I Did(n't Do) It

Chapter 25: The Absolute Best (1/3)

"Hey..." Violet said, smiling into the phone.

"Violet!" Alex piped up, Violet could hear her smiling on the other side, "How are you doing? What's going on?!"

"I'm fine." Violet said, shrugging and leaning against the wall, "It...it's a long story. But don't worry, I didn't do anything."

"Violet..." Alex whispered, bringing her phone closer to her mouth and looking around, "They said you did it...you killed him..."

"Alex, you know me. How are my parents holding up?"

"You haven't talked to them?!"

"No..."

"Violet... was I your first call?'

"You should be so lucky!" Violet laughed, "I just... don't have time. Will you please let them know I'm doing okay?"

"Yeah" Alex said, "Damn, Violet. How is it?"

"Well, I haven't got to all the nitty-gritty things yet but god... I'm so scared, Alex. What if they have something against me? I mean like... they actually have something."

"Hey, hey, " Alex said, worried, "What happened to that sweet optimism that I fell in love with?"

Violet laughed, she hadn't realized she was crying until now.

"Parove, Remember?" Alex said, remembering the note she gave Violet.

"Yeah, I remember, Parove." She repeated, "Gotta go." She said as she placed the phone back, an officer walked up to her.

"We need to get your prints." He said, leading her towards the front desk.

"And now they're in the system." The lady said to Violet after finger-printing her.

"This way" An officer led Violet down the hall to a dark room, "You're going to be medically screened." He advised her.

"Yes," The nurse said, beckoning Violet in, "You'll be getting a TB skin test, then we will check your vitals." They sat Violet down, grabbing her arm and tying it off.

Violet stared at the needle, the long, intimidating steel point heading straight for her arm. Violet closed her eyes and held her hand out towards the officer. He stared at her, hesitantly, then lightly grasped her hand. Violet squeezed it as the needle pierced her skin, "Almost done." The nurse said, intently staring at the needle. Violet recognized how prison wasn't like it was it was in the movies, there weren't any cat calls or weirdos with a random pet by their side trapped in their own world. There were only lonely people caged by their own misery and Violet was supposed to be one of them.

"Okay, Violet, rate your pain on a scale of 0 to 10, 0 being no pain while 10 being the absolute worst pain you have ever felt."

"Zero."

"Open." The nurse stated, pulling out a thermometer. Violet opened her mouth as the nurse put the thermometer in, "Close." Violet closed it, putting it under her tongue. After a second or two, it beeped. "98 degrees Fahrenheit." She said, "Good." She wrote it down, before straightening back up, grabbing Violet's left hand and placing a clip on her fingernail. "While this is assessing your oxygen saturation, we are going to count your heart rate." The nurse placed her pointer and middle finger on Violet's wrist, staring at her watch and counting in her head. When 30 seconds was up, she wrote down Violet's heart rate — 78 beats per minute.

"Any medical conditions in your family?" The nurse asked, putting a stethoscope on Violet's chest.

"No"

"Okay." The nurse said, satisfied, "Healthy, you are good to go."

Violet smiled at her, thanking her before being led to another room, the walls concrete and bare. There was a small nozzle with a handle on the wall in the corner, "Here you go." He handed her an orange jumpsuit with the same numbers that were on her mugshot sign, only they were smaller and above the right breast pocket — right in front of her heart.

"Take a shower and then get changed, and hurry." He slammed the door shut, Violet stood there, slowly setting the clothes on the hard ground. She walked to the shower, stepping to the side and turning the faucet so the water was running, liquid pellets slapping against the ground and slowly puddling into the drain. She walked back to her folded outfit, staring down at it and sighing. Violet slowly bent down, untying her ruby heels and slowly pulling them off, she stood on the ground, her feet somewhat sticking to it. Violet grasped the bottom of her black dress, pulling the edge up and over her head.

The frosty air claimed every inch of skin that became visible, coating Violet in goose bumps and the desire for warmth. She walked over to the shower, sticking her hand in and jumping a little — still cold she grumbled, she gradually emerged herself in the frigid water. Violet could feel her body tense up, but eventually she relaxed little by little, it wasn't that the water was getting warm it's just that she was learning to accept what was to come, what was to happen to people like her.

Nothing happened to people like her, she reassured herself, because she was innocent, and nothing but the absolute best happened to the innocent.

Violet stood in the cold water, bowing her head and holding her arms, drawing closer in on herself. Violet could feel the tears starting to well up, her eyes brimming with uncapped emotions. She leaned against the wall, sliding down and curling into a small tumbleweed of soft skin and brittle bones. Her sobs echoed through the small room, the guard looked in briefly before standing with his back against the wall again.

"Hurry up, inmate." He said into the room, "You only have two minutes left." Violet took a couple deep breaths, trying to control the emotions that were taking her over. She stood, twisting the knob and turning it off, she grabbed the white towel in the corner and drying herself. Violet slipped into the orange suit, the clunky outfit was not conforming to her body; she looked like a kid wearing her parents clothes. The officer opened the door, walking in and pulling her out into the hallway.