CHAPTER NINE
Two weeks. 14 days. It has been 14 days since she saw those emerald eyes and heard that voice that makes her heart race. Piper is lost. She does not know how to exist in a world without Alex. All she does is cry, think of every horrible thing she has ever said and done to Alex, and to punish herself some more, she replays the scene at PoPi in her head every single day and every day, she can't stop the gut wrenching sobs from escaping her lips. It should've been her. Not Alex. She wishes that the intruder had gotten his second shot off and that it would've hit her because death is better than a life where Alex can't quirk an eyebrow at her or give her that smug smirk. Every day, she cries even harder when she remembers a dying Alex telling her that the her bar is named Blue because of her. Blue...for blue eyes...her blue eyes.
Now, all her blue eyes can do is shed continuous tears. She cries for Alex. She cries because Alex closed those emerald eyes before she could confess her love to the brunette. Alex died knowing that Piper chalked their three years together as nothing but a phase. Piper Chapman hates herself.
Piper hates herself even more when a wild-haired woman she recognizes as Nicky in Alex's pictures worriedly runs into Alex's hospital room and starts crying at seeing the state her best friend is in. Nicky has been on vacation but when she heard about what happened, she took the next flight back to New York.
"Wake up, you giant. I have to show you all the crazy pictures I took and the random shit I bought you." the short woman cried to her best friend.
Piper felt like she was intruding so she started to get up from her seat beside the brunette that she has not left for more than an hour each day for the past two weeks. However, Piper's departure was halted when Nicky started yelling at the tall blonde.
"Fuck you, blondie! This is all your fault. All you ever do is cause her pain. She almost died back then because of you. It wasn't the fucking heroine that almost killed her; It was YOU. Do you know how fucking heartbroken she was when you fucking left her in Paris?! Left her all by myself when her mom fucking died that she fucking told the fucking cartel that she wanted out because she wanted to chase after you but she was beaten nearly to death and forced to stay because they threatened to put your blonde head on a stick and give it to her!"
"What?" Piper gasped in shock. Alex tried to leave the cartel? She always assumed that Alex's job was more important than her.
"Yeah, you selfish blonde bitch! She fucking LOVED you. I have been by her side for eight years and I've only ever seen her cry over your WASPy ass. She overdosed because she was so heartbroken over your skinny ass! While you were trotting around living your little happy hetero Park Slope life, my best friend was living in hell. And she would've continued living in hell if Fahri and Kubra didn't get killed by rivals!"
"You don't deserve her."
Piper tear filled eyes looked into the shorter woman's eyes that clearly showed her love for her best friend. "I know."
Nicky Nichols had to give the blonde a piece of her mind when she saw her but staring at those blue eyes, she knew why her best friend loved the blonde so much. The shorter woman could see how scared and helpless and how much regret and pain were in the tired blue eyes. But, the observant best friend could also see the hope for a second chance and how much love for Alex there was in the strikingly sad blue eyes. Blue eyes made the fury in Nicky cease and she put a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Alex is going to pull through. She is the strongest person I know. She is a survivor and when she wakes up, I expect you to stop her from going to LA. Got it, blondie?" Nicky smirked.
And the beginning of a smile that hasn't graced the blonde's face for more than two weeks started to form. Piper looked at the lion haired woman with tears, "Thank you. And thank you for being there for Alex. I know that Alex loves you very much."
Nicky nodded and the two sat on either side of the brunette for the rest of the day praying to the god neither of them previously seemed to believe in for a woman they both cared for so deeply.
So many tubes and wires. So many different sounds- the beeping of the monitors, the IV pump, the dripping of IV fluids and medications. But the blonde welcomed the noise because that meant Alex was still alive. Alex had been placed under a medically induced coma, on a mechanical ventilator, and had a chest tube ever since the doctors worked diligently to keep her alive. The tall brunette had suffered a subdural hematoma when her head hit the ground after being shot. The bullet had shattered some ribs, pierced through a portion of her upper left lung causing a hemothorax, and exited through her back right next to her salt shaker tattoo. It had missed her heart by a hair.
Piper's priority was not PoPi or her wedding or anything. Everything that mattered was right in front of her laying in a hospital bed. Piper asked Polly to take care of the store while she worked from the hospital and told Larry that the wedding was off. However, Larry chalked Piper's decision to call off the wedding as PTSD. The sweater vest wearing man told Piper that she was just traumatized from the events that happened, that she felt guilty and horrible about Alex because Alex was someone that was once in her life who happened to save her life so that's why Piper has stayed at the hospital every day, and that he would get her a brand new engagement ring. But Piper knew she wasn't suffering from any psychological disorder. Yes, she felt guilty but that's not why she has stayed at the brunette's bedside. She stays because Alex is the one that has her heart. She doesn't want a ring; she doesn't want to be engaged. All she wants is Alex and the only piece of jewelry she wants is the necklace that the intruder viciously ripped from her neck.
The necklace was her favorite piece of jewelry because it was given to her by Alex. It was small and simple but beautiful. It was the very first gift Alex had given her and she could never bear to part from it even after she left the brunette. After she left Alex, she told herself that she kept the necklace because she just loved the silver infinity shaped pendant. But when the intruder wanted it, she knew why she couldn't give it up. Her engagement ring she gave up without hesitation but the necklace was a different story. She knew it was because that small infinity shaped pendant symbolized her love for Alex. She has always loved her and will always love her.
