Chapter 23: Clown

Hazel eyes squinted open in the harsh sunlight streaming through the blinds. Eyes roamed the sky blue and white room. This isn't my room…she thought to herself as the heavy cloudy feeling settled within her skull. Her body felt like a rock, pinning her to the bed. Even breathing felt sore. Her teeth brushed against what felt like…she looked down, a tube? What the hell happened?

And then it all came back to her. Her eyes snapped shut at the feeling. Hearing Puck's voice one last time echoed around her head, and then a falling feeling silenced by a crushing pain blowing through her chest. The distant unfamiliar voices calling her name; and the darkness falling around her. The faint beep she could hear in the room began to quicken, and she felt herself breathing heavier through the mystery tube sticking out of her throat.

Her eyes snapped open, tracking the room again. Her body felt too heavy to move, but she managed to move her eyes toward the window to her right. And then she saw something that helped her breathe a little easier, the beeping beginning to even out as her heart rate slowed a little. Or more like, she saw someone.

Puck sat slumped in the ugly rose pink armchair covered by what looked like…a ladies coat? She wanted to laugh seeing him like that, he'd deny it ever happened if he was conscious. His face looked red, puffy. His mohawk wasn't smooth and pointed like usual. He'd never let anyone see him like that normally. He hadn't shaved in maybe…two days? The last time Quinn had seen him like that was the Superbowl; when he vowed that he wouldn't shave unless the Giants won. Quinn rolled her eyes, guess it was a good job they did. She watched his chest rise and ease slowly, as if he were calm, but his furrowed brow and slightly clenched jaw said otherwise. She knew they'd had their ups and downs over the years, but she knew she could count on him when it really mattered.

With as much of a smile as she could manage, she let her eyes roll back over to the left. As her eyes began to close luring her back to sleep, she could've sworn she saw Rachel wrapped in a fluffy matching rose pink blanket sitting in a matching armchair to her left. She dismissed the hallucination as she let her body pull her back under the protection of sleep once more.

'This is ridiculous!' she sighed, small balled up fists clunking against the dinner table. 'I don't see how he can possibly think that my research on Stanislavski can possibly be wrong and not be able to support his dismissals without showing me the corresponding marking criteria!'

Quinn rolled her eyes. 'Rachel, he can't show you marking criteria for an exam you know that…'

She huffed. 'I know that. He should just guide us more appropriately if he wants us to use particular research – Stanislavski had a lot of theories!'

She chuckled. 'You mean he should guide you…'

Brown eyes shot up from her papers over at Quinn. 'Rachel Barbra Berry does not need more guidance than anyone else! Particularly in the field of theatrics!'

Quinn shook her head and chuckled in amusement. 'Clearly…' she muttered. 'D'you always refer to yourself in the third person?'

She sighed, visibly still flustered by the blonde's suggestion. How dare she think that I need more guidance! 'No,' she finally spoke, bringing her fists closer to her body. 'No I don't.'

The blonde found herself intrigued by the small brunette sitting opposite her. Quinn and Santana didn't have too much furniture in their dorm, so sitting around the dinner table was just gonna have to do. She'd invited Rachel over for a study night – neither of them had done as they'd expected on their midterms, and two heads are better than one, right?

Quinn nodded with a small smile. 'Just checking.'

Rachel lowered her eyes to her paper which had been scribbled all over by Dr Knowles. Quinn watched her study the paper wondering how a girl like her would get involved with a guy like Puck. I mean yeah, she loved the guy like he was her brother but he could be a bit of a knucklehead.

That's when the words slid out of her mouth before she could stop them. 'How'd you and Puck meet?'

Deep brown eyes rose from the sheets of paper splayed out in front of them. She said nothing, just looked at the blonde.

'I mean, you guys don't seem like you'd be a first choice…'

She smiled slightly. 'Noah is a good guy, you know that.'

Quinn smirked. 'Yeah…yeah he is.'

'To tell the truth, he charmed me.' Quinn smiled in recognition, and nodded for the brunette to continue. 'I used to have this really old red Volvo. It was a present from my dads, and I couldn't bear to get rid of it despite it being on its last legs. So one day I get back to the parking lot from class preparing to get back to my dorm. I try to start the car, and there was a loud bang from the exhaust and under the hood started to smoke. I got out of the car, and Noah was walking by. He stopped and helped me by checking out under the hood.' she shrugged. 'I guess the rest is history.'

