Rachel Berry, Meet Your Sister: Chapter Twenty-Five
Glee isn't mine.
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QUINN POV
"San," I say. I can hear my voice shaking, feel it, but I know that if I try to strengthen it, it will just come out strained or too loud. I let it go. I am nervous – let them hear it. "Where is the blood from?"
San looks down at the small pool of blood on the floor and at her hands and her lips tighten. She hates the sight of blood. She keeps wiping forcefully on Brittany's hand and grimaces when it has decided to stay in the little creases in her hand. "Jo."
"Yeah, where is Jo, Sanny?" Santana's eyes flicker from Brittany's hand up to look into her blue eyes. She takes a step closer and wraps her hand around Brittany's, ignoring the blood.
"Britt, the blood is Jo's." Brittany recoils but Santana holds tightly on to Brittany's hand. "She got a little cut on the head and it just bled a bit. You know that the face bleeds a lot, yeah? She's going to be completely fine." Brittany doesn't look like she believes Santana. Why would she? Santana doesn't sound like she believes herself.
"San, what the hell happened?" She just shakes her head. I look to the other Gleeks but they are motionless and pale. What on earth happened? And where is Rachel? Wait…Jo is hurt. She'll be with Jo, right? I try to ignore the feeling of dread that is prickling in my stomach and look for someone, anyone, that will tell me what happened. It's my school dammit! I have a right to know what's going on inside of it.
"I can answer that, Q." Coach Sue steps down the risers. Mr Schuester is sitting with his head in his hands behind her – she probably attacked him about something. I pull my shoulders back and smile at Coach Sue.
"That would be helpful, thank you Coach." She nods, frowning.
"Sandbags, bring Brittany over here." Santana trots over and refuses to release Brittany's hand. Coach Sue lowers her voice. It sounds almost…soft? Hesitant. I have never heard her other than derisive, forceful, or at the very least conversational so this is shocking and does nothing to cease the spreading dread. I feel sick.
"I wasn't present for the beginning but Lopez told me that Streisand broke up with Hudson and he reacted badly. Mohawked Delinquent, Corcoran and Streisand are now on their way to the hospital." The feeling in my stomach? Yeah, it increases a hundredfold. I think my heart stops beating and I twist my mouth in an effort to keep the emotion – fear – from my face.
"Are they okay?" Coach Sue nods to Brittany and our blonde friend relaxes into Santana's side and lowers her head, pressing it into the crook of Santana's neck. It's a sign of how shocked or afraid San is that she lets Brittany do it – she doesn't usually allow PDA at school or anywhere they can be seen. But today Santana just winds her arms around Brittany's waist and lays her cheek on her head. Coach Sue meets my eyes – they are decidedly less certain of her students' safety than she had told Brittany.
"Rehearsal has been cancelled this afternoon." Coach Sue turns on her heel and barks a loud "Schuester!", making Mr Schue jump to his feet and follow her out of the room. I wait until I can't hear their footsteps and turn back to my friends.
"Hospital?" I suggest. They nod and begin to shuffle awkwardly out the choir room door, neither of them ready to let go of the other. I try not to watch. I know that San hates it when people see her as gentle and loving and if she doesn't mind now she will later. She doesn't even like it when I see it: me, best friend of six years. Sure, at first it was a necessary friendship with our positions as the two most popular girls at school but it is real now.
In the car, Brittany starts to sniffle. I glance up into the rear view mirror at my friend. She has her legs tucked under her and is leaning heavily against Santana, hands wrapped around Santana's bicep. "Rachel will be fine, Britt, and Jo as well."
"And Puck?" She whispers, looking up at me with wide blue eyes so watery and sad that I have to look away. I can't cry. Not right now.
"Of course. Are you kidding me? Like he'd let anything get in the way of his badassness." She laughs a little through her tears and sniffles again, smiling at me. I smile back but look away again and focus on the road. I can feel my throat closing from the impeding tears and the overwhelming panic I've felt since I heard that Rachel could be badly hurt – and Jo and Puck, of course – starts to rise. I can hear Santana talking to me but I ignore her until she scream in my ear.
"Quinn!" I pull over to the side of the road and brake hard.
"What? What's wrong?" She scowls at me but I can tell that it is mostly from worry, not anger.
