So, I'm totally in agreement with you guys: Larry sucks. But he's a part of Piper's situation that has to be at least explored in the story, so he might pop up from time to time lol sorry. Hope you guys are liking the story so far and thanks for the feedback =)

Piper

Three days later, I found myself being escorted down the halls of the Psych Ward by the two officers who had picked me up from the hospital. It was embarrassing to be led out of that place and past so many people in handcuffs and the orange inmate's uniform they'd made me change into. But the level of humiliation I'd suffered was nowhere near the level of anxiety I felt, now.

Just like the SHU, there was screaming coming from all directions and the smell of human excrement polluted the air. I knew I wasn't crazy. I may have lost control with Pennsatucky, but that didn't mean I belonged in this place. The only thing I could do now was hope they didn't think I did, either.

I was led into a room where a metal cage sat in the middle, containing only a bed with no sheets, blankets or pillows. My heart dropped as a man walked up to me and took hold of my bicep, pulling me towards the cage. I didn't resist, though every cell in my body was screaming to. I knew resistance would only make my case worse and what I needed to do right now was keep calm. I wasn't going to give them any reason to think I was unstable, and I recognized what this was; an intimidation factor; a trigger for bringing out the 'crazy' by locking me in a cage and observing me like some lab rat. But, the thing was, I had been locked in a cage for over two months now. Sure, the prison was bigger, yet it was a cage all the same.

The man shut the gate behind me, taking out a key and locking it. He turned to the two officers, giving a nod, a signal that they were dismissed.

Now that I was inside the cage, I saw that the edges of the metal bed frame were protected by rubber. Though I would never say this out loud to the man I assumed was there to evaluate me, I could already see at least three ways to severely harm yourself inside here.

"Miss Chapman," the man spoke and I stopped myself from jumping at the sound. I turned to look at him. "Have a seat."

There was nowhere to sit besides the bed or the floor. Being as nervous as I was, I wasn't sure whether this was the first test. Could you tell if someone was insane by where they chose to sit down?

Okay, I was over-thinking this. Any sane person would've just sat on the bed without questioning themselves, wouldn't they?

I quickly took a seat on the bed, hoping those few prolonged seconds of uncertainty wouldn't be points against me.

He gave me a pensive look before sitting down in a black chair a few feet away from the cage with his clipboard. Then he wrote something on the clipboard. Shit.

"I'm Doctor Belsone. Do you know why you're here?" His tone was calm and patient, as if I was a child who didn't have a full grasp of language yet. It irritated me, but I couldn't let it show.

"Yes. I'm here for a psychological evaluation, sir," I answered, keeping my voice steady.

He nodded and proceeded to write something down on the clipboard. "Have you ever sought psychological therapy in the past? Ever seen any psychologists, psychiatrists or counselors?"

"No, sir."

He nods, he writes. "Have you ever been on any medications for mental wellness, any antidepressants or anti-psychotics?"

"No, sir."

He nods, he writes.

I was starting to calm down. These were straightforward questions; no Rorschach inkblots to interpret or hypothetical situations to solve. I could do this.

"Do you have a history of violence, Miss Chapman?"

"No, sir." Stay calm, these are just procedural questions, I told myself. The reason I was here was because I put a girl in a coma.

"You've never had any blackouts or lost your temper to the point where you harmed yourself or others?"

Was this a trick question? It had to be. "No, sir. I haven't."

He nodded and wrote on his clipboard for longer than I would've liked. The anxiety was returning.

"So, you're saying that, in the altercation with inmate Doggett, you did not lose your temper?"

I swallowed, "No, sir. My actions were motivated by fear more than anything."

Nod. Write. "Have you felt any feelings of remorse about what happened?"

"Every second since, sir." And that was true. Yesterday, I had been told that Doggett's condition was no longer critical. But comas were something that people never woke up from even if their bodies did heal. To have her blood on my hands made me sick to my stomach.

He looked up from his clipboard, finally, then said, "I have some questions about your relationship with inmate Vause."

Alex

"You know, you have more willpower than your girl. By the third day of Red starving her out, I thought Chapman was gonna try to eat the stuffing outta her pillow," Nicky said.

I stayed silent, staring down at the food in front of me. I wasn't in the mood for pointless observations. I hadn't really eaten anything since before the Christmas pangeant, and the few small bites I had taken over the past days I couldn't keep down. My unwilling starvation coupled with the sleepless nights had left me dazed. I was constantly dizzy and constantly out of it. I couldn't believe I was doing this to myself over Piper.

