"Alright honey, I'm gunna go, I'll be back soon, give momma a kiss." Shelby planted a kiss on Beth's forehead before handing her over to Quinn. Almost immediately Beth started fussing.
"It's ok guys, she'll stop when I leave, I know she stops when I leave. Ok, I've got my iPod, my cell phone... Do you guys have my number?"
"It's right here on my hand!" exclaimed Puck with a smirk.
"We'll be fine, honestly. Have a good run," Quinn added.
"Okay great. Thank you guys so much for babysitting, I really appreciate it" Shelby replied as she grabbed her cell phone, iPod and an inhaler off of the worktop before heading towards the front door. By this point Beth was starting to scream and Puck was starting to think that maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all.
"If she keeps crying, try singing to her. She usually loves that" Shelby offered as she opened up the front door.
"Honestly don't worry, we've got this" Quinn remarked whilst staring at the blue L-shaped device that Shelby was holding in her left hand. In that instant, Quinn hatched another plan in her head, in addition to the one she had been thinking up for the past few days.
"Here, take Beth" Quinn asked Puck after Shelby had left. Beth was still crying, but as soon as Puck took hold of her she instantly settled.
"She likes me" Puck marveled, almost to himself. Quinn grabbed her purse and began pulling out a number of unusual items. "Why have you got hot sauce in your purse? Are you planning on cooking Mexican for dinner?" Puck questioned, half-jokingly but utterly confused.
"No you idiot! I'm going to put it in Shelby's cupboard."
"Why are you doing that? Have you gone mad? How do you know that Shelby wants hot sauce?" Puck replied, still very confused.
"It's not for Shelby." Quinn deadpanned as she pointed to the label on the bottle that clearly indicated that the bottle was meant for Beth. "It's illegal to give hot sauce to babies. I'm proving that Shelby is an unfit mother. First we plant the stuff, then we call child protective services." Puck just stared at Quinn horrified. "Surely that's a little extreme?" he questioned.
"Do you want to get our baby back or not?" Quinn replied as she deposited the hot sauce in Shelby's kitchen cupboard. " Yeah I do" Puck admitted seeming somewhat defeated. "But surely there's another way? Shelby's a good mom."
Quinn ignored him as she headed towards the bedroom. She placed some books about baby sacrifice into the bookshelf before glancing behind her to check where Puck was. He was still in the living room with Beth so Quinn decided now was her chance to put the second part of her plan into action. She scanned the room for Shelby's purse, seeing it in the corner beside the bed. Quickly, she rummaged through the purse until she found what she was looking for: Shelby's asthma pump.
Should she take it? Or was this going one step too far? Quinn questioned herself in her head. She didn't know anything about Shelby's asthma or how bad it was, but surely this was an opportunity too good to be missed? An opportunity for Shelby to experience some of the pain that Quinn had been experiencing since Shelby had taken her baby. Quinn could hear footsteps coming from the living room so she quickly grabbed the inhaler and placed it into her pocket before turning to see Puck stood in the doorway.
"What are you doing now?" he questioned suspiciously. "Nothing." Quinn replied. "Just looking to see if there is anything else we can use as evidence."
"I think you've done enough already Quinn. Like I said, Shelby's a good mom. I really don't like this."
"Well I really don't like somebody else looking after our baby, so this is what we have to do" Quinn responded, slightly agitated that Puck wasn't as supportive of her plan as she'd imagined. "We've planted the stuff, now all we have to do is call protective services and then they'll take Beth away from Shelby and give her back to us."
"Okay" Puck replied feeling somewhat dejected. He did really want Beth back, but he didn't want to hurt Shelby either.
..
The next afternoon at school, Quinn walked into the Troubletones practice to be greeted by a beaming Shelby. "Hey, thanks again for last night, I really appreciate it. Since having Beth I haven't had the chance to do anything for myself, so it was really great to get out and de-stress.
"No worries" Quinn replied with a forced smile before taking her seat towards the back of the classroom, grateful that Shelby hadn't seemed to notice any of the objects that she had planted. Now she just had to wait for social services to visit Shelby and discover the items. Then her daughter would be returned, back where she belongs. But first, it was time to stage the second part of her plan.
During rehearsal Quinn listened to numerous renditions of 'Candyland', which had been the group's set song for the week. None of them really struck her as very good, but to be honest she wasn't really paying much attention. Her mind whirred, thinking about what she was about to do. She didn't know if she could go through with her plan, or if it would even work. What if something went wrong? But then she thought back to last night, and those precious moments spent with Beth, and realized just how much pain Shelby had caused her, and how much she wanted Shelby to suffer.
After what seemed like an age, it was finally time for the group to work on some choreography. Quinn was dance captain, which meant that she could more or less choose what the Troubletones would work on each week. This week she made sure to choose a very high energy and intense number. After 30 minutes of putting the group through their paces, Quinn decided that judging by the look on everyone's faces, they'd had enough.
"Wow Quinn, you're a slave driver!" Mercedes exclaimed, still panting heavily.
"Jesus señorita that was muy intenso! I'm sweating" Santana said giving Quinn a wink.
"I have some deodorant in my purse if you want some?" Quinn offered innocently. "Cheers girl!" Santana responded happily.
"I'll have a bit of that too" added Brittany. "Sure" Quinn replied. Quinn walked over to her gym bag and grabbed the can of deodorant.
"Maybe it'll be better if you girls use that outside?" Shelby offered apprehensively. "Don't worry Shelby, we'll only use a little bit" Quinn replied, looking Shelby in the eye. Quinn threw the deodorant to Santana who sprayed a little before passing it on to Brittany. After Brittany had used it, it was passed back to Quinn who made sure to use more than enough, filling the classroom with the fumes.
