Just to try to explain something… in the story, the characters are dealing with an enemy who eliminated an entire family based upon what one member may have had proof of or knew. It wouldn't be reasonable that they would continue to just slash tires and bust windows when they have a threat of being made known by Sam on their hands. They're ruthless and dangerous people who only care about themselves. I'm sorry, in advance.
The Recount
When Sam awoke on the morning of his birthday, he could already sense that something was off, though he couldn't tell what. Then, he looked at the empty bed next to him and around the room. Mercedes was not there… the dogs were not there… her stuff was not there. He jumped up out of the bed and scrambled to find his clothes as he began to call her cellular phone. "Hello?" She croaked on the other line.
"Hey, I woke up and I don't see you or your stuff. Where are you?" He asked.
"I've been packing up the stuff into the van. After we have your birthday at your folks' house, I need to go back to Ohio. If you can't take me, I need to get on a train…" She exploded into tears and Sam rushed outside to see her leaning against the van, clutching the phone tightly.
He collected her and she jumped at his touch, then leaned into it and fell on him, crying. "What's happened?" He asked. He worried. Please, don't let anyone have died, he immediately thought. Another two weeks had passed since they'd returned to Kentucky and in that time period, their friends insisted that there had been no serious incidents. Sam knew it wasn't over. This was proof and he feared the worse.
"It's Puck," she sobbed. "Matt Rutherford sent him a picture of us when we were leaving Ohio, and they found him unconscious. Quinn says that he had alcohol poisoning."
"Is he okay?" Sam wondered, honestly concerned.
She sniffled and cried the hardest tears she had cried in quite some time as she shook her head from side to side…
After the heartfelt weekend in Ohio, Sam and Mercedes decided to attend church with the Evans family on Sunday morning. Dwight, Mary, Stevie, Sam, Mercedes, and Stacie sat by each other, in that order. It was eerily quiet in the Methodist church, to Mercedes, but she supposed that to Sam her C.O.G.I.C. church must have seemed loud and insane, in comparison to this! Perhaps they should look into finding a happy medium.
When the church service ended, Mercedes shook the pastor's hand and spoke with him about how pleased she had been to hear the message. The two of them began to talk, like old buddies, and soon enough, Pastor Lavender was asking the Evans where they had been hiding this 'precious jewel from heaven.' "Sam's bed," Stevie muttered, and Mercedes' head snapped towards him, to everyone's surprise.
"Did you say something?" She asked. He simply chuckled. No one else seemed to have heard him, but he knew that she did. Sam looked over at his brother and dared him with his eyes to be causing any trouble for her. She was already volatile from having to leave her friends again and it would be all that she could do just to last the next few weeks without them, again.
"And Samuel, your parents have told me all about you. You were on the church's prayer list from the time Dwight and Mary joined us until they gave us the news that you had been freed," the Pastor said. "I have looked forward to meeting you, for myself."
"Mom and Dad are extremely fond of you, Pastor," Sam said, and began to talk with the man, himself.
At the end of the conversation, the man shook Sam's hand and told him, "I look forward to hearing you preach, someday." Sam blinked, in shock at the statement, but didn't question it. Nobody said anything about preaching and it was strange for him that the man would say that, because of how he knew he'd felt at and after the prayer circle. But, the family was going to have lunch together. Mercedes had offered to take them out some place, nice and allowed them to decide where.
"Oh my goodness! Afternoon karaoke!" She cheered when she heard someone singing Hungry Like the Wolf. "Sam?" She said, expectantly.
"Sure," he said, as the hostess took them to their table.
"What was the question?" Dwight asked with a chuckle.
"If we're going to do karaoke," Sam and Mercy answered in unison, hers a bit more excited than his, on the principle that it was KARAOKE!
"Order whatever you want!" Mercedes cheered.
"I want the most expensive thing on the menu," Stevie said, dryly.
"Go for it," She said. "What do you wanna sing?"
Stevie scoffed, chuckled and informed her, "I don't sing," as he looked over the menu.
Mercedes nodded and said, "Ok, so something spoken. I'm sure they have Cake in there – you could do The Distance. Or, Pepper by the Butthole Surfers may be good for you. You have a suggestion, Sam?" She asked.