Quinn smiled. 'How positively chivalrous of him.'

Rachel chuckled. 'I thought it was sweet of him. He didn't have to.'

The blonde rolled her eyes. 'Rachel this is Puck we're talking about. You're a pretty girl, of course he had to.'

Rachel blushed slightly and looked down, and Quinn realised what she'd said. Rachel tucked a strand of hair behind a small ear. 'You…you think I'm pretty, Quinn?'

She swallowed quietly, fidgeting with her fingertips. 'I…uh, yeah I do.'

Brown eyes twinkled looking into hazel, and Quinn felt a flutter within her.

Quinn felt the gentle flutter again, but it grew more tangible. She looked down and felt as if gentle prickles of electricity ran down the fingertips of her left hand, continuing to the inside of her elbow. Faint familiar voices began to surround her.

'Noah…Noah wake up…'

'I'll get the nurse…'

'Hurry…'

Vanilla and Daisy by Marc Jacobs flooded her senses. Images flickered through her head like a damaged film reel, holes and black marks blemishing the visions. Haziness clouded the images, but her senses were assaulted by the sensations.

The sensations of feeling lightly tanned skin underneath her fingertips. The twists in indents of muscles beneath her lips. The tinkling roar of a distinct laugh floating around her eardrums. The damp feeling of tears seeping through the thin material of her tank top as desperate breaths sobbed against her chest. The prickly feel of static electricity the first time that lips grazed each other, and sighs became one.

She felt the tension of muscles underneath her, the desperate gasps of breath just above her ear. Hips bucked into her as murmured chants fell from puckered lips. She reached for the bars above her head for leverage as she pushed deeper inside. Little high pitched whines and moans laced with 'don't stop' and 'right there' cascaded into her ears, sounds committing themselves to memory. Soft walls squeezed around her making it harder for her to move. A soft hand finds hers between their bodies, and she hears that familiar voice once again.

'Jelly…'

She feels a light pulling sensation coming from her mouth. Her tongue slides against the underside of the translucent plastic tube and it shifts. She doesn't feel the heaviness pressing down on her closed eyelids so much, and they slowly flitter open.

An auburn haired nurse dressed in white scrubs flecked with multi-coloured shapes smiles down at her, both hands loosely wrapped around the tube trailing from her mouth.

'Good morning Quinn…' she speaks softly, the sound gentle to her ears. 'I need you to open your mouth slightly for me please, can you do that…?'

The blonde nods and opens her mouth as much as she can, feeling a slight ache in her jaw muscles. The nurse pulls gently and the tube slides within her throat. She coughs and the plastic rubs against the back of her tongue, making her want to wretch. The nurse holds a white tissue beneath her lips as she is finally able to withdraw the long tube, with a slight trail of unattractive saliva.

Her throat feels dry and constricted as she coughs. The nurse disposes of the tube still hooked up to a strange looking machine, into a blue medical bucket waiting in the corner. 'Your throat is going to be sore for a little while Quinn…we had to put you on a ventilator while you were out, so we could keep you stable.'

She couldn't recognise her own voice as she spoke. It was deep and rough with a croak. 'How long was I out…?'

The nurse gives a small smile. 'About two days…'

Two days? Two whole days? Her eyes quickly pace the room, and she struggles to take in the information. Her eyes fall back onto the nurse who smiles sympathetically in understanding.

'It's natural to be alarmed Quinn…but the important thing is you're awake now.' She wraps her hands around the beige bar at the end of the bed. 'Your chest will be sore for a few days yet. You had surgery after your accident. You had a lot of internal bleeding, but the surgeons managed to get that under control. You also had a considerable head trauma when you hit your head, so getting your memory back might not happen fully for a few days, but this is normal. You also have a few broken ribs, but they'll heal in time. Your stitches are all biodegradable, so as long as you keep them clean and keep changing your dressing, they'll just disintegrate naturally so you wont have to return to the hospital to have them removed.' Quinn's mind raced, she couldn't process all of what she'd just been told. The nurse smiled at her again. 'I know it's hard to take it all in…but you have some visitors here to cheer you up. They've been here since you were brought in actually…'

She hears footsteps and adjusts her eyes. She thinks she must have fallen asleep again when she sees the 5 foot 2 brunette beauty standing next to Puck in the doorway.