it cool to the touch.
"I..am...sorry…" She's having a hard time speaking, so you push the mask back to her face. "Stop talking. You can barely breathe." Stubbornly she pushes the mask back from her face and roll her eyes at you.
"Cannot… believe…every time… I'm back here… I have… more needles in me."
You laugh and cry at the same time. Her lips taste like medicine when you kiss her before pushing the mask back to her face.
"Shhh… Doctor said you have to rest your lungs."
Piper re-rolls her eyes at you again but leaves the mask in place and just stares at you.
"How are you feeling?"
You ask softly, brushing a lock of perfect blond, pink hair from her face. Before she can answer, though, there's a knock on the door and your mom sticks her head inside, a cute stuffed duckling on her arms.
"Hey, baby… Hope I'm not interrupting."
Your face lights up like a Christmas Tree and Piper smiles shyly at your mom as she approaches her bed.
"Hey, Piper. I've heard so much about you. I'm sorry we're meeting like this but it's a pleasure to meet the woman who makes my Alex so happy."
Your sweet, sweet girlfriend, who has such a fucked-up family and awful parents has eyes the size of saucers, attached to the duckling, running soft hands against the fur while your mom, your sweet, sweet mom, just hovers over the bed and pulls the younger woman close in a soft hug and whispers something in her ear.
When she lets go, Piper looks at you and starts crying.
Alex's mother looks so much like her that your heart is bursting with love. It's like looking at an Alex from the future and damn she'll be gorgeous. Not that she isn't now mind you. Your size is throbbing where the tube is, you can feel the needle in your hand and the mask is uncomfortable around your face.
You feel shy and on the spot when Diane approaches the bed, you're not sure how much Alex has shared with her and if the other woman resents you for lying to her daughter a while ago about something pretty important.
She hands you a cute stuffed duckling with soft, bright yellow fur and mentions something about Alex talking a lot to her about you. A blush makes itself visible above the edge of the mask but still you smile at her and hope it's a reassuring, nice to meet you too kind of smile and not a creepy one.
The bluest eyes you've ever seen lock themselves on you and suddenly she tilts towards you and hugs you, softly but so, so lovingly you feel a lump in your throat immediately. Maybe is the situation, maybe is the pain, maybe the drugs in your system. Maybe is just the fact that Diane has a mother's embrace that you're feeling all the way to your toes. So when she brushes her lips against your temple and murmurs a soft: "My daughter loves you so, so much, Piper Chapman and I'm proud of her for making such an amazing choice."; it's the end for your tight control on your emotions. The lump gets thicker and tears run down your face so when Diane pulls back, you look at Alex and you lose it.
Sobs leave your mouth and fog the mask. Crying is a poor exercise for your abuse left lung and soon your whole body is a mass of hurt. Your breathing becomes shallow and painful and you hear Alex telling you to calm down, pressing the button for the nurse. You try to stop crying, feeling so silly, but it's no use. It's almost cathartic the way your body just lets go and everything you've been bottling up inside rushes out of you with the sobs and the tears. Nurses and doctors rush in and you barely hear the words being spoken. Something is injected in your IV and suddenly you are out like a light.