Chapter Seventy
Oh hell no. Hell fucking no. The two thoughts that were the first to come through Nicky's mind when she caught sight of Annalisa's presence. In a matter of seconds she was up from her seat and frisking her way behind Lorna, arms protectively finding themselves wrapping around her body. Her mind could not process how the hell what was before her was even real. How did Annalisa even know Lorna was in the hospital? Eyebrows instinctively arched up at the question popping around her head. She had to grind down on her teeth to keep from acting on impulse. The desire to crack Annalisa's skull right then and there was strong but she constrained herself from giving in.
"The hell are you doing here?" Nicky gritted her teeth as she voiced the question.
Staring into the beady eyes of her girlfriend's presumed bully was only continuing to fuel the fury which already resided within her. She couldn't stand that damn Annalisa. And certainly couldn't understand what fucking reason that blonde haired snake seemed to have to hate Lorna so much. Lorna was, without a doubt, the sweetest human to exist—there was no way she could every be capable of doing anything to make anyone loathe her in the way Annalisa clearly had.
Watching the whole scene unfold, Alex was at a loss for what do as well as highly confused on who the blonde teenager was. From the looks on her two friend's faces, she wasn't a good person. That much she was able to conclude but still had not a clue whether to intervene or just stand there in silence.
The smirk on Annalisa's face widened at Nicky's obvious anger and disdain towards herself. She decided on making a bold move, placing a rough hand onto Lorna's shoulder. The hand she used to grasp onto it she pulled her a little bit away from the other two girls, jolting her head at the irritation seeping from Nicky's face. "Well, I just so happened to be sitting over there," she used Lorna as if she were a pointer and shifted her in the direction she was mentioning about, "treating my poor, sick, little granny to breakfast when I noticed little Morello here."
She took a moment to shake her head in fake sympathy, not too worried on whether any of them believed her or not. Her hand still gripped tightly on Lorna's shoulder, so tight her nails were merely digging into it. "And I got curious because ya know—this is a cafeteria where people eat but obviously, Morello here doesn't know what that means. Ain't that right, Bulimic Morello?"
Her mouth was so close to her ear that Lorna effortlessly felt her breath on it and shuddered uncomfortably. She swallowed thickly, trying to pull herself from Annalisa's grasp but her attempts only tightened Annalisa's hand on her shoulder. Eyes became misty with tears once more and she felt her body fidgeting as if that would somehow get her away from the blonde. The blonde who never ceased to surprise her. With everything else going on right now she just had to be thrown right back into the mix. Lorna didn't know what was worse Annalisa or her dad. Hell, her dad might as well adopt Annalisa—the two clearly came from the same side of evil, she deemed.
Anger was proving to be more and more challenging to keep under wraps. Not when she witnessed, right in front of her, Annalisa's uncomfortable closeness to her girlfriend's face and the blatantly cruel gesture of her hand digging into Lorna's shoulder blade. No, she shook her head, there was no way she could hold in her anger any longer. Annalisa needed to be fucking stopped.
The first thing she did was walk up and forcibly removed Annalisa's grimy hand from its spot it previously rested on her girlfriend's clothed covered shoulder. Anger seethed through every ounce of her veins. Nicky pulled Lorna back into her arms, making it so that her chest and chin were pressing protectively up against Lorna's face and the top of her head. An embrace she used as a way to shield her from the evil Annalisa always brought with her. One arm remained around her waist and the other she lifted up to hold around her head.
With her chin resting atop Lorna's head, Nicky's eyes glared darkly across into the blue ones of Annalisa. "I have a lot to say to you right now. First and foremost, don't ever put your hands anywhere on Lorna again, ya got that? And don't ever fucking get in her face like ya just were again," she slowly eased into her spiel, grinding down on her teeth between words to keep a tight grasp on the building rage. A finger was held up and wagged distastefully at the slimy blonde. "And second, you fucking knew Lorna was starvin' herself and didn't think to tell anyone? Are you that fucking evil, Annalisa? She could fucking die from depriving herself of food and you—you fucking knew?"
