Title: Life Happens When You're Drinking Coffee at Starbucks
Rated T for sarcasm and adult situations
Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter.
If I do Daria's perspective in this universe, it will be in a separate story later on.
Part two: Welcome home Quinn Morgendorffer
Her plane touched down at Reagan National at 3:32 AM eastern standard time Thursday morning with two hyperactive teenagers sleeping in her lap. Thanks to her personal assistant and her healthy bank account, she was on the first direct flight to the Washington Metro area. BWI would have been closer, but she couldn't get a flight arriving at that Airport before 8:00 AM. It was only an extra 40 minutes to drive to Lawndale at this time of day from Reagan. After grabbing their luggage, they made their way to the cell phone waiting area where Lindy was already waiting. The first thing Quinn did was hugged her best friend. Quinn was just happy she came. Quinn was too wired to drive and needed emotional support.
Chloe and Bianca stayed conscious just long enough to throw their luggage into the trunk and fall back asleep in the large SUV. She expects nothing else of her will travel children. After spending their childhood traveling around with Lindsey those two can sleep anywhere, even if they were worried about their favorite Grandpa.
"How are you?" Lindy said passing Quinn a travel mug of coffee. Quinn needed the caffeine. The stuff on the airplane was horrible and she was too upset to eat. "Sorry, it's not the fancy stuff you usually drink. The Starbucks don't open in this neighborhood for at least another hour." Lindy said with a laugh.
"That's okay, I need the caffeine and I don't care if it came from my usual place." She said taking the drink. "It's better than that stuff on the plane and we were in first class. I'm anything but OK right now. I couldn't sleep on the plane. I actually wrote two chapters of the next book on the flight. I'm too worried. What if he doesn't make it?" Quinn said that last part on the edge of tears. She hasn't cried sense she was alone in her car hours ago before picking up the girls. She needed to be the strong one.
"At least you were productive. I probably couldn't sleep under the circumstances either. Your dad is too stubborn, to let another heart attack kill him. Dr. Mike called a couple of hours ago to give me an update. He would have called you, but you were still in flight."
"So what did your boyfriend say about my father?"
"First Mike is my ex boyfriend and not really. I decorated his new house in Lawndale and we went to dinner a few times. He owed me dinner for getting rid of the frat house chic decorum and the grandma furniture. I don't really consider that dating, except we had sex. Also, you went to high school with Michael Mckenzie. He probably would have tried contacting me anyway without me calling him first. He told me he tried to call Daria in Japan when your mother started threatening to sue the hospital."
"Typical mom response." Quinn mumbled under her breath.
Dr. Michael Mckenzie better known as Mack back in high school took the same crazy post high school road that Quinn did. During his first year at Vance after the thanksgiving break up with Jodie, Michael decided that he did not want to be a business major anymore. The break up with Jodie was fairly amicable and they were still friends. However, it still made him reevaluate things. Six months later he decided that he would rather help keep people healthy then take their money through crazy investment schemes that won't work. He graduated from the pre-med program at Vance with honors four years later.
Due to still being the best of friends with Jodie, whose last name was now Landon-Sloane; Mack had a little help getting into the Bromwell Medical program. The only reason why Michael is doing his residency in Lawndale was to help take care of his sick grandmother.
His specialization was cardiology, mostly because his father died of a heart attack during Michael's first year of med school. Just thinking about his dad dying of a fatal heart attack makes Quinn panic just a little bit more. Michael's father died at 47 of the same thing that currently has her father in the critical cardiac care unit at LMC. When Quinn boarded the plane, her father had a 50/50 chance of surviving the night. Quinn was happy that Daria's old friend was part of her father's team.
This afternoon Quinn was desperately trying to get information on her father. Her mom was deliberately not telling her things because she thought Quinn couldn't handle it. Quinn was the one who found Lindsey's dead body on the side of the road when she didn't show back up to the house. She could handle anything after that. She also knew that her mom was hurting because she still loved Jake even though they were not married anymore. Sometimes Quinn wondered why they got divorced in the first place.
Although it pained her to do so, she called Eric. He was no help whatsoever. According to his assistant, he was pissed off because he actually had to go to court today to cover Helen's cases because she was, "wasting her time babysitting her ex husband". The call was not a total loss because according to Brooke things were not that happy between her mom and Eric. They were fighting all the time.
Yes, botched plastic surgery Brooke was Eric's assistant that's why she was willing to tell Quinn all the best gossip about her mommy and her husband. Part of Quinn thought Eric only hired her because of the correction work done by Brooke's second plastic surgeon, despite the fact that Brooke was really smart, if a little image obsessed.
After picking up the girls from their private school, that even Quinn finds pretentious, she called Lindy to see if she would be willing to drive down to the hospital to find something out for her. Quinn didn't trust anyone else. Then Lindy mentioned that her former whatever worked in the cardiology department at LMC. 25 minutes later as Quinn was quickly throwing a week's worth of clothes in a suitcase, she was absolutely shocked when it was Daria's high school friend that called her back.
