“Let go of me!” Lexa raved, squirming like mad. “Let go! I have to get out of here!”
“Lexa, you don’t need to go anywhere,” Tahira said, keeping a firm grip on her with both hands and looking her directly in the eye. “You need to come sit down.”
Ariana hovered in the entryway, watching in awe as Tahira attempted to calm their friend. She had no idea Tahira was so strong.
“Why are you doing this to me?” Lexa whined, still trying to wrest herself out of Tahira’s grasp. “Why are you trying to hurt me?”
God, just shut up! Ariana screamed silently, her cheekbone still throbbing with pain while her eye stung. Shut up before you say something I can’t explain away. She clasped her forearm in her hand, squeezing with all her might in order to keep herself in check—to keep herself from lashing out in the name of self-preservation. There was nothing she could do right now. Not with all these people watching. But if she and Lexa had been alone right then . . . Ariana wasn’t entirely sure she would be able to control herself.
“No one’s trying to hurt you, Lex,” Ariana said, stepping forward. She slowly, carefully, put her arms around Lexa. “We’re your friends. We’re trying to help you.”
“My friends try to hurt me,” Lexa said, her voice turning meek. She looked down at the floor, letting Ariana and Tahira lead her over to one of the cushy leather couches. Together the three of them sat, but it wasn’t until Lexa rested her head on Ariana’s shoulder that Tahira finally released her.
“No one’s trying to hurt you, Lexa. I promise,” Ariana said, stroking Lexa’s hair. Lexa closed her eyes, and Ariana looked up at Soomie and Maria, who hovered in the door.
“You guys should go to the infirmary,” Ariana said. “I can take care of her.”
“You sure?” Maria asked.
“Yeah. Just go. Soomie’s not looking too well,” Ariana said. “No offense.”
Soomie shook her head slowly and swallowed. “None taken.”
The two girls shuffled off toward the elevator and Allison, probably feeling like an outsider among friends, silently returned to her room.
“What happened?” Tahira asked, standing up.
“I don’t know. Soomie cut herself, and Lexa completely freaked out,” Ariana said honestly.
“I guess some people can’t handle the sight of blood,” Tahira said.
“No, I guess not,” Ariana replied.
But most people fainted. Or threw up. Or walked out of the room. Lexa was acting as if she needed to be committed. She was acting even crazier than most of the women inside the Brenda T. Trumball Correctional Facility on their worst days. Why did this have to happen? Why now? She had thought Lexa was fine. But now it was clear that anything could set the girl off at any time. Suddenly Ariana felt completely and utterly defeated.
“Should we try to take her back to her room? Put her to bed?” Tahira suggested.
“Actually, maybe she should stay in my room for the night,” Ariana said, standing up straight. “Who knows when Maria will get back. I think someone needs to keep an eye on her.”
“You do have the extra bed,” Tahira pointed out, tilting her head. “Maybe a solid night’s sleep will be good for her. Why don’t you see if you can get her over there and I’ll go get her some pj’s.”
“Okay,” Ariana said. “Come on, Lex. You’re gonna stay in my room tonight, okay?” She stood up slowly, dragging a blinking Lexa with her.
“Okay,” Lexa replied, her voice a touch pouty.
Ariana slipped her arm around Lexa’s and shuffled her toward her room. Tahira went down the hall to Lexa’s room and let herself in. As soon as the she was gone, Ariana quickened her steps, got to her room, and closed the door be
hind her and Lexa.
“Lex, I’m going to give you something to help you sleep,” she said. She walked to her desk and extracted the small, orange bottle from the very back. Shaking out a couple of Valiums, she fumbled inside her mini-fridge for a bottle of water. “Here.”
“What is it?” Lexa asked, narrowing her eyes as she gazed at the small pills in Ariana’s palm.
“Just a little Valium so you can rest,” Ariana told her, dumping the pills into Lexa’s hand. “You need your sleep, right? Your mother said so, you said so. This is going to make you feel so much better.”
“Okay,” Lexa said. “I could really use some sleep.”
Then she popped the pills into her mouth and reached for the bottle of water. After a few quick slugs, she slumped a bit, her eyes closing halfway.