As soon as he's out the door, Quinn allows herself to stop putting on a show of confidence. Her face crumples as she's forced to heave to try and catch her breath. It hurts, God does it hurt, and she curses herself for thinking it was a good idea to pretend to be okay and put together.
"Oh! Oh no, no. Quinn? I need you to try and calm down okay? Follow my instructions. Close your eyes and, yea that's it. Okay no listen, deep breath. Good, just like that. In and out."
Quinn likes to think that she was able to get herself back under control all on her own, but she knows the nurse gave her another dose of pain medication. She finally takes a complete breath.
She opens her eyes and gives the nurse a miniscule smile. The nurse returns a full one in response.
"I was going to interrupt your visit with that young man earlier on. He seemed to be getting rather excited and loud, and it sounded unpleasant…" the nurse starts and Quinn just frowns and nods her head slowly.
The nurse continues, "He left before I got to the room though. Is everything okay?"
Quinn has had enough time by now to completely build herself back up, as she nods her head, her face void of vulnerability and emotion.
The nurse, not noticing anything, smiles at her kindly. "If you need anything, I'll be around." She leaves after that, and Quinn is left to her own devices.
By the time Judy realizes she hasn't called, she's frantic and apologetic, and it's been an hour. As Rachel reassures Judy that it's okay, that Santana is starting the car and that they'll be on their way, Brittany is picking the music.
Santana jumps into the back seat, handing over the figurative reigns to Rachel, seeing as she's still in a cast.
Making it to Quinn's room, Brittany glides in first and wraps the blonde in a comfy looking hug, "Hi Q."
Quinn, even in the state she's in, can't bring herself to keep stoic around the bubbly blonde, and she returns the smile, albeit it's small.
"Hiya Q-ball." Santana throws out lovingly as Rachel rolls her eyes good naturedly and asks, "How are you getting by today Quinn?"
The blonde shrugs her shoulders and leaves it at that.
Immediately they all sense something is totally off. Rachel walks closer still and gently reaches for Quinn's hand, "Are you in pain?"
Quinn actually genuinely thinks about the question, asking herself 'am I?' and she scoffs at herself because, yes, she is, but some of it is emotional and not physical, so she shrugs a little and shakes her head no.
Santana furrows her brow, not liking this in the least. Quinn was doing so well, and now she can practically see the walls being hoisted sky high around her. Santana slips out of the room and looks for a nurse. Someone must have some answers. 'Maybe it's new meds' she mentally shakes her head as she hunts down someone with answers.
Brittany carefully climbs into the bed and gently as ever, lays back and faces the blonde. She frowns as she takes note of how rigid she is, "Quinn…it's just us."
Rachel tilts her head as Quinn doesn't relax. If anything Quinn's heart monitor registers an increase in Quinn's beats per minute.
"Quinn…Sweetheart-" Rachel starts but stops when Quinn looks at her with slightly tear filled eyes, she frowns and continues, "What's wrong?"
Quinn's lower lip trembles, "I'm a rotten cookie torturer."
That takes Rachel and Brittany completely off guard.
"What?"
Quinn cries gently, "I tortured you Rach and I'm rotten because and I'm such a bad person and that's why I deserve this and I'm being punished because I'm a – I'm a bitch and you have to go and let me rot so I don't rub off on you. Britt. Brittz you have to go too cuz San wont be happy if I get rotten apple on you." She's crying and she sounds so heart broken and hurt.
Rachel's eyes widen as Brittany shakes her head. Rachel gently squeezes her hand, "Sweetheart no! God, no. you aren't being punished, and you're not a rotten cookie, or, or anything rotten!"
Quinn's yet to relax, still afraid to rub her rotten essence on either of them, her lip quivers as she states, "That's…but he's right!"
Brittany tilts her head, her own blue eyes shining with unshed tears, her hand playing with Quinn's unoccupied hand, "Who's right?"
"FINN!"