He didn't sugarcoat anything for her. Her daddy had another heart attack on the green. It was a bad one. Apparently playing golf in January is not exactly the smartest thing to do. It was a lot worse than the one 13 years ago. Things were made more complicated by the fact that a certain asshole stepfather decided to wait until Jake actually passed out to call 911. Apparently, her dad started having chest pains around the first hole. He was so weak he couldn't even carry his own golf clubs. Actually, it was not Eric that called it was Michael's boss who was in the party behind them. Collapsing in front of Dr. Carol probably saved her father's life. At least Quinn hoped it did.
"Okay so he's not really your boyfriend. What did he say about daddy?" Quinn asked finally.
"He's doing a lot better. He's stable and breathing on his own now. He's not conscious yet though. Michael begins at 11 AM today so he said he would stop by then."
"Did he say anything else?"
"He said to tell Daria thank you on behalf of the entire staff of LMC for having Jane come down from New York to calm her down. Apparently, your mother was still there terrorizing the staff because she was so worried about your father. My parents were never liked that after the divorce. You remember that we had to sit my parents on separate sides of the stadium when I graduated from Lawndale State. Jake and Helen are such good friends sometimes I forget that they're actually not married anymore." Lindy wasn't the first person to say something like that.
"Sometimes I think they forget too." Quinn said to herself as she started to feel drowsy. Being with Lindy calmed Quinn down enough that she was finally able to fall asleep. Although, it may have been the news that her father was getting better that finally allowed Quinn to let herself rest.
Two hours later Quinn walked into the cardiac care waiting room carrying four cups of coffee, Orange juice, a couple of fruit cups, some bagels, and a few blueberry muffins. The girls were behind her still half asleep drinking no fat hot chocolates. Her mom was passed out on one of the couches with her Blackberry still in her hand. Jane was still there, with sketch pad in hand, capturing the scene complete with drool and horrible hospital lighting.
"Thanks for coming." Quinn said as she passed a cup of the Starbucks bold pick of the day to Jane.
"Thank you for bringing coffee. I need the caffeine to stay conscious. I'm happy to be here, although not under the circumstances. Jake was more of a father to me than Vinson ever was. At least your father showed up to both of my graduations and remembers my birthday." Jane said as she took a long drink of her coffee.
"I think that's only because aunt Daria programmed the dates into his cell phone." Chloe said as she sat next to Jane on the couch and grabbed a bagel from the box that Quinn just put on the coffee table.
"My dad wouldn't even bother to do that." Jane said as she put her sketch pad down to grab a bagel. "Even in times of stress you remember to bring food. This is why I like your family more."
"Your father sounds like our biological father AKA the sperm donor. The last time we saw the ass was at the MTV movie awards last year. I think his date use to go to our school." Chloe said coldly.
"For someone who dresses as stylish as you are quite skilled in the art of teenage angst and sarcasm." Jane said through a mouth filled with bagel.
"Just because I wear pink doesn't mean I assume the world is perfect. I just like cute things." Chloe shot back.
"If the world was perfect Chloe, you would be married to your teenage heartthrob idol Jordan Pieper, grandpa would be up yelling about the horrors of military school, Quinn would be our mother biologically, and Lindsey wouldn't be dead." Bianca said as she took the seat next to Helen. Bianca hasn't referred to Lindsey as her mother's since the adoption papers were signed nearly five years ago.
"Daria?" Helen said sleepily from the couch.
"Close, but not quite grandma. I sound much more cheery. Stupid DNA."
"Bianca?" Helen said sleepily.
"Better." Bianca said just as she was enveloped in a grandma hug.
"I thought we agreed to hug only on holidays and special occasions." Bianca spoke as she tried to pull away.
"You're worse than Daria at that age. Your grandfather almost died yesterday. I can hug you if I want." Helen said in response as she kissed Bianca on the cheek despite her physical protests.
"I know he's the reason I'm here in Lawndale. Considering you're no longer married to grandpa, you're taking this hard. I'm surprised you are here. If Jonathan was in there, mom would be jumping for joy." Obviously, Bianca needed to develop tack.
"Fortunately for us, Jake is no Jonathan Star. I never liked that young man." Helen said as she hugged Quinn. This is a new record. She has been in the room with her mom for less than five minutes and she was already bringing up the Jonathan thing.
"I don't like Eric, so we're even." Quinn said with a touch of bitterness as she pulled away. "Can you not bring up my colossal mistake of marrying Jonathan? I know I was an idiot. We have more important things to worry about like daddy. Is he doing better?" Quinn seriously doubted her mom would continue on the Jonathan subject if she tried to focus the conversation on her father.
