Hey all, Glee belongs to its rightful owners. Courtney belongs to KikiJuanita, and you need to have her permission like I have to use her. Any other unrecognizable characters belong to me and cannot be used without my permission.
Enjoy!
She thought once she got to the hospital that all the questions she had swimming around in her head would be answered. But they hadn't been as Jeff was still in surgery, and she didn't know how much longer he would be under the knife. None of the nurses she talked to would give her a clear update on Jeff, always telling her that once he's done in surgery the doctor would be out to let her know. And frankly, that wasn't good enough for her because she had to know that he is going to be okay, because he couldn't die on the table while they try to fix him.
She hadn't talked to Courtney yet, and they had been waiting for what felt like the worst lifetime in the history of lifetimes, and that boiled down to them being there for a total of 45 minutes. Each second dragging by slower and slower. She held no ill will towards Courtney; she personally didn't think she could deal with what happened.
"Onyx, I know you don't want to hear what lead to Jeff to being in surgery, but you need to know so when you call your parents you can tell them everything," Seb told her softly, holding her as close as the ugly barely cushioned chairs would allow.
"I know," she nodded, closing her eyes. "But I don't know if I can hear it," she said, on the verge of tears.
"That's why I called in reinforcements," he nudged her, making her look to see her frantic boyfriend rush into the small waiting room they occupied. "Don't be mad, but I could see that you needed him," Seb told her with a matter of fact attitude.
She gave her best friend a smile, which was weak; she's pretty certain it looked more like a grimace than a smile, but she couldn't find it in herself to actually smile not when Jeff laid on a table fighting for his life.
"Hey," Clint whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, pulling her as close as humanly possible. He wanted to soak up her pain and make her feel better.
"Hi," she sniffled, burying herself in him, as her arms locked around his waist, finding every ounce of comfort, she has ever felt while in his arms needing it now more than ever, feeling herself start to break down. "I still need to talk to Courtney," she told him, daring a look at her brother's girlfriend.
She had tried to approach when she had entered with Seb but Onyx hadn't even given her a glance, walking straight to the nurses' station looking for answers. Now she could see how distraught and broken she is, she would easily believe the same emotions going through herself are going through her. Showing her just how much Courtney cares about Jeff.
"Go talk to her, baby," Clint whispered in her ear, following what had his girlfriend's attention. "I can come with, if that's what you need," he assured her. He wanted to make sure that through the fog and numbness, she's feeling that he wouldn't leave her.
"I'll be okay," she told him, digging her phone out of her pocket. "Can you call Mike?" She asked him. "I am still not sure how it all works with him with just finding out our family ties, but if it were me, I would like to know," she rambled.
"I can do that," he said, pressing a tender kiss to her forehead.
"Thank you," she said, moving over to where Courtney sat alone. Walking up to her Onyx could see the tears slipping from her eyes and seeing just how bright red they are from crying. "Courtney," she softly said, sitting next to her brothers' girlfriend.
"This isn't at all how I wanted this meeting to happen," Courtney started to say, using the back of her hands to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "You should hate me; I hate me," she grumbled out, closing her eyes to keep more tears at bay.
"Hey now," Onyx said softly, reaching out to hold her hand. "I don't hate you; I do agree that we could have met elsewhere under better circumstances, but I could never hate you, not over this," she softly told her trying to assure her.
"That's because you don't know what happened," she harshly said, pulling her hand away from Onyx, so she could hold her own hands in her lap while she fidgeted.
"Then tell me what happened, Courtney," Onyx said, ready to hear what happened to her brother and what was so bad that Courtney felt guilty in hurting Jeff, if that even happened to be the case.
"It's all my fault," she sniffed, rubbing at her eyes. "I just had to go out for ice cream; he refused just wanting to stay in and call it a night early since he had the night off, and I made him relent because I just had to have the stupid ice cream that I didn't get to have, because some stupid idiot couldn't focus on the road as he just had to be all over the latest gossip or something as equally lame on their phone and the car plowed him over after pushing me out of the way. If I wouldn't have bugged him, he'd be at home in bed instead of back there clinging onto the only life he has," she told Onyx, fighting through her tears. "There was so much blood," she whispered, with a shutter.
