Merry Pitchmas 2015! This is my Secret Santa present for Drickheads on Tumblr. It's a...fluffy take on Christmas.
Enjoy!
"Aubrey, I'm sure she is going to be just fine. It could have been a lot worse and the doctor told me that he has done this hundreds of time. It's practically routine to him."
"Routine?! There is nothing routine about my best friend having to be rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night because she broke her leg! I have to come down there. Apparently I can't trust you to not practically get her killed." Aubrey flipped through the appointment book on her desk and scowled when she saw that she was solidly booked for the next several weeks. Who in their right mind would take a retreat right before Christmas? "The earliest I can fly out is right after the holidays. Do you think you can handle taking care of her for the next couple of days? I mean, you do kinda owe her since you got her in this situation."
"I got her in this situation? I was inside snuggled up in my bed like a normal person when she fell so I'm kinda failing to see how this was my fault." Beca sunk onto one of the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room and frowned down at the pitiful stack of magazines resting on the coffee table in front of her. She had been here all night and there was no way that she would be leaving anytime soon so she would have to become fast friends with the stale coffee in the nurse's station and back issues of Home & Garden. "Besides, it was her turn to take the dog out."
"And whose turn was it to put down salt on the front steps, Beca?"
Beca felt her blood practically run cold as Aubrey drew her name out in that old familiar way and it was just like she was back in college being bossed around by the aca-dictator. She already felt guilty enough because okay, maybe Chloe had reminded her to do it that morning before heading off to work and she had been too distracted by the new J. Cole album to remember to get her ass out of her office, but that was beside the point. Adult Beca had one advantage over college Beca and that was the delight of being only tethered to this abuse by the phone where she could easily just hit end. "It's been lovely talking to you Aubrey, but I really have to get going. I'll let you know how she's doing once the operation ends."
"Beca Mitchell don't you dare hang up on-"
Beca grinned as she tapped the big red end button on her phone and slid it into her pocket. Thank God for Apple.
"Chloe Beale?"
Beca looked up as the doctor entered the room a few hours later and placed her nearly empty cup of coffee on the end table next to her as she stood. She had been the only person in this waiting room all night and she was glad to finally have someone to talk to, even if it was just the doctor.
"I'm Beca, her roommate and the one that brought her in", Beca introduced herself while shaking his hand and offering him a slight smile. "How's she doing?"
"She's in recovery right now, but she's doing just fine. The surgery went great and we were able to repair the fracture with no problems. We put a rod and a couple screws in her fibula to stabilize it and she'll be on crutches for a few weeks, but I don't see anything that would prohibit her from making a full recovery."
"Thank you, doctor." Beca shook her head as she breathed a sigh of relief and tried her best to not run up and down the halls whooping. She had thought the worst when she found Chloe crying on the front steps with their terrier Bilbo anxiously whining next to her and it was so nice to know that it wasn't the nightmare she had imagined in her head where she would be bringing her best friend home with one less leg. "When can she come home?"
"We're going to keep her for a few days. She was running a bit of a fever after the surgery and combined with the concussion we deemed it necessary to admit her for a bit longer." The doctor shrugged as Beca's face fell and added "I know it's not ideal, but we don't want to take any chances. She'll be back there for another hour or so before we move her to her room where she can have visitors. Do you have any questions?"
"No, I think I'm good. Thank you for taking care of her. I was kinda my fault and I just really appreciate it."
"It was no problem. Someone will take you back once she's fully awake." Beca nodded as he shook her hand again and winced as he turned to walk away and called out over his shoulder as he neared the door. "Have a Merry Christmas!"
There was one thing worse than being in the hospital and that was spending the best holiday there. And she would have to be the one to break the news to Chloe, who loved Christmas with every fiber of her being and had decorated their little bungalow Thanksgiving morning so they'd be able to have holiday spirit for as long as possible. Beca knew one thing for certain: this holiday would be far from merry.
The first thing Beca noticed when she walked into the dimly lit hospital room was how drab it was. It was like the spirit of Christmas had never been let inside this place and while she wasn't a complete Grinch, even she felt the joy of presents and jingly Bing Crosby songs being quickly sucked out of her soul as she sunk onto the chair next to Chloe's bed and tried to get comfortable. She had never really understood why no one had ever come up with a decent chair for visiting someone in the hospital but part of her thought it fitting considering that she had royally screwed up by forgetting to salt the front steps. They got maybe two weeks of bad winter weather in Atlanta and she should have known but as per usual her head was in some other musical place where adulting had no role.
