This is not the dream I dreamed - Rachel faces up to the fact that her Broadway career could be over before it had chance to begin.
Rating - T
Character -Rachel (Also features her fathers, Finn, Will, Shelby, Beth and others)
A/N - Reviews/concrit are loved, and if there's anything you'd like to see happen the let me know and I'll try my best to work it in somehow.I'm from the UK, so if anything American is not quite right, please let me know and I'll fix it.
I seem to be on a roll with this fic at the moment! And this part's a bit short, but the end seemed like a good place to break it up, the next part is longer.
It was almost an hour and a half later when Leroy woke Shelby, she'd not even been asleep for half an hour when the doctor came into the waiting room, asking for the relatives of Rachel Berry, "The doctor's here" he explained as Shelby lifted her head from Leroy's shoulder. Shelby nodded and stood to her feet, the night had been a blur, she remembered standing in the hallway outside Rachel's room with Leroy while the paramedics worked on her daughter, and she vagueley remembered Leroy telling the paramedics that Rachel's mother would be riding in the ambulance and he would follow behind in his car, but after that her mind was blank.
"She's through here" The doctor lead them down a corridor coming to a stop outside Rachel's room, "the amount of pills she took wasn't enough to do any lasting damage, and it seems most of the medication had left her body before she arrived at the hospital. We'll want to keep her under observation for a few days and she'll need to speak to a therapist before she leaves, but physically she'll make a full recovery, she might feel a little bit ill for a few days, but that's to be expected and we've given her a mild sedative to help her sleep through 'til morning."
Leroy thanked the doctor before pushing the door open, "Oh Rachel" Shelby burst into tears again as she saw her daughter's pale body lying under the covers, an iv line in her left arm and a heart monitor bleeping away slowly but steadily beside her bed.
"Hey, it's okay, you heard the doctor, she's going to make a full recovery, she'll be fine." Leroy pulled Shelby into an unexpected hug. "I need to let Hiram know what's going on" he said once Shelby's sobs had calmed, "do you want to stay with her?" Shelby nodded, "Okay. Where are your keys?"
Shelby frowned as she moved to sit in the chair by Rachel's bed, "my keys?"
Leroy nodded, "I'll bring you some clean clothes, and I'll need to get some things for Beth" He held his hand up to stop Shelby speaking, "you're Rachel's family, you can stay with us until she's back on her feet, and while she's in here we can take it in turns, one of us can sit with Rachel, one of us can rest, the other can watch Beth and Lyla.
Shelby gasped, "Lyla, I'd forgotten about her, is she okay? And Hiram took my keys when he got Beth out of the car"
"Okay" Leroy nodded again, "and Lyla's fine, she's with Beth and Hiram, now you try and get some rest, and ring me when she wakes up, either Hiram or I will be back before lunch."
Shelby nodded, "thank you Leroy." Leroy said nothing, but kissed Rachel's forehead, brushing her hair from her face before giving Shelby's arm a reassuring squeeze and leaving the room.
"Oh Rachel" Shelby sighed, taking Rachel's hand in hers and running her thumb over the back of Rachel's hand. She sat in silence for a moment before slipping off her shoes and laying on the bed beside Rachel, wrapping her arms around the sleeping girl. "Little girl don't be so blue, I know what you're going through, don't let it beat you up. Hitting walls and getting scars, only makes you who you are, only makes you who you are. No matter how much your heart is aching, there is beauty in the breaking." Shelby allowed her eyes to close, her voice nothing more than a whisper as she sung to Rachel, sleep slowly overcoming her. "When you're broken, in a Million little pieces. And you're trying, but you can't hold on any more, every tear falls down for a reason, don't you stop believing in yourself, when you're broken" Shelby yawned, she was just about to give in and allow her body the sleep it so desperately needed when she felt something move beside her. "Rach?" her voice was thick with sleep.
"Mom" Rachel's voice was hoarse.
"I'm here Rach, I'm here." Once again Shelby's eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry mom"
"Hey" Shelby reached out to wipe away Rachel's tears, "You've got nothing to be sorry for Rachel, but promise me, promise me you'll never do anything like this again."
"I promise Mom"
"Okay then" Shelby kissed Rachel's cheek, "I think we could both do with some sleep, your dad said he'd be back before lunch."
Rachel nodded, snuggling into Shelby and closing her eyes. "Mom" she broke the silence a few moments later."
"Yeah"
"Thanks"
Shelby smiled and squeezed Rachel's hand, "Just make sure I don't have to do it again, and Rachel?"
"Yeah?"
"Go to sleep"