"I still don't fault you," Onyx told her, pulling her in for a hug to give her some sort of comfort. "It's not your fault at all; I know how stubborn my brother can be, and if he didn't want to leave his place or yours whichever, he wouldn't have. Courtney, you can't control what others do, you didn't know that some guy was going to be distracted by his phone, you didn't know any of it. But what I do know is that Jeff is a fighter, and he has too much to lose to tap out now," she said, trying to calm the other woman. "He's got a lot of life left in him and I, like he will do once he gets out of surgery and wakes from it all; he won't blame you," Onyx stated, knowing just how her brother would go about it all. "It was truly an accident."
"I get it; I do, but I feel so guilty," she sighed. "And that is something that isn't going to go away on its own, not until I physically see Jeff is going to be okay," Courtney told her.
"I can respect that," Onyx nodded, letting the silence take over.
"Hey," Clint said coming over, to kneel in front of Onyx, giving Courtney a tentative smile. "Mike is on his way," he said, giving her knee a squeeze. "I called your mom's and filled them in on what little I knew, I promised that you would call with an update once he's out of surgery, as much as they are worried about Jeff, they're worried about you," Clint informed her.
"Thanks," she smiled, placing her hand on his.
"I didn't call your dad, because I wasn't sure what to do there," he said. He wanted to take as much of the burden off her as he physically could but with the way things were with her father, he didn't want to cross any lines he shouldn't be crossing when it came to him.
"Me either," she sighed, shaking her head. She may not be on good terms with her dad after the whole bomb of Mike, but she knew that she would have to suck it up and give him a call because he did have a right to know. "I'll be right back," she told Courtney. "If you need anything, Seb will get it for you," she let her know. Getting a nod from the equally broken woman, she took her boyfriend's hand, and headed outside needing to feel the cool night air on her skin.
"Hey now," Clint said, catching her the second she collapsed into him. He holds onto her as he rubs circles on her back to sooth her as he feels her body quake with sobs, her tears feeling warm against his skin where they soak through his shirt. "Jeff is going to make it through this; he's strong, and as stubborn as his little sister," he remarked, getting a soft chuckle from her.
Pulling away from him, she takes her phone from his hand and presses the contact for her dad. Taking a deep breath, she holds the phone to ear listening to it ring. Just when she thinks it's going to go to voicemail, her dad picks up. "Onyx, sweet girl, what's wrong?" He asked, his voice laden with sleep.
"It's Jeff," she says, falling back into her boyfriends embrace, needing the strength he has. "He was hit by a car; he lost a lot of blood. He's in surgery, they won't say anything, and I am beyond terrified that I am going to lose him," she explains her voice cracking as she did so, tears spilling over with no way to stop them.
"Oh baby," he whispers, his own sorrow over his son ready to wreck him. "He'll make it; your brother is strong and the most resilient man I have ever met, if anyone can pull through this it's going to be Jeff," he told her, doing all he could through a phone to assure his daughter that her brother was going to be okay.
"That's what I tell myself, and everyone else, but it doesn't ease the worry and the fear that I might lose my brother," she confessed, fisting her free hand in Clint's shirt.
"I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?" He asks, getting up to find clothes to put on so he can be there for his daughter and for his son.
"Please hurry, daddy," she whispers, ending the call, the tears coming faster and heavier sobs erupt within her.
There are times to put petty things aside. She doesn't forgive her father for keeping such a big thing from them all these years, but she can push it aside, for the time being, because truth be told she needs to feel the love only a father can give his children. And being in his embrace chases away the fear she has of losing her brother.
The time drags by with no word on how Jeff is. The night sky it seems only growing darker from the windows of the hospital waiting room. The skies only seem inkier when they step out needing the fresh air rather than the stuffy air that surrounds them in the waiting room. Someone is always bringing them coffee to drink and something for them to munch on if they so desire to. The coffee is enough for Onyx, as she makes her rounds from sitting with Seb, to checking in with Mike, to sitting on her boyfriend's lap, only then closing her eyes to get a few minutes of slumber. In all of it, she doesn't forget to check in with Courtney, who says very little. She doesn't push it because there is nothing more she can say or do to take the guilt away.
Needing something to keep her mind from worrying about what's taking the doctors so long with Jeff, she plops herself down next to Courtney.
"My brother got on my nerves so much when we were growing up," she starts to say, picking at her nails. "But I can remember when I was just a little girl that Jeff was my hero," she laughs, and takes a moment for herself. Thinking back to how close she is with him now and how she still looks up to her big brother. "He still is," she shares smiling a real smile for the first time in what feels like days. "This one day, it was the first day of summer, and the pool opened up that day after a remodel, it was my first date ever, and I was so freaked out by it that Jeff made sure that him, and his friends spent the day at the pool as well. He annoyed me with pulling the overprotective big brother card but knowing he was there was enough to ease my nerves," Onyx tells her.