"Supposedly, but I really don't know because the doctor keeps sending his lackeys out. That nice Michael that your sister went to school with was extremely helpful and competent, but he is gone until 11 am. They have not let us into see Jake yet." The irritation and worry could be heard in her mother's voice.
"That may have something to do with the fact she mentioned the term medical malpractice 27 times the last time Dr. Carol spoke with her." Jane mumbled under her breath from the couch. Bianca let out an inappropriate laugh but stopped when Quinn gave her the 'mom stare of death'. That was the first skill Quinn acquired when she became a mom.
"I just don't like that doctor. I didn't like him the first time he treated your father. Maybe if he did his job 13 years ago, your father wouldn't be back for a second time." Helen said angrily. When Quinn's mother was angry that usually meant she was worried. It was obvious she was very worried.
"I'm personally thinking it was his love for the double bacon Cluster Buster with hot pepper mayonnaise and pepper jack cheese that led to this. Trend's old band mate Jesse is one of the managers at the new Cluster Burger by Jake's condo. He's in there all the time and usually gets in a fight once a week with the poor teenager behind the counter because he won't put extra jalapenos on Jake's sandwich." In any other instants this probably would've been funny. Instead, this led to more death glares when certain teenage daughters of hers started to giggle.
"I'm sure yelling at the guy at Cluster burger didn't help either." Bianca mumbled under her breath.
"Are you sure having to spend quality time with Eric was not a contributing factor?" Chloe added.
"Girls, that's enough." Both Quinn and her mother said simultaneously just as Lindy walked in.
"Why is it difficult to find parking at a hospital before 7:00 AM?" Lindy said diffusing the tension.
"Because the doctors haven't left for their morning golf games yet. It's good exercise. There's a reason why Lawndale has golf courses open in January." Bianca said from one of the couches.
"Good one. The sarcasm force is strong with you young one." Jane said with a smile.
"Please don't encourage her." Chloe said with a sigh.
"Okay, I think you guys need more sleep. So do you mom. That's probably why you are so tense." Quinn said as she took the coffee out of her hands and gave her an orange juice instead.
"I don't need sleep." This would've been more effective if her mother did not yawn at that moment or tried to grab the coffee back.
"I don't want the girls to spend the entire day at the hospital. Maybe you could get the girls settled in at the hotel. We're staying at the…" That's when Quinn realized she forgot to have her assistant Rachel get hotel rooms. Quinn always forgets to do stuff like that when she is stressed.
"You're staying at the Le Grand Hotel in the Presidential Suite". Jane said from behind her. "Unfortunately, this time there's no helpful computer geek named Bobby to adjust the charges later. You have three books in the top 20 and a movie in development, so I'm sure you can afford it." She was positive Daria chose the hotel solely for her own personal torment. She would get even. The mommy jokes were back on.
"I probably could do it." Bianca commented offhandedly. The truth is Bianca probably could hack into the Computer System at the hotel without even breaking a sweat. Last semester Quinn had to 'donate' $10,000 to the school scholarship fund for them to forget about a certain indiscretion involving Bianca giving the entire sophomore class perfect P-STAT scores. Quinn only went along with the school's extortion attempt because there were several students that could benefit from the scholarships and it was more altruistic than Ms. Li bleeding everyone dry for bulletproof skylights. As punishment Bianca spent the summer proofreading Quinn's stories with the 'good parts' missing.
"Jane, don't give her any ideas." Quinn said with a sigh.
"You don't have to stay at a hotel, Quinn. You can stay at my house. I have plenty of room." Quinn knew this. Her mom lived in a gigantic eight bedroom house at Lawndale Hills built during the height of the housing boom of few years ago. Her mom actually had Lindy designed two rooms in her new house for Quinn and her daughters to use when they were in town. The thought of having to be in close proximity to Eric, made Quinn want to throw up. He was even slimier now that he was actually married to her mother. Also after her conversation with Brooke yesterday, Quinn did not want to expose her children to the arguing. They were already scarred enough after they saw her making a bonfire out of Jonathan's things on the beach when she found out about him doing the trashy no talent celebrity wannabe.
"Grandma the hotel is fine. We will be ok there. We spent half of our childhood in hotels. We're used to it. A massage might be nice. Grandma you probably could use one. You're so stressed, it's not good for your skin. Mom is it OK if we booked some quality Spa time with grandma?" Chloe asked quickly probably because she hates Eric as much as everyone else in the family does. Quinn acquiesced to the spa time because it kept her out of quality time with Eric. She was too worried about her father to deal with Eric for long periods of time right now.
"Grandma its fine. Aunt Daria taught us not to speak to bellhops named Bobby who claim their uncle owns the hotel." Is it wrong to hate her own sister for telling her children about how absolutely shallow and stupid she was in high school? Thinking back to the person she was Quinn had the sudden urge to hide under the furniture. Thankfully, Chloe is nowhere near as bad as she was at 15. She was still aware that she wasn't the only person in the universe.
