"Piper! Piper I need you to stay awake okay. I know it's hard, but just keep your eyes on your friend here and do not go to sleep," the female paramedic says while she continues to monitor Piper's vital signs. Piper begins to speak very weakly, "She's….she's my fiancée…I'm so tired Alex..." Alex squeezes Piper's hand, "I know Pipes you're doing great just keep those baby blues on me okay, we're almost to the hospital just hold on babe." Piper is so pale and weak from blood loss that it takes everything inside Alex to hold it together. As soon as the ambulance stops at the emergency room, the back doors of the rig are opened and there is a team of two doctors and three nurses waiting. As the doctors receive Piper's most recent vital signs from the medics, Alex jumps out of the ambulance just as the doctors slide the gurney out. Running alongside the gurney, Alex continues to hold onto Piper's hand until a nurse tells her she needs to let go. Alex's heart aches as she watches the doctors and nurses wheel her love away.

Alex is sitting by herself in the waiting area of the emergency room where they took Piper away almost thirty minutes ago. Trying not to freak out, but failing miserably Alex sits in silence staring at a television that isn't even on as tears continue to roll down her cheeks. The nurse promised Alex that she would come out and let her know what is going on as soon as Piper's condition could be properly assessed. "What the fuck could be taking so long!" Alex mumbles to herself and jumps to her feet. The brunette begins to pace around the small area feeling panic rising up in her chest.

Suddenly Nicky bursts through the doors and runs to Alex pulling the taller woman into a hug. "Vause! What's going on? How's she doing?"

"I don't know anything yet Nick…" Alex says shaking her head back and forth, "Why the fuck did I let her go by herself? If I'd have been with her…"

"You might've gotten hurt too! This is not your fault Alex!"

"If I lose her Nicky, I don't think I will ever forgive myself…I know in my brain that it's not my fault, but my heart is telling me I should have been there to protect her…"

"Excuse me Ms. Vause?" says the nurse emerging through the double doors to the emergency room.

"Yes! How is she? Is she gonna be okay? Can I see her?" Alex fires several questions at the nurse.

"Your fiancée is stable, but her condition is very serious. One of the knife wounds penetrated her small intestine and she needs surgery immediately to repair it to prevent toxins from entering her bloodstream-in fact she is already on her way to the operating room because time is very critical right now- this type of surgery usually takes a while, but I will come back out and let you know as soon as I know more," the nurse squeezes Alex's forearm before turning to leave.

"Thank you," Alex mumbles turning around to return to the seat she was sitting in earlier. Plopping down, Alex leans forward with her elbows on her knees and puts her head in her hands. Nicky sits down next to her and rubs small circles on her back to try to calm her. "Vause this is one of the best hospitals in the country, she's in good hands, she's gonna be fine-you'll see." Alex turns her head to look at her best friend giving her a weak smile, as Nicky continues, "Hey I used your cell phone and I called the Chapmans to let them know what happened and I also called Diane, they are all on their way." Taking her cellphone from her best friend Alex simply says, "Thanks Nick." Nicky realizes that Alex really does not want to talk so she just grabs her friend's hand and sits quietly next to her letting her know that she's there. The two women sit silently for almost a half hour with Alex's eyes darting toward the double doors anytime there is the slightest bit of movement near them.

"Alex! Oh my god Alex! I'm so sorry this happened honey! Do we know anything yet? How's Piper?" Diane asks running into the waiting room and hugging her daughter. Alex feels a slight sense of relief, aside from Piper, her mom is the person she loves the most in this world and her mere presence calms the brunette a little bit. "Thank you for calling me Nicky." Diane quietly acknowledges the wild haired woman.

Still hugging her mom almost afraid to let go Alex says, "She's in surgery Mom…the nurse said one of her stab wounds cut her small intestine and it needed to be repaired immediately…I didn't even get to see her before she went in…I didn't get to tell her I love her…" Pulling back to look at her daughter, Diane reaches up and slowly wipes away several tears that line Alex's cheeks, "Baby she knows you love her and she knows you're here for her…she'll pull through I know it."

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It has now been just about an hour and a half since Piper went in for surgery, and Alex still has not heard anything about Piper and she is about to go crazy. She is just about ready to head toward the nurses station when she sees two policemen enter the waiting room. "Excuse me-are you the family of Piper Chapman?" Alex jumps out of her seat, "Yes…I'm Alex Vause, her fiancée…do you know what happened and who did this to her?"

