Disclaimer: I own no Glee at all.

A/N: I'm sorry this is short, it's been giving me so much trouble but I wanted to get SOMETHING up. Just so you all didn't think I abandoned it or something.

Chapter 24 Back in Lima with Brittany

Brittany was troubled, mostly because she was in a place that didn't remotely feel like home. Even the hospital was more comfortable than this. Not that the house wasn't nice, but it felt like something was missing, she couldn't quite put a name to it. Either way, it was a relief to be out of thathouse, even if she still felt slightly guilty about the entire situation. She loved her sister dearly, and truly did love her mother but there is a point when even the most patient and open person will get tired of being treated like an incompetent five year old. She could tolerate having to ask to go to the bathroom, not being able to go everywhere in the house, being checked on indiscreetly by her mother every hour or so. But when her mother asked her if the friend she had made was with her out of pity, she had lost it. Her father had managed to break them up before she had done something that she would have regretted later. Afterwards, she had felt ashamed; she had lost her patience and failed at being a good role model for her sister. And the only reason she was here at the new house instead of back with her mom and sister was because their father had insisted on taking her back with him after the fight. Her mother had reluctantly agreed after Josie had stepped in and diplomatically pointed out that they both needed their space. Brittany had only felt marginally better having gone with her father. She knew that he had only suggested it because he felt guilty about her being blind.

It wasn't even his fault she had been in the car. He was going to go check out the new house that they'd be living in and she practically jumped at the chance to go see it. She'd never really been outside of the area they lived in before, so a chance to go somewhere new was not something she could pass up. None of them could have even imagined what had happened on the way.

It was had been her father's last shift at the hospital in town and he had his first call at his new job the very next day. He figured that he might as well spend the night at the new house, as the people they had bought it from had left part of it furnished already. For them it was just an extra house of baggage that they didn't put to use, so her father had bought it from them and they had left a couple of their unwanted beds in some of the rooms. There were only enough for two people to stay, so Josie had stayed at home, despite the fact she too wanting to go. Brittany was glad her sister wasn't in the car that day. On the drive there, an unexpected but altogether too common occurrence happened. Ahead of them, a truck driver fell asleep. No one was quite sure what happened next, but what could be pieced together was reported in the newspaper the next day.

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TRUCK ROLLOVER, MANY INJURED AND 2 DEATHS, 1 HERO

LIMA, Ohio| Two dead, and thirteen injured in a lumber truck rollover on northbound I-75 just before 7pm on Friday evening. A total of six emergency ambulances were on the scene or headed to the area just after 7. It was called in by at that point, an unknown man who was later identified as twenty-two year old, Issac Montiguope. He reported that he had been instructed to call and to tell them "to hurry" because "My girlfriend has a concussion. He says to tell you that there are at least two trapped, and a nine-year old girl that may have internal bleeding."

Initial reports on site showed five injured and one dead.

Witnesses say that the truck lost control as it was turning a corner. It traveled across the lanes and crashed into the barrier. Reportedly the lumber that it was carrying became loose and rolled into oncoming traffic. The driver is said to have been killed instantly.

A man, who has chosen to remain anonymous, quickly took action after securing his daughter a safe distance from the crash site. He returned to help the injured and instructed the man, Issac, to phone the police. The police report that there could have been more deaths if he had not acted so quickly.

Only two fatalities are known at this time, the truck driver and fifty-two year old man, Daniel Shaw, who died from a head wound on the way to the hospital. There are currently seven people in critical condition and several more with minor injuries.

Police are still investigating the source of the accident.

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Her father that night had saved several lives, including that of the nine year old. But he still felt guilty about what happened to her. Ever since the accident he'd been paying attention to her, even overprotective. She hadn't told him that she couldn't see. From what she could hear at that time there were people worse off than herself and she had reassured him that she was fine. It wasn't until later that he had found out that she was blind, and although there was nothing he could have done about it, he still blamed himself.

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"Will you be okay by yourself? There's an emergency at the hospital but I might be able to reassign it." He was lying about reassigning and they both knew it.

"No, dad. Go save some lives, I'll be fine."

"I could take you with me."

"It's late, I should probably go to bed," she hoped that sounded convincing.

"Are you positive?"

"Don't worry about me. I'll stay in the house until you get back." That's what he wanted to hear right?

"Promise?"

"Promise," she assured him as they made their way to the door.

As her father opened the door he paused, "Are you sure you'll be safe?" She smiled reassuringly in response. "Remember the phone is in the kitchen, the office, and my bedroom. Call if you need anything. Anything ok?"

"I will," she promised. "Come back safe."

"And remember to stay away from…" He couldn't remember the girl's name, "your friend. At least until I have a proper talk with her." He had put too much trust into a person he barely knew. He should have been simply because she had made his daughter happy. "I don't want –" His beeper when off again, interrupting him. "Just stay in the house, it's two in the morning and it's too dangerous for you to be wandering off on your own."

Closing the door behind him, she headed to her room. Thoughts came and went from her mind, each one making her upset with her father, her mom, and herself. Stay away from her friend? How could she do something like that? She had left with him so that it would get her out of the house, she couldn't take anymore of her mom ranting and yelling at her dad for something that wasn't even his fault. She had tried to hide the fact that she had gotten frostbite from them, but her mother had seen and had started ripping into dad. She had tried to tell her it wasn't his fault, but like always her mom didn't listen. And her dad just stood there and took it, as though he was at fault. It wasn't but she could tell he blamed himself. Why couldn't they just trust her to look after herself? She was seventeen. And to tell her to stay away from Angel, how could he ask her to do such a thing? It was the one thing she looked forward to the most. That said. Where was she? Brittany knew it that it was illogical to think Angel would be at her doorstep to greet her simply because she had promised that they would try when she returned to Lima. It could have all been a lie, she'd been lied to before by people she thought were her friends. No she shouldn't think that, Angel was different she had to be. But even as she closed her bedroom door, her mother's words echoed back at her.

"Are you sure that this girl isn't just being nice because she pities you?"

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A/N: I LIVE, yes I live. Honest. Just been busy. I have a hard time writing Brittany, mostly because I DON'T actually know how she thinks. Sorry no Brittany/Santana action in this chapter, got cut much shorter than I thought it would be.