Thank you for reading and commenting. I am on a mini posting spree today...so be warned.
Chapter 29
Santana stretched out her long legs beside Quinn's in the small hospital bed, her back against the footboard so she could face Quinn. "It's getting a little intense in here, all of this sharing."
"I know," giggled Quinn as she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. "We are like some sappy chick flick."
"So not us. We are more like Thelma and Louise. Taking the world by storm, showing the men we are in control – "
"Going out in a blaze of glory?"
"You've got to admit we know how to hit rock bottom in style. Prison –"
"The psych ward."
"Nothing keeps us down for long."
"Now you sound like Oprah, all inspirational and uplifting."
"Hey! It's early and I haven't had my first martini of the day yet."
"What I wouldn't do for a drink right now." Quinn closed her eyes. She could almost feel the warm sting of a cocktail in her mouth.
"Just say the word, I can make that happen. Smuggle in cosmos in a thermos. Say it's chicken soup." Quinn tried to stifle her laughter, covering her mouth with her hand. Santana was so crazy. She always managed to make her feel better.
He popped his head in the door, his neatly trimmed mustache and goatee framing his face, his brown eyes darkened, absent was their usual sparkle.
"Julian?" He hovered by the door, almost seeming reluctant to come in.
Quinn adjusted her hospital gown suddenly embarrassed by her appearance. It was silly really. Julian had seen her looking much worse. He had delivered her baby and that night he said she looked more beautiful than ever and that motherhood suited her. That was before he found out Beth wasn't Puck's daughter, of course. She doubted he had looked at her the same since then.
Santana turned toward the door taking him in. "We need to get you a little collar with a bell. So we can hear you coming."
"I didn't mean to interrupt," he said to Santana. "I need to speak to Quinn for a minute. I've got to get over to Dwight's."
He adjusted his light brown leather jacket as he stepped closer to the bed. Julian had on faded jeans and boots. His green button down hugged his well toned chest, the last few bottom buttons left undone, revealing his flat stomach as he moved.
"Oh you were invited to the powwow too?" asked Santana. "Now I'm truly offended. I thought it was family only. Quinn is Sam's baby mama, that has to count for something." She stood up and smoothed out her clothes, before searching for her shoes.
"Can you just give us a moment Santana?" asked Quinn.
"Sure thing." She threw her bag over her arm, while grabbing her coat from the chair. "I'll go and grab us some coffee from the Lima Bean. Later doc."
"So what did you need to talk to me about?" asked Quinn forcing Julian to turn his attention to her. He had been awkwardly staring at the floor, once they were alone, the ever present tension at an even higher level than normal.
His eyes met hers briefly, before he quickly looked away. "Your test results."
"Am I really sick? Do I have something contagious?"
"Contagious? What would make you think that?"
"Just that Sam is sick."
His eyes narrowed as he spoke. "What does Sam's condition have to do with you?"
"You know hospitals. Germs. Nevermind. I'm just being stupid." Quinn tried to cover. She had forgotten that no one knew she had gone to visit Sam. She had almost let it slip. "So what were the results?"
Julian pulled the chart from the foot of the bed. Taking a pen from his pocket he began to write.
"You had an allergic reaction to the medication. It appears that your regular course of drugs interacted with the extra dosage they gave you after court and it caused the dizziness, nausea and the extreme behavior."
"Allergic reaction? You mean I was overdosed." Quinn had been taking the same drugs for months. Why would she suddenly develop an allergy? Something didn't seem right.
"It was a reaction," repeated Julian. He placed her chart back in its spot on the bed.
"Trying to cover the hospital's ass?"
The hospital had probably messed up somehow and Julian was part of the cover up. One thing Quinn had learned in her weeks at Lima University Hospital was that things were not all above board as they appeared. Money and influence seemed to almost have more importance than patient care in the place. Not surprising since Dwight Evans practically ran the board. All the little extras she had received for being associated with the Evans family were proof of their widespread influence. So covering up negligence wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibility at the hospital.
"No I'm trying to cover yours. What the hell were you doing at Beiste's last night?" he asked lowering his voice.
"I went to see my daughter," she answered quietly.
"More like kidnap her. I'm not an idiot Quinn." Julian leaned over the back of the chair, his arms folded in front of him. "I know you think my daughter is trying to take your baby."
"She is. She wants Beth to be her own. Everyone can stay in denial but I know the truth."
"You'll get no disagreement from me." Quinn looked over at Julian in shock. "I think Mercedes should just hand Beth over to someone else. She's getting too attached."
"Is that why you helped me get back in here? So I can get back my daughter?"
Could Julian really be on her side after all? Maybe her white knight was still in there somewhere and he wanted to help reunite her with Beth. He did agree to sneak her back into the hospital last night. That had to mean something.
"I helped you because you were sick. I'm a doctor."
"No other reason?" she asked tentatively, looking into his eyes. Quinn was starting to feel like things could be looking up. Maybe there was some hope for reconciliation.
"Like what?" Their eyes locked. Quinn looked away first, focusing on some imaginary lint in her lap.
"Maybe because you still care?" She ran her hand through her hair nervously, as she sneaked a sideways glance at him.
Julian shook his head in disbelief, laughing humorlessly. "You think I have time to care about you?" he spat, the words hitting Quinn like a punch. "My daughter has been curled up in a bed with a comatose man for almost 9 months. She barely eats, barely sleeps, does nothing but worry about him." Quinn's gut twisted at the image. Lovers intertwined, trapped in permanent slumber.
