The Hole
September 2, 2011 12:00pm
(Olivia's POV)
I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that I was hearing the key turning in someone else's cell door. I heard a clanging noise and looked up. The flap was open and there was a tray being shoved through it. I heard an unknown voice yell, "Benson, Chow time!" I crawled over to the tray, grabbed it, and crawled away. The flap slammed shut and I heard it lock.
Okay, so maybe I was being a little paranoid. I'm actually away from Parker for the first time since I was sent here. I might be able to get some sleep after all.
I tried to eat my lunch, but it tasted like horse shit… or at least what I think horse shit would taste like. I put the tray down and stared at the flap, hoping for the CO to come back and take this away from me. A little while later, my prayers were answered. The flap reopened and the same voice called for me to put the tray back on the shelf. I saw a hand grab the tray and watched as the flap slammed shut again.
I really wanted to get someone to turn the heat down in the cell so that I could get dressed again, but no one would listen to me! Each time a CO came around, they slammed the flap before I could get a word in. If I wasn't careful, I'd end up completely dehydrated. I hoped that El would check in on me soon… maybe he would be willing to help me.
The Office of Captain Matthew Parker
September 2, 2011 12:00pm
(Eliot's POV)
Being called to Parker's office was like being called to the principal's office… horrifying. I was afraid of what he was going to do. If he fired me, I couldn't protect Liv anymore. I didn't want to leave her… I wouldn't leave her. If, goodness forbid, she was convicted, I'd quit my job and become CO MaCavoy permanently in a second!
Parker's secretary told me just to go in. I opened the door and almost vomited all over the floor. Parker was in his office, watching an inmate on the security cameras, and masturbating! On a closer look, I saw that the half naked woman on the screen was Liv!
I threw Parker his clothes and told him the show was over. I threatened to go to the Warden if he didn't stop! I turned for a minute so that he could get dressed. When I turned back around, I was pleased to see that the monitor was off and Parker was once again dressed.
He turned to me and started to chastise me for what I had "done" earlier in the day. I decided to turn the tables on him. I told him the conditions that he needed to follow to keep me from telling the Warden what I'd seen. I told him to leave Liv alone and to transfer me to solitary for the rest of her time there. The look on his face when I finished was priceless! I finally got to wipe the smirk off his face! I got up and headed over to solitary.
The Hole
September 2, 2011 6:00pm
(Olivia's POV)
I was trapped in the middle of a horrific nightmare. Someone was trying to kill me…I just didn't know who. I hadn't done anything but I was being punished! I had to be careful… keep an eye on everyone! I had no idea who could have framed me, but they weren't going to stop there. There was no way that whoever it was would get any satisfaction unless I was dead… I just knew it.
I heard a key in the lock and snapped awake. I heard a familiar voice yell, "Benson, Chow time! Come and get it!" I crawled over and took the tray, then I saw Eliot's eyes. I looked down at the food and knew that something was wrong. I told him that I didn't want the food. I tried to give it back to him but he wouldn't let me. I told him that someone was trying to kill me and that if he wanted me to eat it, he had to try it first. I thought he'd understand, but instead he laughed at me and told me I was getting soft and becoming paranoid.
Okay, maybe he was right. No one was trying to kill me… I just had to get through the 48 hours of solitary then everything would be back to normal. I grabbed the tray and glared at him as he slammed the flap.
The Office of Captain Matthew Parker
September 2, 2011 6:15pm
(Parker's POV)
An alarm blared. I checked the chart and realized that it was coming from the hole. The emergency button had been activated. I slowly got up and walked towards the door of my office. In burst the Warden. I told her that I'd go check out the alarm but she insisted on going herself. I tried to talk her out of it. I told her that it was probably a trick. She said that I could accompany her but she was going, whether I liked it or not.
We headed towards the hole and passed by CO MaCavoy, who was on his way out for the night. We got to the cell and the Warden grabbed her keys and unlocked the door. Grabbing her taser, the Warden inched inside the cell. She found Benson there, lying on the floor, having a seizure. She ordered me to call 911. I told her it was a trick but she refused to believe me.
A few minutes later, several EMTs rushed towards us with a stretcher. As Benson was lifted onto the stretcher, she passed out. The EMTs hooked her up to an IV and inserted a tube through her mouth and into her stomach. They immediately began pumping her stomach. When I asked why, they said her symptoms resembled those of someone who was poisoned.
