Chapter Seventeen
It was dark and so cold. She could hear people talking around her. Angry voices raised and the soft tones of the nurses as they took care of her. She dreamed crazy dreams and in most of them she was looking for Alex. There was just looking for Alex and pain.
"She should be waking up soon, Mom. The antibiotics are working now and her fever is down," Piper heard a familiar voice say. Her mom was sniffling and Piper couldn't help but wish someone would get her a tissue or something. She felt someone touch her wrist and she started to open her eyes.
"I want these off of her and they keep saying it is against the rules...I'm about ready to cut the damn thing off of her," her brother, Danny said. Piper moaned some and he turned to lean down and check her.
"You...c..can't do that, big brother...they'll arrest you," she managed to whisper. She winced because talking really hurt her throat. She felt like someone had deep throated her without her consent. Danny smiled down at her though and Piper knew from his expression that he'd truly been worried about her. Her brother was a very busy surgeon. He was in line to be the head of surgery at New York Presbyterian. He worked crazy hours and had very little time to deal with his felonious sister. He had missed his own Grandmother's funeral because he was in surgery. His wife and kids had been on a cruise when their Grandmother passed away. Piper and the rest of the family was used to existing without Danny actually being present in their lives. The last time she spoke to him was when she called him and told him about her indictment. Piper knew she must be in bad shape for her brother to actually be there.
He reached up and smoothed her hair back and for some reason that made her want to cry. "Hush now, we had to intubate you and your throat is raw. You're going to be okay now Piper. You're at Presbyterian and I'll see to it," she said in a very reassuring voice. Piper blinked and shook her head. She was supposed to be in medical at Litchfield. No...no...Alex told her she was going to be taken to a local hospital. That was at least two hours away from this hospital.
"Piper, don't worry, everything will be alright. Your brother has one of his fellows as your doctor...you're here and everything is going to be fine," her mother assured her. She was trying to fix Piper's blanket as if smoothing it down would make her daughter, safe. Her wrist was cuffed to the bed or she would have reached out to hold her hand. Piper wasn't sure why but her mom's words did make her feel less anxious.
"Your doctor is Dr. Green, she is one of my best. Your upper bowel was perforated by that..shank...with Cal's help they were able to get you enough blood to repair it, but they did a terrible job. You developed an infection and their patch did not hold. I had you airlifted out of there to my hospital after I saw your levels. Your kidneys were starting to fail and your breathing became so labored we had to but you on a ventilator for a day or two. You're much better now, lil pied Piper," he said in a voice that was both professional and sweet. Piper blinked back tears.
"How long?" she managed to ask. Danny looked at her then over at their mother. Piper looked over at her and tried to plead for an answer with her eyes.
He pressed a button and asked for the nurse to call her doctor. "You went from the prison almost directly into surgery and spent a week there before I brought you here. It's been five weeks since you were first injured and there was more than once-"
Her mother's sob made him stop talking and Danny frowned looking at her. He didn't do emotion well. "It's okay mom...look, the nurse will be in here soon and they'll need the space, you go on out and tell Dad she's awake." He ushered her out and Piper was left still reeling from the news.
Over a month...she's been away from Alex. She wanted to know how she was...she wanted to know if she followed her instructions. "I want to see Cal," Piper asked. She knew there was more to know about her condition but she wanted to see her brother. She had to know.
"Soon sis, you need to sleep now...you're still recouping. Your doctor will be in soon. I'm glad you made it Piper. Don't scare me again like that okay?" He was so sincere.
"I didn't think you cared. You seemed to disappointed in me for my past..." Piper couldn't continue. He shook his head at her and then bent down to kiss her forehead like her dad would do when she was home sick and like she figured he did with his own kids.
"Rest now, pied-piper...Cal will be here later and the doctor is going to need you focused for the exam," he moved out of the room and left Piper alone. He hadn't called her that since they were kids. She had adopted this neighborhood kid that no one liked. He followed her around like a puppy after that and Danny started calling her 'pied-piper'. She acted like it bothered her but inside it had made her feel special that her big brother had noticed something about her.