"He could sing Creep by Radiohead," Sam said.
"That's singing," Mercy told him, with a wave of her hand. "He can look over the list. Speaking of list, I guess that I should let you recommend something for me," she said, touching Sam's hand.
"They have grilled chicken with sautéed veggies on top. We could split some focaccia bread with heavy tomato…"
"I don't want that bread weighing me down when I go to sing," she said.
"They have crab cakes."
"Yes!" She cheered and they kept it up until they'd decided what they would eat. "Everyone else ready?" Stevie was ready. Stacie was still trying to decide.
Mary and Dwight just noticed that they had not even looked over their menus for watching the synergy between their son and his woman. Dwight scooted his chair closer to his wife's and asked her if she wanted to share this or that. The woman gave him a sideways smile with squinted, curious eyes. "We haven't shared a milkshake in a long time," he said, "With the two straws."
Now, Stevie and Stacie looked at their parents as though they were crazy and as though it was a little gross, but Sam and Mercedes smiled brightly at the comment. Her phone buzzed and she picked it up to hear the voice read the text 'I'm pretty sure we're teaching my folks how love is done' Message from Sam. She simply smiled even brighter and hung up. "I love you," he whispered into the side of her hair and kissed her on the temple.
Sam and Mercedes decided to start out the singing from their party's table, but it took them a while to select a song, because Sam knew that he did not have the voice rang for some of the things that Mercedes could sing; yet the songs that he might sound pretty good singing did not really say what he would want a duet between he and her to say. "Look – I want to sing Endless Love, I've Had the Time of My Life, or Ain't No Mountain High Enough, with you! You know them all well enough to follow along, so pick one!" She fussed as he threw out every suggestion she made.
"Why do you wanna sing I've Had the Time of My Life? Me and Quinn sang that together at the shop, into broom handles. You remember? Is that why you wanna sing it?" He teased. She took a deep breath. "Ain't No Mountain is fine," he told her, laughing slightly.
"I've Had the Time of My Life is a classic, by the way. That's why I wanted to sing it. I don't care what songs you and Quinn sing along to during closing time!" She snapped, playfully and slapped him on the backside. She laughed and confessed, "I took a lucky swing and guessed where the bullseye was!"
Mercedes talked Dwight into singing back up for her Proud Mary dedication to Mrs. Evans. Sam thought that they sounded rather terrific together and liked that Dwight seemed to be enjoying himself. He had not seen his father really let loose and have a good time in a while. They never convinced Stevie to go for it, but Stacie sang a few songs that only Mercedes seemed to know, aside from her – some new stuff the kids were listening to. Sam was tickled that Mercedes knew everything that anyone sung.
Mercedes was always a crowd pleaser and somehow ended up having people shout out requests to her when she was on the stage. Someone suggested Betty Wright's Tonight is the Night, to her shock and laughter. She asked if there were children in the building, and there was a resounding "no." This place was more like a blues restaurant. When Mercedes sang the song, Sam readjusted a few times. Stacie laughed at the lyrics, never having heard it before and Stevie simply looked mortified and alarmed. But, Dwight and Mary certainly seemed to enjoy it. Mary was even singing along, in her seat, feeling good after a few drinks. Sam glanced at his mother, a little shocked that she knew such a song. He'd never heard it himself, but it was giving him all kinds of in his pants feelings.
Mary ended up on the stage with Mercy, by the end of the song – swing dancing a little with her as she sang into the mic, "I love him, I know it. I ain't too proud to show it!" By the end, Mercedes was spent! She hugged Mary and laughed. "I think that I've had my fair share of the stage!" The woman began to guide Mercedes from the stage and the younger of the two fell over, which startled everyone! Mercy yelled out, "Can you believe they put a floor beneath this stage? Who does that?" She laughed into the microphone as an embarrassed Mary helped her up, apologizing for letting her fall. Things were going well.
When they left, they washed up, changed up their clothes and made their way back to the house. Mercedes, Stacie and Mary hung out in the bedroom, while the guys hung out in the living room. Mary and Mercedes were having drinks together and Stacie was simply enjoying the entertainment while they let some music play and had trivial conversation.