"Beca?" Chloe's voice was tiny as she opened her heavy eyes and looked to her left to see her friend perched on a chair with her face resting in her hands. Her head was far too achy to sit up and she groaned while reaching her hand out for Beca's, wanting something solid to hold onto as everything started to spin a little. "What time is it?"
"It's a little after six in the morning", Beca whispered while standing up and filling a cup with water that the nurse had dropped off a little while ago. "Here, take a sip of this. Your throat must be killing you."
Chloe managed to shoot her a small smile with her chapped lips and for a brief moment her heart melted at how tender her friend was being. It didn't last long though as the cool water splashed over her parched lips and tongue from the straw Beca had gently placed in her mouth and she closed her eyes, suddenly too tired to keep them open much longer.
"Are you in pain? I can get someone if you are."
"Just tired", Chloe murmured as she withdrew her hand from Beca's and fumbled as she tried to tuck it back under her blankets. Her limbs felt like they were weighted down and while she loved talking to Beca, it would only be a matter of time before she was swept away back into her hazy, painkiller induced dreams. "Can you…?"
"Yeah, I've got ya." She tucked Chloe in carefully, making sure not to disturb the IV that had been inserted into the back of her right hand, and looked down at her fondly as she shifted for a moment to get comfortable. "You've had a long night and you should get some rest buddy."
"Is Bilbo okay?"
"Yeah, he's just fine. He's probably on a mountain of blankets in my bed right now, getting his dirty paws all over everything and making it smell like dog." She gently brushed a hair off of Chloe's face and let her fingers linger on her forehead as her breathing started to even out as she tethered on the brink of her dreams. "I'll go home and check on him in a little bit. You need to sleep though."
"Are you going now?" Chloe breathed out while fighting off her exhaustion. "I don't want you to leave."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"You look awful", Chloe announced through her mouthful of casserole from her lunch tray. "You should really go home and get some sleep."
"And you should not talk with your mouth full, Beale." Chloe just laughed at her and Beca took a sip of her coffee as she finished sending off a text to Aubrey telling her that everything was fine. "Besides, if I remember correctly, you were the one asking me to stay up here with you. I don't break a promise."
"You should never listen to someone that has had Vicodin pumped into their veins all night. I am feeling a lot more alert though so it's okay if you want to go home and get a little bit of sleep."
Beca just shrugged before stealing a bite from Chloe's pudding cup and avoiding the arm that shot out to push her playfully. "Maybe I like staying up here and doting over you. It's my penance for not being the best housemate you've ever had."
"Oh stop it, you made a mistake and I'm not mad at you. You can make it up for me when we go home and you have to wait on me. This may be completely surprising to you, but crutches and stairs do not go well together." Beca grinned at her and accepted the rest of the chocolate pudding that Chloe held out as a token of her appreciation. While she hated how tired Beca looked right now, it was kinda nice to know that someone cared enough to watch her sleep all night. "Anyways, what time are they discharging me? This is definitely not what I had planned for my Christmas Eve. I have a few presents for a certain someone that need wrapped before Santa slides down our chimney tonight."
"About that…"
"Beca…? Please don't tell me what I think you're about to tell me." Beca looked down at her feet and Chloe groaned while closing her eyes and shaking her head. Of all the times to be a klutz, it had to happen the night before her favorite day of the year. "Santa doesn't visit the hospital!"
"I'm sure he'll make an exception this year. And the doctor said that there's a chance that they'll discharge you tomorrow if your fever goes down a little. All hope is not lost for this Christmas." Chloe rolled her eyes, trying not to be too angry at her friend now that she got this less than stellar news, and Beca patted her arm before she whispered "I'm so sorry Chlo."
"You don't have to be sorry, Bec. I'm just being a big baby about all of this." She reached out for Beca's hand and traced her fingers over the tattoo on her wrist as Beca looked truly sorry for the mess that they had gotten themselves into. "Just promise me that we won't do presents or dinner up here. I kinda wanted our first Christmas as adults to be special."
"I promise. We're just giving Christmas a raincheck this year. Now come on, finish up that food so you'll get better faster."
"Yes mom."
Beca waited until the nurse had given Chloe a new bag of pain medication for her IV before ducking out to her car and grabbing the bag of Christmas swag she had picked up during her trip home. And sure, she probably should have nabbed some sleep as she crept up on being awake for a billion hours straight, but sometimes things had to be done for the greater good and this was one of them.
