Gangsta (OITNB/VAUSEMAN)

4 - What They Call It

The first thing Alex acknowledged when her eyes fluttered open was the straight white ceiling. She narrowed her eyebrows and her throat felt dry. The primal image was most likely to be an hospital. Quelled ambiance, quiet.

Alex incoherently passed her right hand over her sweaty forehead. The digit of her left hand tugged at her uniform, then traveled to the cold glass of water resting on the stand next to her bed. She sat straight to bolt a pill and squirmed at the bitter taste of it.

Has she gone out of prison? Why was she in an hospital?

With the unpleasant sensation the pill had caused Alex's body, flashbacks started to invade her memory, too. So that thing happened again. As usual. First day in prison was a satisfying excuse to collapse, after all. So as first day in school. First days. Well.

Alex retrieved the glass to it's place and descended onto the mattress. She shut her eyes closed, willing to fall into sleep again and deal with everything later. Her gracious slumber was soon interrupted, though. Ragged breathes from adjacent bed were heard which had absent-minded Alex finally notice her neighbors. The large roon was filled with at least six or seven patients.

A sigh.

Long gone was the peace Alex had savored just a minute ago. Of course she wasn't alone, of course she was still in prison. Bizarrely, for a single moment the idea of being injured but out in a real world hospital was quite appealing. But then again, reality hit her brutally. She didn't know how much time she spent lazily laying in this so called hospital bed, but something told her this was the safe zone for now. Although safe was the last thing she could feel.

"Inmate.. Alex.. umm. Vause?" Some erratic voice called from up front. Alex strolled around her hand seeking for her glasses, in order to take a clear look at the person interacting her. She found it near the glass of water on the stand, and frantically put it on. There was a man standing at the end of her bed, wearing a robe and holding a chart.

"Yes?"

His eyes met hers, then returned to his chart. "Are you feeling better?" His voice was flat and idle. Alex couldn't help but lose the will to talk to anyone, especially this prison doctor. He was writing down something in the chart while waiting for a reply, and when Alex didn't suggest any, his eyes once again searched for her.

"Where am I?" Alex subtly asked.

He rolled his eyes. "Narnia."

"Excuse me?"

"Where do you think you are, inmate?"

Alex tried to avoid the gnawing feeling the nickname had ivaded her. "An hospital?" She guessed mildly.

"Yeah, if you put it that way." The man smirked cheekily, seemingly finding the encounter with delirious Alex delectable. Perhaps he was accustomed to humiliating new prison fish. Alex resented his presence, but overall she was just startled. Where was she going from here? Were they going to bring her back to camp? No, not yet. She wasn't ready. Not just yet. "Anyways. Are you feeling any better? We can't keep you in this bed much longer." He continued, with a major amount of annoyance radiating from his face. However, Alex wasn't going to hold back. She craved certainty so she kept resistant and faced him with another question instead answering his own. "How long have I been here?"

Surprisingly, he didn't play as stubborn as Alex went, and shot a quick audible answer. "A few hours."

"Oh." It all came into pieces to Alex. She fainted after a severe case of panic attack, but even that wouldn't knock her out for long. Few hours, her body had to relax, and then she's free to go. This had happened before, multiple times, and Alex remembered perfectly the research she had done about fainting:
'.. your brain needs a steady supply of the oxygen the blood carries. So when your body can't get enough blood to your brain because of low blood pressure, it protects you by bringing your brain down to the blood..'
Yes, lonely teen Alex sure had the time to take interest in medicine. Digging for medicine books in the old library of her hometown. And from her brief studies she knew there was no excuse for them to keep her in this place any longer. She was already back on track. Which meant her faith found her again, or more precisely, prison did. And within few more hours she'd be back at camp.