"Q, I get that your new found friend is in hospital, but that doesn't mean that you can put your old ones in there as well. Kay?" I blink. I know that she's saying something important but I can't quite get it to make sense. Her voice softens. "Drive more carefully, Q. Please." I nod. I can do that. She squeezes my shoulder with one hand and I reach up to lay my own on top of hers. It's times like these that I wonder how anyone could ever think that Santana is anything other than beautiful, amazing and kind.
"So drive then, shitface." And then she says something like that. I pull out onto the road again obediently and we arrive at the hospital, leaping out and marching into the hospital. Brittany squeals and tugs us to the gift store.
"Britt, no, come on let's just go see them." I glance over at the reception but Brittany stamps her foot – something she has learnt from Rachel since we joined Glee – and frowns.
"No! We are getting Rachie that pink bear," she points at it, "and Jo that heart," it's an admittedly adorable heart plushie, "and Puck that blue bear with the bandage." Santana pulls the toys down from the shelf.
"Anything else, Britt?" Britt peruses the store slowly. Nothing escapes her sight but finally she shakes her head and Santana trots off to buy the toys for our friends. "Be back in a sec!"
"Quinn?" Brittany attaches herself to my side and I wrap an arm around her shoulder. Like Santana, I'm not a huge fan of physical contact but again, like San, I make an exception for Brittany.
"Yeah, Britt?"
"Are they really going to be okay or were you just saying that because you're supposed to?" Her voice has fallen an octave with worry and I take a deep breath and press my forehead to hers, looking into her eyes.
"I said it because I'm supposed to." She blinks, tears welling immediately. "Hey, Britt. I haven't seen them so I don't know. But really, would Rach let a little bump keep her from performing?" Brittany shakes her head. "And would Jo let a little cut keep her from helping you or Rachel out?" She shakes her head again. "And we all know that Puck is too annoying to stay in bed for too long."
"He'd like to." I pull away and gape at Brittany.
"Britt!" She grins. "You made a dirty joke!" She shrugs and dances off to join Santana at the counter. She tugs us both over to the reception and stands there, bouncing nervously. (You can tell the difference between her happy bouncing and her nervous bouncing because the latter means she isn't smiling.)
"Can I help you?" The receptionist says. Brittany nods eagerly and Santana has to tug her back so that I can work my way in front to talk to the woman.
"We had some friends of ours come in? The ambulance brought them in." The woman heaves a sigh and blinks up at me.
"Names?"
"Of them? Rachel Berry, Jo Corcoran, and Noah Puckerman." The receptionist clicks away on her computer and heaves another sigh.
"We have no record of them at this hospital." I frown.
"What? Look lady, these are our friends and we want to see them. So find out where the fuck they went and take us there." Santana has never been the best at diplomacy. The lady barely even blinks at Santana's tone (vicious) or her words.
"If your friends only just arrived we won't have a record of them yet. Feel free to wait in the waiting room. I'll tell you if their names come up. Thank you." Her dismissal is abrupt and all-to-obvious. Santana and I glare at her. Fuck diplomacy. That lady doesn't understand sympathy. San and I take one of Brittany's arms each and tug her into the waiting room, where she is quickly distracted (or at least pretending to be distracted) by the cartoons on the television.
"Hey Q?" San sits as close to me as she can without touching me. She always does this. Funny movies when she wants to laugh but waits for me to laugh first, scary/terrifying movies where she refuses to scream first, when she's nervous before exams – basically, if I am seen doing it first, it's okay. I lean against her and drop my head on her shoulder. She leans her head against mine. (Note well: I was the one that wanted to touch her, to be reassured. Not her.)
"Mm?" We keep watching Britt. She doesn't speak and I feel the exact moment when she changes what she is going to say to me. She tenses a little and I swallow a sigh. I wish she could talk to me. She can't though. I know she feels like my Head Bitch persona isn't just a persona sometimes – and that's true. It isn't. But it is with her.
"Look after Britt? I have to go wash my hands." She holds them up and wiggles them in proof. "Blood and all that." I nod but refuse to look at her. She knows that I know that she feels she can't talk to me. And she knows that I'm offended.
She comes back after a few minutes and we half-sit, half-snuggle together. Minute after minute turns into the first half hour of our wait. Santana goes to yell at a few nurses and the receptionist again and comes back. Brittany joins us on the coach and falls asleep. I start to doze off when I hear more yells, but Santana is sitting next to me and stroking Brittany's hair. If it's not her then…?
"You will tell me right this minute where my daughter is! I demand to see her!" Santana smirks.