Stevie had had enough of his family's bonding time with Mercedes. He left as soon as they got back to the house, so that by the time Sam and Mercy made it back, he was gone. That worked out for Sam, though – because he wanted to talk to his father about a few things. "Dad, in the past few weeks, you and I have bonded even closer than we ever were when I was young."
Dwight smiled, nodded and said, "It's been a treat, Sammy. I tell you, when you and that old gal leave, it's not gonna be the same around here."
"Yeah, well… I have to ask you some things and I hope that you'll be totally honest with me, because I've been nothing but honest with you, this entire time." Sam said. Dwight looked concerned. This seemed serious. Ih God, is Mercedes pregnant, already? Because whether or not they had a great karaoke lunch, no one was ready for a baby between the two of them. "You asked if Quinn was related to Russell Fabray… do you know him, personally?" Sam asked. Dwight exhaled, but furrowed his eyebrows. This might be worse than he even thought.
"I met him when I worked for Will Schuester in Ohio," Dwight said. "I guess that they are related?"
"Yeah, he's her father, and Dad – he's got his sights set on Mercedes and I," Sam admitted. He watched Dwight to see how he would respond to this news. The man stared at him blankly and confused.
"What do you mean his sights set on you?" He asked, after a while.
"Like, he's with the people who are terrorizing Mercedes' friends and it is very possible that they are going to try to hurt her," Sam said.
"Oh my God, Sam! What are you going to do?" Dwight asked.
"I have to try to fix things for them. What if they stage another massacre and kill all of the ladies at POM? I can't sleep on that."
"If you go back, won't they hurt your girlfriend?" Dwight asked.
"She wants to go back. She's missed her friends and she wants to go through everything with them."
"Can I give you some advice?" Dwight asked. Sam nodded. "Talk to Schuester. Make a deal, or whatever it is that you have to do to get him off of your back." Sam stared at him and laughed to himself. Luckily, advice could be taken or left.
"I have no dealings with Will Schuester after everything that he's done to everyone that I care about," Sam said.
"Don't be a fool, Son. What do you think that you can do to a man like that? He's invincible. He's untouchable."
"He's human, so that automatically disqualifies him for both of those things," Sam said.
After a crude comment from his little brother, Sam had gotten fed up with Stevie's attitude towards Mercedes and assured him, "You might as well get used to it, because unless one of us dies, you are going to have to see us together for a long time." Sam explained to his brother why Mercedes meant so much to him and while Stevie's support did, too; If Sam had to choose between the two, there was nothing that his heart was willing to choose over Mercy.
"Know what happened the time that I said I thought a black girl was pretty when I was thirteen? I got a beating! Sam brings one home and parades her around, and he gets applause?" Stevie barked at his father. "You called me names for just thinking about a black girl, but now that it's him and he's your special prince; suddenly we don't use the word nigger in this house anymore, and Heaven forbid you tell him that you didn't raise any niggerlovers or animalf***ers, like you told me!" Stevie was red in the face and trembling. "I didn't even want to date the girl. I was curious. She was pretty and I wanted to know what it would be like to kiss her! And you banned her from the house, even though she was Stacie's friend and she hadn't done anything wrong."
Sam blew out a gust of wind at Stevie's explosion on their father. He could see his dad reacting that way and even worse, for sure. Stevie wasn't nearly done, though. "You haven't been so happy in years, just because he's back. But, in another couple of weeks, he's gonna be leaving us, all over again. You'll miss him, all over again. Instead of completely ignoring us, like you've been doing since he's been back, I'll get to go back to being your big disappointment whose not funny or quirky like Sam or sweet and happy like Stacie, and she'll go back to being your substitute favorite child… and that's not going to affect Sam one bit."
Dwight quickly said, "Your mom and I have every right to be happy about seeing your brother again and seeing him like this. Sammy's free, healthy, and happy."
