Orange is the new hell.

Chapter Eight: Panic! at the laundry room

Orange is the new hell

Chapter Eight

"Panic! in the laundry room."

A/N: Tbh I know nothing about the bible/Christianity in general so. Also, like the chapter name? P!atd reference there.

Though Alex seemed to accept that Jordan had done near nothing wrong, there was still tension between the two as they went to work that day. Before SHU, the girls spent their hours listening to Pennsatucky exchanging glances and eye rolls, but now they just worked silently, filling the washer's with clothes. Jordan was beginning to wonder if they would ever become proper friends again.

Jordan spent most of the time trying to tune out Pennsatucky, but when she heard the meth head mutter out, "Vause and Jensen are going to wind up in hell, they need Christ in their life," her blood boiled and she slammed the washer shut, turning to glare at the girl and her minions. Everyone, Alex included, jumped, turning to stare at the usually so quiet girl.

"Come on, JJ, you really don't care about that shit, do you?" Alex's voice came from beside her. Jordan tried to hide her anger, she really did, but she couldn't take the sassy remark from a meth addicted hillbilly.

"Matthew 7; Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." She spoke angered, but casually, as if quoting the bible was always something 19 year-old lesbian druggies did. "So doing what you consider, 'following the bible', is actually going against it. Your judging people like your fucking better than us. News flash, Pennsa-fucky, you're no better than anyone here. You're a meth head in prison. You're broken."

A chuckle could be heard coming from Alex followed by a repeating of the new found nickname "Pensa-fucky", but Jordan seemed to ignore it.

"Well at least I'm not Lesbian-" Pennsatucky started, but was cut off by Jordan.

"Eating shrimp is also a sin, do you eat that?" Jordan asked. Alex was watching as if the girl had ten heads. Pensatucky was silent after that, causing Jordan to scoff and say, "That's what I thought." She turned back to the washers, and only then did Alex speak.

"You know a lot about the bible, is there something I should know about you?" Alex asked, her smirk seeping through her words. Jordan sighed and paused, reaching up and taking the cross necklace out of her shirt.

"I'm a preacher's daughter," she admitted sheepishly. "I grew up with the bible as my only bedtime story, I know quite a bit about it." Flustered and annoyed, the thin drug addict threw a pair of pants into the washer before slamming the door shut with incredible force. Alex rested a hand on her shoulder, causing Jordan to flinch away. Alex just laughed lightly,

"You got really pissed off at her," The raven haired girl said, stating the obvious.

"She reminds me of my father." Jordan said tensely, leaning against the washer. If you looked closely, you could see the faint tremor in her hands, but that was the only sign of what was going on in her mind. Her head was swimming in a sea of thoughts, her heart beat speeding up. Everything around her became distant, like she was in a box away from the voices. she sank to the ground as the walls started to close in on her. Not this again. Anything but this.

She could barely hear Alex's voice shout her name, her eyes focused on nothing yet staring at something. Her breathing was rapid, her heart racing. She felt like she was dying again.

"Jordan, what's wrong?" she could barely hear the voice. It was clouded and fuzzy. But she could distinctly tell who it was; Alex.

"I-I don't know," she said weakly, her hand moving to check her pulse as she tried to control the heavy breathing, "I feel like I'm dying." She moved Alex's hand and put it on the pulse point on her neck. The girl seemed to watch Jordan carefully, her hands gently brushing across her face to check and see if she had a fever. Jordan knew she didn't have a fever. This wasn't a cold, or withdrawal. This was something different. Something worse.

But the oh-so-calm Alex Vause wasn't flustered by her panicking, hyperventilating friend. She had seen this before. "It's a panic attack." Alex said, remembering other inmates having them. "Just take deep breaths and try and clam yourself down." Jordan did as she was told, but her breaths were shaky and just lead to more hyperventilating. Alex sat in front of her, taking the pale girls two hands in her own. "Jordan, come on, calm down," she said softly, moving to Jordan's side. She wrapped an arm around her friend, pulling her so close her head rested against the older girls chest. Jordan could hear the steady thump of her heartbeat. It was calming, soothing sensation. Everything was distant other than that. She didn't hear Pennsatucky's shouts, threats to go get a guard that were slowly calmed down by the explanation of what was happening to Jordan.

Jordan's breathing started to level as Alex brushed small circles into her shoulders. Her heart rate followed and soon the panicky girl was calm and almost normal again.

Almost.

Everytime she had one of these...attacks, she detached herself more and more from the people around her, she couldn't help it. So when she finally spoke again, her voice was small and weak, "sorry..." she whispered.