It's been a little over an hour since Quinn went into surgery. Everyone but Brittany has left; apparently at Santana's insistence. The boys were the first to leave followed closely by the girls. Each girl stopped noticing Rachel still in her wedding dress, mascara streaked down her face and hair disheveled sitting on the bench just outside the hospital. They tried to convince her to let them take her home but she refused, giving them the same reason she gave Finn.
Brittany comes outside fifteen minutes after everyone has left. Rachel doesn't see her walking to Santana's car but Brittany sees her. The cheerleader retrieves two Cheerios bags from the back of Santana's car before making her way over to Rachel.
She sits next to the brunette sitting one bag to the side of the bench and the other in her lap. She doesn't speak just yet. She's rummaging through the bag for a second before she pulls out a pair of sweatpants tank top and zipup hoodie. She turns to look at Rachel and holds the clothes out for her to take.
"You should get out of that dress you don't want to mess it up more than you already have," she says in a more concerned tone than a condescending one.
Rachel sniffles and wipes her nose with the back of her hand before rubbing it along the side of the dress. "I can't wear those," she pauses to sniffle again, "Sue would have me killed."
"Well she's not here now is she?" She gestures to the parking lot with her free hand. She puts the clothes back in the bag and zips it up. She stands up from the bench throwing a bag over each shoulder and stands In front of the brunette. "Come on Rach. You've been sitting out here for over an hour. Come inside and change and wash your face. You'll feel better once you have. I promise."
Rachel breaks down again "I don't... I don't deserve... deserve to feel... *hiccup* feel better!" She cries out through her sobs.
Brittany puts the bags back on the ground and pulls the girl up from the bench into a hug. "Shh Rachel. This isn't your fault. Santana is just scared. She didn't mean it. Shhh. It's ok... It's ok," she tries to console her. They get a couple looks from strangers coming and going through the hospital doors. 'I suppose a teenager in a wedding dress crying uncontrollably outside a hospital and another in a bright pink obvious bridesmaid dress warrants it' Brittany thinks to herself. "Come on Rach, let's get you cleaned up," and with that she leads the girl back through the hospital doors through the waiting room to the bathrooms.
On the way, Rachel spots Santana lying on a couch in the corner asleep with a hospital blanket draped over her. This causes a round of fresh tears to fall from the brunette. Brittany tightens her grip on the girls' waist and tries to increase their speed.
Brittany locks the door when they enter so they won't be disturbed and moves to the sinks. She puts one of the bags on the counter and pulls out the previous garments. She tries to hand them to Rachel again.
Rachel shakes her head no and tries to dry her cheeks with her hands. "Even if Sue isn't here, Santana is, and I can't wear her clothes. I don't want to give her any more reason to be mad at me."
Brittany holds the clothes out again, "These are mine."
Rachel looks up at the blond, "I can't take your clothes. What are you going to change into?"
Brittany shrugs. "I'll just put on my uniform. No biggie. Here," She extends her arm a little further.
Rachel reluctantly takes the clothes and moves further into the bathroom. She lays the clothes on the counter and tries to unzip her dress. She's having difficulty reaching the zipper and Brittany notices.
"Need help?" The blond offers.
Rachel drops her arms to her sides and nods her head yes without making eye contact.
Brittany moves behind the diva to unzip the dress. She's helping to pull it down when Rachel speaks.
Rachel is staring at herself and Brittany through the mirror, "Why are you being so nice to me?"
Brittany shrugs her shoulders, "We're friends... Well sort of. Right?"
Rachel places her hand on Brittany's shoulder and nods her head while stepping out of the dress, "I like to think so"
Brittany stands up from helping Rachel as she stepped out of the dress and hands her the pants. "Well this is what friends do. Here, they're probably going to be too big on you but you can roll down the tops so they stay better and the legs so you won't trip."
Rachel takes the offered clothing this time and does just that. "They're perfect thank you."
Brittany hands her the shirt before moving to grab a couple paper towels. She wets them and hands them to Rachel who has just finished putting the hoodie on. "For your face," she says while handing the compress to the brunette.
Rachel takes the folded napkins and says thank you. She turns back to the mirror and cleans her face the best she can while Brittany changes into her uniform.
Once they are both changed from their wedding attire, Brittany grabs both bags and walks to the door. She unlocks it and holds it open, "You coming?"
Rachel takes one last look in the mirror before grabbing her dress and following the blond.
Brittany leads the two back to where Santana is still sleeping. Rachel stops at the entrance afraid to sit. Brittany takes her previous spot next to the sleeping Latina. "Rachel just sit anywhere. You can't stay outside the whole time."
