Piper handed the bottle off to Nichols and attempted to stand up quickly, which was quite the mistake.
"Oh no. Oh fuck. Oh no!" Had Piper been able to articulate it, she would have told Alex and Nichols that her left foot had fallen asleep, but as it was, all she could do was emit a stream of profanity. Nicky and Alex both were well on their way to hysterics when the guard approached Alex from behind.
"What the fuck are you doing out of bounds, Vause?" Piper braced herself against the wall in a desperate attempt to appear sober. The new guard, Koch, put his finger right in Alex's face, "I said, what the fuck are you doing out of bounds, Vause? That's a shot. You've been in before, you already know the rules."
"A shot? I just wanted to make sure my friend was okay, the last time I saw her she was screaming at me and physically trying to break iron bars," Alex tried to maintain a calm demeanor, but after the huge disappointment that was her release, she didn't have much patience for power plays.
"That's it. You wanna talk back to COs? Let's make an example of you. Time for shu, let's go." Alex threw Nichols and Piper a look of despair as the CO slammed her right hand behind her back and led her out of the room.
The back of Piper's neck became hotter and hotter, until she swore her hair would catch fire, but instead she fell to her knees, grabbed her cube's trashcan, and spewed warm orange-pink hooch into it. Nicky knelt down next to her, rubbed her back, and whispered, "she'll be fine, she's a tough one. Don't worry about it, Piper." The surprise at hearing Nichols call her by her first name did a lot to calm Piper down. She vomited once more, spit the taste out of her mouth as well as she could, took a deep breath, and sat on her bed.
"These fucking guards… Jesus, Nicky. What are we going to do?"
"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna take my fuckin hits and keep my fuckin head down until I'm out. Not really any other options, are there?"
Nichols kept a close eye on her friend over the next week, but there was nothing she could do to stop the deterioration of Piper Chapman. She managed to get her to eat, and Piper always kept up with her personal hygiene, but her eyes were dead, and she was shit for conversation. Finally, exactly one week from Alex being taken to shu, Nichols and Morello cornered Piper at lunch.
"Listen up, blondie. We gotta talk to you." Piper made eye contact once with Nicky, and then continued spooning soup into her mouth, until Morello grabbed the spoon and held her hand.
"Chapman, what you're doin here, this isn't okay. I know how ya feel, but you have to snap out of it." Morello pleaded with Piper, stroking her hand.
"It's my fault. I can't… I can't bring myself to just act like nothing happened. Not when this is my fault."
"Look, we've had enough talks for me to know what kind of family you're from, Chapman. And even though my ma was different, we're from the same social and economic climate. You're overcompensating here. You're from a world where no one talks about shit - affairs? Those aren't real. Drugs? That shit's for poor people. And you're over it, you want to air all of the things. I applaud you for that, truly. But this is a place where talkin about things will get you into trouble. Actual trouble. Further trouble than you're in. And you can't help Alex where she is right now, you just can't. You need a distraction, something that will keep your mind on other things, and keep you mentally healthy - so that, when Vause gets outta that shithole, you can actually be there for her."
Piper looked into Nicky's fiery eyes, "That's… That's really compassionate of you, Nicky. I appreciate it. I think you're right. I need to find something to keep me occupied."
Morello tsked her approval and stood up from the table. She wrapped her tiny left hand around the back of Nicky's neck gently and kissed her temple, "I gotta get back to work, love, I'll see you tonight."
As Piper watched Morello dump the remnants of her tray into the trash, she couldn't help but voice her curiosity, "What happened there? I thought you guys were done?"
Nichols gave the table a sideways smirk and ran her fingers through her wild hair, "We were. She ditched me, and it pissed me off so goddamn much that I thought I'd never go between those sweet, sweet thighs again. But I dunno. After the Rosa incident, when she went to seg for two weeks… She came back and I just word-vomited all over her. Gushed about how she was the best thing in this place, and how even on the outside I'd want to treat her like a goddamn queen. Really shameful shit, to be honest. But she liked it. So I guess we're whatever now."
Piper smiled for the first time in days, "that's really lovely. I'm happy for you guys. Anything that makes this place more bearable."
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway. Look, I was thinkin about somethin to distract you… And I know you talked about teaching classes when you first got locked up here. They'll never approve something that needs money for books or materials, but your degree is in English, right? I was thinkin maybe you could do a creative writing thing... "
Nichols was ecstatic to see Piper's face light up, "That's fantastic! Yes, I could totally do that. All anyone would need would be pen and paper, and we have that laying around here now! This is… This is such a great idea, Nicky, thank you. This is perfect." And with that, Piper was up and out of the dining hall with an energy she hadn't displayed in a week.
"...That's why a creative writing course is perfect. It offers a mental vacation at little to no cost to Litchfield! Mr. Caputo, I really think this is a win-win, and it will look very impressive as one of your first acts as assistant warden."
Joe leaned back in his upgraded office chair and stroked his mustache, "You know Chapman… I think you're onto somethin. This could be good. I'm giving you the green light, but don't make me regret it. Keep this shit in line."
Piper leaned over his desk and shook his hand, "Thank you so much, Mr. Caputo, I will make sure everything runs smoothly. I promise this will be a good thing."