8
They were given special permission to come back to Wentworth before the lockdown was lifted.
Maxine felt an overwhelming sense of foreboding as she was escorted through the empty corridors. Something terrible was coming. She could feel it in the silence that permeated the hallways, in the draughts and air currents she didn’t normally feel, in the way the glaring lights seem to vibrate overhead.
She looked over to Linda. There were no more eyerolls, no more sarcastic jokes. Linda was as silent as the corridors.
Maxine felt the truth settle over her. Something terrible wasn’t coming. Something terrible was here.
They turned toward H Block.
She could only hope that she was wrong.
***
Vera slammed down the phone, throwing herself back into her chair with a huff. She glared hard at her desk, doing her best to blink away the tears that were trying to fall.
Her jaw spasmed, tightening.
Jake watched her silently from across the desk. “You were listening for a long time,” he said finally. “What exactly did Channing say?”
Vera shook her head. “I don’t want to go into it.” She swiveled her chair around, presenting him with her back.
Jake tilted his head as he watched her small shoulders start to shake. He waited another moment, then walked around the desk. Physically scooping her slight body from the chair, he swiveled her seat, sitting down, settling her in his lap.
Vera wrapped her arms around him and cried.
Jake rubbed small circles on her back as his gaze swept across the office, pausing on the inmate artwork hanging on the opposite wall.
No, he thought, staring at it. When he was governor, he definitely wouldn’t hang shit like that in his own view.
Vera hiccupped in her sobs, and he wrapped his arms tighter around her.
He wondered what Joan had hung there.
***
Joan had made a mental list:
- Call a locksmith. Get the locks changed.
- Clean while she was waiting for the locksmith. Disinfect everything.
- Call Channing. It was time to reassume her Governorship.
The hardest part was forcing herself to call the locksmith before she started to scrub.
***
Linda closed the gate with a slam.
“I don’t know,” she said to Maxine, who stood on the other side of the bars. “I don’t know what’s going on. But…” she furtively looked around the corridor. “But I’d prepare yourself, Conway. This feels wrong even to me, and I’ve seen a lot of shit go down in this prison.”
Maxine nodded silently.
“But hey, cheer up,” Linda added. “At least you know it has nothing to do with the Freak! She’s gone!”
Maxine forced a smile. “Large mercies,” she replied.
Linda tilted her head toward Maxine’s cell. “Go lie down. You don’t want to be out here if the nausea starts. And enjoy the quiet—I’m sure the lockdown will be over soon, and all hell will break loose again.” She turned to go.
“Ms Miles?” Maxine called.
Linda turned back, a questioning look on her face.
“Just… thank you, again,” Maxine stated. “For everything.”
Linda ducked her head awkwardly before walking away.
Maxine stared around the empty common area, her gaze finally settling on Bea’s vacant cell.
***
Joan scrubbed.
She scrubbed and swept and mopped and wiped every surface. With each scour, she washed away Shayne, disinfecting her home, bleaching him from her existence.
When she was finished, she stood in the middle of her gleaming kitchen. She watched as the light reflected off the glass and chrome. She gazed at the perfectly ordered space.
And then she fell to her knees on the hard floor, bent double in sorrow and anguish for the little boy she hadn’t helped, and the young man who had betrayed her.
Baby Shayne. Jianna’s baby boy.
A cry was wrenched from her throat. She tried to cover it with her fingers, to stop the sound from leaving her body.
She hadn’t expected it to hurt this much.
***
Maxine lay on her bed, exhausted. She could never get over how the chemo could rob her of all of her energy, leaving her feeling like a dull sack of bones, and yet still prevent her from sleeping.
She tried to remind herself that she wouldn’t feel like this forever.
Her thoughts were interrupted by voices from the corridor. Heaving herself into a sitting position, she waited for the nausea to pass before forcing herself to stand in the doorframe.
She smiled as they came in, their own smiles widening in response as they greeted her, asking how she was doing, fussing around her.
Boomer. Liz. Doreen. Sonia. Her friends.
But no Bea.
She couldn’t hide her expression as the realization struck, and she saw them each recognize the fear for what it was.
“So… she’s not in her cell, then?” Sonia asked, her question quickly becoming a statement.
Maxine silently shook her head.
They exchanged glances.
“Come sit down, love,” Liz suggested, while Boomer rushed to pull out a chair for her.
Maxine sank down gratefully. “What happened?” she asked.
“We don’t know!” Doreen stated. “No one will tell us anything. The whole place went into lockdown… and now we’re here.”
“But what about Allie?” Liz asked impatiently. “How is she?”
“Better,” Maxine smiled. “Maybe.” She paused. “I’m not sure. I thought…” she contemplated the horrific moment when all of the sirens had gone off in Allie’s hospital room. “I thought we had lost her,” she admitted. “I think she died, for a moment. But then her eyes suddenly opened, and she seemed to come back!”
They looked around soberly at each other.
“That’s fucking creepy,” Boomer finally admitted.
“Boomer!” Doreen admonished.
“What?” Boomer asked, her eyes wide. “It is! Hey, I’m glad that she’s getting better, but… oh wait!” She leaned forward. “Do you reckon she had an out-of-body experience? Like did she see a tunnel and light and shit?”
Liz shook her head at Boomer’s questions.
Maxine found herself grinning. “I have no idea, Boomer,” she replied gently. “You’ll just have to ask her when she’s back.”
“Yeah… yeah, but I’ll have to wait my turn thought, won’t I?” Boomer joked in reply. “Because Bea’ll be getting pretty busy with her, and…” she trailed off.
Once again, they regarded each other with helpless gazes.
“Bea has to be okay,” Maxine said softly.
Liz gently patted her hand. “All we can do is wait, love. All we can do is wait.”