Hi, beautiful Quick shippers!
I hope you all like this little drabble/ficlet, because I know I need something to tie me over until the end of hiatus! This is going to be a long one, I can feel it. Oh, well, we've got a rumored duet - finally! - to look forward to!
This is dedicated to megustabby, who wanted someone to write Santana's and Puck's reactions to our baby girl's horrible, awful, heart breaking crash.
...
Beauty queen of only eighteen
She had some trouble with herself
He was always there to help her
She always belonged to someone else
...
Santana's phone goes off just as the Justice of the Peace says in a bored voice, "And does anyone-"
"Santana!" Rachel hisses furiously, as Sexy and I Know It echoes around the courtroom, because she's screwing up the nearly picturesque union of Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry. Not to mention, Quinn's running late and Rachel's having heart palpitations over the fact that not every single member of Glee Club is present.
"Shit!" She swears as she fishes her phone out of her bra. Kurt makes a disgusted noise and Puck looks like he might gag right there. Whatever, it's a matter of convenience, okay? "Finchel, hold up... Hello?"
"Are you Miss Santana Lopez?" The voice sounds grainy and unfamiliar in her ear.
"Yeah, who the hell are you?" Santana scowls, knowing Rachel will never, ever let this go and she'll be hearing about this the entire reception.
"Miss Lopez... there's been an accident."
"An... accident?" She chokes out. Her parents? Her brother? Her aubuela? Oh, god...
"You're the only contact we could find... The car's totaled. And her phone's broken." The woman on the other end of the line carries on. This lady's being way too vague for a 911 operator and everyone's staring at her in confusion, as her heart beats right out of her chest.
All of the wedding party is whispering to each other, their faces filled with worry over Santana's phone call.
She can't breathe, "Who?"
"Quinn Fabray. She had your number written down in her address book that we managed to salvage."
She drops the phone with a sickening clatter on the hard wood floor, her heart dropping with it. Quinn. Oh, god, not Quinn. Not now. Not when everything finally working out for her. Back to herself, sane, going to Yale. Quinn was happy for once after everything.
Obviously, that couldn't last.
"Miss Lopez? Miss Lopez?" the operator asks, shrilly.
Santana scrambles frantically to pick up her phone,"Is she all right? What happened?"
"A truck slammed into her... we don't know how she's doing right now. She's at Lima General, prepping for surgery."
"I'm coming! Tell her I'm coming!" Then she clicked off, shaking. Literally, shaking. Because no matter what has happened between the two girls, Quinn and Santana are best friends, two thirds of Unholy Trinity. She can't imagine a world without Lucy Quinn Fabray anymore.
She tries to swallow that lump in her throat, because Quinn will be okay - she has to be.
"It's Quinn."
The hospital's a blur for all of them.
Nurses and doctors are rushing around frantically, prepping Quinn for surgery. The truck t-boned her. Slammed right into her little red bug of a car. Words like spinal cord swelling and head trauma rack around everyone's minds, increasing the tension in the room. The doctors refuse to divulge any information to non-family members.
Brittany tries to explain that glee club is family and Puck insists since he's father of her baby he should be told what's happening, but the doctors ignore them both.
So, Santana calls Judy Fabray because even if she's a bitch who let her own daughter get thrown out, she deserves to know Quinn's in the hospital. So, Judy bursts in hysterically sobbing and demanding that someone do something. In contrast from her usually pristine demeanor, Quinn's mother is distraught. She keeps loudly blowing her nose into a lacy handkerchief and smearing his mascara heavy tears around. It makes the whole thing seem fake. Like this whole accident is just an excuse to make people feel bad for Judy Fabray and moan about how hard she's had it.
It almost makes Santana physically sick.
The whole glee club is gathered anxiously in the waiting room. It's almost like when Beth was born, only the air feels much heavier now. It was bittersweet that day, because there was a perfect little baby, Beth Fabray-Puckerman, born. Suddenly all of them were aunties and uncles, who would've loved and spoiled that kid so much. And for the briefest of moments, there was a little girl named Beth who was Quinn and Puck's. But they signed the papers and Beth was gone. Quinn disappeared into her hospital room and Puck broke down, crying on Mr. Shue's shoulder.