As was the copy of the new J. Cole mixtape that she traded to the nurse on duty to overlook her presence after visiting hours, but who was counting when the joy of Christmas was at stake?
"Open your eyes, Chloe." Beca whispered once the clock struck midnight and she had the final strand of lights hanging up over her window. It had been a mad dash to get the room as festive as she deemed necessary, but it had been totally worth it as Chloe's eyes opened and she gasped in surprise. "Merry Christmas."
"Oh my goodness", Chloe murmured while taking in the lights and the tinsel and the tiny tree that Beca had somehow managed to sneak into her room and set up on her bedside table. She couldn't believe that she had done something like this and she bit her lips as tears sprung to her eyes. No one had ever done anything like this for her. "It's perfect. Merry Christmas!"
Beca grinned happily as Chloe kept looking around the room in wonder and pressed a few buttons on her phone before finding exactly what she wanted. "Voila! I've even got us a fire – for the chestnuts to roast over, of course."
"You are too much. Get up here, Mitchell." She shifted over as best as she could with her leg in the big, gross brace and motioned for the girl to hop onto the bed. Beca carefully got into bed next to her and leaned up against her best friend as the video of a crackling fire played on her phone set to old holiday standards. "This is terribly romantic, Beca Mitchell. If you didn't get my leg broken in the process I would call this a big old sign that you like me."
"Hmm, you've got a point there Chlo. If I was trying to get in your gorgeous hospital gown I probably would have brought some mistletoe though. There's always next year." Chloe chuckled as she rested her head on Beca's shoulder and breathed in the scent of home and the person she loved the most in this world. And yeah, maybe she was desperately wishing for their tone to not be joking but this was enough. "Do you like it?"
"I love it. Thank you so much for all of this. No one has ever gone this above and beyond for me."
"Well, you're my best friend and you kinda deserved it." Chloe closed her eyes as I'll Be Home For Christmas started to play and she couldn't stop herself from placing a soft kiss on the top of her head and tugging her just a little bit closer as old blue eyes crooned for them. "You deserve everything."
"It's a Christmas miracle!" Chloe announced as Beca walked through the door of her room and grinned at the sight of her dressed and in a wheelchair. "I mean, this chair is a little unnecessary, but I get to go home for Christmas and that's all that matters. Are you just going to stand there or are you going to push me to our chariot, Beca?"
Beca grinned as she took a big step forward and said "Maybe I'm just remembering this moment for posterity. It's not every day that you see someone holding a fully decorated Christmas tree on their lap. I could have helped you take the bulbs and stuff off, Beale."
"Maybe you could have if you didn't go disappearing when the doctor stopped by this morning. Where did you go off to anyway?"
"I just had to pick something up." She fiddled in her pocket for a moment and chewed on her bottom lip as she pulled out a piece of mistletoe that she had stolen from the nurse's station. "A little bird put an idea in my head last night."
"Beca…you don't have to do this." Her cheeks burned as she looked longingly at the mistletoe, knowing all too well that Beca knew just how much she wanted this and had been wanting it for far too long. She had never wanted to be found out and now that she had, she couldn't imagine Beca actually wanting this as well and not simply treating it as a funny thing when for her it was everything. "I know that you don't like me like that and it's fine. I wasn't serious when I said that last night."
"But maybe I was."
Chloe's mouth dropped open and Beca surged the rest of the way forward before holding the small leaf above her head and smiling slyly at her. They stared at each other for a moment, Beca wanting to make this moment perfect and Chloe just trying to keep her breaths steady as her heart pounded, and then their lips finally met in a collision of bliss and ornaments clattering to the floor and tiniest, adorable whimper from Chloe's lips.
"Merry Christmas, Ms. Beale," Beca drawled once she finally pulled away and gazed at Chloe's flushed cheeks and swollen lips. "Did I do good?"
"It was pretty much the best Christmas present over. Now, take me home so we can repeat that in front of a real fire."
Growing up Christmas had always been something that led to custody fights and duplicate presents and counting down the seconds until the holidays were over. She had always imagined the perfect Christmas in her head while watching the cheesy holiday movies that played over and over leading up to the big day and it was full of family and love and food and just unbridled joy. And okay, maybe it wasn't an ideal situation to be cuddled up on the couch in front of their fake electric fireplace with a drooling dog curled up on her lap and her best friend (it was way too soon for girlfriend, even if it was Christmas) snoozing on her shoulder with a belly full of cheap Chinese takeout, but there was nowhere else Beca would rather be.
She had finally found her perfect Christmas.