Hot off the presses… in the I just finished this a few seconds ago sense. Hope you enjoy. More to come soon. C65.
An electronic version of Dropkick Murphy's "I'm Shipping out to Boston" echoes through the silent room. Tina presses the snooze button on her cell phone, and rolls over to go back to sleep. She knows that its Saturday, and its about seven AM, but she's otherwise disoriented. She's wrapped in a blanket her Grandmother Cohen sent from New York University, and she's surrounded by prone forms.
Tina's mother kneels beside her, and shakes her daughter's shoulder. Worry fills her voice as she reminds her daughter that she's supposed to take her long acting shot at six fifteen. It's getting close to seven thirty, and Ms. Cohen isn't sure she wants to inject her daughter. She isn't as brave as her husband. Even though it's a kindness, Tina's mother isn't ready to stick needles into her daughter.
Next to Tina, Mercedes starts stirring. "What time is it, Ms. C?" She asks. When Tina's mother tells her, Mercedes goes into full diva mode. She wakes the other girls quickly and gently, coaxing even the confused Brittany and grumpy Tina from their warm beds. Mrs. Cohen thinks that Mercedes is a morning person. It's a lie, though. Mercedes is a people person, any time of the day or night. She seems to run on contact with other people.
Tina wonders why everyone is waking up so early. Its Saturday morning. They don't need to be awake for anything at seven am. She wonders who in their right minds wakes up this early anyway. Well, Rachel Berry has frequently told Tina of her habit of rising well before the sun, but Tina isn't sure Rachel Berry is in her right mind anyway. The girls were talking and giggling late into the night. Tina's parents came down to shush them a few times, even going so far as to threaten to send everyone home if silence wasn't achieved by two.
Tina watches her friends. They've had barely four hours of sleep (talking continued well after the two o'clock bedtime), but none of them are complaining. Instead, Santana is efficiently rolling up sleeping bags. Brittany collects pillows and folds blankets. Quinn has disappeared into the small powder room down the hall. Rachel stretches. Tina reflects that a human body should not be able to bend that way. Mercedes has disappeared, too. Tina wonders where her friend has gone.
Persistent nagging, and the beginnings of thirst drive Tina into the kitchen. Part of her wonders why what would happen if she just refused to take the injections. She doesn't give into the fantasy, though. Tina carefully measures out a dosage of long acting insulin. She emerges a few minutes later, a tiny droplet of scarlet on the sleeve of the white t-shirt she wears to sleep in. The drop spreads a little, and darkens. Tina hopes no one sees it. And, as far as she knows, no one does.
While Tina is gone, Mercedes brings out the bag she packed with the shirts she and Kurt created. "Every one have their jeans and converses?" She asks as she hands out T-shirts.
Brittany raises her hand. "I lost mine," she says in the same matter of fact way she had told Santana she lost her wheelchair.
Santana smiles. "That's okay, B. I packed yours." She reaches into her large overnight bag and produces two pairs of identical black sneakers. The girls dress quickly, and pull sweatshirts and jackets on over the shirts Mercedes has brought. They want the entire thing to be a surprise. Then, they ambush Tina and her parents in the kitchen, demanding breakfast.