"First, why the fuck would I tell anyone? It's not my responsibility, Nichols." The blonde bit back, now inching her face closer to Nicky. Her smirk still sitting upon her own as she gradually got closer. A chuckle innately made its way from her larynx. Regardless of whether it was Nicky or Lorna who was bothered because of her it all the same brought a joy to her that she couldn't explain.
Her eyes shifted onto Lorna, who despite not having her face in a position where she could read the expression on it appeared increasingly more frantic by the way her legs lightly tremored as she stood. Annalisa nodded and shut her eyes for a long moment. When she opened them again, they were quickly focused right back on Nicky.
"Oh you think Lorna starves herself? You must be deaf, Nichols. I said Morello's bulimic. It's basically the failed fat version of anorexia," a laugh accompanied her statement and she mockingly brought two fingers up to her mouth. She stuck them inside and faked a gag. "Basically, your girlfriend's fucked up. Is that why she's in the hospital? Did all that throwing up finally get to her? What a sad, sad, shame."
Lorna could hardly believe her ears. It all just kept piling up and up and up. There was no escape it felt like. No matter which way she turned a new obstacle was put in front of her. Everything appeared to be closing in on her and she truly had no idea how to stop it—any of it. She felt deeply, utterly, suffocated. Trapped. Frozen in her own mind. It was all becoming too much. Or had gone beyond too much now. She could barely catch her breath. Her heart constricted every time she inhaled and exhaled. The room didn't have enough air to supply her with.
Out of a deep-rooted, unrelenting, rage, Nicky's arms automatically released from Lorna and she stomped her way towards the beanpole of a blonde in front of her, taking her roughly by the collar of her shirt.
If it weren't for Alex's acting quickly upon watching the scene play-out and hurriedly coming up behind the brunette in order to halt her fall, Lorna would have collided quite harshly onto the cold, hard, floor. Without anymore hesitation, Alex took the younger girl's hand and led her back to the table the three had been sitting at earlier. She didn't think twice about sitting down on the chair while carefully bringing Lorna down with her so that she was seated on her lap. The shakiness and timidity coming from her was enough for her to make such a decision.
Sucking down on her lower lip did hardly anything to ease Nicky's boiling fury. Her mind worked overtime to process what was seconds ago spewed from Annalisa's mouth. The fury towards her overpowered the concern for Lorna at that particular moment. She shook her head furiously, tightening her grip on the cotton of the blonde's t-shirt. "Why the fuck are ya talking about Lorna and her eating disorder like it's a damn joke to ya? Do you not see her over there and how fucking sick she looks? And you're standing here making a big joke outta it. The fuck's wrong with you, Damiva? Are ya the devil's child or some shit?"
Eating disorder. Eating disorder? Lorna shook her head distastefully at the repetitive thought. She frantically twisted her head to look up at Alex, desperately reaching to place her hands on her face to grab her attention. "I don't know what they're talkin' about. I don't…I don't have an eating disorder. I don't. I don't know why, why Annalisa would, would say something like that to Nicky. I don't have an eating disorder, I'm not bulimic. Annalisa is lying—she always makes up lies about me and I just I don't understand why. I just want all of this to fucking stop," anger and desperation trickled through her voice more intense with each word.
Returning the young brunette's bewildered stare, Alex felt her chest tighten with the utmost sympathy for her. A lump sat in the back of her throat which was swallowed thickly down. Her hands reached up and pressed comfortingly onto the faintly tremoring ones resting on her own two cheeks. Taking in a slow, deep breath, Alex brushed her thumbs over the pale knuckles on each of Lorna's hands. "I don't know Annalisa or anything about her but I've known you probably close to five months now, Lorna, and in that time you've noticeably gotten smaller. I mean I'm no therapist but it's obvious something isn't right. Who's to say you don't have an eating disorder?"
