Chapter 4
It didn't take long for the other inmates to find out who their newest prisoner was. Gossip traveled fast in prison.
The guard turned on the lights and horn at six the next morning. "Everybody Up!" Looking into the now occupied cell, the guard had a few words for the newest inmate. "Oh, you're my new responsibility. Well, let me tell you. You won't get any special treatment from me or anybody else. And you had better get used to it. Now, let's go." Abbey left her cell and walked to the kitchen. The rest of her life had begun. She would have to take it day by day. Each day of the next four thousand.
When she returned that night, she just wanted to lie down and sleep. A headache had started about noon and was only getting more intense. But she had a cellmate.
As she walked toward her cell, a hand was hanging through the bars.
When she got to the door, a large woman blocked her way.
"I'm sorry, this is my cell."
"Honey, this is our cell. I'm your new cellmate."
Abbey had the impression that she would at least have a cell to herself. But apparently that was not to be.
Abbey automatically went into the First Lady, plastered smile mode. "Hi, I'm Abigail Bartlet. Glad to …"
"Hell, honey, I know who you are. We all do. You murdered your husband, didn't you?"
Abbey couldn't respond.
"Move lady." The guard shoved her into the cell and the door clanged shut behind her.
Abbey sat down on her lower bunk, exhausted from her first day in the kitchen.
"I said you murdered your husband, didn't you? You're the First Lady of the United States, aren't you? And you murdered the President?" her new cellmate sneered.
Abbey looked at her cellmate in pure disgust. "I was the First Lady of the United States. Right now, I'm just Abigail Bartlet." Abbey didn't feel like getting in a fight with this woman on her first night.
"Okay, Miss Abbey. Whatever. But we all know you murdered your husband for the money. That's the way it always is. Money over love."
Abbey tried to control her temper, but this woman was accusing her of murder of the only man she ever truly loved and murdering him for money. She had given Jed the extra morphine out of love. Damnit, it was out of love.
As she tried to restrain her temper, Abbey developed a sudden, sharp headache. Being a physician, she knew the symptoms of a hypertensive crisis and knew that she needed help right away.
Abbey struggled to get up off the bed, but was unable to do so before she lost consciousness.
Soon there was nothing but darkness.