11After scaring another doctor and finishing up all the food, Helen finely agreed to take the girls back to the hotel for the day. Jane and Lindy stayed with her at the hospital as they waited for an update from the doctors. Maybe they would finally let her in to see her father. She was happy to have the emotional support of Jane and Lindy. She was too worried to eat more than a bite or two of bagel and a little fruit. She has consumed nothing but coffee in the last 24 hours.
Jane was trying to distract her by actually working on the graphic novel idea. It worked. She was so busy writing the outline out that she didn't even notice Michael was in the room until she saw him hugging Jane.
"You know if I wasn't warned earlier I would never believe you were…"
"The same conceited nightmare you knew in high school." She could understand the shock. She was currently wearing her favorite lounge around the house jeans with holes in the side, black boots, and a gray sweater from two seasons ago. Granted everything was designer labels, but she did not exactly look like her high school self. Completing the look was hair in a messy ponytail and no makeup. Things like appearance really didn't matter to her that day.
"I wasn't going to say that." He said with a smile.
"But you were thinking it." Jane said with a little laugh.
"It's okay. Everyone who knew me back then says the same thing. I take it as a compliment most days. Thanks for keeping me updated on daddy. How's he doing? The nurses are still too afraid to come in here because of mom."
"Better. All his vital signs are good and he is getting stronger. We'll probably wake him up tomorrow. That's when the fun will begin with all the tests. However, you can help us right now. I need to ask you a few questions." Michael said taking the seat next to her.
"Patient history?" Quinn asked with a sigh.
"Exactly, we tried to get some of the answers from your mom but she was uncooperative." He said with a wicked smirk.
"That's a nice way to put it. I believe her exact words were, "What the hell does knowing how much alcohol he consumes on a daily basis keep Jake from dying?" Jane said as she did a perfect imitation of Helen's voice.
"She only reacted like that because she doesn't know the answer any more. They've been divorced for almost 10 years." Quinn answered. From their conversation over bagels this morning, Quinn could tell her mom was blaming herself for what happened.
"I remember Daria said that, but I had my doubts considering the way she was acting. She was still listed as his medical contact." That didn't surprise her. Her mom was the closest. Quinn lived over 3000 miles away in California. Daria and her husband owned houses in New York, LA, Boston, London and a log cabin in an undisclosed location that Daria refuses to tell her about. Half the time Daria was not even in the country.
"That's probably because daddy forgot to change it." Quinn mumbled.
15 minutes into the question and answer session, Quinn felt one like the world's worst daughter. Lindy and Jane knew more answers to the questions Michael asked her than she did.
As a birthday present for his 60 birthday, she hired Lindy to remodel Jake's condo. Because of that, Lindy knew all about the fridge filled with hungry man dinners, leftover carnivore pizza, and not one single piece of fruit. Lindy also knew about Jake's habit of forgetting to take his blood pressure medicine.
Jane was the one who knew about the brand new cardiologist. The last time Jane was in town a couple weeks ago, Jake told her about switching cardiologists and being put on a new medicine that he didn't want to take. Every time Jane was in town she made it a point to stop by and see Jake. Usually they would go to lunch at the bar by the house that Jake likes a little too much. Even though most likely Daria asked her to do it, Jane has spent more time with Jake recently then Quinn has. That thought made her want to cry.
Unlike her, Jane tries to see her family regularly. At least once a month Jane takes the train down from New York to visit Trent, his wife, and her genius niece who was only a year younger than Quinn's own children. That was a long complicated story. Apparently, the song icebox woman was about a completely different Monique. (Quinn heard that song once years ago when one of her dates believed that going to the Zon would be fun and exotic. She never dated that person again.)
According to Jane, the year before Quinn and Daria moved to Lawndale, Mystic Spiral played a private show at U of M for a former classmate with no taste. Trent ended up hooking up with graduate student Monique West, who was an adult version of Jodie Landon compared to Lawndale Monique with her queen of the damn persona. She broke his heart because of a misunderstanding and he got her pregnant because of another misunderstanding. Not that Trent knew about it for about seven years.
About seven years ago, Monique West moved to Lawndale to take over as principle of Lawndale high after Ms. Li was forced to 'retire' due to a scandal so big it made the papers in California. Her former principal is currently serving 5 to 10 at a minimum security Federal facility somewhere in West Virginia on various charges including misappropriation of government funds.
By that point, Trent was forced to become a productive member of society by writing advertising jingles and giving private guitar lessons because he had temporary custody of Summer's children due to circumstances that Quinn was never told about. Trent and Principle Monique met again at parent night at LHS and the rest of their crazy love story will probably be adapted for one of Quinn's novels as soon as she can get more details. They've been married for three years once Monique forced Trent to put a ring on it, supposedly.