"What happened on the date?" She asks.
"It was fun; we goofed off in the pool; he bought me a slushie and it was the most fun I had ever had up to that point," Onyx laughs. "It ended horribly. He admitted once Jeff came over to put an end to the date, that he only asked me out because he wanted to be friends with Jeff."
"Let me guess," Courtney says, a smile tugging at her lips. "Jeff didn't like that a boy used you?"
"You'd be right," Onyx laughs. "He tore into Eli so badly about using girls that I'm still to believe that Eli is still licking his wounds," she says, wiping the tears from laughing too hard from her eyes.
"I know I haven't known your brother all that long, but that just screams a Jeff thing to do," she says, controlling her laughter.
"It really is. He's always been there for me, even when I didn't want him to be, but I have always been thankful for him to pull the big brother card afterwards," she says. And she's going to be here for him, through it all.
"Ever since I met him, and we got to know each other; he's always spoken highly of you; it was so clear to see how much he cares for you and the respect he holds for you, Onyx. He made sure I knew it wasn't always smooth sailing between you guys," Courtney said.
"It wasn't, not by a long shot, but honestly I wouldn't change it because we're closer than ever now and that means a great deal to me," Onyx shared. She would hate to have a distance from her brother now. What they went through growing up brought them closer now, and that means the world to her.
"I can see it means a lot to him as well," she nodded. "I honestly wanted to have dinner to meet you where Jeff could keep things from getting all sorts of awkward," she once again told Onyx.
"I'd say it's up there but trust me; I have met a couple of his girlfriend's in worse ways. But honestly don't sweat it, Courtney. You staying here gives me all the proof, I need to know that he's in good hands, you're still here as anxious and wrecked as the rest of us. You may not love him yet, but I think you're close to falling deep for my brother, and that makes me happy because he's happy. How we met, does not impact the way I feel about him being in a happy and healthy relationship, nor does it have any part in if we can be friends or not. Heck if we can get through this together, there's not much else that can hold us back," she smiled at her brother's girlfriend.
"Jeff told me that you're a history teacher, and that you've been with your boyfriend for four months now," she said, thinking back to what Jeff had told her.
"It's crazy to think we've only been dating that amount of time," she smiled, casting a look at her boyfriend, seeing him in a deep conversation with Mike and Seb. Four months and she was living with him, and that didn't scare her; she felt more giddy than anything else. "I actually met him in June, and the irony of it all is that I went to school with him for two years before going to the rival school," she laughed. "And oddly enough we hadn't known each other back then."
"I guess it could be worse; he could've been your ex," Courtney commented.
"I feel like there is a story there," Onyx said with a small laugh, for the first time since hearing about her brother being in surgery getting a small chance to enjoy the company of Courtney and get the chance to know her.
"Well let's just say, you shouldn't date an ex," she sighed. "Trust me, I learned my lesson. Not sure why I thought it would work a second time when it nearly exploded the first time around."
"Sometimes it's not the people that change but the circumstances that surround them. And when you love someone you believe the best in them, because love really is blind," Onyx commented, taking a look at Clint, starting to wonder if there was anything about him that she happened to be blind about.
"From what I can tell, he loves you as much as you love him, I don't know what he has hidden nor do I know what you have buried beneath everything but whatever it is, if there is something, you guys will work through it and become stronger than you are now," Courtney comforted her.
"Oddly enough, I don't doubt that," she smiled. "I also do know that once Jeff is given the okay," she started to say, biting back her tears at the mere thought of Jeff not making it out of this situation, because she had to believe that all would be okay, and her brother would be there for all the milestones not in her life but in his as well. "That you two will make it out to the other side better than ever," she said, gently giving the other woman's hand a squeeze.
"Thanks," she smiled sadly. "I have always felt bad for the way it went down because I never wanted to become between him and Sugar," she confessed softly.
"I can assure you, just like I am sure Jeff has done; you did no such thing. Those two were so far ahead of themselves trying to make their relationship work, that it did fall to pieces before their very eyes with no way to fix it. Trust me, I haven't seen my brother this happy in such a long time if ever," Onyx assured her.
"What about Sugar?" Courtney asked. She had met her a few times, and she was such a sweet woman that she didn't like what had transpired. "Jeff had said you were friends with her."
"She's good, in a new relationship. I have yet to meet the guy, but I think like Jeff, she too has learned her lesson in jumping into everything without looking."