"No, no. I don't have one. I'm fine. And I have not gotten smaller. If anything I got bigger. Can you just let me fucking get up? I don't wanna be here anymore. I can't fucking breathe in this damn place. I want the hell out. I want out," Lorna cried out, angry tears spilling from her eyes and clouding her vision. She released her hands from Alex's face and brought them up to the back of her own neck, scratching her nails violently along its flesh. Needing some sort of outlet from all of the swirling emotions.
"But I don't think you are fine. You look pale, really pale and you're shaky. How bout' I help you back to your room, yeah? Can you tell me the room number?"
Lorna's head only shook fiercer at the words spoken to her. The anger intensified and it felt like she was being consumed whole by it. Everything was crashing down on her. Her chest felt as though an elephant was sitting atop it. Eyes continued to leak out tears no matter what she did to try to halt them. "No, Alex, I didn't just mean I want out of here—I meant I want out of the whole damn hospital. I want to go to my sista's place and never come back to this awful hospital again or any other one either."
Seeing how harshly Lorna was rubbing her hand around the back of her neck, the black-haired woman instinctively intervened by placing her own hand on the top of hers and gently pulling it away. Blue eyes peered concerningly into brown ones. "Well, kid, obviously you're here because you need to be here. You passed out the other day and you're so pale now, shaky. When, when's the last time you ate?" She cautiously threw out the query, a bit unnerved to see what reaction that would gain her.
"That's none of your business. I'm sick of everyone asking me when I've eaten, if I've eaten. It's nobody's business but my own. And Annalisa—she is so, so mean for telling Nicky that bullshit story that ain't true. She wants to make Nicky hate me and think I'm crazy. I mean I am crazy and Nicky should hate me but not because Annalisa told her to—"
"Shh, shh. You're not crazy, Lorna. You're not at all. That Annalisa seems to me like a bully. And she has no chance of getting Nicky to hate you. You don't have to worry about that, kid, Nicky adores you. Believe me, you are so special to Nicky and this Annalisa is no match for Nicky's love," Alex softly reassured the brunette, giving her hands a comforting squeeze before letting them go so she could instead have her arms wrap around Lorna's shoulders in order to be able to lift her carefully up from the chair. "Come on, Lorna, let's get you back to your room. You need to rest, you really look weak and drained."
"But, but Nicky and Annalisa—Annalisa is lyin' to her, she's telling her things bout' me that—"
Her frantic pleas were interjected by Alex's arms wrapping around her in a tight embrace, tight enough to stop her heavy shaking but not too much to cause any breathing issues. The taller of the two kept her hold on Lorna while jumping up from her chair and assisting her up next. She replaced her arms from Lorna's back to gently taking hold of one of her hands and using her other one to take control of the IV pole since it was clear to her how out of balance Lorna was from even just standing there.
She helped her away from the table, at a slow pace so she wouldn't lose what little balance she had, and turned her head slightly when they passed by the altercation between Nicky and that little blonde girl. The one who she now believed should remain nameless. Before continuing the journey out of there, she stopped when she was able to reach a firm hand on Nicky's shoulder. Her eyes peered at her intensely once brown ones were looking her way. "I'm gonna take Lorna back to her room. I know you're angry with that blonde kid but please don't do anything that would get you in trouble, yeah? Why don't you just come with us? That girl isn't worth your time, Nicky."
Eyes momentarily glancing at Lorna, her heart instantly constricted. She knew she should be going back with them and making sure her girlfriend was okay. And it wasn't as if she didn't want to do that—she did. Yet, the rage towards Annalisa was even more potent. So potent that she couldn't just allow the snake to walk away without saying a damn thing to her. She couldn't leave until she was certain that blonde bitch knew not to ever cross paths with Lorna again.
