Hard Time (Part Thirteen)

"What do you think, Keenyah?" Elisabeth asked.1

"Hmm....It just ain't you, girl." Keenyah answered. It was mid January, and Keenyah was helping Elisabeth try on dresses.2

"UGH! I know! Everything looks so good on the rack, and some of them look good on me, but it's just not ME you know?" Elisabeth sighed. "I never thought it would be this hard to find a dress."3

Keenyah laughed. "I sure hope it won't be this hard for me, if I ever get married. Maybe I'll just elope and not worry about it."4

"You would!" Elisabeth laughed from behind the screen where the attendant was helping her into an out of the various dresses. "Alright. I'm coming out again." Elisabeth stepped out in a strapless tea length dress made out of satin and with a emerald green sash tied in a bow in the back.5

"That's the one, Lyons." Keenyah gasped. "You look amazing!"6

"I'd have to agree, Miss Lyons. That dress is perfect for you." the attendant smiled.7

Elisabeth eyed herself in the mirror and smiled. "Wow...I agree with the both of you. This is it!"8

"Will you be looking for bridesmaids gowns today as well?"9

"I'll only be having one bridesmaid." Elisabeth said. "And if she wants to, she can find her dress today as well." She looked at Keenyah.10

"Me? You want me to be your maid of honor?" Keenyah was surprised.11

"Who else would I want? You're my best friend next to Scott, and Scott and I don't want a big wedding, so naturally my best friend would be my MOH." She laughed.12

"Thanks for this, Elisabeth!" Keenyah gave her friend a hug. By the end of the day, both of the women had their dresses picked out. All that needed to be done was sit back and wait for February 10th.13

........14

Elisabeth was still stuck in a rut about her father. He still wouldn't budge about his decision to not come to the wedding. Who would be there to give her away if he wouldn't?15

"Something's bothering you, babe. What's wrong?" Scott asked her during recreation time.16

"Go back with the others, Scott. You shouldn't be talking to me right now."17

"Ah ah ah! Not so fast, love. Not until you tell me what's going on." Scott prodded.18

Elisabeth sighed. "I just don't know what to do about my dad! Who's going to give me away if he doesn't?"19

Scott swallowed as he thought for a moment. "Perhaps you can ask one of your brothers to do it? Maybe Chris?"20

Elisabeth's eyes lit up. "That's a perfect idea!" She kissed Scott quickly. "I gotta go call him so that I can ask him. You're amazing my love! Bye for now."21

Scott sighed and laughed. "Bye love."22

............23

Chris agreed to give Elisabeth away. She could hardly wait to tell Scott later on that evening. She'd be able to visit him a long time because it was an off evening. Elisabeth scanned the room. Something seemed off. The girls were quiet, but tension was so thick in the air that she could cut it with a knife. "Did something happen last night that I don't know about?"24

"See the new girl over there? She was just booked last night. Name's Sarah Williams. She's in for drug charges and child endagerment. She managed to get herself on Silvas' bad side. Of course, Silvas has been looking for a fight ever since she got out of seclusion and found Tarika transferred to block B." Keenyah explained.25

"I see." Elisabeth answered, lost in thought. "Something is about to go down, I can feel it. But hey, on a brighter note, my brother Chris has agreed to give me away at my wedding!"26

"Really?" Keenyah smiled. "That's great. I still hope yo dad will lighten up, but hey, Chris seems like a straight up brotha you know?"27

"Yeah. He and I are super close, and if dad won't be there for me, there's no one else I'd rather have do it than Chris."28

"Stupid bitch!" screamed Silvas from across the room. Before anyone could move, Silvas was on Sarah Williams punching as hard as she could. Sarah was fighting back the best she could considering her position under Silvas' 175 pound frame. Silvas paused for a moment to brush some hair out of her face, giving Sarah enough time to push Silvas off of her. The fight could have stopped there, but Sarah wasn't going to quit until Silvas was beat. Keenyah, Elisabeth and the other officers quickly moved over towards the fray. The other two pulled Silvas away, while Elisabeth and Keenyah handled Williams. Elisabeth was behind, trying to handcuff Willams while Keenyah was in front, with her back towards Silvas trying to calm Williams down. Silvas pulled out a shank and managed to get free. 29

"Keenyah! Watch out!" One of the other officers yelled. Keenyah turned around just as Silvas lunged at Williams. Keenyah doubled over in pain and sank to the floor. Elisabeth remembered her taser and shot it at Silvas, giving the other two officers time to get her in cuffs. Elisabeth radioed the head office. "Officer down in Block A, I repeat officer down in Block A, need medical assistance ASAP!"30

Blood was pooling onto the floor. This was bad, really bad. "Lyons, I can't...breathe well." Keenyah managed.31

Other officers arrived to provide assistance, as well as the Paramedics. "Shh, don't talk Keenyah. The meds are here. You're going to be fine." Elisabeth tried to keep the emotion out of her voice. "You're going to be fine."32

