Before we start, I would like to say that this is my first published Glee fic. I wrote it in about an hour... It is bitter sweet and a little open ended. I may make this from different people's perspectives, but, it really depends on the feedback. So, happy reading!
Disclaimer- No, not mine. Glee belongs to another lucky S.O.B...
The phone was ringing and the baby was crying in the house of Shelby Corcoran, deciding that the phone could wait, and Beth needed her attention now she stood up from the kitchen table where she had been grading papers. Getting rid of Glee Club was one thing, but school was a different matter entirely, she loved to teach her English classes. The baby's room was upstairs, right next to her own. It was easier to get up in the middle of the night and go there instead of going down the hall to the third bedroom in her new home.
Beth had a dirty diaper which Shelby quickly changed, as the phone was ringing again. She sighed and made her way downstairs slower than normal, it was probably just a telemarketer anyway. She reassured herself and when she finally got to the phone she stopped and looked at the caller id, Berry, Hiram. Rachel? She wondered, but, no, Rachel had her own caller id. Oh well, if it is her it may be a big deal. Or not. Her brain added in, Rachel was a very dramatic girl.
"Hello?", She said as she picked up the phone.
"Shelby?", Rachel's father sounded like something was bothering him, his voice was shaky and sounded a little congested.
"Yes, Hiram?", She assured herself that it was indeed the man in which she had entered into an agreement with.
"Shelby, there has been an accident, she's- she's in bad shape, she needs a blood transfusion, and, well, Matthew and I, neither one of us have Bombay blood. We were hoping you did… Since it's so rare…", Hiram began to cry again. Shelby was shocked, Rachel really needed her. Her daughter really needed her… So, instead of doing the normal human thing and asking which hospital, she hung up.
Back in the waiting room of the Lima General Hospital two men were crying. One because the blood would be another few hours (since there was no Bombay blood anywhere within a thousand mile radius and they needed to find some) and the other because he may just loose his daughter, the one thing that mattered most to him. He regretted picking Shelby because she seemed responsible, smart, beautiful, and talented, because she was all of those things, but, just not a mom. He regretted not letting Shelby be a part of Rachel's life, maybe she would have come had she known who Rachel was, and what a special girl she is. He also regretted not telling his partner that Shelby wouldn't come, that Shelby had hung up on him, on them, on Rachel.
While two men were crying, a group of eleven teenagers and some of their parents were huddled around each other, some crying (Tina), some praying (Quinn and her mother), and some singing, why? Well, it's what Rachel would have done; it's what she would have wanted. But, on top of that, it's what they needed to do, knowing that Rachel's chances of making it now were dwindling and so were their chances of doing anything as a Glee club again. That with Rachel died most of their hopes to win Nationals, Regionals, and even Sectionals. Rachel was the glue that held them all together, but, without the glue, gravity would bring the breathing, singing collage that was New Directions back to Earth.
Shelby leaned against her kitchen counter and slid to the ground, phone still clutched tightly in her left hand while she ran her right through her hair. She cursed herself for being a coward. She cursed herself for letting go of the one thing that was really, truly her. She let go of it and left it for dead. The tears wouldn't come. So, she stood up and turned on the television, hoping all the while that Hiram Berry had been exaggerating Rachel's condition. Considering the rarity of Bombay blood she sincerely hoped that Rachel was not missing that much and that she could recover without a transfusion. The Berry's were dramatic people…
An overworked, underpaid news woman was on camera speaking hurriedly into a microphone that looked like it belonged in the sixties. One word caught her attention, that word being fatal. No, no, no, that couldn't be Rachel's car in the background. Visions of Rachel screaming, Rachel falling quiet, Rachel exploding, Rachel screaming some more, oh wait, no, that was Beth. Beth, her brain lurched awake and she bolted for the stairs, hoping to get some relief from holding her baby.
All the while a pale girl lay still in a hospital bed. All the while a heart monitor beeped slowly and two men cried in a waiting room while eleven other teenagers sang songs of hope. All the while a woman rocked her adopted child, longing for a life she missed. All the while a boy cried for lost love. All the while a girl cried for her closest friend. All the while a tormentor begged for forgiveness. All the while a baby ceased to cry. All the while the beep of the heart monitor slows to a stop. And all the while a girl of rare spirit, rare passion, and rare blood stops. All the while a shower of tears fall and all the while turns into something else, something that fourteen people will never forget, something that many will never remember.
Her heart stopped beating that day, but Rachel Berry continued to touch the hearts of many. That year, Puck didn't throw one kid in a dumpster, Quinn, Santana, and Brittney didn't bully the Glee clubbers or anyone for that matter, Artie and Tina found themselves in each other, Mr. Schuester and Ms. Pillsbury got hitched, and Shelby became the mom that she always wanted to be. That year Mr. and Dr. Berry moved to New York City and April Rhodes bought a dress shop in Miami, Florida. That year New Directions took Nationals, and that year, they only mentioned one name in their acceptance speech, and that one name was Rachel's. That year was the year they realized life was not just about them. That was the year that turned things around for everyone, but, let's not forget, that is also the year that Sue Sylvester went on her honeymoon…
I hope you enjoyed it. So, do as I don't and review!
Thank ye.