It killed me that she had made me so weak.

"What? You're not gonna bitch at me for calling her 'your girl'?" Nicky asked after a minute. "Shit, Vause. Messing with you ain't fun anymore. It's just fucking depressing." She sighed when I still didn't say anything. "So, did you hear Luschek got suspended?"

I looked up at this, "Why?"

She dramatically expressed her surprise, "It speaks!"

I rolled my eyes, "Are you gonna tell me?"

"See? No fun." She shook her head then explained, "Turns out Pennsatucky had that screwdriver that went missing a few weeks back. Luschek confessed to buying a new one to replace it, so he got suspended for 'inmate endangerment' or some shit."

"They never fire anyone around here, do they?" Hearing about Luschek only made me think about Healy and how much that asshole bigot deserved to be locked up.

"Guess not," Nicky said with a shrug.

The other inmates started clearing out of the cafeteria. I stood up with my tray of untouched food. "I'll see you later," I told Nicky and she nodded.

I walked slowly down the halls to the laundry room. It was weird how the lack of food and sleep was affecting me. It seemed as though the lights were always flickering and the hallways felt and looked as though they went on for miles. I fought to reel myself in and pay attention to my surroundings, almost brushing up against the wall a few times, unable to walk straight. There was a constant static buzzing in my head that wouldn't go away.

"Hey, Vause, you alright?" It was Big Boo who asked this, walking towards me.

"I'm fine."

She studied me closely, obviously not believing me but she nodded anyway. "Morello said she saw Chapman this morning."

With her words, I felt myself become more alert. "Piper's back? Is she okay?"

Boo shrugged, "Morello said she looked fine, but..." she gave me an uneasy look as her words trailed off.

"But, what?"

"Well, they were taking her to Psych, so I don't know when she'll be back... if she's coming back."

My stomach twisted and if it had had anything in it to lose, I would've puked right there. Instead, I nodded and continued walking.

It was my fault she even ended up in this place, and even though she continued to hurt me, I knew I'd never get over that guilt. I had tried to save her, possibly sacrificing my sanity in the process, and I had failed. At this point, there was nothing I could do to help her. At least the stab wound hadn't killed her.

My mind was going off in all sorts of directions and I lacked the concentration to follow any tangents.

I walked into the laundry room and began to occupy myself with loading clothes into the washer, unloading clothes from the dryer, and folding clothes into neat, little piles. Soon, my mind was blank. All I knew was clothes.

It was hard to tell how much time had passed before I heard her voice.

"Alex?"

I froze while taking a load of laundry out of the dryer and turned my head slowly to see her standing a few feet away.

"Jesus, Alex, you look terrible," she whispered, beginning to walk over to me.

I took a step back and she stopped. I wasn't sure whether or not I could trust what I was seeing. I stared at her for a few seconds and decided that she was, in fact, actually there.

Leann came out from the other side of the machines, carrying clothes to the table to fold. When she spotted Piper, her eyes went wide and she dropped the clothes on the table before practically running out the door.

"I'm guessing she's the one who broke your glasses again?" Piper said softly.

If I hadn't been completely sure that Leann was the reason I came out of the shower to broken glasses for the second time, I was now.

I took a deep breath. "You're back?"

"Yea."

I nodded and continued to remove the clothes from the dryer. She was okay. Now I could be okay, too. The relief was there, but I was still too out of it to really process it at this moment.

She was still standing there, watching me.

I focused on the task at hand and said, "If you have clothes that need washed, just leave your bag on table."

There was silence, so I looked over to see if she'd left. She hadn't.

"That's it? Really?" Her expression was a mixture of confusion and shock. "You're just going to pretend like nothing happened?"

For some reason, the way she spoke to me made me instantly angry. "Yes, and it's exactly how you should be acting, too. As far as I'm concerned, nothing did happen."

"Alex, I'm not going to tell anyone- I haven't told anyone! You can't really think I'd do that to you," she said, and tried to move closer, making me step back again.

"Listen, I'm glad you're alright, but I meant what I said. This doesn't mean we're okay, so just go, Piper. You do your thing and I'll do mine." I slammed the dryer door shut and busied myself with folding the newly dried clothes.

"I can't," she finally said.

"It's not that fucking hard. Just turn around and walk away," I told her.

"No, Alex, I mean I can't leave. They've assigned me to laundry duty because of my injury and they don't want me around tools. I work here, now."

My heart dropped into my empty stomach. Seriously, fuck my life.