The medics pushed Elisabeth out of the way and began attending to it. In her state of shock, Elisabeth couldn't really hear what was being said, but it didn't sound good. The medics had Keenyah on a stretcher and carried her out almost as quickly as they had come in. Elisabeth still sat in the room on her knees as cops and guards began clearing the room and processing the scene. One of them helped her to her feet and moved her out of the room. Next thing she knew she was in the officer's lounge. 33

"Lyons, I just heard about what happened in there. Are you ok?" It was Danny Lundgren.34

"They...they got her bad." Elisabeth's voice quavered. "I mean, she was ashy...very ashy and she couldn't breathe." Tears began rolling down her cheeks.35

"Oh Lyons, I'm so sorry." Danny put his arm around her. "You wanna go home now? I'm sure the Warden won't mind if you need to."36

"I'm...off...t-tonight." Elisabeth stuttered. "I was going to vi-visit Scott, but all I want to do is go to the hospital...but I don't want to di-disappoint him."37

"Lyons, we'll have someone tell him what happened and I'll take you over to the hospital, ok? I'm off too." Danny said calmly. "Stay put, I'll go tell Valdez to give Scott the heads up."38

"She's my best friend..." Elisabeth said as if in a trance. Danny got up and disappeared for a few moments and came back. 39

"Let's go, Lyons. You're in no state to drive right now anway." Elisabeth didn't move. Danny helped her to her feet, and she walked with him out of the prison in a daze. "You've got to be in shock. Are you sure you wanna do this?"40

"I need to see my best friend." Elisabeth answered, the tears still running down her face.41

Danny paused for a moment, trying to decide if he should do this or not. "Alright, I'll take you there." He helped Elisabeth into his 2005 Neon and they set off for the hospital. Danny kept stealing nervous glances in Elisabeth's direction. She didn't look to good herself. Her eyes were red from crying, and her skin paler than normal. He pulled into a parking spot at Heartland Medical Center. Danny once more helped her out of the car and into the building. He left Elisabeth sitting in a chair in the room and checked the front desk. 42

"She's my best friend..." Elisabeth moaned again. Though she was still crying, she was not sobbing as she had before. 43

Danny came back to where she was sitting. "Lyons, Keenyah's in ICU. It's not looking very good at all. She got cut deep, and there's some organs that have been affected and a lot of internal bleeding. Also, the blade on the shank was rusted...there are a lot of unknowns right now, but....no no, look at me, Lyons. The family hasn't all been contacted yet, and so they aren't letting anyone but family in right now. We gotta get you back home."44

"She's my best friend!" Elisabeth protested as Danny led her outside of the hospital and back to the car.45

"Shh, I know I know. You're in no position to be home alone...can we call your father or something?"46

"He's not home." she said blankly as she seated herself in the car. "He's visiting Vance."47

Danny sighed. "Is there any other family nearby? Anyone else that could come and stay with you?"48

"Mom....mom I need you..." Elisabeth said as she passed out.49

"Ohhh man... we've got to get you home." Danny mumbled to himself and headed off for Elisabeth's apartment. When he pulled up, he searched Elisabeth's purse for her keys and found them. He went up first to unlock the door, then back to his car for Elisabeth. He got her out and carried her up to the apartment and laid her on the couch. "I'll just stay with you til you wake up and then we'll figure out what to do."50

............51

Elisabeth woke up in the living room of her apartment. Danny quickly got up from the chair across the room and knelt by the couch. "Are you ok?" he asked.52

"Danny...what...what are you doing here?" she asked as she sat up.53

"You were in some serious shock, and your dad wasn't home and I didn't know what else to do, so I brought you here and decided to wait until you woke up to see what we should do." Danny explained.54

Suddenly the events of the day came flooding back to her. "So it wasn't a dream then....I was hoping it was." She began to cry again. "I wish Scott could be here right now."55

Danny got up and sat by Elisabeth and put his arms around her. "I'm not Scott and I'm not going to pretend to be, but I'll help you get through this the best way that I can."56

"Thanks, Danny. I really mean that." Elisabeth sighed.57

Danny released his hold on her and got up from the couch. "What can I get you for dinner? You must be starving."58

Elisabeth looked up at him and shook her head. "I'm not really hungry right now."59

"Come on, you have to eat something," Danny said matter of factly.60

"Alright, Mom. I'll just have a bowl of cereal. The mini wheats please!" She managed a slight laugh as Danny moved towards the kitchen. Five minutes later, Danny returned with two bowls of cereal, one for her and one for him. "Thanks again, Danny. I don't know what I would have done without you tonight."61

"Not a problem. What are friends for?" Danny smiled. "Do you need me to stay with you tonight, or do you want me to go home?"62

Elisabeth swallowed. "I...I don't know. I think I'm ok, but it would be nice just to have someone be here. But then again, I don't want anyone to..."63

"Get the wrong idea?" Danny finished for her. "Yeah I thought about that too. But hey, everyone knows we are friends and I am only trying to help you out. You'll be in your room and I will be on the couch. So what if we show up at work together? I'm sure that everyone will understand."64

"Yeah." Elisabeth nodded as she stared off into space.