After being presented with firsthand evidence that she was the world's worst daughter, Quinn broke down in front of everyone. She was thankful for the lack of makeup as she wiped away her tears in the bathroom. Jane and Lindy had the good sense not to follow her. Quinn was now standing alone in the cafeteria because she couldn't take going back to the waiting room.
"Do you still drink orange soda?" Michael asked from behind her.
"I didn't drink it then." Quinn said as she grabbed a diet Ultra Cola from the case. She already had enough coffee for the day and it was not even noon yet. "I would've been huge if I drink all that sugary stuff the Js gave me. I usually brought it home for daddy. I'm sure the sugar wasn't good for him. Another example of why I'm the world's worst daughter." Quinn said as she allowed another tear to fall.
"You're not the world's worst child. If you were, you would not have flown across the country to sit in a waiting room for updates. I seriously doubt that you would have had Lindy contact me for any information whatsoever about your father's condition. Trust me, I have dealt with patients who have family members that live in the same house and knew less answers to those questions than you did. You live all the way in L.A. It's understandable that you don't know what he eats for breakfast or if he has an exercise routine. It happens."
"That's the problem. The moment I graduated high school, I ran away to Los Angeles and never looked back. I rarely even come down for the holidays, because I can't stand Eric." Quinn couldn't even look at him as she spoke.
"So you left Jake to eat his Turkey dinner last November alone?" Quinn detected a hint of sarcasm in his voice but she answered anyway.
"Of course not, the grandkids would not allow such a travesty. Daddy usually flew out to L.A. to spend time with us. It's one of the advantages of owning your own business with his own lackeys now. He also came out for three weeks during the worse of the divorce stuff." Quinn had a feeling that time was not conducive to a healthy heart. He kept mumbling about taking Jonathan out with a shotgun like the squirrels that hang out by his condo. He actually scared Chloe.
"His divorce?" Michael asked with puzzlement.
"My divorce. I'm surprise you don't know about it. It made all the tabloids." For the first month, Quinn could not leave the house without being followed by the press. It was worse than when Lindsey died.
"I was wondering why your husband wasn't with you, but I didn't want to say anything. You were still married when I was with Lindy last year. She was always bringing out the family photos of her favorite Nieces. I'm in the middle of my residency dealing with an elderly grandmother. I didn't have time to read Brittany Taylor's gossip blog." Michael said in response.
Former Lawndale cheerleader Brittany Taylor was now one of the top celebrity bloggers in LA. Quinn has no idea how that happened. Daria was surprised she could spell the word blog, then she realized it was a video blog. They occasionally saw each other at various Hollywood events that Quinn still attended.
"It wouldn't have helped. Brittany was the only one who didn't drag my name through the mud. She was actually very respectful. See there is the difference between you and me. You were actually here to help your grandmother and I was stuck being selfish in my mansion crying over my husband screwing his costar." Quinn said as she grabbed a fruit and cheese tray from the case.
"See this is why I know you have changed. I don't think taking care of teenage daughters is being selfish. You had other responsibilities." She knew Michael was right, but she didn't want to listen.
"My dad is still in the critical care unit because nobody was around to tell him not to eat at Cluster Burger twice a day or to take his blood pressure medicine." Quinn said with a voice that was a mixture of tears and anger as she got in the check out line.
"That's the guilt talking. I understand. When my dad died, I blame myself. He was the only parent I had because my mom was never really there. I thought maybe if I went to State, I could've visiting more. Maybe if I stated a business major, he wouldn't have to worry about paying for med school. Eventually, I realized that it was just something out of my control. Second guessing myself served no purpose." How could he know what she was thinking?
"So does the guilt and self recrimination go away?" She asks him quickly.
"Not really. It just gets more tolerable. Then I help people like your dad get better and it gets a little easier to deal with." Michael said with a smile as they finally stood in front of the cashier.
"Hey, Dr. Mack daddy." Quinn heard the cashier say as he started to ring up her snack. Without his trademark football uniform or the goofy shirt he wore during his second senior year it took her a moment to recognize him.
"Kevin, I told you not to call me that. Do you want to be working the graveyard shift at that gas station again?" Michael said just as Quinn handed Kevin her credit card. Later on she would find out that Michael was the one who got Kevin the job in the LMC cafeteria. That's also the reason why he usually eats at one of the restaurants across the street.
"Sorry Dr. Mackenzie. Quinn is that you? What are you doing here?" Kevin asked.
"My dad is in the hospital." She said quickly as she grabbed her credit card and the receipt.
"That's too bad. I hope he doesn't die." She actually heard Michael sigh behind her at that. "Your dad was always cool for an old guy. He was like the only person who talked to me when I was working at that gas station. He would always stop by for a super chili dog special with extra jalapenos." Oh great even Kevin knew more about her father's eating habits than she did. Michael grabbed her hand again before she could start crying in the middle of the checkout.
