"A…Allie… Allie… I need… to talk… to you…"
"Not as much… as I need… to kiss you…"
Allie continued kissing Bea, refusing to break away from her to let the woman speak. Bea raised her hand up to Allie's lips to stop her, but all Allie could do was begin kissing her fingers. Bea laughed as Allie moved her hand away to kiss her lips again. Knowing that they didn't have much time left, Bea forced herself to break away from Allie and struggled to sit up in the bed. Allie sat up as well, grabbing Bea's face again, leaning in to kiss her again, but this time being stopped as Bea grabbed her face and held her back.
"Allie, we really need to talk," Bea asked as she looked into Allie's eyes.
Allie swallowed hard and quickly nodded her head.
"Okay… What… What, I… What's going on?"
"Okay first of all… what the fuck were you thinking?" Bea asked, smiling sadly, compassion in her eyes as she stroked Allie's face.
"I know, I know it looks bad but… Bea, I swear I didn't try to off myself. I ended up in the equipment room with Ferguson and…"
"Ferguson did this to you?"
"She… I tried to get at her, but… Well as you know by now I've always had a knack for underestimating her."
Bea brought Allie's head down, placing a kiss on her forehead. Allie's eyes began to tear up as she refused to let go of Bea's wrists.
"But… How… Where are we?" Allie asked, looking around the room and finally noticing that neither of them had on their usual teal clothes but now wore white gowns instead.
Bea let go of Allie's face and looked around the room as well.
"Hospital," Bea replied, running her hand over Allie's bandaged arms. "You lost a lot of blood and…"
"I lost a lot of blood? Bea… Bea, everyone at Wentworth thinks you're dead. I thought…" Allie shook her head, unable to understand what was going on, but still smiling for having been lied to.
"I know… I just passed out after… I didn't… I'm so sorry… When Franky found out I asked her to go talk to you, but apparently that was the day you…"
Bea hugged Allie again, upset with what had happened to Allie, as she knew that they would never be safe as long as Ferguson was alive. Bea broke away again and placed her hands behind her on the bed to support her as she sat and began to explain.
"When I woke up here, the governor was standing watch over me. She apologized for not sharing the recording of the Freak with Kaz and said she realized that it wouldn't be safe for me to go back to Wentworth for now."
"Huh…I guess she sort of cares about you."
"That's what I thought at first but then she told me she didn't share the recording because she thought Kaz would kill the Freak and ruin the chance for Ferguson to face justice as well as take her career down with her… So, she cares, but she's keeping me here because she cares that I make it to that trial. And… I have to stay a little longer anyways to recover so… The board and the admins here cut a deal to keep me hidden until the trial, safe from her and Kaz.
"Trust me, Kaz isn't out for your blood anymore."
"Yeah I heard. Westfall played the call for Kaz and she went batshit crazy?"
"It wasn't just Kaz. Bea, Ferguson was attacked by everyone during lunch. They chucked food, trays, glasses at her, beat her, ripped her clothes, her hair. She ended up running into the equipment room to escape them all… They were unforgivingly brutal."
Bea looked at Allie confused.
"Why? Ferguson didn't shop them."
"Because they care about you. Sure, some of them might have issues, but most are crushed thinking that Ferguson killed you."
The edges of Bea's lips slowly curved upwards, a soft smile appearing on her face.
"So Westfall knows you're here?"
"Yeah 'cause of Franky. Other than them the only other people who know are the governor, the board, and the officer they keep stationed outside the room."
"Who's the officer?"
"Don't know. Some bloke from Walford who thinks he's helping cover Wentworth's lack of staff. He doesn't know who I am or why I'm here. Governor's not taking any chances with anyone finding out."
"Just one? I'm surprised they didn't assign a team to watch over you given your experience with hospital escapes," Allie chuckled.
"Yeah… Easier to escape back then…" Bea softly laughed, a certain inkling of sadness in her eyes. "But uhmm… she even made sure to keep you in here with me as well so they wouldn't have to bring in a guard from Wentworth."