"Yeah, he has a good, free, healthy, happy life… without us. You and Mom could care less if he just drags you along, because you got your star boy back, if only for a few moments." He looked at Sam and said, "You get to be free to do whatever you missed out on, and despite everything that you went through, you're still standing strong. I'm glad about that, but I'm not going to be glad about the fact that when you do something wrong, there's always an excuse for it. Dwight Evans raised knights, and you decided to be a pawn instead. How are you still the favorite? Why are you so special, Sam? No matter what you do, they think you're so damned great! You brought home one of them. You should be disowned for that, but instead, I'M the one being scolded for not accepting it. When did that become okay?" Stevie asked Dwight. Sam reached for his brother, but the boy jerked away and stormed out.
"Stevie, talk to me, please!" Sam called, but Stevie rushed into the bedroom and snatched the keys. Sam stopped him at the bedroom door and said, "Don't run off when you feel like this."
"Get out of my way," Stevie said through his teeth.
"No. You shouldn't drive when you're like this. What if you have an accident? Hell no. You aren't going." Sam was barely paying attention to the ladies in the room, frozen and looking their way.
"You can't tell me what to do," Stevie said and tried to push past his brother. Sam held on to him. "Will you stop? Get out of my way!"
"Stevie!" Mary called out.
"I hate all of you! You're all so stupid! Get your niggerlovin' hands off of me!" Stevie barked at Sam…
Mercedes held Sam's hand as he soaked the other in ice. Stacie tended to Stevie's face. That had been totally reflexive. Sam felt terrible for hitting his brother, especially in the face and with so much rage. But, he should not have said that, especially in front of Mercedes. Dwight and Mary were now fussing at both of them. This was a family. They had no business fighting amongst themselves and using their fists to settle things between brothers! Sam and Stevie both listened to everything that they had to say. When they left the kitchen, Stevie glared at Sam. Sam looked at him, apologetically and told him, "I'm sorry you earned it." Things were not going so great, but Stevie did back off, after that.
As promised, Stacie began helping Mercedes learn gardening. Though, one day there was a catastrophe, when Mercedes ventured to deal with the garden herself and accidentally disturbed an anthill. The woman squealed and began to dance around, swinging and swatting at the little assailants on her arms, neck and chest. Dwight and Sam saw her and rushed to check to see what the hell was happening. "Something is attacking me!" She cried out, fighting out of her dress, with virtually no shame.
"She's covered in ants," Sam said and Dwight ran to the water hose and began to spray her down. Mercedes let the water pour over her bra and underwear clad, viciously bitten body. She ran her hands through her hair and shook her head as the hose hit her, there, as well. Dwight came closer, to make sure he could get all of the little critters off of Sam's gal. When he couldn't see any more of them, he paused to see if she was going to have another fit.
Soaking wet and bitten up, Mercedes finally tried to catch her breath and declared, "I'm not going to ever try to do this by myself, again." She sighed and asked, "Is your daddy around me while I'm in my drawers?"
"Yes… He hosed you," Sam said. She covered herself lightly, with a shy smile and Sam escorted her back to the house. Would things ever not be awkward between herself and Mr. Evans? Mary gasped when they came in. "She got attacked by ants," Sam explained. "We're gonna borrow a blanket and take off." Mrs. Evans walked her son and his girlfriend to their van and wished that Mercedes felt better, soon.
When she headed towards the house, Dwight shot her with the water hose. "Dwight!" She fussed, but he kept at it, laughing. "The neighbors are gonna think your some kind of lecher, or something. First Sammy's girlfriend, then me!" That didn't dissuade him from drenching her in water as she ran towards the porch. Dwight gave chase after his wife. Someone was going to have to help her out of those clothes!
Sam spent the next few days having to actually baby Mercedes, for the first time, ever. She was miserable, with all of those ant bites and he not only had to make sure that they all were tended to, but she obviously went into full throttle overgrown child mode when she was not feeling well, because she needed hugs and tender words and to really be spoiled each and every moment, to distract her from wincing at the pain it caused her when she accidentally forgot not to scratch. Sam kind of loved it, though – not the Mercedes in pain, part – but the nursing her and spoiling her part. She wore a snuggly pair of terri cloth pajamas the whole time and kept her lip pouted, even when cuddled up in her man's arms, on his lap.
Stevie was sitting on the porch with his dogs, strumming something on his guitar when his parents came out of the house with a couple of bags. "Where are y'all going?" He wondered.