"Quinn, do you want to go out sometime? You're still a babe even if you don't wear makeup anymore. Are you one of those hairy armpit chicks now?" Quinn could not decide if she was flattered or insulted. Fortunately, Quinn didn't have to answer because the person behind her started yelling for Kevin to stop hitting on girls in the checkout line again. According to Michael, this happens a lot.
"Thank you. I had no idea how to answer him. I think I'm too sleep deprived to come up with a good excuse." Quinn said as she fell into one of the couches by the windows in the cafeteria.
"No trouble. Honestly, he does that with everyone. I'm just happy no one remembers that I recommended him for the cafeteria job." He said with a laugh.
"My dad is going to need someone here in Lawndale to take care of him, right?" That fact was starting to become painfully obvious to Quinn.
"It's really too early to talk about post heart attack care." Michael said sitting next to her.
"I'm just a writer and I know that the major contributing factor to this heart attack was my dad didn't take care of himself. He's never been good at it. In high school, he almost caught the house on fire trying to warm milk."
"Ok, maybe you have a point. Once we know more we can talk about care options. Let's wait until your father is completely out of the woods and your sister gets here from Japan before we talk more about it."
"Okay." Quinn said even though she didn't want to drop the subject.
"Now let's talk about you taking care of yourself. According to your friends, you've had 20 cups of coffee and about an hour and a half of sleep since 5:00 AM yesterday. You need rest and to eat something other than a few pieces of fruit and cheese." He said pointing to the snack that she barely touch. "Go back to the hotel and get some sleep. I'll call you if there's any change. You're only a 5 minute walk away." Okay so maybe that was the real reason why Daria chose that specific hotel. She is still going down later.
"I rather be here. I can rest on the couch." Michael gave her that 'I know you're lying to me' look.
"Lindy said you would say that. She says that she and Jane have pictures of your room during the height of your Boys or Guys phase. If you don't comply with my orders these pictures will be emailed to Nikki and your daughters." Quinn has seen these pictures from right before they moved to Lawndale. Those images are beyond humiliating.
"They are too evil." Quinn mumbled under her breath.
"I can understand why you don't want your children to see that, but who is Nikki?" Quinn forgot that most people know Daria's husband by the first name Nicholas.
"Nikki is Daria's husband and a recovering boy band member who is currently relapsing in Japan. He was known as the cute one in Boys or Guys. You probably know him as Dr. Nicholas Bryan. Daria's husband sense of humor is just as wicked as hers and will most likely show the entire group during their Asian reunion tour. They would do something that evil." Quinn mumbled under her breath.
have one "Their intentions are good. You need sleep. Your sister is married to a boy band member?"
"You really don't check out Britney's blog?" How could he miss that?
"Not really."
"Fine, I will go to the hotel and get some sleep. I will be back at six."
"Good" Michael said getting up from the couch.
Actually, she slept to eight because certain sneaky children of hers deactivated her she got to the hospital at 8:30, Dr. Carol gave her an update on her father's condition and finally allowed her to see him for a few minutes. She was happy that Lindy and her mother decided to take the girls out for pizza. She did not want the girls or her mom to see this. Her father looked so weak lying in bed hooked up to various machines. She just held his hand for a few moments before she was forced to leave.
She and Jane were going over story ideas so she wouldn't burst in to tears again when the girls and Helen showed back up to the hospital. She was forced to eat a chicken salad at some point during the brainstorming session. Quinn assumed that Daria was the reason Jane had so much black mail material.
Dr. Carol finally allowed her mother to go in and see Jake a little before 10:00 PM. She left the room 5 minutes later in tears. After hugging both granddaughters, she left for the night, saying she would be back in the morning.
Lindy offered to stay with the girls in the hotel but her teenage daughters had minds of their own and refused to let their mom wallow in herself pity. They are such great children that never listen to their mother. She spent the rest of the evening playing cards with her daughters and Jane as her children heard more horror stories about high school Quinn.
Around 1:00 AM, Bianca finally agreed to go back to the hotel but Chloe was too stubborn to leave. Jane returned 30 minutes later after taking Bianca to Lindy with espresso and some fruit for Quinn to munch on.
Around 3:00 AM, Quinn was busy working on her computer as Chloe slept in her lap. Jane was on the adjacent couch sleeping. 30 minutes later Quinn was asleep with laptops still in hand.
"I thought you were the only one who could sleep with a computer in your hand." Quinn heard a voice say through her sleepy mind. It took her a few moments to realize it was Daria.
"I have never fallen asleep working on my laptop. It was usually my guitar. My daughter, Madison has done it a few times. Mo is really good about keeping us from accidentally hurting ourselves when sleeping. Stupid narcolepsy." That voice had to belong to Jane's brother Trent. He volunteered to pick up Daria from Dulles so they could hang out. Daria was coming from that far away because that was the Airport that she could get a flight to the quickest.