Piper couldn't dwell on that with her worry of Alex in her mind. She closed her eyes and hoped that Alex had followed her instructions in the letter but she couldn't find out unless she talked to Al. She knew that no information would be offered to the prisoners and as far as they were concerned she was dead. She was pretty sure that Alex would continue with her plan even if she thought Piper was dead. She had to do it. Alex had to get safe. Piper tried not to show her worry as the doctor came in to the room to check on her.
She slept off and on for the rest of the day and through the night. Her mom stayed with her like she did the time Piper had pneumonia in second grade. She was having trouble making her mind quiet to sleep. She kept jerking away because she felt the sting and cut of the razor or she couldn't find Alex.
"Hush...that girl isn't here. You called out for her in your fever as well. I guess she is the...girlfriend you say you love," her mom managed. She was very disapproving.
Piper looked at her for a few moments and felt so dejected she didn't want to respond...yet she did. Her voice was loud in the quiet of the room but it was still scratchy and sounded foreign to her own ears. "I was wrong to rub your face in it when you came to visit this past summer. Yes, she is my girlfriend. Yes...she was my girlfriend long ago as well. She turned me in to the police and I turned her in when she was out on parole. We treat each other like shit most of the time but she..." Piper's voice broke and she had to swallow again and force herself to continue. "she is the love of my life, Mom."
Her mother didn't approve and it was written all over her face but she didn't want to fight with Piper. "Your father and I aren't always nice to each other either..granted we never set the other up to go to prison...but we aren't always kind and he is the love of my life as well. Maybe you're more like me than I originally thought, Piper." Piper was going to speak to it more but decided to take her victory where she could. She nodded politely to her mom and tried to get comfortable so she could continue or try to sleep. It was hard because she couldn't even try to turn on her side due to the cuff. All Piper could think about was all the nights they were locked in SEG and Alex spooned her.
"This thing is bruising you," her mother exclaimed as if she could tell it was bothering Piper. She didn't complain outright. It wouldn't do her any good and it would just upset her mom more.
"It beats the full body shackles that they used on the trip to Chicago. The sound of the chains was constant, I don't think I'll ever forget it," she offered up. She wouldn't really ever forget it. The entire ordeal on the plane and once she got to MCC was seared in her memory. She tried not to think about that awful feeling in the pit of her stomach when she realized Alex had cut a deal and was walking out of there a free woman. Aydin's death, their cover up and everything that happened afterwards was a direct result of the two of them trying to do what the other wanted. They always seemed to be at crossed purposes.
"Star Crossed fuck ups," she murmured.
"What was that dear?"
"Nothing mom...will Cal come tomorrow?" Piper had asked already but she forgot. Her eyelids were drooping and she was fighting to stay awake.
"Yes, yes, he has an appointment with Neri then he'll be here. Go to sleep Piper...you're safe and no one is going to hurt you now," her mother said quietly. Piper knew she could go back to prison in a minute if they knew her part in Aydin's murder. She wasn't going to worry about it now though. All she could do was hope her love was safe and that she could finely have a dreamless sleep.
The next day Cal did come and it took twenty minutes for everyone to leave. He was relieved to see her looking so well. He was brutally honest about how she was before and her mother had to tell him to be more positive.
"I am being positive...she has way more color than when we were in the ambulance and I when she was airlifted here," he shot back. Her mom left and she barely let the door closed when she started to ask him about Alex.
"Did she-"
There was a slight tapping knock at the door to interrupt her. Cal yelled " We're fine mom, I'm being all rays of fucking sunshine in here!"
"That's good to know, I'm sure it will improve Chapman's disposition," Caputo replied. Piper stiffened in her bed. She closed her cuffed hand into a fist and tried to keep breathing evenly. She didn't like him near her brother. She was afraid he was there to tell her that she was busted for her panty business and Cal was going to go down with her. She knew it was irrational but she didn't care.
