(19 days to execution)
Veronica Diaz, attorney
She dialed the last known number for the now disappeared 'Crabtree Simmons' ,the only viable witness in Reznikov's case. It rang repeatedly and just as she was about to hang up, an elderly black lady answered the phone.
"Yeah.." , her obvious frustration evident in her tone.
"I'm a local attorney and I am looking to speak with Mr. Simmons."
After a long sigh, "Well good luck, cause he's dead"... And with that firm statement, she slammed the phone in your ear.
Well...that certainly went well. It seemed that anyone involved with this case was either angry, refused to talk, or now dead...there was no other option then to get the story from the horses' mouth so to speak. Veronica packed up her purse, voice recorder and laptop as she headed to her car to make the trip to Litchfield.
Infirmary, A wing (Alex's POV, 2nd person)
Today was a good day, you thought...no more worrying about the glucose levels and You find yourself smiling at your good luck. O'Neal escorts you out of C block through the courtyard to see Piper in a little while over in 'A' wing.
Mendez appears and grabs your arm steering you firmly, "I've got it O'Neal...go take your break."
He begins to whistle as you two walk through the sunlight..."You sure are in a good mood today, Mendez", you drawl sarcastically.
"Well, some days are better than others"...he muses and then stops next a warehouse fence. "Hold on fish...now don't you move"...he smiles and then disappears.
You jump as suddenly three of Vee's crew open the fence from the other side and grab both your arms... "We need to talk"...they mutter and steer you inside the warehouse. It's no surprise as you round the corner to find Vee sitting on the table. Mendez comes back and stands guard outside the door, smiling. He paces back and forth while lighting a cigar.
"This little dance You and I have been doing, as of this moment stops now..." Vee slams fist down hard against the table, the sound echoing...the others push you closer until you're face-to-face. "Jerome King...I wanna know how you got to him...and where he is right now." Her voice was firm and meant business.
You won't be bullied however, "Not going to happen, Parker". Her obvious frustration is evident as she bangs her head lightly against the wall.
Her slight head nod is all you see before you're grabbed roughly by all three henchman. They push you back against the table as you struggle uselessly, both arms pinned while the third grabs your legs and wraps a thick rope around them as you attempt to kick the bitch, she ties you up quickly and removes one steel-toed work boot.
Your eyes widen with adrenaline as Vee rises and grabs a pair of long-handled garden shears and places the cold metal against the tips of your toes.
"Now...I'm going to count to three.." Vee's face blank of emotion.
You can't even process what is happening before you hear...
"One.."
"I'm going to give you the information when the time is right", you sputter quickly...you attempt to reason with her...
"If I tell you now...I'm as good as dead and we both know it."
Your green eyes meet hers with a grim determination.
"Okay...two", her eyes are bright with power...
Your breathing becomes labored as your lungs burn and you feel like your throat is closing its so dry..."I'll tell you everything the second we are outside these walls...but not a second before."
You set your jaw for was likely to come next...
"You tell me now...fish..." Vee roars in your face...her breath putrid.
You only nod your head negatively..."One last chance...I'll do it"...to prove her point she tightens the shears against your flesh...you begin to feel the pinch of the blades just before they slice the skin of your pinky toe and the one next to it.
She was going to cut off your fucking toes...
You both stare at each other, neither willing to break...neither willing to give in...Vee's pride and reputation on the line...your entire mission resting on the next couple of seconds...you had to stand strong...this information was your only leverage to use to get away from this hellhole once you were over the wall...
The bitch closest to you shouts, "Do it!" and you see Vee's eyes flare with anger ...and suddenly with no more warning... the shears close.
Your scream echoes in your head, out your mouth and throughout the building and outside its walls as the feeling of losing your pinky toe courses through your body...the metal slicing flesh and the first knuckle bone off in one clip...the burning shooting, mind-numbing pain is so overwhelming that tears being pour out your eyes and wet your face...
Your heart pounds and you struggle to take a breath, hyperventilating... as the shock begins to set in...your legs flailing against their grip...your back arching in agony as the blood spurts all over the floor and all over Vee as she struggles to grab the severed toe and wrap in a rag...you only have maybe thirty seconds before two other guards passing by come rushing in.
"What the hell is going on", Officer Bell barks out
Vee immediately looks contrite..."I'm sorry m'am we just had a minor accident here."
"The fuck you did..." She eyes Vee with disgust ...and orders the two men to lift you immediately and transport you to infirmary, they briefly attempt to stop the blood loss by wrapping a discarded towel around the small stump causing more screams you don't realize are coming out of your mouth.
You're forced to hobble on your good leg supported by the guards to 'A' wing, luckily its not too far...as the nausea is setting in and you can't stop shaking...the pain is making your head swim and all you really want to do is pass the hell out.
Mendez pushes Vee against the wall, turning to other two henchman..."Get the fuck out!"...He wheels on Vee quickly..."What the hell, Parker, you said you were just gonna have a little conversation...make your point... Caputo's gonna have my ass now...how am I suppose to explain this shit?!"
"Sorry boss, things got a liitle out of hand quickly...but just say that someone left the gardening shears on the ground and Vause stepped on the blade and it went through her shoe." Vee shrugged
"Well, what about PI ain't supposed to be in the warehouses right now?" Mendez bellowed, his breath strong in her face.
Vee edged her body close to Mendez and growled, "I don't know, I guess you better figure it out then".... and turned and walked out.