"Well, I'll be sure to write her a thank you note…" Allie said as she leaned in to kiss Bea again.
As they were kissing, the door to the room opened, and Franky walked inside, loudly clearing her throat and causing Bea and Allie to tear away from each other and look at her.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite star-crossed lovers! They should write a story about you two idiots. Call it Redeo and Jalliet," Franky joked as she stood at the foot of the bed. "Redeo accidentally impales thyself with thy own sword, so Jalliet tries offing thyself whilst doing thy dishes."
Bea and Allie laughed, both appreciating how Franky could find humor in such a dark and dismal situation.
"Wait, so no one at Wentworth knows about Bea but you do?" Allie asked laughingly.
"Yeah, when I, uh… I heard Red died I sort of… freaked out on the governor and ended up beating the vinegar out of her tits…"
"You see, Allie, Franky cares about me," Bea smiled.
"Piss off," Franky laughed. "But yeah when she told me after I threatened her lovely job title, I ended up apologizing and came here to make sure your wife was okay… Who then proceeded to immediately send me to hell to check on her wife…"
"Bennett refused to let me call or send you a note or anything. She didn't want anyone finding out I wasn't dead," Bea interjected.
"Yeah, she's a gem…" Franky added sarcastically. "Anyways, I'm in the visiting area waiting for someone to bring you when the sirens go off and… later learn that you pulled a trademark Bea Smith move and slashed your wrists… Honestly you're both terrifyingly perfect for each other."
Bea and Allie looked at each other, smiling, as they leaned in to kiss one another. Allie wasn't up for explaining what had really happened just now. Franky scoffed laughingly.
"Ugh, don't do that now. Red, I ran into your doctor outside, and she told me you were needed downstairs, so I told her I'd take you."
Bea pulled away from Allie and looked at Franky, swallowing hard and nodding.
"Wait, I thought this was our room?" Allie asked looking at Bea.
"It is…" Bea began. "Uhmm, I'll be back later though, okay? Just… Just rest please."
"Where are you going?"
Franky looked at Bea and then down at the floor, realizing Bea hadn't told Allie yet. Franky took a deep breath and walked over to the other bed in the room, grabbing a wheelchair that was on the other side of it and pushing it next to Allie's bed before locking it in place. Allie stared at the wheelchair, then looked at Bea, tears welling up in their eyes.
"It didn't kill me but… It was still a, uh… A pretty nasty spinal cord injury…" Bea quietly spoke, unable to look at Allie.
Franky walked to stand next to Bea, hooking Bea's right arm over her shoulder, and carefully lifting her to bring her down into the wheelchair. Bea finally forced herself to look up at Allie, who had still not said anything.
"…It's… temporary." Bea forced a smile. "Just… Just don't know how long temporary is."
"I'm coming with you," Allie said as she stood up from the bed.
"No, no, no, no!" Bea held out her hand to stop her.
"You can't, kiddo, I'm sorry," Franky said as she released the locks on the chair and stood behind Bea. "Screw outside lets me come and go, but you aren't allowed to leave. She'll be back after her physical therapy sesh, okay?"
Tears began to stream from Allie's eyes, as she softly smiled and quickly nodded. She crouched down in front of Bea and took her hands in her own, kissing them and squeezing them tightly.
"I love you, Bea" Allie whispered.
Tears began to fall down Bea's cheeks as she smiled and nodded.
"I love you, Allie."
Allie reached up to give Bea one last kiss and hug, before letting go and allowing Franky to pull her away from her. Franky stopped to open the door then stood behind Bea again and pushed her out of the room. Allie wiped her eyes with her bandaged forearm, crying out of happiness because she had Bea back, crying out of sadness because of what had been done to her.
…
"Mr. Jackson!"
Will stopped walking and turned to face Kaz who was rushing towards him. He lifted his hand, signaling for her to stop running. Kaz stopped and slowly walked over to him.