What she wasn't expecting was Cal's reaction. "Get the fuck away from my sister, you motherfucking asswipe of a bureaucratic douche bag! Alex had to beg you to let her go to the hospital. You'd just as well let her die. Doctor! Nurse! This man is detrimental to my sister's health and I'm going to lay his ass out if he upsets her!"
Caputo looked behind him and motioned for the officer, Donaldson to be exact, to come in from his guard post on the door to escort Cal out. "Remove him and call the cops if he resists," Caputo said in a calm voice.
"NO, please..please Cal...just calm down. Mr. Caputo is my warden, please baby brother don't do this, it will just hurt me more to see you-" Piper tried to sit up in the bed and the pain was too much. Cal winced and then clenched his teeth.
"Alright asshole you win with your fucking brute force," Cal said as he moved out. Caputo walked over and pressed Piper down in the bed.
"He's just upset. He...wants to protect me," Piper managed. She couldn't believe how that little movement wiped her out. Caputo nodded as if he understood and pulled up a chair beside her bed. She wanted to ask him questions about what was going on at Litchfield but she couldn't.
"The girl, Laramie, was charged with attempted murder and will be spending her time in the SHU before she gets moved to max. She had quite a bit to say about you and your business at Litchfield. I couldn't really prove any of it and it would make the prison look bad, so I let that go. The company had agreed to release you a few weeks early due to your condition and your lawyer has negotiated with the state and you will not be serving a year's probation. The Federal judge that ruled your case, was informed of the ordeal you went through...how Vause was targeted in prison... and with some fancy dealing and he dropped your probation," Caputo leaned up and unlocked her hand. He rubbed her wrist for a moment and it was awkward.
"Thank you for telling me...I'm free now?" Piper couldn't really wrap her mind around it.
He nodded. "Your signature is required on some paperwork that your lawyer will bring you tomorrow. The guard will remain until that time. You have a good support system Chapman. I don't have to tell you that you're much luckier than most of the women incarcerated with you. Don't get messed up with the wrong person again and end up back in there," he said in a genuinely concerned voice.
She remembered Alex's theory that he was trying to protect them both with their work assignments. " How is Alex?"
He smiled and tapped her hand in a patronizing way that immediately made her furious. "You worry about getting better and not about that drug smuggler. I'll tell your brother to come back," Caputo said as he got up.
"Is she alright? Just tell me she's safe, please...please, " Piper hated how she had to beg him. He wasn't moved at all. He just walked out and said something to Donaldson and then motioned for Cal to go back inside. Piper closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. Her pressure must of gone up because the Nurse followed Cal into the room and checked the machine. Piper told her she'd calm down but she made Cal leave again.
"Please, just let my brother stay, he didn't upset me. He relaxes me please," she continued to beg. The nurse relented. She was a kind woman, with kind brown eyes.
"Alright, but the doctor ordered a sedative if your pressure rises too much. I'll be back to administer it," she said as she slipped out. Piper knew the meds were on her little mobile cart but she was trying to give them some time.
"What did he say to you?" Cal was still mad. It was so odd to see her brother angry. He was always so even keeled. He was happy-go-lucky and her brother Danny didn't care about her. These were facts that Piper now had to rethink. She realized, perhaps for the first time how close she came to not making it.
"He said I'm free as soon as I sign some paperwork tomorrow...no probation either," Piper told him. He let out a whoop and she had to shush him before the nurse came in and kicked him out.
He took her now free hand and kissed her bruised wrist. There were tears in his eyes and she couldn't help but smile. "I'm so happy for you Piper."
"Tell me Cal, please, I can't go on without knowing," Piper said. She tried to reach up more and explain the urgency to him. He pushed her down in the bed. " Cal, tell me did she do what I asked?"
***Did she? What did she ask of her? What on Earth does Cal know about all of this? More to come- Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers...I wish you all lots of love, food, fun and family-chosen or biological. As always, Peace- Fae***