Rachel nods and picks a chair that is farthest away from the cheerleaders but still close enough to hear any news the hospital staff may bring. She puts her dress in the chair next to her and pulls her legs up in front of her locking her arms around them and laying her head on her knees.
About 20 minutes later a nurse comes out to tell them that Quinn's still in surgery and they are not sure how much longer it will be. Santana hasn't woken up still; she wore herself out from crying so hard.
Thirty minutes later Rachel is woken from her own slumber by the voice of a blond woman running through the lobby her heals clicking on the tile floor with every step. She looks around and notices Santana is awake and has changed into her own pair of sweats.
Once Santana recognize the older woman, she stands from the chair just in time to be wrapped in a bone crushing hug.
"What happened Santana? Where is Quinn?!" Judy manages to say through her tears.
Santana moves them so they can be seated when she delivers the news. "What have you been told Mrs. F?"
Judy wipes her tears with the back of her hand and shakes her head. "I was visiting Frannie when I got a call to come to the hospital. They said Quinnie was in an accident but they wouldn't go into detail over the phone. Where is my baby is she ok?!" The mother gets out before she's is crying into the teenagers shoulder again.
Santana looks to Brittany before answering. Where she gets her strength from she has no idea but she couldn't be more grateful to her then she is now. She chances a glance in Rachel's direction, who is staring at the trio but quickly looks somewhere else when she notices Santana is looking at her.
Santana winces slightly she knows she was hard on the girl earlier, but she really didn't mean it. She just doesn't like having the reminder of something/someone she can't have while possible losing the one she does. She takes a deep breath to try and settle herself before speaking, "She's in surgery. All we know now is that her spine was badly injured in the crash."
The news makes the mother sob even harder. Her daughter has had a rough enough life already from being born intersex, to her father abandoning her because of it, and now she may be paraplegic. Can't the poor girl catch a break?
They sit in silence for the next hour not making a sound aside from those of their uncontrollable crying. Santana and Judy seem to have an unspoken rule of taking turns neither is breaking down at the same time one is always there to comfort the other.
Rachel is in the corner silently crying to herself. In her mind this is all her fault, they are in pain because of her and Quinn may be permanently paralyzed for the rest of her life. She doesn't deserve to be comforted.
Brittany is sitting next to her best friends and her other best friend's mother. On the outside she seems calm and collected. She's knows someone needs to be the strong one and it seems to have fallen on her. But on the inside she's just as much a wreck as the others.
Dr. Lopez comes out about another 20 minutes later and sits in the chair in front of Judy. He takes her hands in his own and begins to fill the mother in on her daughters' condition.
"Quinn's spine was severely compressed in the accident. We've done all we can but we won't know if she has any feeling or movement in her lower half until she regains consciousness. Her spleen was also damaged and we had to remove it. We have started her on an intense round of I.V. antibiotics to help fight off possible infection. She also has a bit of swelling in the brain. So we have placed her in a medically induced coma to give her body a better chance of healing. Once the swelling goes down we will wake her from it," he explains slowly.
Santana and Judy are crying even harder by the time he finishes, "Can-can we see her?" The brunette asks her father.
He places his hand on her shoulder before answering "Mija I think we better let Mrs. Fabray go in and be with her first."
But-" Santana starts to object but Judy cuts her off.
Judy sits up and wipes her nose with a tissue "It's fine Antonio. I'd like Santana to come with me if that's ok."
He nods his head, "Of course Judy," he stands holding a hand out for each of them to take while standing. "I'll take you to her room."
Brittany stands with them, "I'm gonna try and find some coffee."
Santana hugs her friend, "Thank you for staying with me Britt."
Brittany returns the hug and rubs brunette's back, "Of course San."
Judy also hugs the girl and tells her to join them when she ready.
"If you ask the desk clerk she can get you some coffee and we will be in room 6. You can come in when you're done," Dr. Lopez informs.
Dr. Lopez is leading Santana and Judy to Quinn's recovery room. Along the way he is trying to prepare his friend and especially his daughter of her physical appearance.
"She does have a deep cut on her forehead at her hairline from some of the glass that required a couple stitches. The left side of her face is bruised from hitting the window and she has a seat belt burn across her chest." He stops them outside of the room and turns in front of the door, "She has compression socks on her legs to keep the blood flow moving and it is very important not to jostle her in any way. She must stay completely immobile for the time being so as not to reinjure herself. You can't lay on the bed or hug her just yet. You can hold her hand and talk to her, we don't know if she can hear anything while she's out but some studies have shown it's highly plausible." He takes a breath, "Are you two ready to go in now?"