"Daddy Berry sure has some pipes on him." She shakes Brittany lightly and smiles when Britt yawns. "Come on Britt, Daddy Berry is yelling to see Baby Berry. We'll get in for sure now." Brittany leaps up, not even looking like she's been asleep: not rumpled or with pillow creases or anything. Jealous.
"Excuse me, Mr Berry?" I sidle up to Hiram and he turns, frowning.
"What do you-" he blinks. "Oh, Quinn." Then he beams. "Quinn! Leroy, it's Quinn!" Leroy appears suddenly beside him and beams at me as well. "How wonderful." They both try to hug me at the same time and almost hit each other with their hands. Hiram ends up hugging me as Leroy hugs Santana and then they swap. Brittany hugs them both at the same time. Santana subtly wipes her clothes and takes a step away. (Not that she has anything against them, of course, being super secretly gay but she doesn't like hugs.)
"Oh, you girls are gorgeous. Are you Rachel's friends?"
"Yep." Brittany smiles widely at Rachel's dads and Leroy tuts happily.
"You must be Brittany. Rachel has told us such wonderful things about you. She says that she is daily amazed at your talent." He leans in and stage whispers, "and she practices her dancing twice as much since she's met you but still isn't satisfied."
"Oh! And you're Santana." Leroy tugs on Hiram's arm. "Hiram, look, it's Santana." Hiram frowns thoughtfully at her – does he know that she bullied Rachel as well? Santana looks a little nervous but suddenly Hiram smiles.
"Of course – Santana! The beautiful girl with the cheekbones. You sang Valerie at Sectionals last year." Santana nods. "Rachel was so disappointed that she didn't get that solo." Before Santana can start to scowl, Hiram continues casually. "But she said you did such a wonderful job. We couldn't make it, unfortunately, but she told us all about it." Santana gapes at Leroy. Brittany bounces excitedly.
"Berry, I mean, Rachel said that?" Hiram nods to Santana. "Oh." There is a tiny flicker of something in Santana's eyes. I smirk at her. She may have pretended to be Rachel's friend/given her my number yesterday because I told her to and because she appreciates that Rachel is getting better at not being completely self-absorbed and complimented her, but Rachel's dads telling her that she compliments Brittany and her when there is no one around to hear but her family and even though she's been awful to her for years and even though she wanted that solo badly… that convinces her. "So, have you been able to see Ber – Rachel?"
Hiram sighs. "No. The receptionist says that she has no records of anyone called Rachel Berry."
"Family of Rachel Berry?" The bored tone of the receptionist interrupts our conversation and I am tempted to go all Head Bitch on her when my brain registers what she said.
"Yes! That's us!" Leroy squeals and runs forward.
"She's in Room 203. Down that hall, to the left, take the elevator up to level four, follow the yellow arrows down the hall to the right until you see Ward C and then follow the numbers to Room 203. Got it?" She sighs when she takes in our identically baffled expressions. "I'll write it down."
"Thank you! Thank you so much." Leroy races off to the elevator and Hiram runs after him.
"I'll tell him to hold the elevator for you. He's a little worried." By the way Leroy is shrieking (quietly – it is a hospital after all), I would say that he is very worried. We – San, Britt and I – start to follow the Berry dads when Brittany stops abruptly and turns back to the receptionist.
"Excuse me? Miss?" She looks up, bored.
"What?"
"What about Jo Corcoran?" The receptionist clicks a few times and sighs again.
"Room 205. Down that hall, to the left, take the elevator up to level four, follow the yellow-"
"arrows down the hall and to the right until you see Ward C and then follow the numbers to room 205, yes thanks, but why aren't they in the same room?" Brittany frowns at the receptionist.
"Excuse me?"
"They are supposed to be in the same room. Jo will be scared if she wakes up in a different room to Rachie." Strangely enough, the receptionist softens a little. Well, not so strange. Britt has that effect on people. She either softens them or confuses them into giving her what she wants. The receptionist picks up the phone and clicks a number.
"Are they family?" She asks Brittany with the phone limply held to her ear. Brittany nods. The lady hums lightly and her eyes glaze over as she waits for the other person to pick up. "Hey Janet. Yes, it's Elizabeth from reception. The new arrivals in Rooms 203 and 205, how are they?" She pauses, nodding at slightly intervals interjected with 'mhmm' and 'okay'. "Okay, well, can you move the girl in 205 to 203 with the other girl? Mhm, that's right. Okay. Thank you." She puts down the phone with a thump and glances up at Britt. "Janet is moving her." Brittany leans over the desk to give the receptionist – Elizabeth – a big hug and then skips off down the corridor to the elevator. The lady stares after our friend before turning back to us.