"What do you want, Proctor?"
"I… I wanted to apologize for how I've treated you… I know now that you had nothing to do with Ferguson's… I just wanted to say I'm sorry."
Will stared at Kaz, unsure if she was being sincere.
"That's okay," Will replied as he turned to walk away.
"Mr. Jackson!"
Kaz grabbed Will's arm to stop him. She quickly pulled away when he looked down at her hand. Kaz held out a folded piece of paper to him.
"Could you… Could you please get this to Allie?"
"Look, Proctor, we're not allowed to…"
"Please. It's important. I messed up and… Please, Mr. Jackson, I need her to read this."
Will exhaled deeply before nodding and taking the paper from Kaz.
"Thank you."
Kaz softly smiled before giving him a hug, again quickly pulling back when she realized what she was doing. Jake had turned the corner and was approaching them, witnessing the hug.
"Sorry," Kaz apologized before quickly walking away.
Jake approached Will from behind, looking over his shoulder at the paper he held in his hands.
"Wow, so Smith leaves the picture and just like that you find yourself a new inmate to love," Jake smirked.
"Piss off, it's not like that."
"No? That's not a love letter?" Jake asked, gesturing towards the paper.
"No… She wants me to get it to Novak."
"My shift's over. I don't mind dropping it off."
"That's okay…"
"No, no, come on. You got a few hours left and live on the other side of town. Hospital's closer to me."
Jake reached his hand out to take the letter, which Will slowly handed to him before leaving. Jake watched him walk away, before turning to leave in the other direction, unfolding the letter, and beginning to read it.
…
Vera sat at her computer, smiling as she read through the draft of the new article. Written by the same journalist as the previous one, the new article corrected all the errors from the first one. It no longer portrayed Ferguson as the victim of abuse and neglect from the other inmates or the administration, but as the victimizer who was injured as a result of self-defense from the inmate she attempted to kill in the laundry room. It spoke of how Ferguson had been moved to the protection unit with 24/7 medical supervision in order to keep her as safe as possible. The journalist had emailed the article to Vera to look it over for approval before publishing it but had also requested to speak with the inmate Ferguson tried to murder. Vera took a deep breath as she thought of how to respond.
"Stevens for you, Governor," Miles announced as she opened the door to Vera's office.
"Thank you, Ms. Miles. Please come in."
Sonia walked into the office holding a stack of papers and setting it down directly in front of Vera on the desk.
"What's this?" Vera asked, scanning over the words on the top page.
"Governor, I am here on behalf of a hundred and one women of Wentworth Correctional Centre who are appalled by what Joan Ferguson has been allowed to get away with as a governor, as an inmate, and as a human. With the help of Maxine Conway, Elizabeth Birdsworth, and Susan Jenkins, we have collected a hundred and one testimonies describing in detail countless times when Joan Ferguson was allowed to victimize and terrorize the women of Wentworth, most notably Beatrice Smith."
Vera picked up the stack, flipping through it and noticing that each of the testimonies had been signed by an inmate.
"They're signed…" Vera commented, shocked by the fact that these women were all willing to put their name to their testimony.
"Indeed, Governor. What Joan Ferguson did to Beatrice Smith could not be considered anything less than inhuman, and you will see in the testimonies in front of you that dozens of others witnessed this relentless predator on the hunt. We hope that these testimonies can be delivered to the prosecutor in Ferguson's case, especially now that Beatrice is unable to…"
Vera looked up at Sonia, a determined look in her watery eyes as she was unable to continue speaking. She looked back down at the stack of papers.
"I'll pass them along."
"Thank you, Governor."
Sonia nodded towards Vera before heading for the door and grabbing the handle.
"Sonia… Why are you doing this? You barely knew Smith."
"… Beatrice was a fighter. Her strength was unparalleled, despite being perpetually in danger, in pain, in agony… and I refuse to let her story go untold."