"Oh, we're just going to take a little weekend trip," Dwight said. Mary looked quite excited about that. "If you and Stacie need anything while we're gone, Sammy and Mercy have already promised to look after you guys." He held his wife's hand and helped her into the big truck. Stevie watched them leave and Stacie came out and joined him on the porch.
"What's going on with them?" Stevie asked his sister.
"They're patching things up, I guess. I'm happy for them. It's a nice change to see them in love again. Mom's been so much more pleasant, too." She began painting her toenails, but had to shove the dogs away a couple of times so that they wouldn't mess her up. "So, what's been wrong with you, lately?"
"Nothing's wrong with me," Stevie said.
"Stevie… it's obvious to everybody; even Mom and Daddy are starting to come around that Sam loves Mercedes. But you just keep on shutting her out. She wants to inherit a brother and a sister," Stacie said, scraping off some stray polish from the side of her toe.
"Why? You know that Sam's going back with her. He'll visit maybe once every four or five months, and never for this long again. We'll probably see him three weekends out of a year and we can't go with them," Stevie said. "I don't see the use in even getting so excited about all of this."
Stacie sighed, leaned into her brother and laid her head on his shoulder. "We're not perfect, Stevie. But we are family and we have to love each other for the rest of our lives, or it just won't feel right inside of us. Sammy's been through a lot. He won't tell me anything about it, but he trusted you to want to tell you about it. I could get jealous and mope about how you're his favorite or that y'all treat me different because I'm a girl. But, that kind of stuff has never made me feel any better about what I've got a problem with. So, I say my peace or I hold it. Either way, at the end of the day; I did what I thought was best for me." She put her head up and asked, "You think it's best for you to be jealous of Sam and resentful towards Mercedes?"
"I'm not," Stevie said.
"Stevie…"
"I'm jealous of her and resentful towards him, okay?" He asked and shook her off of him, so that he could get up. He pointed the neck of his guitar out towards the yard and said,
"You know what I've noticed about watching Sam and Mercedes? Any time there's something wrong or bothering one of them – they talk about it. If he's willing to do that with her, I know that he'll do it for you. Just talk to him about this, instead of holding it and being mad all of the time."
"Last time I expressed my feelings, I got punched in the face. Sam has big hands and he works out. I don't think you understand how much that hurt," Stevie said.
"Not more than it'll hurt if you two never talk things out and get on good terms," Stacie said.
Mercedes stepped out onto the porch for a breath of fresh air, trying to rest a little from helping Mary cook for Sam's birthday. She heard the dogs bark and she rushed back to the house, but then heard Stevie's voice softly say, "Down. Down, boy." The dogs both calmed and she allowed herself to breathe. Stevie was staring at her. He just really still had no idea what it was about her that made Sam so crazy! "You guys are leaving after tomorrow, right?" He asked.
Mercedes smiled in his direction and said, "We'll be out of your hair before you know it and you most likely will never have to deal with me again. It's very possible that I'm gonna end up dead. The people that your brother used to spend time with want me dead. This might be my last vacation."
"That's not funny," Stevie said.
"Trust me, it takes a lot for me to muster up a smile. But, I would rather do that than live in fear, or sorrow, or rage, or hate." She smiled brightly and said, "That and a regular intake of psychotrophic meds," she giggled. Stevie gasped and she turned his way. "Oh, you didn't know that, either? For crying out loud, Boy… do they tell you anything?"
"They think that I can't handle knowing things. I got a take medicine, too," he said.
"Something to cheer you up?" She wondered.
"To calm me down," he admitted.
Mercedes sat down next to him and said, "I spent four years of my adolescence in a mental institution, escaped when I was sixteen, lived on the streets, for weeks with my two best friends, who broke out with me and then ducking in and out of a friend's house for about five months before the three of us moved into the place that I live in right now."
"You lie," he said.
"I assure you, it's the gospel truth. I never found a place to live and belong until I was your age. I didn't have a real family growing up. My dad was taken away and locked up when I was seven and he and my mom died when I was twelve. That was when I was diagnosed and locked up."
"The only placed I've ever been trapped is with this family. They don't know what the hell they want or who they are. How am I supposed to ever figure it out when my examples are Mom, Dad and Sam?"