Santana and I grin nervously and back away. "Thanks!" Then we run.
Leroy is standing impatiently in the elevator and glaring at the other people who are glaring at him. Hiram is smiling at Brittany who is talking animatedly and gesturing wildly with her hands around the three plushies. I'm not sure how she manages it but manage she does.
"Girls!" Hiram smiles. "Brittany was just telling us how she learnt to fish. Did you know she caught her first fish when she was three?" Brittany nods eagerly but then frowns.
"I let it go though. The poor fishy had a hook in its mouth. How mean is that?" Hiram gives her a sideways look but nods. I think he understands that Brittany is a little different.
"Yeah, yeah. Come on girls!" Leroy pushes on the close-door button and bounces on the balls of his feet as we ride up to level four. "Now, where did she say we go?"
"We follow the yellow arrows down the hall to the right until we see Ward C and then follow the numbers to Room 203." Brittany recites calmly and then giggles, pointing at the first yellow arrow. "Look! There's one!" Hiram accompanies her as they find each and every one of the yellow arrows leading to Ward C. Then Brittany's head jerks up and she walks sideways, examining each of the room numbers. "196, 198, 200, 202, ooh!" She stops and turns the other way. "203!" She jumps forward and opens the door. "Hi Rachie!"
I should have been prepared for this. We, Santana and I, should have been prepared for this. One of us should have gone in first but we were calmed by the presence of adults and buoyed by Brittany's excitement and we didn't think that Rachel or Jo might still look injured or be unconscious, both of which were true. Jo's face was mostly cleaned but there were still little splotches of blood. The skin above her eyebrow had a large square plaster over it and her face was very pale. Both girls were very still.
Hiram and Leroy pause in the doorway with gasps and each of them races to a different girl, grabs their hands, and then switches. "Oh no, our girls." Leroy lifts a hand to his mouth and sinks shakily into one of the provided armchairs. Hiram stands beside him and rubs his shoulder gently.
"Don't worry Leroy, they'll be fine. Up and at it in no time." He presses a gentle kiss to Leroy's head and Santana and I avert our eyes. This is a private moment. Brittany 'aws' softly and claps her hands. "Girls, would you like to wait with us?" I am nodding my head before his question is fully out and Leroy pats the chair next to him. It's more of a couch than an armchair and we three girls pile onto it. Britt and I sit next to each other and San plops down on Britt's lap, her legs swung over mine. I rest my hands on her legs and we share a smile.
"And now we wait?" Britt asks.
"And now we wait." It's a poignant moment, all of us watching for the slightest hint of the girls waking, broken only by Brittany's next comment hardly a minute later.
"Waiting is really boring."
SAN POV
I stroke Britt's hair out off her face for her. She's been lightly snoozing for about an hour now and she hates it when her hair tickles her face. She always wakes up. I'm doing it for her so she won't wake up with a jerk and knock me in the chin again. (Yes, it's happened.) I'm really just holding her hair out of her eyes because I'm busy watching Quinn watch Rachel. It's creepy. She's just been sitting there with her eyes fixed on the Hobbit.
Ordinarily, I would think that Quinn was plotting but she took a vow of niceness in the summer and, though it's pretty much all gone to plot, she is still being nice to Berry. So, not plotting. She hasn't looked away though and she is barely blinking. Weird.
Britt snuggles into me and I flex my arm a little. I love Brittany – I can admit that in my head even if I can't do it out aloud – but she's a little heavy and my circulation is being cut off. I wiggle my fingers in the hope that the blood will make its way there. It doesn't. Britt crinkles her nose when a strand of hair tickles it and whines. I brush it away. She sighs. I smile at her; she is utterly adorable. Quinn is looking at us and, when I catch her, she blushes a light pink.
"What?" I snap.
"Nothing. Do you want something to eat?" I shake my head and, aware that I was a little bitchy then, I apologise.
"Sorry." She shrugs. I notice she never even made any appearance of moving and smile. The bitch, and I mean that in the most loving way possible, was just changing the subject. I know that she is aware of what is going on between Britt and me. She would have to be an absolute idiot (I would say Finn level idiocy but I don't want to even think about that disgusting brute right now) to not know there was something going on. She's never said anything about it though and that worries me.