"Bye Mrs. C" Brittany harped as the three girls left the classroom. "Bye girls" Shelby spluttered back, stifling a cough. Quinn smiled to herself as she walked out the door. Shelby coughed again as she could feel her chest getting tighter and tighter. She headed over to her purse, and started searching through it for the inhaler that she always kept stocked there just in case. Shelby rummaged frantically, getting more and more panicked when she couldn't find what she was looking for. It had to be in there; she never took it out. Shelby picked up the purse and emptied the contents onto the floor, desperately hoping to find the inhaler. But it wasn't there. Shelby's breathing was growing more and more labored, and her left hand was clutched against her chest in an attempt to relieve some of the tightness.
Outside, Rachel Berry was on her way to Spanish class when she heard the wheezing coming from the classroom to her right. Rachel was considerably early for class as usual so decided to stick her head around the door to see if everything was ok.
"Mom!" she screamed when she saw Shelby hunched over the desk and the contents of her purse scattered across the floor. "Are you ok? What's wrong?" Rachel questioned as she rushed over to Shelby, gently taking her hand and guiding her onto a chair.
"I…" Shelby paused to take another strained breath. "I can't breathe" Shelby finally wheezed out before breaking into another harsh coughing fit. Rachel's eyes widened, horrified by what she was seeing. Rachel could see Shelby's back muscles straining as she desperately tried to breathe.
"Hey Mom, look at me, it's gunna be ok" Rachel tried to reassure her mom. Shelby glanced up at Rachel, her panic evident in her tear-filled eyes. "I'm gunna go and get some help, I'll be right back" Rachel added, on the verge of tears herself. Rachel rushed out of the classroom and almost ran straight into Puck.
"Woah my little Jewish princess, why are you in such a hurry?" Puck questioned nonchalantly.
"Noah, thank god! I need your help, it's Shelby, she can't breathe." Hearing Shelby's name caused Puck to immediately pay attention.
"What?!" he exclaimed. Rachel grabbed Puck by the arm and dragged him into the classroom that she had just exited, where his eyes fell upon Shelby. She had tears streaming down her face, with her hand clutched against her chest, as she tried desperately to get some air into her lungs.
"Shit" Puck yelled as he sprinted over to Shelby and took hold of her hand. He could feel her shaking as he racked his brain trying to remember what he had learnt on that stupid first aid course he had be forced to do last year. "Beautiful, just try and take nice deep breaths for me" Puck soothed.
"Ca….Can't" Shelby managed to croak out.
"I know it's hard beautiful, but you have to try for me. Rach, open some windows." Puck shouted over to the tiny girl who appeared to be frozen in shock. Rachel snapped out of her trance and hurried to open as many windows as she could, whilst Puck sat willing a wheezing Shelby to breathe.
Suddenly it clicked. Shelby was wheezing. She must have asthma. Yes, it all made sense now; the inhaler he'd seen her pick up last night, the wheezing and severe difficulty breathing she was having now.
"You're asthmatic, aren't you?" Puck stated. Shelby nodded, with fear evident on her face. "Where's your inhaler?" Puck questioned. By this point, Shelby was so breathless that she couldn't get any words out, so instead she just shook her head. Noticing the contents of her purse on the floor, Puck quickly gathered that Shelby didn't have it with her, which he thought seemed a little strange considering she took one with her when she went for a run last night. Surely she would bring one to work with her as well?
"Ok, don't panic" Puck reassured her, gently rubbing her back in an effort to keep her calm. Rachel was horrified and couldn't believe what was happening. Since when did her mom have asthma? Why had she never told her? And now she was having an asthma attack and didn't have an inhaler on her.
"I'll run to the nurse" Rachel squeaked, already on her way out of the door. "She must keep a spare one in her office." Puck really hoped she was right.
"See beautiful, there's nothing to worry about. Rach is going to get you some medicine, which will help you breathe better, ok?" Shelby just stared back at Puck, clearly not convinced.
"Hey, do you trust me?" Puck questioned softly. Shelby nodded slightly. "Good, then you need to calm down and take some deep breaths for me. Everything's going to be ok, I promise. Help is on its way"
Rachel sprinted back into classroom carrying a little blue inhaler. "Here!" she exclaimed, thrusting it at Shelby. Shelby removed the cap, and placed the mouthpiece into her mouth, before pushing the canister down and trying to take a deep breath. After 30 seconds, she did the same again and took a second puff, as both Rachel and Puck watched on nervously.
"Is it helping?" Rachel questioned, still rather worried that her mother wasn't breathing properly. "A little" Shelby responded, before taking another dose. After what seemed like an eternity, Shelby's breathing finally returned to somewhat of a normal state. She was still a little wheezy, but at least she could actually breathe now.
"Thanks" she said gratefully, looking up at Rachel and Puck, who were still watching her intently.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Rachel responded, still worried sick. Shelby nodded.
"How come you didn't have your inhaler with you?" Puck asked gently.
"I don't know. I always keep one in my purse, and then a spare one at home. I honestly don't know where it's gone; I never take it out" Shelby responded shaking her head.
"It's ok Mom. Don't worry about it" Rachel said softly. "Let's just get you home."
"No Rach, I'm fine honestly. I still…."
"Don't you even start Shelby. You are clearly not fine. You could have died. I'm taking you home right now, and don't you even think about arguing with me. You need to rest." Rachel responded, utterly outraged that her mother had even considered staying at school for the rest of the day.
"My little Jewish princess has a point" Puck pointed out as he gave Shelby a cheeky smile.
"Fine" Shelby conceded, as she began to replace the contents of her purse that was still strewn across the floor. Once all of Shelby's things had been gathered, Rachel led her mom into the parking lot, where they got into Rachel's car and headed to Shelby's apartment.