Sonia walked out of the governor's office. Vera looked down and began reading through the first testimony, which described the events of the laundry room. It detailed what happened from the mob arriving to Liz and Sonia being attacked to Bea getting assaulted and having her arm burned with the original intention being her face, to Allie helping her, to Kaz attacking Allie, to Ferguson strangling Bea, to Sonia fighting Ferguson off and burning her arm after digging her nails into her eyes, to Allie defending Bea one last time from Kaz. The statement was signed by Sonia.
Vera sat back in her chair, a look of astonishment on her face, as she was unsure of what to do with this information. Bea was alive, but this testimony would undoubtedly help in the case against Ferguson to portray her as unfit for release anytime soon should her other charges be dropped somehow. Vera tapped her fingers on the desk. She turned towards her computer and began typing out a reply to the journalist.
…
Jake rushed into the hospital and tried to calm himself as he approached the front desk. He smiled at the nurse at the reception desk before taking out his ID badge.
"Good evening," Jake grinned.
The nurse looked up at him, smiling as she looked him up and down.
"Good evening indeed… What can I help you with?"
"I'm here on behalf of Wentworth Correctional Centre," Jake answered, showing her his badge. "I have a message from Governor Bennett for inmate Allie Novak. Could you be a sweetheart and tell me what room she's in, love?"
The nurse giggled as she stood up from the desk and leaned over to use her computer. Jake tapped his fingers on the desk, unable to contain his nerves.
"She's in the H wing of the fourth floor, room 412," the nurse stated, looking back up at Jake and still smiling.
"Thank you," Jake responded, turning to go.
"Hope you stop by again after you're done!"
Jake grinned at her, keeping his fake smile until he was out of her sight. He headed for the elevator, trying his best to not run. Jake darted inside and frantically pressed the button for the fourth floor, keeping his finger on it so the doors wouldn't open on any other floor. Once he arrived at the fourth floor, he ran out, stopping to scan the signs signaling which group of rooms was in which direction. He headed for the H wing of rooms, the 401-412 block, stopping a few feet away when he saw who was guarding it. The officer turned to look at him.
"Jakey!"
The officer walked over to Jake and brought him in for a hug, patting his back. He took Jake's face in his hands and lightly slapped him before ruffling his hair.
"D'you get taller, fucker?" the officer laughed. "Seems like working at a women's prison suits you better than Walford, eh?"
Jake forced a laugh, furious that he might not get to see Allie.
"What are you doing here anyways?"
"I, uh… I have a message for Novak from the governor," Jake replied, pointing towards the door to Allie's room.
"Oh, you're a godsend. I've had to take a dump since this morning, but I'll be back soon. Mind looking out for a bit?"
"…Yeah, yeah sure," Jake nodded.
"Thanks! When I get back I want to hear all about Wentworth. Can't imagine the stories you got from working with those crazy bitches."
Jake forced another small laugh and nodded, as he watched the officer walk away. He was confused as to why a Walford guard would be watching over a Wentworth inmate, but he wasn't about to waste the opportunity he'd been given. He stepped into the room and quietly shut the door behind him.
Jake walked over to Allie, who lay sleeping on her bed. He reached over and yanked her by both her wrists, pulling her up off the bed and throwing her down on the floor, falling on top of her and covering her mouth to stifle her screams. He pulled a needle out of his jacket, bit the cap off of it, spit it out, and held it to Allie's throat.
"I'm gonna move my hand, but if you scream, I will make sure you don't walk out of here alive, do you understand?"
Allie barely nodded, afraid any movement would make the needle come into contact with her skin. She shook as Jake slowly removed his hand from her mouth, but kept the needle close to her throat. He used his right hand to grip her left wrist, hurting her in the process.
"Why the fuck did you red cunts do it? Huh? What, no longer interested in getting rid of fucking Bennett and Jackson now that Smith is dead? Were you just using me?!"
"What are you talking about?!" Allie cried.
"You know what I'm talking about!" Jake barked.
