Puck was pacing around the room that he and Rachel had waited two and a half hours on. He nervously kept glancing over at her as she sat on the bed, eyes closed. She hadn't told him in any detail about what had been said between her and Richard, and he had the feeling that she was bottling it up and pasting a fake smile on her face while she shrugged it off and said she was fine.
"Alright guys." Puck and Rachel both looked at the doctor as he came back into the room. "I've looked over the x-ray and I can say for sure that Rebecca was right. You're wrist is definitely broken. I'm gonna need to put a cast on it to help make sure that it heals properly, but you should only have to wear it about 6 weeks."
Rachel nodded, and Puck thanked the doctor who left to get some supplies to make the cast. Rachel had her eyes closed, almost like she was asleep. Puck walked over to her, cupped her face in his hands, and smirked when her eyes flew open. "Why don't you lie down and try to rest, Rach?"
Rachel shook her head and closed her eyes again. "I'm fine. I just want to get out of here. I hate this place."
Puck dropped his hands to the bed, placing one on each side of Rachel so that she was sitting in between them. "I know you do. We should be able to leave soon. Then, I'll get your prescription on the way home, and you can take a pain pill because I know you are hurting." Puck leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "Berry, I am so sorry that this happened to you. I swear that I will not let anything or anyone hurt you again."
Rachel opened her eyes and looked at Puck. "Noah, I'm going to be fine. I appreciate the gesture, but you can't promise that I'll never get hurt again. This was in no way your fault and you don't need to be saying these things to me like it was. Besides, this whole thing was an accident of sorts. It's not like he is gonna come back to finish the job, ok?"
Rachel laughed a little. Puck didn't. "This is not funny, Rachel! You are hurt! HE hurt you! And I am so pissed off, but you don't want me to do anything about it. So, if I am gonna have to live with the fact that I can't go punch that son of a bitch's face until my hand goes numb, then the very least that you can do for me is stop acting like everything is okay and it is no big deal, and fucking talk to me!"
"I can't." Rachel started crying. "God, what do you want from me?"
"I want you to tell me how you feel. I want you to be honest with yourself and with me. Talk to me Rachel."
"I can't talk about it Noah. I can't talk about the fact that I was terrified, or how hard I hit the table, or the sound that I heard when I broke my wrist. Quinn and my dads are going to be freaked out enough. I have to be strong for them." Tears were rolling down her face, and Puck wiped them off with his thumb.
"Rachel, you are strong. But being strong doesn't mean that you have to keep everything bottled up inside you. You always take care of everyone, but you never let anyone take care of you." He put her hand on top of hers, and entwined them in her lap. "I'm here. Let me take care of you." Puck wrapped his arms around Rachel as she practically fell into them, and held her close as her body shook with sobs. He ran his hand through her hair and let her cry it out. After a few minutes, she had stopped crying, but she was still in Puck's arms, her head resting on his chest, listening to his heart beat.
"Rach, I think you talk to your dads and Quinn. Give them the chance to be there for you, alright?"
"I know." Rachel sighed. "Do you think Quinn will be ok? Cause I don't want to indirectly cause her any more pain because of something that her poor excuse for a family did."
"Q's strong too. I think that she can handle it. You are both gonna get through this." Rachel sat up as the doctor came back in. She sat still while her cast was put on, and then signed the papers so she could leave.
After picking up the prescription, Rachel and Puck headed back to his house. As soon as they parked the car, the front door opened and Quinn came running out. She barely let Rachel get out of the car before hugging her. She had tears in her eyes as she looked at Rachel's arm.
"Are you ok?"
Rachel looked over at Puck, who shrugged, and back to Quinn. "Yeah. Just a little banged up, but I promise it looks a lot worse than it is."
Quinn hugged her again and they walked inside. Rebecca was standing at the door. Quinn looked back to Rachel. "What the hell happened?"
Puck looked over to his mom, who shook her head, and then back to the girls. "Why don't we go sit in the kitchen and we can talk about it."
Rebecca moved out of the way as the three went into the kitchen. "I'm gonna go upstairs and check on Betheigh. Adri is spending the night with a friend. Rachel, Quinn, you are both staying here tonight."
Rachel's eyes went wide. "No, Rebecca, that is certainly not necessary."
"That was not a request Rachel. Your dads are out of town. After the things that they have done for my family, I am not about to let you girls go home alone and not return the favor."
"But…"
"Berry, shut up. You're staying." Puck turned to his mother. "Thanks Ma. I'll be up soon." Rebecca nodded went upstairs.
Rachel walked over to the table and sat down, and Puck sat down beside her. Quinn sat at the head of the table, right next to Rachel. "Ok, what is going on? I woke up from my nap with Beth, came downstairs to start dinner, and you weren't here. Rebecca said that you had gone to the hospital with Puck, but she wanted to let you tell me what happened. So talk."
"I saw your dad today. He came to the house to talk to you. He saw your car, and would not believe me when I said you were not there. I smarted off to him because I am so angry at them. I refused to let him see you, told him to sign the papers and do something good for you once in his life, and demanded he leave. He got mad and pushed his way into the house. I ended up hurt. But Quinn, I honestly believe it was an accident. I am so little and that worked against me when he forced the door open. And I lost my balance when he ran past me on the stairs which led to this." She held up her wrist.