It felt like everything was ending and it feels like that again, now.
Puck is this close to completely breaking down, fighting away tears. She knows how much Quinn means to him, but everyone else seems to have forgotten their bittersweet love story. Being best friends with both of them, Santana can see how well they'd work. They wouldn't take each other's shit, in a good way, and they'd be so in love the whole time. Puck and Quinn love each other a lot, but their timing's always... off. They always miss a beat.
So, he fights bitterly with Judy over whether he can see Quinn in surgery.
"I need to see her!" Pucks screams at her, "We had baby together, doesn't that count for something?"
Everyone else just sits there in absolute shock, even Brittany tightening her grip on Santana's hand. It's like they've all forgotten Puck and Quinn ever had anything. Santana wonders if they can see the desperation in his eyes; he needs to know she's going to be okay. Maybe it's just her.
"No! I'm not letting you anywhere near her!" Judy shrieks right back at him. "You're everything that went wrong in her life!"
Then Puck just storms right out, leaving her in a huff.
"I'll get him..." Santana mumbles, kissing Brittany goodbye quickly.
Santana finds Puck on the roof of the hospital, alone.
It's like he can sense she's there almost, "Quinn's mom hates me. She won't let me watch the surgery so I-I know she's okay."
Puck takes a swig from a bottle of beer. Where did he even get that? Santana knows she should stop from becoming a drunken mess and making an ass of himself, but she just jerks the bottle out of his hands just so she can gulp down some.
Handing him back the bottle, she says shakily, "I think that, Puck... she's going to be okay. She has to be okay."
"What if she's not, Santana?" Puck shouts, "What if Quinn just dies on us?"
"Then..." Santana can't even imagine that, "...Then I don't even know."
"If she dies," He grimaces because the word leaves a awful taste in his mouth, "you'll be okay, Santana. Don't get me wrong, it'll fucking suck. But you have Brittany. Quinn is the one for me. She's... it. If she dies I'm not going to just get over it and move on. That's not how it works for me."
"She's not going die, Puck." She shakes her head, furiously, "Do you understand that?"
Santana's always right about this sort of stuff, so Puck lets it slide.
"I hate hospitals."
"Why?" She asks, then realizes it's a stupid question. Of course he hates hospitals. He had his baby girl taken away from him in this very hospital and now he might have Quinn ripped away from him, too. "Never mind."
There's a long lapse of silence, just thee two of them passing the bottle in between them, as the wind blows.
Time moves so slowly. Everyone has to hold together and get on with their lives, while Quinn's out cold in a hospital bed, still bruised and battered. It's harder for the two of them - Puck and Santana - than the rest because Quinn is so important to them. When she was at her lowest, they never stopped loving her.
But, still, Quinn's better. Her surgery went well and she's recovering, but she isn't awake yet.
Everyday, Puck sits at her hospital bed, refusing to leave. Judy hates that he's there, but has enough sense to know she can't scare him away. Santana visits, too, worrying about Quinn. But Puck's at a constant vigil at her bedside.
Santana thinks Quinn will like that when she wakes up. Maybe they can make things work again, because life's short and she hates to think her two best friends would miss out what she and Brittany have every single day - love.
Finally, Santana manages to tear Puck away from Quinn's sick bed so he can eat.
"She's awake!" The nurse grins, running towards them, "Quinn's awake. And she's asking for you, Noah."
He kind of grins, tears in corners of his eyes. "...Really?"
"Really," The nurse nods.
Then Puck really starts crying. Santana kind of stands there in shock, because Noah Puckerman is crying. Crying like he hasn't since he signed the damn papers, relinquishing his parental rights to his baby girl, Beth. But he's crying because this beautiful feeling of sweet, sweet relief. Quinn's awake and going to be okay, so everything's alright.
"Damn, The Great Puckzilla, crying over some girl?" Santana teases him with a watery laugh.
"Quinn's not just some girl, San."
She smiles, "I know."
...
I don't mind spending every day,
Out on your corner in the pouring rain,
Look for the girl with the broken smile,
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile.
And she will be loved.
...