Heads snap towards the door where the unmistakable sound of Santana's voice came from. Rachel's eyes widen further as she leans over and checks Quinn for signs of any new injuries, not that she wouldn't have noticed earlier. She's long since memorized nearly every inch of Quinn.
"Finn? Is that…did he talk to you?" She asks quietly as she continues to subtly inspects her.
Seconds later Santana walks in, walks cautiously straight to Quinn and gently rests her right hand on her face, holding it, and looks her straight in the eyes, "I'm your best friend right? One of your best friends?"
Quinn's eyes easily travel from her left to her right as she nods, Santana continues just as gently, "Believe me when I say that anything he had to say to you that was negative or hurtful, was said out of spite and anger. Quinn…Q-ball, you are lovely." Her voice is full of conviction, leaving no room for Quinn to think of doubting her in that moment.
She pecks her quickly on the mouth and then the forehead, murmuring a quiet, "I love you damnit."
Quinn sniffles as she frowns, "I'm bad though."
Rachel shakes her head, "No, no you aren't bad at all sweetheart. You're so good Quinn."
"He said I stole you. But I didn't, cuz if I did, I'd have you and I don't. I really don't."
Rachel places her hand on Quinn's cheek, and as she wipes away the tears she says, "You're right. You didn't steal me. You can't steal, if you already have it. And a large part of me believes that a major part of me has always been with you already sweetheart."
Quinn shakes her head as if to wake herself, "Wha?"
Brittany smiles into Quinn's shoulder as Rachel says, "It's not stealing if I'm already yours."
Santana quirks an eyebrow when Quinn isn't over the moon. She frowns, "You cant be mine. You're a person though…I told Finn you're not a possession Rach."
Rachel's heart melts. She smiles at her, "That's very charming Quinn. I am yours though, I'm my own person, but you are in possession of my heart. You don't own me, but I am yours. My heart it beats, beats for only you…My heart is yours." She gently sings the last lines.
Quinn's eyes search Rachel's, "You're not just saying it because I'm in a wheelchair?" her voice is hopeful and vulnerable and Santana has it in her mind to leave the hospital at that very moment and go after Finn. Not that that isn't on the agenda already.
Rachel gives her a genuine smile as she shakes her head, her heart breaking in her chest, "No sweetheart. I'm not just saying it."
Quinn looks to be a little bit at ease, but already the doubts in her mind have crept in on even Santana's words, she's still not completely satiated.
Brittany nuzzles her hair and whispers, "No one is here because you're in a wheelchair, which you aren't Q, you're in a bed. We're here cuz we love you. SO much."
Quinn bites her lip and she really wants to believe them, she really truly does, but her fears are acting up and she's finding it difficult to completely immerse herself in believing them.
Rachel slips her hand back into Quinn's, "You keep getting better, and when you're not on your meds, I'll tell you all over again. I'll keep telling you every day until you're off the medication even. You cant believe that anything Finn said is true Quinn."
Her eyes have begun to droop and Rachel squeezes her hand gently, "Shut your eyes sweetheart, you don't have to keep fighting sleep. You need to stop trying to stay up for us."
Quinn pouts, "But we're…we're talking."
Rachel smiles at her lovingly, "We'll talk some more, I promise, when you wake up."
The blonde nods her head, "Okay, yes please. And I'll tell you I'm crazy about you when I'm out of here too."
Blinking in pleasant surprise, having thought she must have forgotten about it, Rachel's face is overtaken by a goofy smile, "That. Yeah, that's good."
Brittany snuggles into the blonde and Quinn sighs, for the moment her fears take a backseat as the comfort she feels surrounds her. She falls asleep with Brittany softly humming and sweetly leaving butterfly kisses on the side of her face.
When Santana is absolutely certain Quinn is out for the time being, her face transforms.
"Finn Hudson is a foul, loathsome, fucker."
The goofy smile on Rachel's face drops as well, her eyes being drawn elsewhere rather than continuing to watch Quinn.