"I knew people inside who were abused and victimized by their parents. Mary and Dwight might be a little hypocritical at times." She thought to herself, moreso Mary and also a selfish, jealous, dissention stirring, lying… "But, at least it's clear that they love you guys. I know that they seem to have some double standards about things. I've noticed that both of them don't really hold Sam responsible for anything or find any fault in him. I never had siblings, so I have no idea how it feels to live in that kind of shadow."
"Sam killed people and went to prison at my age. I play sports, keep up with my grades, never got kept back, and I do all of this while I battle everyday with trying to be a normal kid, despite the stuff that my mom and my brother have done to ruin our family. Do you think that my dad has ever told me that he's proud of me? He hasn't. He's never once told me that I've done well. In all of the years that Sam's been gone, never once can I tell you that I thought I pleased my dad, at anything. Sam came back for a day and my father gushed on how much he loves him and how proud he is that Sam's so strong! I mean, it takes strength to have to have been the brother of a famous killer while trying to go to school. It takes strength to be the least loved child and still do your best in the things that you're committed to."
"I completely agree with you, Stevie. But, you know what else it takes strength to do? To open your mouth and tell people how you feel about things. Otherwise, they may never know," she advised. "If something happens to Sam when we leave, and you never got the chance to share things in a productive way with he and your parents… It won't be too late, but what would be the point?"
"I don't think that there would be a point to say anything else about it today, but I can understand your attempt to assist." Stevie said. "I only have a couple more years, then I never have to deal with any of these people again."
"Are you going to school?" She asked.
"I'm definitely going to be doing great things," Stevie told her, with a proud smirk. She was unsure of what he meant by that comment, and she didn't really like the way that he said it… there was something in his tone that seemed alarming.
But, she took a deep breath, smiled and told him, "I'm glad to hear that."
Tina was leaning on the counter, talking to Mike, getting ready to start work again, after having a lovely lunch with her amazing man, when she saw Kurt rushing across the store to get to her. She smiled, confused and wondered what was going on. "Kurt?" She said.
"T – I saw on the news," he said, looking sad. Now, she panicked. With everything that had been happening, concerning Sam and Mercedes and things related, she assumed that something terrible had happened. "I know that you and your dad weren't close, but to lose him like that!"
Tina's eyes widened as she realized what he was trying to say and she asked, "Holy sh… Are you sure?" She pulled out her phone and saw that her sister had called. Her sister never called. Tina announced, "My sister called!" She began to dial the number back as she took a sip of her drink and hugged Mike, "Call me when you get off of work. I might be with my sister," she told him. He looked slightly disappointed as he waited for her to get off of the phone. "Hi, this is Tina Cohen Chang, my younger sister called me earlier… Oh, oh? Well, what… WHAT?" Tina dropped her phone and threw both of her arms up.
Mike reached for her, "What happened, Tina? Baby, what's wrong?" He asked as the tears began to pour from her eyes. "Is it your sister?" She nodded, frantically. "Is she hurt?" He asked.
She buried her face in his chest and choked out, "She's dead!" Now, Kurt just about passed out and he reached for her phone and her purse and handed them to Mike.
"Take her home," Kurt said and Mike nodded, guiding his lady out of her building. Kurt's eyes were red with tears and he had to force himself to catch his breath. He couldn't deal with this, right now. But, now, Tina was about to have to bury her sister! He picked up the store phone and called Quinn, "Hey, you need to leave the shop and go check on Tina."
"Tina should be peachy. Her arch nemesis got his head blown off this morning by a prostitute."
"Yeah, and I think that her sister found out before she did… and I don't have any details, but her sister's dead," Kurt said.
"I'm on my way to Tina's," Quinn said immediately. He heard her say, "Santana, I have to get to Tina's right away. Do you think that Brittany could pick Beth up from school this afternoon?"
"I need to speak to Mercedes," Quinn said, and Sam could tell that she had been crying. He didn't want her bumming Mercy out, especially while she was helping Mary prepare things for his birthday. Maybe it was something that he might be able to help her with.
