Once again, a massive thank you to everyone who has been following this fic! I know this may sound silly, but I've got the most favourites, alerts, and reviews I've ever had before with this story, so I am extremely flattered and grateful to all you lovely people who have been reading ^^
Also, thanks to Gleeko for reviewing; your wish is now my command, for here is some more for you to read and hopefully enjoy :D
This chapter's pretty lengthy, the longest I've written so far actually, because there was quite a lot off stuff I wanted to get in, mainly the Brittana interaction in the middle.
So, onwards my fellow Gleeks, your quest for Chapter 4 has now begun! Or, y'know, something that isn't totally lame and nerdy xD -I'm really hyper right now because I was just listening to the amazing songs from On My Way ^^
ANYWAY. Enough of this meaningless chitter-chatter. Here's Chapter Four! (:
Rachel became a frequent visitor to the hospital after that, much to the annoyance of Lisa, the nurse who worked behind the desk. And if she wasn't visiting, you could be quite sure that she was at home, either calling the hospital or leaving them messages, telling them to get in touch if there was any change in Quinn's condition, and to let her know when visitors were going to be allowed back in to Quinn's room.
Little did Rachel know that the nurses in the hospital loved nothing more than a good gossip whenever they got a moment to spare, and that as a result of that, despite her trying her hardest to keep it hidden, the brunette's unrelenting quest to see Quinn wasn't kept quiet for very long.
The blonde ex-cheerleader stirred slightly, having being woken by the faint sound of chatter coming from behind the curtain that was stretched and extended around her bed. She could not be seen by those around her, but that didn't mean that she couldn't hear what was being said. She listened intently, in an attempt to hear the conversation that was being exchanged by what seemed to be two female nurses who were clearly under the impression that she was sound asleep, and managed to catch snippets of what they were saying...
"Well, I think it's sweet."
"Hmm, I'm not sure. I mean, this girl claims that they're just friends? Well, let me assure you, I have never in all my years as a nurse known of a 'friend' who was this insistent."
"Well, all I'm saying is that this Rachel Berry must really care about Miss Fabray, to be constantly bugging poor Lisa about when she can see her."
The voices then began to fade away, as the nurses made their way towards a new destination, until their conversation was no longer audible. But Quinn failed to notice the silence that now filled the room, as she was paralysed by the simple few sentences she had just heard.
"...never in all my years as a nurse known of a 'friend' who was this insistent..."
"...this Rachel Berry must really care about Miss Fabray..."
Quinn then began to rack her brains, trying to think of anything that would determine whether what she had overheard had any amount of truth to it.
Sure, lately she and Rachel had become a lot closer. They'd started hanging out a bit after school, seeing movies, having girly days with Santana and Brittany. But that all seemed normal to Quinn, nothing that would lead her to believe that Rachel saw her as anything more than a friend. But then, she began to think more, and realised that she had seen a lot of little warning signs over the past few weeks, even if she hadn't consciously noticed them at first.
Rachel blushing if Quinn accidentally brushed her hand when reaching over her to get something; Rachel giggling at everything Quinn said, even if it wasn't particularly amusing; Rachel defending Quinn a few weeks ago when a freshman had made fun of her for not being on the Cheerio's anymore; Rachel holding her hand a few days ago when she visited her in the hospital.
Quinn could feel herself blushing slightly, becoming increasingly flustered the more she thought about this, which made her heart rate escalate noticeably. This in turn made her heart monitor start beeping erratically, which brought her to a passing nurses' attention. The nurse then entered Quinn's room, quickly paging the doctor that was in charge of Quinn while she was under the hospital's care. The doctor then came rushing in, asking if everything was okay. Quinn stated adamantly that she was fine, but the doctor insisted that something must be causing her heart to suddenly begin thumping like this, and that he was going to give her a sedative to help her calm down, so she wouldn't make her condition even worse.
So, ignoring Quinn's feeble cries of protest, he proceeded to give her a dose of sedative hypnotic sleeping pills, which, despite her efforts to fight against it, made her eyelids grow heavy, and soon had the blonde drifting off into a world of fantasy and darkness.
"This is bullcrap! I don't understand this at all!"
Santana was pacing back and forth across Brittany's room, anger and frustration evident in her dark eyes and clenched fists.
"Look Sanny, just calm down. I'm sure they'll call us when she wakes up and then we'll be able to go and visit her. She probably just needs some time to-"
"Time to what, Britt? Because from what I can see, there isn't really much on Q's agenda right now; SHE CAN'T EVEN SPEAK TO US. I just don't see why we, as her best friends, aren't allowed to see her and try to help her get better."
Suddenly, all of Santana's anger seemed to dissipate. It was as if her rage had simply dissolved, and she collapsed backwards onto the bed next to Brittany, deflated. Brittany's eyebrows furrowed sympathetically; she knew that her girlfriend was having a hard time dealing with all of this, and that being angry was her way of expressing her feelings, even if she wasn't actually angry at anyone.
The blonde pulled the Latina close to her, holding her tenderly and stroking her cheek lovingly.
"San? Look babe, I know you're upset right now; we all are. But we can't do anything if the people at the hospital won't let us in to see Quinn. To be honest, I didn't really like it there. I got a bit creeped out when we passed that room they use for operations; it looked like the room on that spaceship where I got probed."
Santana let out a small giggle, and kissed Brittany's cheek, grateful to have her there; she always knew how to cheer her up.
"Yeah I know, you're right Britt. But I… I just miss her, y'know? I mean, I know we had some problems last year, but we had just started to make amends and get over that, and then…"
Santana sniffled quietly, and Brittany rubbed her arm soothingly.