I know that she takes her Christian stuff pretty seriously and I know that fuckhead Russel 'Dad' said some stupid phobic shit about homosexuality so I don't know what she thinks about it. She avoids the topic like it's contagious. Anytime I make a joke about it or something to break the ice so that we can talk about it, she runs away. Figuratively. Changes the subject. I know she is my friend but I don't know what she thinks about that part of me that I try so hard to hide.
She returns to staring at Berry and I go back to making sure that Britt's sleep is undisturbed, interrupted with occasional glances at Jo to see if she's woken up. Hiram and Leroy return with coffee for us, along with consequent apologies that the coffee is so awful, a hot chocolate for Brittany, and sandwiches. They tell us that Puck (they went to visit him) is as well as can be expected. The doctors are sure that Jo and Puckerman have concussions – I could have told them that – but that Rachel will probably just have a little headache. They want to keep them all overnight.
Brittany looks like she's about to cry again so I take her back to the gift shop so we can buy some flowers for Jo and Berry. It makes her feel better and it gets my blood pumping again so I don't feel like my hand is missing. I hope Britt doesn't notice my subtle massaging of my left arm, or that I wince when the pins and needles start jabbing through my forearm.
When we come back, Quinn is in Leroy's old seat and is sitting closer to Rachel, still creepy staring. Brittany yanks me back out of the doorway and shushes me when I start to complain. Well, she puts her finger on my lips and I find it difficult to concentrate on anything else.
"What is it, Britt?"
"Shh! Quinn is sitting with Rachie. Let's go get some food." She takes me hand and drags me away but I dig my heels in – ineffective on the linoleum, but it makes me feel better that I tried. Plus, she's super strong.
"Britt! Britt, what are you doing? So what if Quinn is with Berry?" She sits me down in the cafeteria – I sat because I wanted to, not because I don't have a chance in hell against her – and gives me a scowl that I recognise as one of my own.
"Sanny! You need to pay attention to people."
"Why can't you just tell me?"
"I'm not supposed to." She pouts. "You have to figure it out." And then she crosses her arms and refuses to talk to me.
"Figure what out?" No response. 'Fine. Quinn is sitting with Berry, right?" A nod. Okay. I'm getting somewhere. "And if I were Berry I would totally freak out because she is fully staring at her." No response, just a dirty look. "And Q was totally freaked out when Coach told her that Berry was going to hospital."
"Because?" Britt leans forward and takes my hand, eyes excited.
"Because they are fully in love with each other." I roll my eyes. (Note the absolute sarcasm.) Britt doesn't get my sarcasm though. Britt squeals and claps her hands. "Britt, I was joking. Britt!" She beams at me.
"No you weren't."
"Yes I was."
"Well, you shouldn't have been. They are in love with each other."
"Q isn't gay," I hiss, "and definitely not for Manhands Berry." Brittany glares at me.
"Santana Lopez." I wince. "Think about it." I do.
Quinn being nice to Berry. Quinn going to Berry's house for a movie night. Quinn giving Berry her phone number. Quinn defending Berry. Quinn freaking out when she heard that Berry was in hospital. Quinn creepy staring at Berry for an hour. Quinn dragging her into the bathroom to yell at her once a week for years. Quinn hating that she's dating Finn. Quinn hating Finn for dating her. The nicknames – the drawing. Quinn hating her guts to an unnatural degree…Oh. My. God. My best friend is a seriously repressed lesbian with sapphic desires for Rachel Barbara Berry.
"Oh god." I slam my head down onto the table and Brittany giggles. "She's in love with the Hobbit."
"I know, right?" She claps her hands again.
"Oh god. I think I'm going to be sick." She frowns at me.
"Sanny, that's mean. They are so adorable together."
"And how long have you know about this? Oh wait, let me guess, since Quinn first told us that she wanted to be nice to people and figured out that she's been too mean to the Hobbit." Brittany shakes her head.
"Don't be silly, San. I've known since the first day of high school." I gape at her. Surely she has to be kidding. She has to be kidding. She isn't. She really isn't kidding. My girl is a fucking genius with mad skills.
"And…you want to get them together don't you? So they can live happily ever after." She nods. "Alright then. What's the plan?"
Chapter 25 – yay! Hope you enjoyed: please review. As always, happy reading, readers :)