Bullied [2]

When Brianna woke up, she was shocked to see herself in the infirmary. She scanned her surroundings and breathed in relief after not finding the madwoman in the same room. A woman in his forties entered, donning a blue uniform and a white coat draped over her shoulder. She peeked at Brianna through her glasses.

"How are you feeling?" the doctor asked.

Brianna answered politely, "I feel…refreshed."

"Of course, you are. You slept for the whole day I almost panicked you weren't waking up after being strangled," the doctor calmly replied, whirling to her desk and arranging some things above it.

Hearing that, Brianna furrowed her brows, "Strangled? Who, me? I don't remember…"

The doctor paused. She looked at Brianna with wonder, then she carefully inquired, "Ms. Cordova, do you remember what happened to you?"

Brianna pondered for a while. Then, slowly, she shook her head. "I was just…watching my cellmates' brawl, then the new inmate came to me and talked to me…" her voice trailed off as she remembered what they talked about, but after the part where the woman lectured her to be braver and perceive everyone as an enemy she needed to kill to survive in that place, she couldn't recall past that anymore. "I…don't remember how I passed out after that…did that woman strangle me?"

She asked the doctor, fear etched on her face and voice. The doctor simply nodded and responded, "She claimed you pushed her that she almost broke her back, so she just fought back."

"I don't remember doing that!" Brianna exclaimed defensively. She didn't do anything other than hug herself in the corner and cry, just like she always did.

The doctor shrugged her shoulders and looked away, "Well, I don't care if you did this or that. I advised you to not get yourself involved with that Bianca. That woman is insane. She's serving a life sentence in these walls. Her charges? Haaa…I can't even count them in my hands. She was a gangster, and committed robbery, drug trades, fraud and financial crimes, theft, aggravated property damage, torture, and many more! I even heard she set a factory on fire before coming here. Tsk, tsk, that woman had no mercy. She fears not the law, nor the heavens! So, you should be careful walking around her. Don't lose your head in misery, if you want to survive here, act wise and stop crying in the corner. Even if you flooded this whole place with your salty tears, it won't save you."

The doctor gave the guard a signal. He accompanied Briana back to her cell.

She came in with a lowered head. Alice was reading a book on her bed, while on the upper bed sat Bianca, swaying her feet while munching on an apple. Melissa was silent, sitting on Brianna's bed waiting for her.

Once she spotted Brianna at the door, Melissa quickly stood and stomped her way to Brianna and shamelessly demanded, "Hey, buy us dinner. Older sister Bianca wants spicy buffalo wings, Alice wants some rice and braised pork, and I want burgers and fries."

Brianna hadn't taken a step away from the door yet and she was already sweating profusely. She shook her head at Melissa, "I…don't have money anymore…"

Melissa snarled at her, "This again?! Don't fool us! I heard you still have a thousand in your account! You're being stingy again. Older sister wants to eat some proper food tonight so—

"Maybe our dear scaredy-cat…oh, wait, she isn't a scaredy-cat at all. She pushed me so hard my back almost broke! Anyway, maybe our little devil in disguise just didn't want to buy me food," Bianca jumped from the upper bed to the floor. She landed safely and walked to Brianna with her hands in her pockets. "Little devil, are you upset I choked you? Goodness, I'm older here, so it's only natural that I disciplined naughty children like you, right? So, why don't you just do what you're told and…be safe, for tonight?"

The last words were whispered in Brianna's ear. She shuddered at the breath that hit her face, as though it was a hellfire that scorched her. She quickly moved away and slightly nodded.

Melissa beamed. She waved at the stationed guard and asked to use their free calls to order some outside food.

However, after a few minutes, the guard came back with a frown.

"What's the matter, officer? Where's our food?"

The guard ignored Melissa and looked at Brianna, "Your balance is zero. If your account won't be filled in a week, you have to work here to earn money."

Melissa gaped at the guard, "Huh?... Wait, sir! What about our food?!"

"WAIT FOR THE DINNER CALL!"

Melissa slumped on the floor, astonished. She couldn't believe she'd go back into lining up in that cramped space and find a vacant space to eat a tray of bland, unsavory, small-portioned meals.

Alice closed her books loudly and turned to Brianna, "Hey, bitch, did you spend all of your money to spite us?"

Brianna crumpled her face. She still hadn't wrapped her head around the news that she was now broke, yet Alice was blaming her already…? She glared at Alice but noticed Bianca's gaze at her, so she quickly lowered her head. "N-No…I don't know. I didn't buy anything since getting here…except food."

Melissa came up with a sharp tone, "What? You're blaming us?! Bitch, you ate them too!"

Brianna wanted to smack the woman's lips. How did her answer turn into blaming?! If she wanted to blame them, then she'd say it like this – 'It was all because of you gluttons that my money was gone! You, pigs!'

Melissa's furious stance was broken by a light chuckle. She and Alice turned to Bianca, anxiously waiting for the woman's actions.

"Well, we can't help it, can we? I guess I'm having bad luck today, eh?" She walked to Brianna and patted her shoulder, "You can buy me a meal next time after you earn enough money here. 'Coz I'm certain your dear father won't send you any now, not a single penny. Poor girl."

The dinner call alarmed and the doors were opened automatically. The three women walked out, while Brianna remained seated on her bed, wondering what was happening to her. Bianca's words didn't even register in her head properly, because she was too deep in thought about why she suddenly had an urge to bravely slap Melissa.