"Apparently she interrupted a mugging-that young man that ran into your bar and asked you to dial 911-he was being robbed when your fiancée walked right into the middle of it. The witness said the perpetrator demanded her purse and cellphone which she handed over immediately, but when he told her to give him her diamond ring she dropped it because her hands were shaking so badly. When he bent over to pick it up, Ms. Chapman sprayed the assailant in the face with pepper spray. The perpetrator was startled and lashed out with the knife before running away…" the younger of the two policemen related. "The other victim, Mr. Bailey, was able to give us a great physical description of the mugger, but it turned out we really didn't need it because we found him in a gas station bathroom about six blocks away trying to rinse his eyes," the older officer said with a small smile before continuing, "We found this in his pocket when we patted him down, and we were hoping you could positively identify it," he said holding up Piper's engagement ring. "Yes that's Piper's engagement ring," Alex answers as her voice catches in her throat. "Well I'm sure that she will want to have it back when she comes out of surgery," the officers says handing the ring to Alex. "Thank you officers, you have given me a little bit of peace of mind knowing the person that did this to her has been caught…"

The officers leave and the waiting room becomes silent again as everyone is lost in their own thoughts. Alex is watching the clock tick closer and closer to the two hour mark and she is about ready to lose her shit when a doctor finally comes out to speak with her. The doctor informed her that Piper is out of surgery and her condition is stable. Piper's surgery to repair her small intestine was a success and they were able to sew it up with very little trouble. Once they opened up Piper's abdomen however, they discovered that the second stab nicked her bladder and uterus which was a bit more complicated to fix which was why the surgery took so long. The doctor related that because Piper is so young and healthy, she expects her to make a full recovery. The sense of relief Alex feels is like a ton of bricks being lifted off her. "She is still under anesthesia, but she should be waking up within the next half hour or so if you would like to wait with her that can be arranged," the doctor says. "Go ahead Alex you need to be there when she wakes up, Nicky and I will wait here for Piper's parents to let them know the news as soon as they get here," Diane tells Alex and gives her a hug. "Thanks Mom, Thanks Nicky…I love you guys so much-thank you for being here," Alex say quickly as she follows the doctor to Piper's hospital room.

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Sitting next to Piper's bed, Alex reaches out and takes the blonde's hand in hers. Piper is still sleeping, but Alex is content to just watch her chest rise and fall with each breath she takes. Still holding Piper's hand, Alex lays her head down on the bed succumbing to all of the tension and exhaustion coursing through her body. The brunette has no idea how long she is lying there when she hears the most amazing sound, "Al?" Piper whispers. Alex's head snaps up and she is so happy to see Piper's eyes open. "Pipes! Baby you're awake! Are you in any pain? Do you want me to call the nurse?" A small smile appears on the blonde's face, "No Alex, I'm actually still feeling pretty good from the pain meds they already gave me, I just want to be with you for a while." Alex leans in and kisses Piper's lips softly. "You really scared me back there kid…when I saw you lying on the sidewalk…" Alex shakes her head, "Just thank God that nursing student was there…hey I have something for you…" Alex murmurs reaching into her pocket and pulling out Piper's engagement ring. Piper's eyes widen and her mouth drops open in shock, "But how…it was stolen…I didn't think I would ever see it again!" Alex smiles as she slides the ring back on her fiancée's finger where it belongs, "The police caught him Pipes, thanks to your pepper spray he was in quite a bit of pain and trying to rinse his eyes out in a gas station bathroom when they found him-I'm sure the police will want to speak with you tomorrow when you are feeling up to it, but it looks like he's headed to prison." Staring at her ring for a moment Piper yawns still feeling the effects of the anesthesia, pain medication, and the traumatic ordeal she has been through. Fighting sleep for a moment longer, Piper speaks up again, "Al?" "Yea babe?" "I want to get married as soon as possible…I don't want to wait any longer to be your wife...and start a little family…" Noticing how tired the blonde is, Alex squeezes her hand and kisses the corner of her mouth, "I will marry you whenever you want baby, but now you need to rest okay. I will be right here when you wake up-just sleep Pipes." Piper smiles and drifts off the sleep.

A/N Sorry if I scared you guys with the last chapter, but it was in the plan from the beginning and it was needed to finish up the story the way I wanted. So I'm thinking there are about three chapters left and then maybe an epilogue and I wanted to have it finished by the time season six drops on the 27th. I don't think that will happen though because I leave for vacation on the 17th and I don't return until the 27th and I don't know how much writing I will be able to do. I really want to do this story justice and not rush the ending, so I hope after you are all finished binging the new season (probably on the 28th !) you will stick with me. As always I appreciate your reviews and thank you so much for reading!