I followed the EMTs into the ambulance and took a seat. I tried to cuff Benson to the stretcher but the EMTs claimed she was strapped in tightly enough and that she wouldn't be waking up any time soon. A few minutes after they began pumping her stomach, Benson began vomiting violently. As the ambulance rushed to the hospital, I began to wonder if they'd save her or not.
Bellview Prison Ward
September 2, 2011 8:30pm
(Benson's POV)
I was in horrible pain. My throat felt like there was a golf ball shoved down it. I tried to scream but I couldn't make a sound. I opened my eyes and realized that there was a tube stuck down my throat. I tried to move but I couldn't. I rattled my cuffs hoping that someone would hear me and come help me.
I felt a needle slip into my arm and I slipped back into a deep sleep. As quickly as I had awoken, I was gone again… deep into the depths of a dreamless sleep.
Bellview Prison Ward
September 2, 2011 8:30pm
(Cragen's POV)
I sat by her side as she struggled between life and death. I couldn't believe this happened! She was indestructible! She couldn't be dying! I heard a rattle and called for a doctor. I listened as she choked and watched as the doctor administered a shot to slip her into a medically induced coma. He told me it was the only way to keep her comfortable.
I didn't know what to do. She was like a daughter to me. Right now, I was all she had. If a decision had to be made, I was the one who would have to make it. My face felt wet and I realized that I was weeping. I held her hand and watched as the doctors continued pumping her stomach and as a nurse attached another liter of saline to her IV to rehydrate her.
I wanted them to tell me everything would be okay, but the doctors said that there were no guarantees. The test results showed that she was poisoned with some type of drain cleaner and dishwasher soap. After the stomach pump was finished, they would be able to run some tests to determine the extent of the damage.
Without thinking, I called Alex. I knew that she was the prosecutor, but I needed her here. She was a stone cold fox. She'd help me get through this. After sitting for another minute, I called Casey and asked her to come as well. Not knowing Eliot's schedule with the prison, I had to wait… also, it would have been really bad if he and Parker crossed paths here at the hospital.
We stayed with Liv all night. They finished pumping her stomach around midnight but she still wasn't stable and none of us wanted to leave. The next morning, Alex left for a minute to make a phone call. When she returned, I swear I saw dried tears on her cheeks but she denied it. Around 10am, I saw Eliot rush into her hospital room. He was dressed in his uniform from Sealview and looked as if he hadn't slept all night. I watched as Parker walked over to him, clapped him on the back, and left. Eliot waited about ten minutes to make sure that Parker was gone, then he collapsed into tears.
I left the room for a minute… left him alone with Liv. I figured I owed him that much. I'd ask him what happened later. Right now, he needed to see her. I went to the café and grabbed a cup of coffee. When I got back to Liv's floor, I saw Judge Donnelly standing in front of her room, talking to Alex. As I got closer I began to place things together. When Alex left, she had gone to call Judge Donnelly… the question was why…
That question was answered soon enough. For some strange reason, Judge Donnelly was convinced that Liv had tried to commit suicide. I immediately stopped her. I told her it wasn't possible and asked where she expected Liv to get drain cleaner and dish soap when she was in the hole. Donnelly nodded her head towards Eliot and asked what he was doing in a Sealview uniform. I asked why that was relevant and she told me that I had to tell her. I told her that Eliot was there to protect her. I asked her what she would have done if she loved Olivia as much as we did.
She claimed that she did, but how could she? She was accusing Liv of trying to kill herself, which was basically the same as convicting her. She rapped on the door and motioned for Eliot to join us outside. Reluctantly, he left the side of the girl he loved.
She proceeded to accuse Eliot of attempting to commit assisted suicide. I was shocked! She said that Olivia knew that the food was poisoned and since he had delivered it, he was the one who poisoned it. Then she had the nerve to say that Liv hit the emergency button before she ever ingested the poison. I told her to check the security tapes but she claimed that they'd been erased.
Eliot told her that if the tapes were erased, he had proof that he didn't do it. She asked him what it was and he said that the Warden and Parker had seen him leave when they were on their way to Liv's cell. He said that he heard the alarm but had no idea it was her. He said that if he had, he never would have left her… and I believed him. Then she asked if anyone could confirm that he hadn't been back to the prison since then. He told her that Kathleen had a rough night and he spent the entire night on the couch comforting her.
Then, Donnelly twisted the screw in even further. She told him that Kathleen wouldn't be a credible alibi if she wasn't in control. She asked if anyone else could alibi him. I saw rage burning in his eyes, heard him yell "my whole family!" and watched him storm away from her and back to Liv's side.