"Is it an emergency, she's kind of in the middle of something…"
"Could you just put her on the phone, please? I called her phone because I need to talk to her and if she's unavailable, you could have let it go to voicemail. Obviously, she's available enough to check on the call, in progress, so give her the phone." Quinn's voice had cracked into a million pieces as she talked to Sam.
"1/2 cup, ½ teaspoon," Mercedes whispered as she picked up these things.
Sam walked over to her and said, "It's Quinn. She sounds pretty bad off."
Mercedes collected the phone and said, "Hello, Quinn? What is it? Is it Puck?" She asked and Sam flinched and tried not to look upset by the fact that Puck was the first thing on her mind, or how scared she sounded that something might be wrong with him. "Tina? What about…?"
"She's had a death in her family," Quinn said, clearer than when she was speaking to Sam. "There was this rumor all over the news that her dad was shot in the face and her sister tried to call her when she found out, couldn't get in contact with her and killed herself. Paul Karofsky, however is fine and addressing the rumors on tv, right now… of course with no mention of what happened to her."
Mercedes crumbled and covered her mouth with her hand. Tears poured out of her eyes as she announced, "I'm coming home. There's a train and I'll get on it, as soon as I can collect my stuff and I'm on my way back!"
"What happened to Tina?" Sam asked, worried that he had gotten Mercy's sister hurt. Mercedes wasn't really listening to him, as Quinn was still talking.
Quinn said, "Tina just wanted to make sure that we let you know, but she doesn't want you to come here. It's best that you just stay where you are, right now."
"Quinn, if things were switched, Tina would be there to get to me in a heartbeat!" Mercedes said.
"Have you taken your medicine?" Quinn couldn't help but ask.
"I haven't been keeping up with it as well as I should," Mercedes admitted. "I'll take it as soon as I get off of the phone and I'll be on my way back home…"
Tina got onto the phone, sounding worse than Mercedes could ever remember hearing her sound, "Mercedes, please don't try to come back here now. It's like Sam said, they're obviously trying to make a big impact and everything is very volatile. You don't need the stress, but I knew that you would want to know, from me. Kurt's going to be taking care of the shop alone while I make my sister's arrangements. I just don't understand. She was never suicidal!" Tina said and cried.
"Tina, I don't care how volatile things are…"
"I do. You're safe right now. I have Mike here. I have Quinn. You don't have to be everyone's superhero, Mercedes. I love you so much, Mercy; and you and Quinn are now my only sisters."
"I love you, too, Tina! Sam and I were going to be coming home soon, anyway. We'll just have to leave right after he's done with his birthday celebration, with his family."
Tina squealed, "Oh my God, Cedes – I forgot about Sam's birthday. I'm sorry. We shouldn't have called…" Mercedes could hear Quinn flipping out in the background, basically about not being that concerned about Sam's bleeping birthday. "Is there any way that you'll stay gone, for a bit?"
"There's more than this, isn't there? What is it that you aren't telling me?" Mercedes asked. She heard the phone shuffling about and waited as Quinn came back on the phone. "Quinn? Is everyone else okay?" She wondered.
"Are you coming back soon, or gonna take some more time to keep clear of the impact of everything?" Quinn wondered.
"I'm coming back no later than the day after tomorrow, if I have to hitchhike back! Why? What else happened? Quinn!" Mercedes urged.
"I'll talk to you when you get back," Quinn promised, trying to control her voice.
Soon after, they hung up and Mercedes stumbled to her purse and fumbled around inside of it, like she had forgotten where she kept things in it. Sam waited, with his arms folded for her to dig in her bag, take a couple of pills and sit down at the table. "I am so sorry," she said. "Tina's sister is dead," she said. Sam automatically softened and he went to rub her back and ask her if she was alright. "She wanted me to know, but she doesn't want me to come back. She doesn't need me."
Sam said, "Tina's a very strong woman. She can manage and if she says that you don't need to come, then you don't." She nodded her head, then held it. Sam whispered, "Is everyone else alright?"
"No!" Mercedes said. "I don't know what else happened, but I know that Quinn was keeping something from me. I even asked Tina and she just handed the phone back to Quinn; she was so distraught about her sister that she couldn't gather the courage to tell me the rest." Mercedes looked deep in thought for a moment, then sighed and admitted, "I asked Quinn about Puck and she changed the subject. She didn't even say 'fine,' she just went right into the information on Tina's family."
