Deliverance

It's been sixteen months since Wentworth was filled with flames. Vera finally made a decision about saying goodbye to her past. She couldn't do this without meeting with one person. Her previous approaches of meeting said person were ending as soon as they were starting. She couldn't bring herself to go there, to face that person one more time. She was afraid it would break her. She wasn't entirely wrong.

She entered the facility and asked the nurse for directions. She wasn't on the visitors list but if the patient allowed it, she could see them. She knew this place well enough. She's been there multiple times past year. She's tried to visit the other person but she's been finding herself leaving Thomas Embling Hospital every single time. She was very determined that day. 

The nurse escorting her was called to an emergency and she was left alone. She was standing before the door of room 89. She did a few steps back to let her back touch the wall and took a few deep breaths. When she was calmed enough to knock and walked inside, she noticed a woman in her mid thirties leaving the room. She couldn't believe her eyes and turned around to take in the new information. She came there to see Joan Ferguson, her former mentor, and she met someone she wished she'd never see again. She tried to walk in the opposite direction than that woman and headed towards the exit when she was stopped by a hand placed on her shoulder. 

"Vera..." The woman whispered when Vera turned around. 

The shorter woman looked up to see fair eyes filling with water. The woman wasn't as tall as Joan but almost everyone was taller than Vera. The taller woman was a brunette with heavily marked eyes with eyeliner, her hair reaching the half of her long neck. She had a deep cleavage and Vera found herself staring. The smaller woman saw the dimples on woman's face and her heart skipped a beat. She was as beautiful as ever. And she was taking her breath away. 

"Andy..." Vera wasn't able to say anything else. She spotted a blush on Andy's cheeks and realized she must have looked similar. 

"Vera, what are you doing in a mental institution?" The taller woman asked with her raspy voice. She ran her hand through her hair and let out a nervous sigh. 

Vera took a step closer to the woman. "I should ask you the same." Her voice was dithering with surprise and sounded nasal from the tears gathering in her eyes. Before Andy could answer, Vera added "You look exactly the same...".

Andy chuckled and bit her lower lip. "And you, Vera Bennett, have changed." She let the smirk creep on her thin lips and brushed Vera's fingers with hers. "Would you like to see me some time? We could go for a coffee..." She rambled a bit but it didn't matter. She missed Vera too much to care about her wording. 

"I'd love that. How about the café down the road we used to visit when we were... you know." Her heart fluttered when Andy nodded. The taller woman was paged and Vera was standing alone again. The previous goal of her trip to the hospital was long forgotten. The only person she could think about was Andy Bennett, a free spirit that she was honoured to call her wife. She rushed over to her car and didn't notice that the former governor of Wentworth Prison was looking through the small gap left by half opened door. Joan wasn't angry that her deputy didn't visit her. She felt betrayed. She was afraid Vera grew too strong to pull her on Joan's side once more.