"You two go on without me. I gotta finish hashin' this out with the bitch," Nicky stated, gesturing her one free hand directly in front of her to prove her point. Her eyes lingered on Lorna for a moment and an innate sigh escaped her lungs. She tilted her head a small amount, gazing compassionately into her eyes, "I'll meet you back in your room, doll. I promise, I just—I can't let this bully a yours off the hook for all she's done to ya, yeah?"
Though Lorna wasn't very keen on the idea, she gave a timid nod with a faintly pleading stare in return. "But, but hon, it's fine. You don't, you don't gotta defend me. Please, I—I don't want you to get in a fight or nothin'. I-i-it's not worth it…I'm not worth it," the last part mumbled in an incoherent manner, one she hoped was unintelligible to Nicky's ears.
A thick swallow was made from her mouth to her throat at hearing the words coming from Lorna's quivering lips. It hurt to see how vulnerable and distressed her girlfriend currently was but she needed to do this. She needed to make sure Annalisa knew to leave her the hell alone permanently because the next time she did anything to Lorna, Nicky wasn't so sure she'd be able to stop herself from physically attacking her.
"I want to defend you, Lorna, you're my girlfriend and I love you. I'm sick of people thinkin' it's okay for them to hurt you and treat you like you're some kinda punching bag. Because you're not, baby, you're not anyone's punching bag and I'm not going to sit back just to let it continue."
She took in a breath and exhaled slowly. Eyes remaining on the brown ones of her girlfriend. "There's no fighting happening, don't worry. I just need to finish making sure she stays the hell away from you, okay? You go with Alex back to your room and get some rest, you look pale. I'll be there in a few, kid, I promise."
Once the two of them were on their way out of the cafeteria, Nicky swiftly turned her focus back on the lengthy blonde in front of her. Eyes glaring into her so deeply she swore she could see her soul—and it appeared so dark it caused a shiver to run down Nicky's spine.
Having witnessed the entire conversation between Nicky and Lorna, Annalisa had a sneer sitting on her face. Her hands clapped tauntingly together as she returned the redhead's glare with one of her own. There wasn't anything she enjoyed more than wreaking havoc on the two of their lives, she silently affirmed. "Great speech, Nichols, it was real moving. Compelling even—maybe ya should be an actor cause' wow what a damn production that shit was," she mocked, letting out a chuckle.
Biting down on her lip, Nicky shook her head angrily at the comment. She brought her hand back to pull harshly on the collar of Annalisa's shirt not caring that it caused a rather faint jolt out of her. That was the least she deserved after all the damn shit she pulled with Lorna for god-only-knew how damn long. "Fuck you, Annalisa," she bitterly retorted. The anger quickly becoming too much to retain for much longer.
"I'm straight, Nichols, so nah ya ain't fucking me," the blonde menacingly spewed back, the smirk on her face only widening at the very blatant rage oozing from Nicky's.
The response only strengthened her fury. Her grip on the cotton of Annalisa's t-shirt tightened slightly—not enough to cause asphyxiation or anything of the sort but enough to make sure the blonde knew she was serious. Even though deep down Nicky would have loved to suffocate her. Suffocate her for all the fucking pain she caused a person as sweet as her Lorna. A breath was inhaled and she shook herself loose of such a desire. Now was not the time to be plotting any murders, she reminded herself.
"Like hell I'd ever fucking sleep with some evil snake like you," she started off, rolling her eyes along with the comment. "And that's not what I meant anyway, dumbass. Maybe if ya did your own school work instead of pawning it off on my too kind of a girlfriend, Lorna, ya wouldn't have such a small damn brain."
Nicky squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and drew in a breath. She needed to be quick so she could get back to that very brunette, she told herself. When her eyes reopened, they stared darkly ahead into Annalisa's. "Leave Lorna the fuck alone. I mean it. I don't want you near her, ever. I'm sick of you taunting her and bullying her. If I ever catch you doing shit to her again, I'll make sure you regret it for the resta your miserable life. Do ya fucking understand?"
