Empty Spaces Chapter 16
Piper's finally back at Litchfield, though all is not as well as they'd all been hoping for.
Thanks for all your reviews, I'm gonna try to get one more up for ya tonight, we'll see how it goes.
It was indeed Taystee and Poussey who first saw the ambulance pull up just as Fischer predicted, even before the others loitering about in small clusters here and there were pulled out of hushed debates by the movement of the gate. Dozens of eyes followed the slow journey from the gate to the infirmary, their bodies slowly rising into motion wanting to get close enough to get a look at their friend before she disappeared into the infirmary. Being drawn like moths to her flame as so many had been over the years. The hulking red ambulance slowed to a stop and two paramedics got out and walked around to the back of the vehicle to open the double doors, trying not to notice the stares of the criminals surrounding them. One of them climbed into the back and soon a stretcher was being slid out of the dark opening.
None of the prisoners was prepared for the sight before them, the skinny little blonde they'd all come to call friend was nowhere to be seen. The figure lying on the stretcher before them seamed to have shrunk into a barely there wisp of a person. Her arms were cuffed to the stretcher but her arms had become so tiny and frail that the only thing keeping them from slipping off were the casts that ended mid forearm. The woman's eyes were open but stared blankly up into the sky completely vacant. Not seeing the prison around her or the crowd of inmates who'd come out in the hopes of welcoming her back.
No one said a word, no one knew how to process this. Sure they'd known she was coming back some kind of broken, but they'd still expected it to be her. Taystee and Poussey had been waiting all morning in the hopes of telling her they'd known all along just how badass she was and way to go for beatin that hillbilly down. Now the pair just stared in stunned silence. There was no sign of Piper Chapman on the stretcher before them just a beaten and broken woman who vaguely resembled the nice blonde lady they'd come to call their friend.
Boo didn't know what to do, she'd told Alex she'd come and let her know when Piper was back, but she couldn't tell her this. The tall brunette could be more than a little intimidating and weren't those international drug cartel types known for shooting the messenger. She shook that thought quickly out of her head, not wanting to dwell on those possibilities. Instead focusing on coming up with a plan B. She knew she couldn't just let the information filter back to her naturally. No for something like this, if it was Boo, she'd want a friend to break the news.
With that thought in mind she took off quickly in the direction of the electrical hut knowing that was where she was most likely to find the brunettes best friend just now. Aside from the blonde in question, Nicky was Alex's closest friend inside. Boo was grateful to catch her just as she was heading away from the building, she was just leaving with a tool belt strapped around her waist and a work order in hand. Boo quickly walked up to her and got her attention, Nicky could tell from one glance that all was not well, and she didn't beat around the bush.
"What's wrong?"
"I told Alex I'd go down to the laundry and let her know when Piper got back from the hospital. I waited around for a minute, saw her when they pulled her out of the ambulance. I can't, I just can't be the one to tell her. It has to be you, you're her friend she won't hurt you." Nicky raised a hand to silence her, she'd known it was foolishly optimistic to just expect Piper to just show back up and stroll through the doors like she'd been on vacation, but Boo was talking about the woman like she was dead.
"How bad?" Boo went on to explain the scene out in front of the infirmary. Her tiny skeletal frame, the empty eyes. Nicki didn't was to believe any of it herself, but as the clusters of people began to pass by headed back inside, she could tell by their pained expressions that Boo probably wasn't that far off. More imortantly she was right, this was something that Alex should hear from a friend and not the rumor mill. It was with that thought that she headed off in search of the laundry, her work assignment already forgotten though still clutched in her hand.
I feel like I should apologise for how dark this is getting but I promise it won't last too long. Thanks for reading, I'll try and get the next between Nicky and Alex in the laundry room up today.