"Daria is that you?" Quinn called out sleepily.
"Yes, it's me. Go back to Sleep." Daria said as she took the laptop out of Quinn's hands.
"Can't sleep, I need to talk to you about daddy. We have to take better care of him. He eats too much Cluster Burger." Quinn said to her sister half asleep. She could already feel Chloe taking up more of her lap now that she was no longer competing with the computer.
"We can talk about daddy's burger habit later." Daria said grabbing another blanket from one of the other chairs to cover her and Chloe.
"Hey, I'm going to go ahead and take Jane to my house to crash for the rest of the night or morning. I'll stop by tomorrow morning or maybe in the afternoon. Actually, let's just keep it loose. I'll bring Madison." Although she was really sleepy, Quinn could see Trent hugging Daria as she started to chuckle.
"You really haven't changed that much. Thanks for coming to get me in the middle of the night. I don't think I am conscious enough to drive and I did not feel like dealing with a car service. You're much better at conversation anyway."
"Don't worry about it. Remember, it's easier to stay up all night then to get up early anyway." Trent said letting go of Daria to get his sister.
"Don't you have to teach tomorrow since you are supposedly a responsible adult now?" She heard a sleepy Jane say as she got up from the couch.
"Tomorrow is an in service day. I don't have to show up for those. Mo will tell me everything later."
"One of the advantages of sleeping with your boss," Daria said in her usual monotone.
"Good one, Daria." She heard Trent respond with a laugh/cough. That's the last thing Quinn remembers before falling asleep again.
Quinn woke up 2 hours later to the sounds of her mother and sister arguing in the middle of the waiting room. Fortunately, Chloe who learn to sleep through her biological mothers partying could sleep during just about anything. They were fighting over the fact that Daria should go back to the hotel to get some sleep after mom offered to stay with dad this morning but she refused. Then Daria said something about mom needing to return to court and telling her that there was no point in her babysitting her ex husband. This resulted in more screaming.
Quinn carefully got up from the couch after replacing her lap with a pillow as not to wake up Chloe, before running to the bathroom. By the time, Quinn returned they were acting like nothing was wrong as they munched on some breakfast sandwiches that mom brought.
"Have the doctors been by yet?" Quinn asked taking the seat next to Daria.
"Dr. Carol is going to be in surgery until 12. Mike won't be on until 9:00 AM but he left a message with one of the nurses to let me see dad whenever I got here. Apparently rushing back from Japan is a good excuse to extend the visiting hours." The fact that Daria was shaking when she said this told Quinn that her sister had almost the exact same reaction that she did earlier.
"You did not have to come, but I'm glad you're here." Quinn said as she hugged her sister. She was personally shocked that Daria did not pull away.
"Yes I did. Nikki wanted to come with me but I think that was only so he could get out of spending quality time with his band mates. Being in close quarters reminded him exactly why the group broke up the first time around."
"I'm still glad you're here." Nikki said ending the hug.
"So in my, but I think you should get some rest. You've been in the air for the last day." Helen added.
"It's just like last time except with no Grandma Ruth to criticize everything." Daria said sardonically.
"Is it wrong to be happy that Grandma Ruth died two years ago?" Quinn said in a whisper that only Daria could hear. Grandma Ruth was not very happy with Quinn's decision to become a single parent or make a living by writing with her grandmother referred to as 'housewife pornography'. Before her death Daria became the good granddaughter.
"Not really. I was thinking the exact same thing but mom makes up for it." Daria whispered back.
As Chloe slept on, the three caught up on the last few weeks. Eventually the conversation turned to everything Quinn learn yesterday and the need for someone to be there to help take care of Jake during the recovery period. All signs were pointing to the fact that Jake would recover. That made Quinn worry less.
Her mother actually suggested that Jake move in to her house for a few weeks until he was 100% better. That led to more arguing.
"Mom do you really think spending time with Eric is conducive to heeling? Dad will be back in the cardiac care unit by the end of the week." This point mentioned by Daria was enough to get Helen to resend her offer.
Quinn was personally glad this worked because she didn't want to tell her mom what some of her dad's golf buddies told her yesterday when they stopped by. Apparently, her father went unconscious about the time Eric started making certain jokes about Brookes' 'assets'. So much for their assumption that dad could tolerate Eric.
They finally agreed on three possible courses of action after Jane showed back up to referee. Option one, was moving daddy out to L.A. Jake will probably automatically say no to this because he would not want to leave his company behind. Daria doesn't believe that their father would even be willing to do it for a few months. In addition, there was the question of if he would be healthy enough to travel that far. That would also mean finding new doctors in Malibu that their father would actually listen to.
