Set after 4x12
The prison was silent, there was nothing. No laughing, no screaming, no talking just silence. H Block was silent. There was nothing to be said. Bea Smith was dead. The Queen was dead. Today there would be no fighting, there would be no drugs to be taken, there would only be grief and guilt. The news that Allie was making a miraculous recovery brought no comfort to prisoners or guards knowing that she would soon be told that the love of her life was dead.
"It wasn't your fault Vera. You had no idea Bea wanted to..." Will couldn't finish the sentence. He had held Bea as she passed away. Their relationship had been closely scrutinized over the years but they were close friends and nothing more. This loss was personal to him
"Yes it was Will! I should never have allowed her to face Ferguson!" Vera and Bea had never been close allies but a death of her watch especially one of such high profile was a blow for the governor. Ferguson had won in a way. Vera would never survive this. There was a quiet knock on the door quashing the row that was starting between Vera and Will "Come in" It was Bridget. She looked shaken up and pale. Bea's death was practically hard on her knowing she could have helped Bea
"I'm gonna head home for the day. Someone needs to tell Franky" Vera knew that this news would hit Franky hard. She and Bea had become close since Franky's release and the black haired woman had helped Bea accept what she was feeling for Allie "I've cancelled all my usual appointments. Right now the women need grief counselling not a lecture" Vera nods and smiles sadly at the psychologist "And Vera none of this was your fault. Bea thought she had lost everything thanks to Ferguson. She wanted her to pay for what she had done." With those parting words Bridget heads to Franky's legal aid job to tell her about Bea. She was going to be devastated
"Gidge? Hey what are you doing here? Not that not happy to see my best girl" Franky kisses her partner softly and wraps her arms around the blonde
"Franky. Can we go to your office please? There's something I need to tell you" Franky looks at her partner before nodding her head. The couple head into Franky's office. It was clear to Franky it was something serious, she had never seen her partner so pale and shaken. Bridget shuts the door behind her before turning to look at Franky taking a deep breath. This was going to be so hard "There's been an incident at Wentworth. It's Bea Franky" Franky sits down and shakes her head. This couldn't be happening. Somewhere deep down inside she knew could happen but she never wanted it.
"Tell me she's okay Gidge... Please tell me she's okay"
"She's dead Franky. She confronted Ferguson with the plan of killing her with a screwdriver but Ferguson overpowered her and stabbed her repeatedly. There was nothing to be done Franky. Bea wanted to die" Franky grips the arms of her chair as Bridget falls to her knees in front of her lover and pulls her into a tight embrace "I'm so so sorry baby." Bridget lets her own tears fall from her eyes as Franky clings to her in despair at the loss of her friend
Wentworth Prison was shrouded in a deep grief on the day of Bea's funeral. Though none of the inmates were allowed to go Vera had permitted them a remembrance service in the chapel. All of H Block was there along with a few others from B and C Block, most of the officers and Bridget and Franky, who had also attended the funeral. It was Doreen who gave the first of the eulogies
"When Bea came to Wentworth she was scared and naïve about prison life clinging on to the last strings of her outside world. Her naivety cost her Debbie but that loss made Bea a stronger person. She became our queen... she... she" Doreen couldn't finish her sentence as the tears fall, her grief overwhelming her "She became our guardian, she saved my baby and I will always be thankful to her for that... You'll always be our queen Bea." After Doreen came Liz then Maxine then Boomer and then Allie. She had been released from hospital into the care of the prison doctors and had been utterly broken by the news of Bea's death. Bridget had been trying her best to help the young girl come to grips with the lose of her love but it was hard going
"I came to Wentworth scared and unsure and from the moment I saw her I fell head over heels in love with her... I admired her strength, her desire to make things better for the women in here. She helped me in ways no one else had. She helped me get clean, she made me better and stronger, she made me feel loved. She was the love of my life and I will never love anyone the way I love her" Allie crumbles and Franky rushes up followed by Bridget to support her "I made you a promise Bea and I'm going to keep it. I love you and I always will. Good bye my love" Franky makes sure Bridget helps Allie back to her wheelchair before making her own eulogy
"Red and I were never the best of friends when I was in here. We fought each other over and over but I respected her. I respected what she was trying to do for every woman in here. When she told me she was in love with a woman I was surprised but now I see the woman she fell in love with and what she's gone through these past few days Bea knew how to pick them and knew what she was fighting for. I don't think I've ever seen Red so happy as I'd seen her when I visited her just after she was attacked, she was in love and it suited her." Franky can feel herself starting to crack. She could feel her grief welling up inside and she looks to Bridget who smiles sadly at her. "When I think of Bea would have wanted and she wouldn't have wanted all of us sitting around here balling our eyes out. She would want us to get on with making Wentworth better. She would want us all thinking of all the good times we had, all the laughs we had. She would want us to celebrate her life. To me and to everyone else in here she'll always be the Queen of Wentworth. Rest in peace Bea, go and be with Debbie. I love you mate" Franky finally cracks and Boomer and Bridget help the grief stricken former inmate to her seat, Bridget wrapping her arm around her partner and kisses her forehead soothing her partner's broken heart
There were to be dark days in Wentworth to come and the grief would never truly go away especially for Allie, Liz, Maxine and Franky. Bea had been a light in the lives of so many women in Wentworth and it was now extinguished. Bea would always be the Queen.