They both nod their heads yes. Antonio steps aside and opens the door, he lets Judy walk in first. She chokes out a sob and walks to her daughter's bedside. She's looking over her bruised and broken baby girl crying her eyes out. Santana has not managed to cross through the door, as soon as she does she knows what she's going to see and that this isn't some kind of nightmare and is really happening.
Antonio is standing with his back to the open door and holds his hand out for his daughter to take, "Mija?"
Santana closes her eyes before taking her father's hand. She lets him guide her into the room. "Carino if you're not ready for this you can come back in a little while," he offers.
She is already crying and she hasn't even seen Quinn yet. She shakes her head no and takes a deep breath before opening her eyes she slowly starts to take in Quinns form starting from the bottom and what she sees shocks her. Quinn is lying there hooked up to all kinds of machines with these large pillows attached to the end of the bed which are wrapped around her legs making noise as they inflate and deflate every so often. Her knees are bent slightly to accommodate the pillow placed there to prop them up. Her arms are like sticks beside her body lying lifeless. She's not laying flat but her top half is tilted up ever so slightly. She can make out the top of the seatbelt impression on her collarbone above the hospital gown. As her father said the left side of her face is purple and blue and she can tell her forehead is swollen even with the bandage that is covering it. There a little bit of dried blood in her hair it looks like someone tried to get it out but failed miserably. There is a large tube in her mouth that she recognizes as a ventilator.
She breaks down in her father's arms crying hysterically. He manages to get them to the chair in the corner of the room where he sits down first before pulling his daughter into his lap and holding her whispering soothing words to her.
Back in the waiting room Brittany comes back from the front desk and sits back down in the chair. "She's going to grab us four cups of coffee," she tells Rachel.
Rachel nods her response. She's fidgeting with her fingers before she asks, "Hey Brittany would it be too much of a bother if I used your phone to call my dads to come get me. I seem to have left mine back at the court house."
Brittany shakes her head, grabs her phone from her duffel bag and walks to give it to the brunette.
"Thanks," Rachel says and offers a weak smile.
Brittany moves to give the girls some privacy to make her call.
She dials her fathers' cell phone and he picks up after the third ring, "Hello?"
"Hi daddy, it's me. I'm using Brittany's phone I seem to have left mine in the room with everything else. I'm at the hospital with Quinn. I told Finn to go home a little while ago. Can you or dad come pick me up please?" She says while tracing the Cheerios logo on the pant leg.
"We know sweetie. Finn called us when he left. And your dad grabbed your things, so don't worry about that. We're on our way baby we will be there as soon as we can." He tries to comfort his obviously distraught daughter as best he can through the phone.
"Thank you daddy. Love you. See you shortly," she ends the call in time to see Brittany walking back carrying four coffee cups as best she can.
She stands to take two of the cups from the blond. "One is for you Rachel," Rachel looks at the cups in her hand before saying thank you.
"Think you can help carry these and the bags back to the room?" Brittany asks while throwing one of the duffels over her shoulder and picking the two coffees back up.
"I- uh... Yes," Rachel struggles with her decision before agreeing.
"Thanks. They are in room six follow me," Brittany says before she turns in the direction the three went earlier.
Rachel stops just outside the door Brittany went through afraid to enter. Brittany hands the coffee to Santana and Judy and sits her bag on the ground. She walks back to the door and sees Rachel frozen in place.
"You coming in Rachel?" She asks softly.
Rachel shakes her head no. "I can't Brittany. Uh my dads are about to be here I better go meet them out front," she hands Brittany one of the coffees before handing her the other duffel bag. She turns to walk away before remembering she still has the girls phone. "Oh Brittany your phone."
Brittany stops and takes the phone from Rachel's hand. Before Brittany walks back in the room she calls Brittany once more.
Brittany turns in the door way to face the brunette again "Yeah?"
Rachel stares at the blond for a moment "Thank you," is all she says.
Brittany offers a nod of her understanding before walking in the room and closing the door.
Rachel stares at the motionless blond laying in the hospital bed through the blinds in the windows, new tears falling from her eyes. She sees Santana sitting on the far side of the room in a rocking chair holding Quinn's hand trying to hold back her tears, and Judy standing on the other side by Quinn's head gently brushing her hair out of her face. She stays there for a couple minutes before walking back to the front of the hospital to wait for her fathers.
So that was chapter two... what do you think of the story so far?
Please leave a review with your thoughts.
P.S. Two new chapters of Unexpected were posted on Sunday. Be sure to check them out if you haven't already ;D
Till next time.
Special thanks to Forevergleek9615 for all your help, time and input :)