The blonde snickered and bounced her shoulders in a shrug. Nobody scared her. Nobody could threaten her enough to cause fear. She shook Nicky's hand from her shirt's collar and inched her face towards Nicky's. Her mouth moved towards Nicky's ear and she pressed it against the flesh so that when she spoke next it would easily be heard by her, "I ain't fucking scared a you, Nichols. Please. If you think you're a match for me, think again. I have connections. Real solid connections with people who could kill you in seconds flat. So go ahead and try to do something to me, see what happens. I can have both you and little Morello killed easy. Don't threaten me."
The second Lorna entered inside her room with Alex behind her, assisting with the IV pole, she was greeted by the faces of her sister and brother—both who quickly stood up from their seats upon her arrival. Both of whom also had relieved expressions taking up form on their faces just as quickly as they'd gotten up from their seats. Lorna didn't stop, however, she made her way over to the bed—that now looked vastly enticing to her extremely fatigued body—and once she was within touching distance of it, she let herself slowly fall back on its mattress.
She scooted herself up towards the top where she settled in and reached for the blanket to pull up around her body. Her eyes shifted onto Alex, watching as she placed her IV pole back in its original spot on the right side of the bed. After that was completed the black-haired woman awkwardly turned around to peek a glance at her coworker and the unfamiliar man beside her, unsure of whether to stay or leave. Lorna observed the whole thing and reached for a hand out of instinct, not only because she wanted her to stay but also because she could easily notice the apprehension on her face and didn't like for anyone to feel conflicted when it came to making a decision. That was something she was all too familiar with each and every day over the simplest of things.
"Where were ya, Lorn?" Franny was the first to break the silence which had been looming through the room since her sister had entered it. Eyebrows arched concerningly over her two equally concerned blue eyes. She naturally folded a hand on either side of her hip, now turned the other way as she remained standing in front of the chair she'd earlier been sitting in. "Mikey and I were worried you were kidnapped or—"
"Oh yeah, Alex kidnapped me and was just returning me, Fran." Lorna couldn't resist but to roll her eyes at the inclination. She threw her hands up and shook her head. "I'm not incapacitated or nothin'. Why would your first thought be that I was kidnapped? I mean this is a hospital, Franny, like anyone would get away with doing something like that?"
The older brunette twisted her head in her younger brother's direction and the pair shared a look for a long moment before her attention was returned onto Lorna. A very antsy and drained Lorna her eyes rapidly took note of. "Well, Lorn, I mean after Mikey told me about him comin' here this morning to see dad near ya and—"
Lorna halted the statement by instantly throwing up her hands and giving a dark stare towards her older brother. Displeased to hear he would mention such an encounter to their sister. Their sister who already spent way too much of her time worrying and fretting over her well-being. A sigh escaped from her lungs. "I don't see why ya had to tell her that, Mikey. It wasn't a big deal," she muttered, eyes remaining on his in a distasteful manner.
"Wasn't a big deal? Lorna, I walked in on dad tryna choke ya. How the hell is that not a big deal? So forgive Franny and me for thinking he came back to finish the job while you were alone. We're glad he didn't but I mean what else were we supposed to think happened after what he tried doing to ya this morning? Can ya really blame us?" Mikey quirked an eyebrow at her, hoping to get her to better understand where their concern was coming from.
Still standing by the bed where she'd placed the IV pole only moments ago, eyebrows curved ponderously up above her worried blue eyes. Arms folded over her chest as she stared between all three pairs of siblings. Alex squeezed her hand around the one that was holding hers as a way to show her concern. She swallowed a large bout of saliva and tried to comprehend what in the world was going on. None of it made much sense to her. Obviously a lot had happened since the last time she'd seen Lorna. It was tempting to speak up but she chose to refrain since there was clearly something going on between Lorna and her siblings. And surely, Alex was not about to put herself in the middle of whatever that happened to be.