"Well San, soon she'll wake up, and then we can visit her loads and make more amends. What do you use to make amends San? Do we need to go to that store that sells art stuff? Or is it a food? Because you know that I find recipes confusing."
Santana stared at Brittany in disbelief, then out of her exploded a laugh. It was the first time Brittany had heard the brunette laugh in a while, and it was wonderful. It echoed around the room, her nose crinkling in that way that made Brittany's heart do somersaults. Then suddenly, Santana snorted, which had Brittany in hysterics too. Their laughter then subsided into quiet giggles, as the two girls lay facing each other, smiling happily.
Santana brushed a stray strand of blonde away from Brittany's face, then leaned in to kiss her gently. Brittany smiled a little as Santana's lips connected with hers, and then began to kiss her back tenderly. Then, just when things started to heat up, the sound of quacking began to resonate around the room. Santana sprung away from Brittany, startled by the interruption. She then narrowed her eyes, turning to face Brittany.
"Britt-Britt, PLEASE tell me you didn't 'rescue' another duck from the petting zoo again?"
"No", Brittany giggled, "It's just my phone."
She leaned over Santana to pick up her phone from the side table, planting a light kiss on Santana's full lips, before settling back on the bed.
"Oh, I've got a text! It's from Rachel…"
Santana's eyes widened, wondering if she had any news about Quinn. She watched Brittany's face carefully for any signs. She sighed impatiently, wishing Brittany was a faster reader.
"Ay, dios mio! What does it say Britt?"
"Um, I'm not sure. Rachel uses really long words…"
Santana then grabbed the phone from Brittany's hands, huffing irritably. She scrolled to the top of the text and began reading:
-Hello Brittany. As I'm sure you are aware, I have been monitoring Quinn relentlessly ever since our brief encounter at the hospital, and I have just been told something that is of utmost importance, hence why I felt the need to text you. I believe both you and Santana will be ecstatic when I inform you that I have just conversed with the doctor who is taking care of Quinn, and he has just divulged information regarding Quinn's recovery. He revealed to me that Quinn has in fact been awake for a number of days, and that we are now permitted to visit her. Therefore, I shall be making my way over to the hospital at approximately 16:00 this afternoon, and was contemplating whether you and Santana would like to accompany me? If you wish to do so, I shall meet you in the reception at the aforementioned time. I hope to see you both there. –Rachel 'Barbra' Berry.
"Yes! Britt, Quinn's awake! She's awake! Gracias a dios! Come on Britt, let's get ready! Vamos!"
Santana pulled up outside of the hospital, checking the time hurriedly.
15:58.
"Come on Britt, we don't wanna be late!"
The Latina ran around to the passenger side, flinging open the door and grabbing the startled blonde's hand, practically dragging her out of the car.
She marched up to the front desk, charging through the doors like a soldier on a mission. Brittany followed behind her, clutching onto Santana's hand, nibbling her lip nervously.
"Rachel? Rachel! Where is that unnervingly small girl?" Santana demanded, growing more and more frustrated.
"…Santana?" said a voice from behind her, and the Latina's head whipped round, her eyes meeting the timid gaze of Rachel Berry, who was a few feet behind her, emerging from the bathroom.
"Oh, there you are! What were you doing?"
"Well San, she was in the toilet, so…" murmured Brittany, in an attempt to help.
"Ay! I know what she was doing Britt, I just meant… Oh, never mind! Are we going in or what?"
Brittany and Rachel then nodded, proceeding to follow Santana, who had began to make her way up the stairs leading to Quinn's room, all the while muttering to herself,
"Honestly. Estamos en una apuro, y ella va al baño maldita como el que tenemos todo el tiempo en el mundo!"
Brittany just smiled at this; she found it rather endearing when Santana reverted back to her Spanish roots when she was talking. Plus, she had to admit, it was super hot. But her train of thought was then cut short by Rachel and Santana coming to a halt outside a door in front of her.
"Here we are." Santana whispered. She reached down to take Brittany's hand, looking for comfort and reassurance. Brittany smiled at her encouragingly, then looked at Rachel and said,
"Okay. Let's do this."
Santana took a deep breath, then reached out and turned the door handle. The girls each exchanged one last nervous glance, then made their way forward slowly.
They entered the bright room, the walls painted a dazzling yellow.
"Yeah, like some freakin' paint will make everything better." mumbled Santana.
But then, her attention was caught by a mess of blonde hair peeking up from under the blue cotton sheets that covered the bed in front of them. Her gaze was met by intense, sky-blue eyes, and then, she heard a gentle voice speak softly from behind the blue shield;
"Hi."
OH I KNOW, I'M AWFUL, LEAVING YOU ALL ON A CLIFFHANGER LIKE THAT ;D I think I kinda had to though, this chapter was bordering on being illegally long – it's almost 3000 words! – so I thought I would end it here then continue this scene in Chapter 5 (:
And, in case any of you were wondering – the Spanish line Santana says while they're walking to Quinn's room means: "We're in a hurry, and she's going to the damn bathroom like we have all the time in the world!"
RANT TIME – WHO ELSE IS DYING BECAUSE OF THIS 7-WEEK BREAK? D: although, here in England it's not too bad, because we now have Yes/No airing on TV today, and the rest of the episodes will be shown over the following weeks, so technically I'll have Yes/No, Michael, The Spanish Teacher, Heart, and On My Way to get me through the Glee hiatus :D and it also means I'll get another chance to see that PERFECT BRITTANA KISS again.
Anyway, I hope you're all liking the fic so far, and as always, reviews are like gold to me, they make me happier than Lord Tubbington in a cheese factory! :D so don't be afraid to tell me what you thought! ^^