Time stretched out before her...seeming to slow down and speed up all at once...her mind was swirling...there were phrases that she had practiced to say but now the anxiety had driven them all away. Jesus...it was like she was a nervous teenager all over again...

Back in her college days, her roommate had nicknamed her "straight girl kryptonite" for God's sake, due to her ability to sway so many pretty girls into her bed...so she surely was practiced enough... but that all felt a million miles away as she waited for Piper to walk through that door.

She heard the door click and was granted an uninterrupted view of her...as Piper had her head down looking at her chart as she walked in. Alex swung her legs against the sides of the high table covered in paper, as she gazed at the strands of blonde hair falling in her face. She was even prettier in person, a little older than the picture Alex had studied. Piper went directly to the locked medical cabinet behind a screen on the other side of the room. She could hear the keys jingle and door shut, as Piper re-emerged with a small glass bottle and a syringe.

She wheeled a metal table that waist high over and sat down on a small stool with wheels. As she spun around and scooted towards her, they made eye contact...mysterious green to endless blue...so much to say and so little time...

Alex found herself smiling as she looked at the shape of her eyes, the planes of her nose and cheekbones...her lips slightly red...she didn't have on any makeup...but she was still pretty. Alex felt Piper's eyes scanning her as well...they widened in surprise momentarily...she wondered at what...they flicked down to her arms...her tattoos...then she reached out and grabbed her left forearm.

Alex's heart thudded at the feel of her hands on her skin...they were soft and warm...her skin tingled everywhere that her fingers grazed. "These tattoos look fresh"...her voice held a questioning note..."I guess being a diabetic means you don't have a problem with needles". She wiped an alcohol square against her arm. She briefly turned around to fill the syringe with insulin, and then quickly found the spot and jabbed. Alex's eyes trailed over her stethoscope hastily thrown around her neck, white medical coat over her blouse, a soft salmon color...the curve of her neck. She couldn't help but enjoy their momentary closeness.

"I'm Alex, by the way..", she husked with her best flirty grin as they made eye contact again. Piper put her head down again and scribbled on her chart... "Vause, yes, I've looked at your report"

"And you are?..." , Alex trailed off

"Dr. Chapman will do", her tone was crisp and professional.

"Chapman, like the Governor?" Alex could see her face tighten and she blinked rapidly while writing but made no remark...this was going to be harder than she thought..."You aren't related ...are you..." Alex questioned, knowing full well that they were...Piper's lips tightened as if holding back a response...

"Wouldn't think you'd find the daughter of someone so openly opposed to new prison reform laws working here, as a doctor no less"...she tried smiling again...

Finally she got Piper to look up again...her face was a mask of controlled emotion at the mention of her father..."I believe in being part of the solution not the problem.", her statement answering Alex's previous line of questioning without realizing it.

Alex held Piper's eyes with hers..."Be the change you want to see in the world"...Alex put her head down casually, as if she quoted famous works all the time.

Had she been looking, she would have seen Piper's eyes widen in surprise at having one of her favorite quotes repeated back to her...by an inmate no less...she couldn't help the pleasured smile that crossed her face. Alex glances up, and catches her staring as they held eye contact. Piper started to talk and then just shook her head, smirking...

"What?", Alex teased

"Nothing...she hedged...looking a little embarrassed..."That was my senior quote if you can believe that"

Alex feigned surprise..."What a coincidence...that was you...here I was thinking it was Ghandi all this time..."

She held Piper's eyes again.. then watched as her mouth split into a full smile and she laughed softly.."Oh, you're funny..."

Alex chuckled too...glad that she was able to get her to loosen up and laugh, liking the sound more than she should.

Piper scooted back slightly..."Just sit tight for a minute and apply direct pressure to that...I'll be back in a sec" She grabbed her chart and walked back behind the curtain and into her office. Alex immediately jumped off the table, throwing the small gauze square in the trash and pulled another oragami swan out of the pocket of her jumpsuit. She quickly kneeled down and dropped it down the slotted grate in the tiled floor by the window. She got back up on the table just as Piper walked out of her office, with several more charts in her hand.

"So...how do we play this...you hook me up with a week's supply", Alex teased her again.

"Ha...nice try", Piper laughed again..."No needles allowed on the floor"...

"I'm the furthest thing from a junkie", Alex reasoned..."Trust me", she grabbed at blue eyes with hers earnestly... Alex was only partially joking yet those two words meaning so much more than Piper could ever know right now...

Their joking mood shifted slightly as Piper's face closed off again, "I've got news for you Alex, 'trust me' means absolutely zero in these walls...the only way you'll be getting that shot is if I'm administering it."

Alex slid off the table, closing the space between them slightly..leaving Piper looking up at her..."Well then, I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other", her trademark smirk in place. This time it was Piper that held the eye contact..a slight smile on her lips in return..she nodded, and then rose from the stool...suddenly their faces were but a few inches apart. .."I guess we will...see you tomorrow..."

She quickly turned and discarded her blue gloves in the trash beside the table...grabbing a fresh pair, leaving Alex trailing behind her. Piper tapped on the office door signaling the guard that Alex was ready to be transported back. Meanwhile, the paper swan that Alex had dropped down the grate continued to float and flow down the pipes below the infirmary.

Mendez appeared quickly, wiping his palms over his hair, checking his reflection in the glass. He had noticed Piper after the first day that she got hired, but had little chance to speak with her, having no reason to come by the infirmary. "So, Doc...everything go ok...this inmate wasn't giving you any trouble?" His eyes were angry as they focused on Vause, something about her just didn't seem right...

Piper didn't like the gleam in his eye when he talked to her, and his cologne was horrible...she knew guys like him...swollen with false pride and power which she didn't like it at all...and given the negative tone in his voice he wasn't a fan of Alex. Just to get under his skin, she reached over and rubbed small circles on Alex's back with her hand, before speaking. Alex edged closer to her at the feeling of the contact, it was so unexpected. "No worries here, she was the perfect gentleman"...She threw Alex a quick smile and called the next patient.

Mendez only huffed in frustration and jerked her elbow impatiently steering her through the infirmary doors.

A/N hey all, a quick update to satisfy the Vauseman cliffhanger I left you guys with...