"What happened though?" Brittany asks quietly, still being in quite close proximity to Quinn's sleeping form.
Rachel watches Santana's face as it goes through a range of emotions, finally settling on pure, unadulterated rage.
"He's been up here, yelling at her. The nurse said she heard yelling – he left when she was gonna interrupt. She had to sedate her to calm her the fuck down!" It's a harsh whisper, her anger coming off of her in waves.
Rachel quickly, but delicately, lets go of Quinn's hand, and walks over to the standing Cheerio, "Did you, I mean we have to, we. Stop them from letting him back in! I mean I cant, we didn't already do this? We left without even thinking to do that yesterday!"
Brittany frowns, "It's not your fault. You didn't, none of us, thought to. I mean you didn't do this."
"But it makes everything we were doing after seem unimportant."
Santana cuts in, "Moving Quinn's room to the ground floor so she doesn't have to feel like a guest in her own home isn't unimportant Berry."
Rachel's eyes widen further, "I…I didn't mean – I just." She chokes, "she doesn't deserve whatever Finn put into her mind, and we could have stopped it had we thought to alert the staff…"
Brittany carefully gets out of the bed and walks over to Rachel, putting her arms around her, holding her gently, "Don't worry Rach. I'll take care of it."
Santana's eyes widen, for it isn't every day that her girlfriend willingly and so easily state that she'll 'take care of it.' She knows better than anyone what Brittany means and is capable of doing.
Rachel seems to be somewhat oblivious to just how ominous that one sentence actually is.
XOXOX
Puck gets a call later that day. It lasted less than a minute and had it been anyone else, he would have laughed, but he knows better than that when it comes to Brittany.
He nods his head to himself as he hangs up, and he calls Santana.
"I need to know what he did, so I get the complete satisfaction as I help Brittany do her thing."
Santana curses under her breath, not knowing that Brittany had already put her plans into motion. She sighs and says, "I can't believe you were ever 'best buds' with this asshole, first of all."
By the end of the phone call, Puck didn't know why he ever was best buds with him either. He was questioning and asking himself that repeatedly.
"I've been a bad friend. And an even worse JewBro to Rachel."
Santana rolls her eyes, "You're being a pretty decent guy...you're making up for it."
Puck nods his head as he laces up his shoes, "I'm working on it. Tell my bab-" he cuts himself off, "Tell Quinn sup for me, and give Rachel a hug, and give Britt a big ass kiss."
Santana's eyes narrow, "Puck…"
But he's already hanging up. He rolls his eyes. If the punk thinks he can get away with threatening a woman in the state Quinn's in... "Hell no. He's got another thing coming."
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox
When Judy comes by after her morning shift, she makes sure to bring light brunch food for everyone, knowing that they'll all probably be hungry.
Walking into Quinn's room, she sees Frannie and David lounging on the couch and Rachel in a seat that's come to be known by everyone else as Rachel's, right beside the blonde.
She smiles as she walks in, "Hey, where are Santana and Brittany? I thought they'd be here."
Quinn lets out a puff of air and it flicks her bangs across her forehead and she giggles at the absolute dorkiness of herself at the moment, "They went out like only just a while ago."
Judy hums lovingly as she sets down the sandwiches and the drinks, "Well, I suppose they can always get their food when they come back."
Rachel smiles as she watches Quinn continue to try and puff the air to move her bangs again. She gently swipes the blonde hair to the side and grins at her, "What would you like to drink?"
The blonde smiles at her winningly and shrugs her shoulders, "Anything you pick is fine."
Francine laughs, "Well that's certainly a far cry from our usual Quinnie."
Judy rolls her eyes as Quinn puffs out her cheeks and shoots her gaze towards her sister, "Is not."
Rachel chuckles as Francine smiles lovingly at her younger sister, "Oh bravo, that's a great comeback."
Quinn raises an eyebrow and grins, "I know."
David laughs so hard, he has to hold onto Francine's shoulder to keep himself upright.