Infirmary 'A' wing (Piper's POV, 2nd person)
You hear the yelling from down the hall just as the elevator doors ding, "We need a wheelchair!" one of male guards' voice comes booming in your open office door and jump out of your desk chair.
You round the corner, and see none other than the one prisoner you can't seem to get away from, Alex Vause. You ignore the stupid stomach clench that seems to happen every time she's around because you find absolutely irritating and completely unwanted. And then you see the blood...again...the second time in less than three days you'd seen her covered in blood although you were very sure this time it was hers and your heart pounds in your chest for Alex's wellbeing...which makes your mind suddenly as clear as a bell.
You call to your charge nurse, "Gimme 20cc of lidocaine, the saline debridement tray and a suture kit 5-0 prolene right now!", as you grab your gloves and fall in step behind the guards quickly. The guards dump Vause a little too roughly onto the exam table with white sheets that would soon be ruined for your liking as see her face crumple in pain.
"Easy huh?!"
Alex immediately rolls into a protective ball, covering her face with her hands...
"Thank you...I can take it from here..", you spit at these imbeciles as they grumble and shovel out...finally giving you room to see what needs to be done...as you near closer, you see her body shiver slightly as her hands are clamped tight over her mouth.
You gently push the bloodied left leg of her jumper up to expose the injured foot wrapped in white cotton towel now completely soaking a dangerous bright red. When you reach for the towel, Alex's arm shoots out faster than you could have ever expected and her warm palms cover your hand completely stopping it from moving any further. She won't open her eyes or make a sound...
You use your most gentle voice..."It's okay , just let me see...I have to see...or I can't help"...you move slower this time and she doesn't stop you...when the towel is removed...you barely hold in a gasp as her left pinkie toe is completely severed off. Alex sits up just then and takes one good look at her foot for the first time...her face screws up as if she wants to drop tears again but refuses...biting her lip in anger, throwing herself back against the exam table in defeat...throwing a forearm over her eyes...and already tear-stained cheeks.
"What happened...please tell me", you plead and near scream at the same time...fear for her ballooning in your stomach...as you would normally feel for any of your patients that you saw so seriously injured you think...
Alex only shrugged...barely keeping the tears at bay...her face flushed, a little dirty and her lips were dry..."It's nothing", her face stoic now.
"You know damn good and well this is not nothing... I can help you, if you just let me"... your voice forceful
Her eyes pop open at your use of curse words and you hold her eye contact...blue to green...both saying nothing yet it was moving nonetheless. Alex breaks the contact first...and mutters so softly you can barely make it out..."Don't make me lie to you"
Your heart drops. You hate that you have to stick a needle so close to amputated area but you have no choice...she'd need the pain medication before you closed the fleshy edges together.
"I'll give that about ten minutes to set in and I'll come back", you graze her forearm with your hand in what you hope is comforting manner...you feel her stiffen slightly beneath your touch but says nothing.
You immediately step outside your office door and shut it firmly as you see Mendez and few of his idiot friends gathered nearby casting nervous and shifty glances at Vause through the observation glass. You hand him the file folder with an incident report, but you would add your account later as to what you think really happened and that you're worried that Vause is becoming a victim and needs to be watching more closely or have Mendez rotated to another block because you were certain he was involved somehow...his beady little eyes told secrets without him knowing it sometimes...
"I'm going to recommend a formal investigation to Caputo just so you know!", you inform him with indignation high in your voice and he better believe you would be.
He gave you his best shit-eating smile, "Oh now M'am there's no need for that, well , why we already know what happened here." He held your eye contact thinking he was convincing you... when you didn't trust this bastard even with both eyes sitting right on him.
"Oh, really...well please be so kind as to inform her doctor then?", you take a step closer to him without realizing.
"Well, you see ...seems as though someone was careless and left a pair of gardening shears on the warehouse floor and Vause there just stepped right on 'em...accident..."
"Okay...you nod your head..."So then why wasn't her workboot still on her foot?"
He paused...no answer
"Or better yet...so if I go and inspect the boot they'll be a slice through the sole?", your breathing increases as you know you're right...there's no way that was the truth.
"Like I said, Doc....he smiled again..."Don't you go worrying because like I said we have it all taken care of on our end and Caputo will get a full report and no more issues will be had."
The other two guards surround you and suddenly you're very aware of being trapped in by the three men. You drop your head as Mendez grabs the file folder and they exit out of your infirmary.
You go back in and find Alex looking a little bit calmer given her current situation, as the Toradol has finally made it into her bloodstream. You lightly touch the end of injury and see no grimace on her face.
You find you have to look away from her eyes or your hands tremble slightly and this needed to be done perfectly. You tie on a mask so you're not breathing into her open wound and begin to suture the ends together over what was left of the toe. You have the clamps in one hand and the scissors in other as you slid the needle through one side and then the other, circle around twice and pull through...a repeated motion over and over until its done. You sneak glances at Alex but she won't meet your eyes and its probably for the best you think.
When it is done and wrapped with sterile gauze and then small walking shoe is place over the medical sock to keep anything from bumping into the stump for awhile. Alex is still as quiet as you'd ever seen her...you had grown so used to her cocky smile and funny little quips each day..not that you looked forward to seeing her or anything ...just that she wasn't creepy and kinda nice to talk...for a prisoner. You watch her shuffle out your door without a backward glance and wonder what you were waiting for, or why it mattered she didn't even say goodbye.