"Her life is over. It just stopped the minute Sam got hurt. And now she's taking care of your ba…" he stumbled over his words, pain evident in his voice. "Your baby on top of everything else."
Quinn's eyes filled with tears as she watched Julian grow more upset. She had hurt him so badly, and he was still in pain. "I never asked her to take Beth. That was her choice."
"The baby was living in her house day in and day out. Then she sees you flipping out with your crazy bullshit. You think she'd do nothing? Her heart's too big to let a child suffer."
Julian shook with anger, his eyes filled with tears, his chest heaving. Quinn couldn't bear to see him this upset. Julian was always so calm and in control.
"You don't care about Beth at all? You used to think of her like your grandchild."
The night of the accident Quinn had found out she was pregnant. Overjoyed and scared out of her mind, she had rushed to Julian's house to share the news with Puck. At his door she froze, reality came crashing in. What if Puck didn't care she was pregnant? What if nothing would change and he still wanted her out of his life? What if the baby wasn't his?
Leaning against the front door of Julian's home, Quinn had called Sam in desperate need for his advice. He would know what she should do next. Sam had always been great at making sense of the chaos of her life. But he never picked up, his recorded greeting on his voicemail providing little solace for Quinn, so she hung up. She took it as a sign. Sam wasn't there so the baby had to be Puck's.
Looking back now it seemed like truly foolish logic, but then it was all she had. Her miracle baby was the key to getting her life back with Puck. It was the only thing that made sense. And it had worked, for a time.
"You let us all believe that bastard you made with my daughter's husband was Puck's. You tried to pawn her off on Puck throughout your pregnancy because your precious Sam wasn't around."
Julian walked back and forth like a caged animal, rubbing the back of his neck, his face contorting as his anger intensified.
"That's not true. We had tests. I thought she was Puck's."
"I don't believe anything you say anymore Quinn. It's all lies. I'm just focusing on the kid that's actually a part of my family. The one that's killing herself over Sam. I sometimes wish that he…"
"That he what? That he were dead?" she asked tears streaming down her face, horrified at the thought.
"Maybe if he never made it out of that accident. It would have saved us from all of this hell."
Quinn felt sick to her stomach, repulsed by what she was hearing. Nothing she and Sam had done was worth dying over. They had made a mistake, but it wasn't intentional. Julian was acting like they had deliberately set out to hurt people.
"How can you say that? This is not you. You save lives."
"That's right I save lives and Sam is here now. I pray to God every day that he doesn't die. I wish I could wave my hand over his bed and get him to wake the hell up. Because I know if Sam died now, Mercedes would go with him."
"You think she'd kill herself?" A chill ran through Quinn's body.
She had been that low before, when it felt like nothing mattered if she couldn't be with Puck. There had been a point when she hated herself so much, she just wanted to end it all. But part of that had to be the PPD. She didn't feel that way anymore. At least not as often.
"I think she'd give up. She's put everything she is into that piece of shit in that bed. There's nothing left for herself. She can't handle the reality that he might not be coming back."
Quinn couldn't imagine Mercedes that distraught. Granted she did really love Sam, the girl had practically stalked him for a year, but that wouldn't make her just want to roll over and die if she couldn't be with him. Mercedes had lived through too much. Quinn had heard the stories and Julian had told her some things. Mercedes wouldn't give up on life if Sam were gone. Julian was just upset and over exaggerating.
"She loves him Julian."
"I don't give a fuck!" He shoved the chair roughly as he yelled. "He used her, cheated on her, had a baby with you! She was almost free of that jackass. Divorce papers filed and this happens."
Quinn couldn't believe Julian didn't seem to understand. Hadn't he ever loved someone so much that you had to cling to them like a life raft, in the fear you might drown without them? It was suddenly clear to Quinn that Julian must have never loved anyone the way Mercedes loved Sam.
"What are you saying?" she sobbed. "Do you hate me too?"
"I don't hate you. I just don't care anymore."
No wonder he had turned on her so abruptly, no wonder he had been so cold and distant when Puck had agreed to take her back for the baby. He had just been going through the motions, pretending they were a family again, probably hiding his silent contempt the whole time. Quinn wanted to curl herself into a ball and just fade away. But she tried to pull herself together and ignore the burning in her chest. She had to think about Beth.
"So I guess I need to ask. Are you going to tell where I was last night?"
Julian gripped the back of the chair, not saying a word. Quinn held her breath, awaiting his response. She prayed Julian would come through for her, just this last time. "I will keep my mouth shut," he said finally.
"Thank you."
"I'm doing it for Mercedes. I want you sane, and out of this hospital. I want Sam up and out of that bed. Then you both can take your child and get the hell out of our lives. My daughter has been through enough. She doesn't need this."
"Julian I'm so sorry. I never meant…"
"Just save it. I don't want to hear any more excuses."
"What's going on in here?" asked Artie as he entered the room, immediately going to Quinn's side. "I could hear yelling all the way down the hall." He looked back and forth between Julian and Quinn in concern.
"I've got to go." Julian headed out the door, never looking back.
"Julian…"Quinn cried as he left. She felt like all the air had left the room with him. She couldn't catch her breath.
"Hey Quinn what's wrong?" Artie took a seat on the bed facing her.
Her shoulders shook as she broke down in tears. She couldn't pretend anymore. "He hates me. He truly hates me."
"Come here," Artie said pulling her into a tight hug, rubbing her back soothingly. "Calm down now. Everything's going to be all right."
"I don't think so Artie. Not this time," she buried her head into his shoulder, her tears soaking into his coat.