"Piper, Alex has successfully completed the CPAP trials so we will be taking her off the mechanical ventilator. She's breathing on her own but we will give her some supplemental oxygen via a nasal cannula for now. We will see how her oxygen saturations are and will slowly wean her off any supplemental oxygen. Also, I will be pulling the chest tube out. The chest X-ray did not show any more fluid or air in her pleural cavity and the output has been minimal in the atrium of the chest tube. She no longer needs it. Alex is making remarkable progress. We will do another MRI soon to check the size of the brain bleed and swelling."
Piper's eyes blazed with hope and happiness at hearing Alex's progress. She thanked the doctor by flinging her arms around doctor.
"Nicky, the doctors are turning off her sedative drips today. The brain scans were all okay! They said it could take a couple of hours to a day for her to fully wake up." Piper told the brunette's best friend with such hope.
The blonde has been keeping in touch with Nicky regarding Alex's status and has seen her at the hospital frequently ever since Nicky rushed back from her vacation and told the blonde off. Together, Piper and Nicky helped one another stay strong and to remain hopeful for Alex's recovery. Piper could see why Alex considered the short wild haired woman her best friend and found the woman to be quite charming and hilarious. And Nicky could see why her best friend loved the beautiful blue eyed blonde so much.
24 days. It took 24 days since that fateful night for the brunette to come into full consciousness. Green eyes slowly fluttered open and quickly closed due to the brightness. Her eyes opened again attempting to accommodate to the lights. Pain. She felt pain in her chest and mid back. But the pain was forgotten when her brain registered the warmth at her right hand. It was soft and smooth and radiated such warmth that Alex felt at ease. Looking down with blurry vision, she could see that soft blonde locks were sprawled across the bed and her midsection. She could feel the blonde's warm breaths against her side. The warmth enveloping Alex's hand came from the blonde's hand that was interlocked within hers. PIPER. They were both alive. Alex squeezed Piper's warm hand to stir the blonde awake. The blonde didn't budge. "Piper-" her dry throat managed while squeezing again. She could feel Piper's hand tense up and the blonde quickly shot up in her seat bedside the bed. Wide and disbelieving blue eyes furiously blinked as if to make sure what she was seeing was real.
"Hey kid," Alex choked out. Blue eyes instantly illuminated with relief and happiness before filling with tears that were soon accompanied with heart wrenching sobs.
"Oh my God, Alex. I... You're awake...I thought...Why?!... Why did you do that?!... You died!... For me..." a distraught Piper choked out in between sobs.
"It's nice to see you too, Pipes." Alex quipped.
"Shut up...No! Don't shut up! I was afraid I was never going to hear your sarcastic ridden tone anymore."
"Glasses?"
Piper immediately stood up and rummaged through cabinets for Alex's glasses. Alex instantly missed the warmth of Piper's hand. The blonde returned and gently placed her glasses on for her.
Alex welcomed her restored vision and stared into strikingly blue eyes that conveyed so many emotions. Emerald eyes scanned the beautiful sight in front of her, stopping to study the fading bruises that did not belong on the flawless flesh. Alex winced at the pain when she lifted her arm up but she continued her journey and gently ran her thumb across the darkened areas of the blonde's cheek. "Does it hurt?"
Piper held onto the brunette's hand that was on her cheek and shook her head. "I should be asking you if you're ok and if you are in pain."
"I'm more than okay-" she managed before wincing once again.
"Sure you are. Let me get the doctor and the nurse."
The nurse administered some pain medication to Alex while the doctor assessed Alex.
"You're a survivor, Alex. You've been out for 24 days. It will take some time for your body to fully regain its strength but with physical therapy and proper nutrition, you will be back on those long legs in no time." Dr. Wright smiled. Dr. Wright was the doctor on duty that night that Alex was rushed into the hospital after paramedics regained a pulse. She was an experienced trauma surgeon that worked on Alex for hours. I am very happy to see you in such great condition, Alex. I'm very pleased. But I'm sure this one right here is the most happy and pleased," she said while patting Piper's shoulder. "This one hasn't left the hospital since you were brought in. She spent the holidays by your side. I've never seen such love and dedication. You guys are so lucky to have that type of love. Plus, you guys sure as hell make one gorgeous couple," the doctor chuckled. "I'm going to leave you two lovebirds to be. See you later."
The former lovers looked at each other shyly in silence before Alex broke the silence, "Piper, you should go home and take care of yourself and your shop and fiancé."
Piper vehemently shook her head. "No, Alex. I..."
The brunette interrupted the blonde, "Go home, Piper. Take a long bath and relax. I'm fine. I'm alive and my brain is fully functioning. Plus, I have to make some phone calls and obviously explain to my LA contacts why I fell off the face of the earth and reschedule LA until I am fully functioning."
"Wait...what?!... You're still moving to LA?" Piper asked in a panic.
"Yeah, nothing has changed. Well, besides me getting shot at which caused a major delay. I'm leaving, Piper."
Piper opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted when Nicky Nichols came bursting into the hospital room screaming, "Fuck you Vause for cutting my vacation short!"
Piper reluctantly and sadly gathered her things and left the two best friends to talk.
AN:
As if I would ever kill Alex...
Thank you for the feedback. I hope to hear what you guys think of the update!