A/N: Hey buddies, sorry this is hella late but real life keeps getting in the way.
Thank you to every follow, review and favourite, and just for reading :)
I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters
Beca sat, silent and calm, as doctors whizzed around her, performing every test they had. Chloe had been taken back to her room before they'd had a chance to speak to each other, so now Beca waited patiently for the doctors to leave her alone so she could see her again.
"Okay," the doctor said, standing at the foot of her bed, looking down at his clipboard.
"Can I see Chloe?" Beca said, interrupting him. She had done what they said without complaint for the last two hours, and all she wanted now was to see her girlfriend. The doctor sighed.
"Beca, you nearly died. In fact, you did die! For about twenty minutes. You're lucky you aren't brain-dead. You inhaled enough smoke to kill a 200 lbs man. You were unconscious for about 36 hours. You have two cracked ribs and an arm so broken it's amazing you're actually getting to keep it," he said, exasperated.
"I just want-"
"And Chloe is recovering from major surgery to fix her fractured spine. So, no Beca. I'm afraid you'll have to wait to see her until after your surgery," he said.
"She fractured her spine?" Beca said, trying to shift her position without hurting her already painful ribs. "Is she okay?"
"She's in for a long road of physio, but she'll be okay," he said, softening slightly. "You can see her once you come out of theatre, okay?"
"Okay," she mumbled, sulking. "Wait," she added, eyebrows furrowing in confusion, "how did I crack a rib?"
"It seems Gail was perhaps a little heavy-handed when she was giving you CPR," he said, a slight smile.
"Gail got me out? Who got Chloe?"
"Jesse, I think," he said, before he left the room.
Beca woke up after her surgery when she heard the chair scraping beside her. She opened her eyes to see Jesse leaving the room.
"Welcome back, Mitchell," a voice said from her other side. She turned to see Gail sitting beside her, smiling.
"Hey," Beca said, smiling sleepily.
"I heard I cracked some ribs," Gail said. "Sorry about that."
"It's cool," Beca said. "But I didn't know you liked me so much."
"Don't kid yourself, Mitchell," Gail said with a laugh. "The only reason I wanted to bring you back was so I could kick your ass for running in there in the first place."
"Ah," Beca said, smirking again. "Sure." There was a comfortable silence between them and Beca was tempted to close her eyes and sleep again, when Gail spoke.
"I really am glad you're okay," she said.
"Thank you for getting me out of there," Beca replied. They heard raised voices coming from outside the room.
"Why didn't you fucking call me, Jesse?!" A woman shouted.
"Hey, I tried! You were on vacation, your phone went straight to voicemail!" He replied. The door burst open and Stacie stormed in.
"Beca Mitchell," she said, her voice low and her eyes full of tears. "Which is your broken arm?" Beca timidly raised her cast-covered right arm. Stacie moved to her left side and started hitting her in the left arm. "Don't. You. Ever. Fucking. Scare. Me. Like. That. Again." She said, each word punctuated with a hit.
"Ow!" Beca said, trying to shield herself.
"Dr. Conrad, that's enough," Gail said, firmly. Stacie stopped hitting Beca but her face was still furious.
"I get back from my vacation, I turn on the news, and I see Beca running into a fucking collapsing building! And, of course, no one answers their fucking phones-"
"We were all here, Stacie," Jesse said, trying to reason with her. "Our phones are off."
"And I should have been here too!" Stacie replied. "I get to the hospital and they tell me what happened and... And I thought you'd..." She trailed off, her voice dissolving into sobs.
"Stace," Beca said, softly. "I'm okay. I'm still here." She held out her good hand and Stacie took it, sitting beside her much smaller friend.
"You're going to be the death of me, Mitchell," Stacie said, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand.
"She's going to be the death of all of us," Gail said, returning to her seat now the drama had ceased.
"Definitely," said Jesse, dropping into a seat by the door. "It's good to see you by the way," he added, smiling at Beca.
"Likewise," said Beca, smiling back. "Who gave you the shiner?"
"Uh," he said.
"You did," Gail said, laughing at Jesse's embarrassment.
"Shit," she said, "sorry dude. So, can I see Chloe yet?"
"I just want to see her," Chloe said, impatiently.
"She's recovering from surgery on her arm," her doctor said. "You can see her tomorrow."
"But-"
"You need to rest, Miss Beale," he said before leaving the room.
"What room is she in?" Beca asked Jesse.
"Why?" He said, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
"Because I want to know where she is," Beca said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, it's not like I can go anywhere."
"Fine, she's in room 217," he said.
"Thank you," said Beca.
"Okay Mitchell, I'm outta here," Gail said, standing and stretching. "I'm exhausted. I'll pop by tomorrow some time."
