Season V
Day I
"It's Just a Scratch"
"Sit down."
Abe is still trembling when he feels the edge of the cot nudge his good leg. Still, he does as she says. He keeps his eyes closed; he doesn't want to see it even if he can already feel that it's not going to be good. He barely remembers what happened. One minute he saw the light-haired girl in his periphery and the next he and Zoe were already outside.
He's not stupid. Abe heard the rules, he knows what had to have happened between those two moments for them to have been released from the cell block. That's one more thing he really doesn't want to think about right now.
His fingers ache as he clings to the edge of the cot. It's a welcome distraction, but it's not enough to numb the sharpness cutting down his leg. Abe can feel moisture leaking into his shoe. He knows it's blood. What else could it be? He tries to tell himself it's sweat, vomit, literally anything else. It can't be blood. It can't be his blood.
"You're hyperventilating." Her words are blunt. Abe can hear the echoes of his breaths and he knows that she's right. That doesn't make it any easier to calm them. If anything it makes it harder.
This isn't how their friendship works. Abe didn't even think their few eye-rolling interactions could be called a friendship. Zoe largely ignored him during their first few days here. She was from his last prison, never a friend but never more than a little bit rude. They were often around each other, but it always felt like it was more out of routine than want. Abe never told her, but she reminded him of his older cousin. She had the same humour, the same cutting remarks that were just rude enough to make him fall into silence. It felt normal in a world where normal shouldn't have been possible.
The last person Abe wants to think about right now is Naomi. If she's lucky, she's still in prison herself and hasn't caught word of where he is. If not, she'll be at home with his parents who took her in when she was thirteen and her own father landed in prison. She'll be wishing she were here now, where Zoe sits, desperately trying to do the same things to stop the bleeding. Naomi cared about him. He's starting to realize Zoe might too.
"Calm down." Her words are a stiff whisper and Abe whimpers in response. He purses his lips, trying to do what she says but he hasn't even been able to open his eyes. He hates blood. He's never been able to look at it without feeling queasy even when it wasn't his. Just the feeling of it slipping past whatever Zoe's holding to his leg is making him feel dizzy.
"How bad is it?" He doesn't know why he asks. He can feel it. He doesn't want to know; he doesn't want confirmation of what his turning stomach is telling him.
At first Zoe doesn't answer. He can feel her press even harder against his leg and he whimpers again. Abe brings his uniform sleeve up to his teeth and bites down as hard as he can. The pain is waning, but the room is spinning even with his eyes closed. He can feel his entire body trembling against the cold sheets.
"Don't worry." Her words sound far away even though he can still feel her touch. He wants to do what she says, to believe her, but he can't. Not when he can hear the held back tears in her voice. "It's just a scratch."