Option two, was hiring a Home Healthcare worker to stay with Jake. Quinn didn't like this option for several reasons. First, it felt like they were palming their father off on a complete stranger. Second, Quinn seriously doubted a stranger could convince her father to take his medication on time or actually eat something other than Cluster Burger. Third, the moment her daddy started on one of his military school rants the worker would quit. Daria estimated that the company would stop sending people within a week.
The final option was for either her or Daria to move back to Lawndale. Quinn automatically knew it would be her if they took this option. Daria's job required her to be in some place like Los Angeles, New York, or London except when she occasionally accompanied her husband on location. Then there was the fact that after the boy band nostalgia tour Nikki was supposed to be a visiting professor at NYC University for a year as he worked on his next solo album.
Unlike her sister, Quinn could do her job anywhere. She actually completed drafts for three chapters in the last 48 hours along with an outline for the graphic novel.
Her only concern was the girls. She didn't want to take them away from their friends and make them start at a brand new school in the middle of January. It reminded her too much of being forced to leave her friends every time her parents decided to put their careers ahead of their children. However, maybe being away from Malibu and the Hollywood lifestyle would be healthy for the girls.
Also compared to Daria Quinn knows how to be a caregiver. She was Lindsey's assistant for over five years. That involved vast amounts of reminding her to eat something and telling her not to take other people's Pills. Taking care of her father shouldn't be that different.
After another argument broke out between Daria and Helen they decided to table the discussion until Jake was feeling better. Actually, they kept arguing until Dr. Michael broke it up to let the three know that her father was conscious.
Spending time with her father caused the same reaction as last time. At least this time she had Daria with her. He also had a minor freak out when they actually told him about the heart attack. Daria was right; it was exactly like last time except without grandmother.
Over the next few days, Quinn and Daria started splitting their time between the hospital and the hotel. By that evening, she was kicked out of the waiting room after normal visiting hours and Quinn actually had to start sleeping at the hotel again. Lindy also went back to DC but promised to return in a few days.
Jake's friends started visiting by the third day but were not allowed in yet. This essentially consists of the regulars at the bar by his house, his golf buddies, the five other people that now work that Jake Morgendorffer consulting, and Mr. DeMartino.
Her former history teacher was still teaching at Lawndale high. Although he seemed a lot happier now that Ms. Li was gone and he was only teaching AP and Honors history.
Also by the third day, it was decided that Chloe and Bianca would be spending Saturday and Sunday at the Lane house. Apparently, Bianca tried to see if she could break into the computers at the hotel and there may have been an incident with a bellhop. Jane didn't tell her about this until the next day because of all the tests that Jake had that day. She and Daria spent the next day with Dr. Carol talking about things like pacemakers and bypass surgery as Jake freaked out a little bit more in his bed.
When she returned to the hotel with her sister she was accosted by her two teenage daughters."
"Sign these." Bianca said as she handed her a clipboard with several sheets of paper attached.
"What am I signing?" Quinn asked in a daze. She was exhausted from earlier.
"Transfer papers. Actually, the first paper is a release form to get our records from our current school sent to Lawndale. Below that are the forms to enroll us at Lawndale high. We already filled out everything you just need to sign." Quinn was actually shocked.
"I told you your children are scary and very pushy." Daria said as she went to sit on one of the couches.
"Why?" Quinn finally asked after a few moments.
"I know you thought I was asleep a couple of days ago when you, Grandma, and Daria were talking about what was best for Grandpa Jake. Did you really think I could sleep through all the yelling? Bianca and I talked to grandpa about it yesterday before we visited the Lanes. We decided that moving to Lawndale would be the best option." Chloe said with a smile.
"Even the promise of more golf time could not convince him to move to Malibu permanently. I really thought that would work. At least this way I'll be getting away from the extremely pretentious people at my high school who want to become the star of the next Laguna Beach." Bianca said in an extremely sarcastic voice.
"They still have those people here. Ask your mom about Sandi Griffin. Also, I went to high school with Brittany Taylor." Daria said with a shiver.
"The gossip blogger? Briana asked.
"Because grandpa won't come to us we have to move here." Chloe said getting back on topic. We got the transfer papers from Principle Mo today. You have a meeting tomorrow after you dropped us off at school to meet with a real estate agent. Lindy is coming up to help with the house shopping. It really is a buyer's market out here."
"I'm not getting a say in this?" In reality she was actually happy. If this was the girls choice, she wouldn't feel guilty for forcing them to move away from their childhood home.
"We know you want to." Chloe told her.
"Just sign the papers mom. I'm looking forward to having a brand new faculty to terrify. Also Mr. Lane's daughter is kind of cool."
"It's just weird to hear Trent refer to as a Mr. anything." Daria added.
"Bianca found her anti social soul mate. You can't deprive her of that. Everyone should have one friend." That got Chloe a pillow in the face from her sister.
"Fine, I will sign the papers." That's how Quinn found herself back in Lawndale. She really hoped her father appreciated this.