"Okay," Beca replied. "Thanks again, boss."
"Don't mention it. I mean that, I don't want people finding out that I care," she said, winking.
"I'm gonna head too," Jesse said. "I've been here forever."
"Wait," Beca said, gesturing for him to come closer. "Thank you, Jesse."
"What for?" He asked.
"You got Chloe out of there," Beca replied. "I can't thank you enough."
"Anytime," said Jesse, patting her on her good arm. "Glad you're okay, Becs." He left leaving Beca alone with Stacie.
"I need your help, Stace," she said once the door had closed.
Chloe was lying in bed, bored and frustrated and in pain, when her door opened and Beca came in, sitting in a wheelchair. How she managed to wheel herself in with only one working arm, Chloe would never know.
"Hey," she said, smiling up at the redhead.
"Beca," Chloe practically whispered, her eyes filled with tears. "What are you doing here? They told me you needed to rest."
"Well, I snuck off with the help of Stacie," Beca said, smirking slightly as the tall brunette came in behind her, wheeling her bed. With some help from Aubrey, Stacie managed to lie the two beds side-by-side, lowering the two railings in the middle of them, essentially turning the two singles into a double. She helped Beca onto the bed and reattached all the necessary machines.
"What is going on in here?" Chloe and Beca's doctor said as he walked into the room.
"Beca Mitchell is being moved into 217," Stacie replied, matter-of-factly.
"What?" He said, looking down and checking his notes. "On whose authority?"
"On mine," Stacie said, staring him down.
"Dr. Conrad, with all due respect-"
"They aren't going to get any better if they aren't allowed to see each other," Stacie said, cutting him off. He opened his mouth to argue but one look from Stacie shut him off.
"Fine," he said, grumbling. "But if anything happens, on your head be it, Conrad." He left the room, still muttering.
"Thank you so much, Stace," Beca said, adjusting her position so she could face Chloe. She winced as she pulled on her cracked ribs.
"No worries," Stacie said, helping Beca move. "And remember you guys have morphine if you need it." She pressed a button attached to Beca's bed and a second later the brunette's features relaxed.
"Yay," she mumbled happily. Stacie and Chloe chuckled at her.
"Okay, I'm going to let you both get some rest," she said.
"Me too," Aubrey said, standing. "I'll see you tomorrow." They all said their goodbyes and left Beca and Chloe alone for the first time since they were in the building.
"Thank you," Chloe said, softly, her eyes full of tears. She reached out and brushed the hair from Beca's face.
"Come on, Chlo'," Beca said, closing her eyes at the contact. "I couldn't leave you in there."
"I was so scared," she said, still softly stroking her hair.
"I know," Beca replied, opening her eyes and inching herself closer to Chloe, knowing the redhead couldn't really move. "But we're out of it now."
"I didn't mean then," Chloe said. "I thought I'd lost you. I... I didn't think you were going to wake up."
"It was strange," Beca said, much closer to her now. "Every so often I would hear a muffled voice, but it was never strong enough to make me want to wake up. It's like when you're a kid and you wake up on Saturday morning, and you can hear your mom doing the housework downstairs, but it isn't loud enough to really wake you, you know? You kind of hear it, but you're still practically asleep." Chloe nodded, watching the brunette intently. "Well, that's what it was like. And then I heard you crying. Begging and shouting. And it was the first time the voices had any meaning to me. And I felt you squeeze my hand and it, like, pulled me up. Like I was drowning and then suddenly you pulled me to the surface." Beca closed the gap between them and brought their lips together. Once they broke apart their foreheads rested together as they breathed each other in. Clinging to each other as if scared they would be dragged apart again. "I love you," Beca said.
"I love you too," Chloe replied. They lay together, talking softly for the rest of the night. Beca's eyes were itching with tiredness and they finally began to close without her control. "Don't," Chloe mumbled, desperate to fall asleep herself.
"Don't what?" Beca asked, dragging her eyes open.
"Go to sleep," she said.
"Sorry," Beca said, forcing herself to stay awake. "Why?" She asked eventually.
"I'm scared you won't wake up," Chloe said, tired tears in her eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere, Chlo'," Beca said, kissing the redhead's shoulder, which was the closest thing to her. "I promise."
"Becs, I'm scared," Chloe said, crying softly now.
"I know," Beca mumbled. She took Chloe's hand and pressed it against her chest. "Can you feel that?" Chloe nodded. "I'm still here. And I'll still be here in the morning." She fell asleep a few seconds later, the morphine pulling her under. With her hand still resting on Beca's chest, feeling her heart beat beneath it, Chloe finally closed her eyes.