Franny shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment. She wasn't surprised one bit at her sister's reaction and attempts to brush it under the fucking rug. Something she did way too much of. A sharp breath expelled through her throat and she shifted her eyes onto her coworker who happened to be standing right beside the bed. "What brings you to the hospital?"
The topic change came as a relief to Lorna. She took that time to more comfortably situate herself on the bed, turning on her side so she had easy access to observe the discussion with.
Alex's eyes moved rapidly between the brunette sister's. So much for keeping herself out of the conversation, she thought. A shrug of her shoulders was naturally given once she fixed her stare on Franny. "Oh, uh, I work at the coffee station down in the cafeteria on Thursday and Tuesday mornings. I saw her and Nicky down there so just decided to have a coffee with them after I got off my shift," she pointed out her head naturally moving along with each word she spoke.
"Wow, what a work ethic you have," the older woman kindly stated after hearing her coworker's revelation. Her head nodded intuitively and she cocked it slightly when she heard Nicky had been visiting. If she were just in the cafeteria with those two, how come she hadn't come back to the room as well? Eyebrows arched thoughtfully up over her eyes. "Nicky's here? Why didn't she come with you two—unless she left for school?"
Sucking on her lower lip at Franny's last question, Lorna couldn't stop the innate chuckle which escaped her. Her eyes shifted onto Alex momentarily, who also had to stifle a chuckle it looked like. "You're funny for thinking Nicky would be on her way to school right now, Fran," she found herself reentering the conversation.
Squinting her eyes, Franny turned her head to stare back her younger sister. Arms folded over her chest. "Well, where is she then? How come she didn't just come back with you guys?"
Lorna swallowed thickly at the query and retreated back against the pillows. No way was she about to disclose the cafeteria happenings with her brother and sister. She already had enough shit to deal with and talk about, that wasn't going to be added to the list.
The black-haired woman gave a look towards Lorna, unsure of who was going to give the response. However, by the look on Lorna's face, it appeared she might have to be the one to answer. Clearly the brunette teen wasn't about to say anything. She swallowed and huffed out a breath. An uneasiness came over her as she pondered how much to share. "Oh, erm, Nicky had to take care of something. She'll be down here in a minute or two."
As if Alex's comment were actually a summoning, within a matter of seconds the door to Lorna's room was being opened once more.
The very redhead in question was who came in through it. Her eyes were instantly fallen on Lorna's; the intense worry she held for her after such a cruel and unexpected revelation from Annalisa made her oblivious to anyone else who may have occupied the space around them. She followed her sight to the side of the bed that wasn't near the IV pole and sat on the edge of it, reaching her arms down to cradle around Lorna's head.
Despite her contempt towards that blonde snake of a classmate, Nicky was almost positive that her comments on Lorna's being bulimic were honest. It made sense the more her mind pondered over those words. She didn't want it to be true—didn't want to believe her girlfriend had a problem that big—but the way her body kept shrinking and the mood swings, the whirling emotions, the shakiness of her body, her paleness, all of that seemed to put the puzzle together for her. Lorna really did have an eating disorder and not just a skipping meal issue. It was a lot bigger than that, Nicky finally realized. And she wasn't so sure how she could help Lorna through it all now that she knew. She wanted to—and she certainly wasn't going to leave her but she also couldn't do it on her own. Lorna needed more than just her, she swallowed uneasily. Even Dr. Poussey might not be enough to get through to her. A deep lump melded into her gut at the thought. She hoped her assumption turned out to be wrong. She hoped more than anything that Lorna's therapist would be the one to break through her thick walls so she could finally heal. Because if even Dr. Poussey was unable to—Nicky could not bare her mind to entertain the repercussions of such a possibility.
Nicky drew in a long, sharp, breath and exhaled gradually. Thoughts and fears pushed away, she brought her focus back on the petite brunette beside her. "We need to talk, kid. I love you and I need ya to be open with me."