Chapter 9: About Her
"Finn, what's going on here?" Coach Sheldon asks sternly, going to help his former star athlete restrain Kitty.
"Someone posted on the Internet that Sara is pregnant," he hisses angrily.
"Sara, Sara," Burt says, chewing on the name, trying to put a face to it.
"She's the girl who gave you the ball cap dad after you got out of the hospital," Kurt clarifies.
"The Yankees one?"
"Yes, that one."
"Oh yes, she's a nice kid."
"Is she the one who was in the Trouble Tones with us?" Brittany asks.
"No Brittany, that was Sugar," Santana says.
The stylish girl looks shocked. "How could you confuse me with that freak?"
"Sugar!" Finn snaps sternly.
"Sorry, Asperger's."
Carol puts her hand on her son's shoulder. She holds a small bouquet of flowers in her opposite hand. "Finn, you need to control yourself."
"I'm trying," he hisses angrily.
"I know this is hard for you but getting mad at everyone won't help."
"You're right, I'm sorry Sugar."
"Whatever," she says.
"Where's Quinn?" Puck asks.
"She's inside with Sara's cousins."
"Sara has cousins?" Mike says in disbelief. Tina does her best to avoid her ex-boyfriend's eyes.
"Yeah, three of them and they live with her and her brother Joe,"
"You mean that Joe?" Brittany asks, pointing to Jake.
"No Brit, that's my brother, and it's not the Christian homeboy over here," Puck says firmly.
"He's her bastard of an older brother," Finn hisses.
"Finn," his mother says firmly.
"Right, I'm sorry."
Puck goes to greet his little brother with a slap on the back, Rachel hugs Carol, Santana hugs her girlfriend tightly and Kurt gives his father a much-needed hug, while Sue and Sheldon do their best to rally everyone together. Mike goes over to talk to Artie and Sugar, Tina biting her lip as hard as she can. Despite how much she has moved on, she still had feelings for him on some level.
"You know, the strangest thing," Sue says quietly to Sheldon. "I don't remember ever insulting the girl Sara Walsh. She even offered to babysit Robin sometimes."
"You insult so many people it's hard to keep track of them all," Sheldon says firmly.
"You may be right," the cheerleading coach says. "Well, I brought a card from Becky Jackson, apparently she worked with the kids with disabilities group. It says Hope You Feel Better Soon Bitch, which is her way of saying, friend."
"I'm sure Becky means it as nicely as she can," Sheldon says. He then turns to bring everyone inside, Finn, Rachel, Burt, Carol, and Kurt bringing up the rear.
"How bad is it?" Burt asks.
"She's on life support right now, but she's stable. She lost a lot of blood and needs help breathing," Finn says gravely.
"Have they found the son of a bitch yet?" Burt growls.
"No,"
"What about this baby that you said someone posted on Facebook?" Carol asks.
"She might lose it at this point, and the father is either Ryder or Rory,"
"That's not exactly reassuring," Kurt adds quietly.
"I don't even know what the guy looks like," Finn mutters.
"Maybe that's for the best," Rachel says gently.
"Yeah, because I'm going to beat the tar out of him,"
"You will do no such thing," his mother says sternly. "This is a job for the police."
"The police won't be able to give her justice,"
"Finn, you're not a mercenary, I doubt Sara would want you to be put in jail for defending her honour," Kurt says. "Part of me wishes I knew more about her."
The group comes back into the waiting room, Quinn sits with Katlyn still sleeping in her lap, Julia is curled up in a chair, meaning only Madison is awake, she appears to be bleary-eyed and lazily drawing in her sketchbook.
Carol and Burt give off soft smiles at the sight of the young children, being brought back to when their sons were young. Sheldon is down at Maddy's level to greet her.
"And who might you be?" he asks.
"I'm Madison, but people call me Maddy. I'm nine and in grade four."
"You're so big," Sheldon chuckles. "Do you mind if I call you Princess?"
The little girl beams happily. "My daddy used to call me that."
"And where is your daddy now?"
"In heaven," the young one says rather bluntly.
The coach is taken aback by the answer, surprised at how nonchalantly she says this as if it no longer bothers her.
"Are you Mr. Sheldon?" Maddy asks.
"I am,"
"Like the Big Bang Theory?"
The coach smiles at the girl. "I guess so."
"Sara told me that you made the football team good and you used to be a lady, but decided to become a man,"
"Yes, that's right,"
"But you are strong, and Sara used to be afraid of you,"
This description surprises Sheldon. Quinn cuts in to explain.
"Sara has told them all about us already."
"They seem to know us better than ourselves," Blaine adds.
"And that's Ms. Sylvester, like the cat," Maddy says, pointing at Sue. "She has a special baby named Robin and though she can be mean, she is nice underneath,"
Sue swallows a lump in her throat. The innocence of the child and the pleasant honesty is something she usually dished out to others in vanity and anger. Additionally, she was used to people not having anything nice to say about her either, but apparently, Sara told only good things to her young cousins.
"That's right, I am Coach Sylvester."
Maddy smiles at the harsh woman before going back to her drawing.
"She's precious," Carol says to Burt and the others.
"And she doesn't deserve the person caring for her," Finn mutters.
Puck goes over and hugs Quinn before sitting down next to her.
"Has there been any news?" Rachel inquires.
"Not yet but I…"
Just then, a nurse comes out to the large group. She is very surprised by the number of people have gathered here.
"May I help you?"
"We're here about Sara Walsh," Sheldon explains.
"Oh, it's nice to know she has so many friends and loved ones," the medical professional says pleasantly.
"How is she?" Ryder asks, speaking the words on everyone's minds.
"I won't lie to you, she's not in the greatest condition. We're doing our best to try and save the baby. She's on oxygen at the moment and the wound has been closed, but she's in very delicate condition. We've moved her to a private room; she's restrained because right now, a single shift in her weight could open the wound in her stomach again and cause her to lose more blood. This could possibly lead her blood pressure dropping and her to go into cardiac arrest. If this happens, it could very well kill the baby and if we try to resituate her, it could kill her as well. As of currently, we can only give her time."
Rachel grabs Finn's hand tightly and leans into him. It's instinct for her to seek support and she can feel the tears welling up. Finn swallows a large lump in his throat. Carol leans into Burt for support, Sue and Sheldon look on in horror, Madison puts down her pencils and runs to Finn to cling to his leg. Joe folds his hands in prayer, Quinn puts her hand on Katlyn's resting head, Tina begins to cry, Sam picks up Julia in his arms to hold her tightly, Santana holds Brittany's hand tightly, Kurt and Blaine stand close together and the rest of the group look on in silence. Ryder and Rory look very frightened and sad, trying to fight back the tears of distress and anxiety. At this moment, it didn't matter who the father was, they may never know if everything just keeps getting worse.
The entire waiting room is dead quiet. No one moves for fear that it might cause Sara's condition to worsen, that it may set off a chain reaction that could put both the girl and her unborn child's life at risk.
A pall of sadness hangs over all of their heads; the words of the nurse echoing in their heads. The one about Sara having so many friends and loved ones. It's true the girl had touched their lives, gave the occasional smile or greeting in the hallway or choir room, but she was still a mystery to everyone. No one knew what her favourite colour was or why she even joined Glee Club in the first place. For they knew, she had just moved to Lima or was British royalty. But it became clearer to Finn as his mind connected the dots that maybe they didn't know these things for a reason. Most were wishing beyond all belief that they knew more about her, but for him, maybe she did it to protect everyone she cared about... to protect them from him.
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