"I swear, I don't know! Please let me go! You're hurting me, Mr. Stewart!"
Jake's breaths came in rapid succession. His face was red as he gripped Allie's wrist tighter and tighter before letting her go. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Kaz's letter, holding it next to Allie's head as he read it, keeping the needle within millimeters of her throat.
"I told the governor everything that the Red Right Hand has been involved in during our time here, as well as who helped us on the outside… Stupid shit, stupid shit, stupid shit… She knows about Screwart's involvement with the laundry room incident. She knows about his involvement with contacting the reporter for Ferguson's version of the story. She knows about his attempts to help us to oust her… More stupid shit… I want to right my wrongs. I did it all for you. All of this was for you, Allie."
Jake tossed the paper aside before grabbing Allie by the neck.
"Tell me why now, you stupid cunt," Jake gritted his teeth.
"You fucking asshole, I don't know!"
"Then why is she taking the fall for you? Huh? Tell me you're not the real leader of those fucking bitches! Go on, tell me!"
"What?!"
"She's taking the fall for you, don't act like you don't know! Just tell me already why you fuckers betrayed me!"
"Listen to me, you shithead, I don't give a flying fuck about your career goals! I defended Bea in the laundry room! Kaz just made me go with her and the rest of the mob, but I had no idea what was going on. Why the fuck would I defend Bea if I knew about and agreed with whatever fucking schemes you, Kaz, and the Freak were planning?!"
Jake slowly loosened his hold on Allie's neck and lowered the needle as his breathing began to stabilize.
"Get the fuck off of me already," Allie demanded as she pushed him and moved out from underneath him.
Allie stood up off the floor, bending over to pick up the letter from Kaz. She began to read it, occasionally looking up to see Jake sobbing and gripping his hair as he leaned against her bed, the syringe still in his hand. When she finished the letter, every emotion from shock to hatred to sorrow hit her at once, but she did her best to keep calm as she looked up at the clock.
"Look… You should get out of here. I won't say anything… By the sound of this letter I'm guessing your time at Wentworth is pretty much over anyways."
Jake looked up at Allie, his eyes and face red all over. He dropped the needle to the floor and pushed himself up to stand as Allie stepped back from him. He breathed through his mouth as he glared at her.
"If I find out you're lying to me…" Jake whispered.
"You're really, really not in a position to be threatening anyone right now, Jakey," Allie interjected as she bent over to pick up the needle and cap it again. "Now get the fuck out of my room."
Jake slowly headed out of Allie's room, quietly shutting the door behind him. Allie dropped the letter on her bed and the needle on top of it before massaging her face with her hands. As she pulled her hands away, Allie realized she was bleeding from her left wrist, the result of Jake burying his fingers into it and tearing open her fresh stitches.
Jake's breathing was still heavy, still fast, as he leaned against the wall outside Allie's room to wait for the Walford officer to return. He ran his fingers through his hair, his mind racing as he tried to figure out what he could possibly do now. He knew he couldn't waste anymore time, as Vera had definitely already planned his future for him. Jake looked up and down the hallways to his right and left, not seeing the Walford officer anywhere. He slammed his fists back against the wall and began to walk away.
As Jake made his way towards the elevator, he stopped in his tracks at the sight of Bea being pushed in a wheelchair out of the elevator. He darted into a supplies closet, leaving the door a little open as he watched her and the nurse pushing her go by, waiting a few seconds before he came out of the closet. Unable to believe it was actually Bea he saw, Jake followed her from a distance, as the nurse pushed her the same way from where he had just come, before stopping in front of Allie's room.
The Walford officer appeared again, looking around for a bit before opening the door to Allie's room and letting Bea inside. Although the most he saw of her as she entered the room was her red hair, Jake knew it was Bea when he saw Allie come forward to hug her. Jake turned around again, beginning to walk back the way he came. After entering the empty elevator, Jake pressed the button for the first floor, a smile creeping over his face as the doors closed.