"I wasn't sure what you wanted to drink, but I got coffee and tea," Mike said, walking over, handing Onyx a cup of coffee from a little place that holds odd hours. "Clint and Seb told me you'd want coffee even if you should have tea," he chuckled.
"Oh I am sure they're right," Onyx laughed softly, taking the lid off her coffee to blow on it. "But I need my coffee," she smiled, breathing in the goodness of the sweet aroma. "Irish creme?" She asked.
"That would have been Clint if you don't like it," Mike made sure she knew.
"Oh no," Onyx quickly shook her head. "I love Irish Creme," she smiled, taking a tentative sip.
"Do you have a green tea?" Courtney asked. She really couldn't stomach anything as strong as a coffee, and she did prefer tea over coffee.
"Sure do," Mike nodded, handing her a green tea. "There's pastries, if you feel up to eating," he informed them.
"Thanks," Courtney told him, holding her cup with both hands.
"Thanks Mike, but that'll be a no," she told him, replacing the lid on her cup. Food didn't even start to sound appetizing.
"You're welcome," he nodded, leaving them be.
They sat in silence, not really sure where to start the conversation up at. Not that it mattered as the next person to walk into the room happened to be her dad, and despite the feelings over the bombshell, needing her dad, is something she really needed. It took her mere seconds to go from her seat to being wrapped up in her dads embrace, her tears coming quick as he calmed her down.
She didn't know how much longer it was before she was curled up on her boyfriend's lap, the chairs the hospital provided not making it easy, but they made to do; she avoided checking the time, unlike the rest of them. With her head on Clint's chest and the steady thrum of his heart, she found herself being pulled into a restless sleep. She woke to Clint pressing a soft kiss on her head, telling her the doctor was waiting.
She pulled her boyfriend over with her, fearing the worst and needing his support as the doctor explained to them what happened to Jeff. She tried to follow along with what he was telling them, but she was finding it hard to do so for whatever reason.
"Wait," she said, shaking her head momentarily. "I want to make sure I have everything right to this point," she said, licking her lips. "He lost a lot of blood, broken bones in his left arm and his left leg; one of his lungs collapsed; he for a small moment died on your table," she rattled off, not sure how anyone dying could be for a small amount of time when it was all huge.
"Yes, that'd be correct," the doctor nodded. "We had put him into a medically induced coma, with the swelling on his brain, which went down greatly. He, however, has fallen into a coma, and it's hard to say when he'll wake up. He's being moved to a room; a nurse will come get you when you can visit with him. Only a few at a time," he told them. "If you have questions at any time, don't hesitate to ask."
Onyx was sure she should have asked questions, but her mind was blank and numb. All she wanted to do was go see her brother to make sure that he was okay, well okay as one can be in a coma that is.
"I'll call your mom and fill her in," her dad said, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. She nodded, walking back to the seat they had vacated when the doctor came in, except this time she sat in her own chair.
"Baby, you need to eat something," Clint whispered in her ear, holding an apple turnover out for her to take. Not feeling like eating much of anything, she took a bite of it well he held onto the apple turnover and slowly chewed it. The once delicious flavor tasting more like cardboard in her mouth.
"I can't," Onyx told him, pushing his hand with the turnover away, it took everything in her to swallow the small bite she had taken. He nodded, placing it back down in the box, placing his arm around her shoulders after wiping his hands clean on a napkin.
"Onyx, baby," was being said, to justle her awake. "You can go see Jeff," Clint told her.
"Come with me?" She asks, getting up to stretch her muscles out. Clint nodded his head, taking her hand as they followed behind the nurse.
She really thought that when she stepped through the door of her brother's hospital room that she would be in a panic over seeing the tubes and wires attached to him, but that hasn't been the case; she felt at ease seeing him lying there, the beeps telling her that he is still with them. Tears did prick her eyes as she sat down in one of the two chairs in the room. She tentatively reached out to clasp her hand in his.
"Jeff, you gotta wake up," she started to say. "I need my big brother immensely, not only that, meeting your girlfriend in the waiting room wasn't entirely the best way to meet her," she said growing quiet for a few minutes. "I can't take up too much time since everyone else wants to come see you, but you best believe I'll be back. I love you, Jeff," she whispered, kissing her brother's hand.
She knew that she had to let everyone else see him, yet she couldn't make herself move from his bedside.
"It's okay," Clint said, moving the chair to sit it next to her. "They understand. You need to take all the time you need," he told her, taking her free hand in his. "Be a little selfish," he urged her.