Title: Miracles
Summary: My first story for OITNB. A look at what was going on in Red's day when she learned that Nicky had returned from maximum security. Set S4.
Disclaimer: I do not own OITNB or any of its characters. They belong to Jenji Kohen, I do however own my writing, please don't steal- Johanna002©
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-01-
Red's hand work with speed and diligence, making quick work of the tomatoes that she'd picked from the garden that morning. Scrapping the chopped fruit-veggies into a bowl, she sighed as she watched them mix with the onions and green bell peppers that she'd cut up earlier, all of which she'd planted and grown with her bare hands. It was amazing what a little bit of love and patience was able to produce. People were similar to a garden that way, they either thrived from the love and support they were shown or wilted from the hate and negativity that surrounded them.
It made her think of the women that were serving their sentences a long side her. How many of them had grown up in less than ideal circumstances, with mothers and fathers doing more harm to them than good? She may not have been the greatest mother, but she had never intentionally set out to hurt her children the way she'd heard a lot of parents had. It was unfathomable to her that anyone could hurt something that they created.
As she so often did, especially when her mind wandered in this direction, she thought of Nicky. The girl had been hurt by everyone in her life who was supposed to protect her. Her mother had been distracted, and her father had been absent, and Nicky had been left to wilt like a flower who'd been kept out of the sun.
When she'd met the girl, Red had done everything in her power to make her stronger and well again. She'd nursed her through detox, similar to the way that you clean bad soil from around a flower; she been something safe for Nicky to cling to, much like the way you repotted a plant; she'd filled her up with positivity and love, like exposing a blooming bud to the sun; she kept her feed and full, hydrating her into the strong stalk that she knew she could be.
Nicky was the daughter she had never known she wanted, and the hand that she had always longed to hold. Three years ago, when she had first met Nicky, the girl was going through one of the worst withdrawals that she had ever seen. It had simply been an act of fate that their paths had crossed, but pure love that had kept them going.
Losing Nicky was painful as losing her sons all those years ago when she's first been arrested. The only difference was that her boys had still been safe, they'd been in the custody of their father and his family. Nicky, on the other hand, she was on her own, possibly believing that Red didn't love her anymore.
Why didn't you say it back? Red asked herself silently, stacking her used dishes into a pile so that she could carry them to the sink.
When Nicky had been cuffed and led away but a CO, she yelled that she loved her. She'd been crying, her vision obscured by tears. She hadn't been able to answer Red's question about how this had happened, or why she hadn't come to her, all she'd been able to say was that she loved her.
Shock had consumed her, heartbreak and grief had overwhelmed her, and Red had been able to say it back. It was something she thought about every day. Every morning when she woke up, the first thing she thought about was Nicky, from sunup to sundown the girl was the only thing––the only person––on her mind.
Consumed in her thoughts, Red hadn't noticed that Gloria had been watching her from across the kitchen. It wasn't until she felt her at her side, big brown eyes curiously and concernedly watching her, that Red finally acknowledged her.
"You alright, Red?" Gloria asked her quietly. "You look as pale as this dingy dish rag." She held up the dull colored rag for comparison. Maybe in a different world, she could have showed her concern without adding the insult, but these days she seemed to get a kick out of giving Red as hard a time as she could manage.
"Oh, please," Red's Russian accent was thick and coated in exhaustion, "Enough with the sweet talk." She lifted her eyes to Gloria's, pain and loss reflected freely.
Gloria bowed her head in understanding and then signaled for Red to follow her into the small office they now shared. "Have you heard from Nichols?" she asked quietly.
"You know we can't speak to one another," Red told her sadly. Inmate weren't allowed to communicate with one another from the different facilities, as the guards would assume it was a scheme to breakout or start a riot. In essence, it was illegal to talk to her own child. Healy had reassured her that Nicky was doing well, but even so, there was only so much he himself was privy to.
Gloria nodded her head in understanding. "Maybe you could have your sons write to her for you?" she suggested.
Red shook her head no. "I can't ask them to do that," she said quietly.
They fell into a comfortable silence, the only sounds from coming from the girls cleaning up the kitchen and heavy footsteps echoing along the linoleum floor.
"Is Red here?" they heard a voice ask.
At the sound of her name, Red shared a look with Gloria, her brows furrowed in confusion. Stepping out of the office, she resisted the urge to sigh at realizing it was only Healy. They hadn't been on the best of terms lately, what with his ego becoming deflated by her lack of interest in him, and him giving Judy King free roam of her garden.
"Healy," she said his name thickly. "To what do we owe the please?" she could feel Gloria behind her, and it made her feel stronger. It was something akin to two queens taking a stance to defend their kingdom.
He smiled softly, hoping to ease the tension that had settled between them as of late. "I have some news for you," he told her gently. The skin around his eyes were soft and his lips were pulled into a boyish smile. He didn't look anything like the enemy she had believed he was becoming.
Red's impeccably arched eyebrow rose even higher. "Do you?" she tried to keep her tone even, but she was still upset with him.
"Can we talk in private he asked her?" He nodded his head, gesturing for her to follow him. "It's wonderful news," he promised her.
"Oh, mida," Gloria interrupted thickly, pushing past Red. "If it's so wonderful why can't you share it with all of us then, huh?"
Healy sighed. He liked Gloria, she never was someone to cause him trouble, but she wasn't his favorite inmate and she had a tendency to grate his nerves on occasion. She was too loud and opinionated for his taste, not to mention he didn't like the women she surrounded herself with. Latin woman had never been something he favored. Their coke bottle physique hadn't ever been worth the trouble of dealing with their hot-tempted attitude.
"Nichols is coming back up the hill," he told Red finally. "She should be here within the next hour or so, given she hasn't gone to shit, and her inspections come back clean."
Red's eyes widened, and automatically began to water. It felt as if she wind had been knocked out of her, and she asked shakily, "You fuckin' with me?" She shook her head in disbelief. Was she actually going to get her baby back?
Healy chuckled softly. "I wouldn't dream of it," he promised.
"Hey!" Gloria exclaimed happily. "That's great news! Who knew that kind of thing was possible in a place like this?"
Red placed her hand on her heart. If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn that it would jump right of her chest. Since the day Nicky had been hauled off to max, her heart had felt unbelievably heavy and her arms depressingly empty. Maybe on the outside, she would never have thought herself capable of loving another human being on the same level as her sons, but in here, her love knew no bounds.
...
"A lot has happened since you left." Chapman said softly, a sly look of embarrassment marring her features.
"Oh, yeah," Nicky nodded her head, tone laced in amusement. "I'm getting that." She surveyed the women standing behind Piper, their Nazi tattoos making her feel more uncomfortable then she'd like to admit.
Lifting her head, she saw Red in the doorway and for a moment Nicky thought she'd turn away. Before she could process what was happening, Red all but running toward her, and with a force Nicky hadn't been expecting, Red had pulled her into a tight embrace. As soon as her chest had made contact against Red's, Nicky had felt an overwhelming sense of love and forgiveness surround her. She breathed a sigh of relief against her mother's neck, all worry and doubt falling back into the far recesses into her mind.
She heard the officer ordering Red to separate from her, but Nicky just squeezed her tightly, her eyes falling closed as she relaxed into her mother's arms. There weren't enough words in the human language to describe how at home she felt.
"Red, this guy's serious," Nicky head Gina warn them.
"I'll take the shot," Red had growled against her daughter's head. "Something's can't be rushed." She made a purring like noise, squeezing her even more tightly. There was nothing anyone could say or do in this moment that would willing coax her into letting Nicky out of her embrace. She was where she belonged.