Sam nodded, thoughtfully and took a page from Quinn's book. "Had Tina's sister been having any problems?"
"No. She doesn't even have a history of suicidal behavior. She was in there mostly because of severe trust issues and fear of people. She hardly ever even left her room. It really doesn't make any sense, like Tina said. There was a rumor that Paul Karofsky had been killed, and she tried to call Tina, but couldn't get in touch with her. Then, she kills herself."
"It was a set up. IF Tina's sister committed suicide, the Karofsky rumors would have been purposefully set in place as a trigger for that behavior. But, if she isn't typically suicidal, that probably wasn't the case and they just used her location and frame of mind as a cover up. From their standpoint, it would be a clever idea to attack people close to who you're close to, to get you back within their grasp. It would be smarter than actually attacking Tina or Quinn, because now, you'll try to rush back to console your friend."
"Sam, I'm going back, the day after your birthday. Are you coming?" She asked.
"Where else would I be, Mercy?" He asked and placed a hand over hers on the table and pushed his forehead to hers. She began to cry again. He glanced at his mother, staring at them with a terrified expression. He knew that she would not want them to go if the other side was starting to kill, but that was all the more reason to go, and Sam would only stay through his birthday, for the sake of his family.
She kept her phone on her, in case there was another emergency, or something. Sam had to bring her to the room, early. She was having an episode, and really trying to smooth it over, but the fact that Tina was going through such pain and she was here, amongst people laughing and celebrating was just too overwhelming for her. She insisted that Sam just stay with his family and she was going to catch a cab to the motel, but Sam was worried about her. He heard about her past with depression and had seen her upset and confused, but he had not seen her in a state of depression, and she was claiming that this heartbreaking mess that she was, currently was not even one. He didn't want her to be alone.
But, she did something that she thought she would not do, just because the sense of worry was really unsettling – she called the rehabilitation center. "Hi, my name is Mercedes Jones. I am one of the emergency contacts for Noah Puckerman," she told them. She wondered if he had made that decision, even though they weren't on speaking terms. She once told him that Quinn should be his primary contact, because of Beth and the investment that both of them have in their daughter, but knowing Puck, he might have ignored her.
"Yes, Miss Jones. We contacted you, initially, but when we could not reach you, we contacted the other woman, Miss Fabray. If you have contact with Miss Fabray, you may call her in regards to Mr. Puckerman."
"Why should I call her? I'm talking to you, right now," Mercedes said, with her stomach turning and her head feeling feverish. "If it's an issue over things that you can't discuss over the phone, please check Noah's file. There should be specific instructions that I may receive information over the phone, due to the fact that I am blind and cannot easily make my way to places for face to face meetings."
She waited a moment, hearing the woman type on a keyboard. After a while, the woman said, "Hold on, just a moment, Miss Jones, while I connect you to the doctor." After a long wait, someone finally picked up the phone and said, "Miss Mercedes Jones?"
"Yes," she said, anxious. "I'm trying to figure out what's happened to my friend, Noah. I don't understand why this is taking so long."
"Miss Jones, Noah Puckerman received a very troubling photograph and somehow gained access to alcohol and drugs. This is all still under the scrutiny of investigation, as we have yet to figure out how he managed to get any of what was in his system when we found him…"
"Is he okay?" She asked, not concerned about any of these other details.
"I'm afraid not, Miss Jones. Mr. Puckerman had intense levels of concentrated alcohol combined with antidepressants and pain relievers in his system and his heart was not prepared to handle all of the poison in his bloodstream." She held her breath and waited for the next words, "He's dead."
Mercedes dropped the phone and scrambled around. She had to go. How could Quinn not tell her? She wanted to leave, immediately – but she didn't want to disturb Sam, either… Mercedes crumpled over, in the bathroom and allowed herself a chance to have a good cry. When she could breathe again, she began to get ready to leave.
"Is he okay?"
She sniffled and cried the hardest tears she had cried in quite some time as she shook her head from side to side, "He's dead!"