Quinn's eyes were wide, and she had tears in them again. "What? My dad did this? Oh my god!" Quinn was crying now, and Rachel gave her a minute then looked at her.
"Quinn, stop it. I mean it. This is not your fault. And I swear that it was mostly accidental. The only truly stupid thing your dad did was show up in the first place. So, I want you to stop crying now. And don't even think about telling me that you're sorry. You have no right to own any guilt in this whole situation. So, I don't want to hear it ok?"
Quinn stood up and came around to hug Rachel. "Alright. I am gonna respect how you feel, but I am going to go upstairs so I don't upset you by crying because you got hurt. I want you to go to bed and get some rest. I love you and I am so glad that you are going to be ok." Quinn turned to go upstairs, and called back to Puck. "Take care of her Puckerman."
Puck nodded as Quinn went upstairs. He held out his hand to Rachel to help her up. "Come on. Let's get you ready for bed. I'm under strict orders here." He saw Rachel's smile and his heart skipped a beat. She put her hand in his and let him pull her up. "Yes sir. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble for insubordination."
Puck laughed. "I appreciate your cooperation." He kept her hand in his as they walked upstairs and down the hall to his room. He found some of his sister's clothes sitting on his dresser, and was glad that his mom knew him well enough that he would want Rachel in his room so that he could keep an eye on her. She went to the bathroom to change, and when she came back he handed her a pill and a glass of water.
Rachel took the pill and sipped her water, watching as Puck crossed the room to where Beth was asleep in her crib. He smoothed her hair back a little, and leaned down to kiss her. "Good night, Beth. I love you." Puck looked up at her, and Rachel was sure that he could hear her heart beat. She cleared her throat softly.
"Well, I guess I'm gonna go to bed so I don't wake Quinn up when I climb in the bed with her. Thanks for everything Noah." She turned around, heading for the door, but stopped when Puck caught her hand.
"Rach, there is a bed right here. I'll sleep on the floor, but please just stay. I want to make sure that you are alright."
"Noah, I'm fine. Really. I don't want you to sleep on the floor. I can go sleep in Adri's room with Quinn."
Puck raised his eyebrow. "On a twin bed when you are all banged up? Sounds like an awesome plan."
Rachel sighed and closed her eyes. "I am just so tired."
Puck softened. "I know you are baby. It's the pill. Come on." He walked over and helped Rachel get into his bed. He pulled tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead. He started to ease off the bed when he felt her grab his arm. She pulled him until he was lying down behind her, his arm around her body, holding his hand in hers.
"Noah, thank you for taking care of me. I love you." Puck held in his breath. His heart was beating fast and he was about to turn her around and kiss her. "You are my best friend." He didn't kiss her. But, even though he felt a little disappointed that she hadn't been saying that she was in love with him, he still felt good. He was filled with hope that the feelings he felt for her were in some way reciprocated, and he was determined that one day he would be with her. She was the most amazing, beautiful person he knew, and he wasn't going to settle for anything less anymore. He was gonna get the girl. This girl.
He waited until her breath evened out and she was asleep. He tightened his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. "I love you too."
The first thing she noticed when she woke up was crying. The second was that she was cold. She turned over to where Puck was trying to rock his daughter back to sleep. He noticed her. "I'm sorry Rach. She woke up to eat, and instead of going back to sleep, she started crying. I think she is fussy. I'll just take her downstairs until she calms down. Go back to sleep."
"Noah, stay. It's fine. Come here." Puck walked over to the bed, climbed in, and got under the covers. He laid Beth in Rachel's good arm, and watched Rachel cuddle his daughter, Beth quiet as soon as she heard and saw Rachel.
"Hey baby girl, what is the matter? Huh? Are you being fussy to spend time with your daddy? I am sorry that he was not here last night, but he took me to the hospital because I fell down. Your daddy is a really sweet guy. He might not like it when I say that, but its still true."
Puck lay down on his pillow and continued watching his girls. Rachel looked over at him and smiled. She looked back down at the baby. "I think you are going to be a great singer one day. You already have an impressive set of lungs. And it runs in your family. Your mom can sing and so can your daddy. Did you know that he sang to me once? He was amazing. I tell him all the time that he can make all his dreams come true. Do you know what he says to me? He says that his dream already came true when he got you. And that makes you the luckiest baby girl in the whole world."
Rachel kissed Beth on the forehead. Beth had fallen asleep while Rachel was whispering to her. Puck reached over and linked his hand with Rachel's. "You didn't get to tell her that although she is the luckiest little girl, I am the luckiest guy in the world because I have you. You are the most important thing to me next to Beth. I don't know what I would do without you in my life."
Rachel smiled. "Even when I annoy you by talking a lot?"
Puck smiled. "Yeah. Even then."
They held hands even after they fell asleep, with Noah's arm slung over Beth and resting across Rachel. They never noticed Quinn, who had come in to check on Beth after hearing her cry, as she pushed the door open. She had been listening, and she closed the door and left the room with a huge smile on her face.
