Stacie stared at the unconscious girl across from her, holding her hand and rubbing her thumb across the back of it lightly. She had been by Jaiden's side from the moment the younger girl had gotten out of surgery, waiting anxiously for her to wake up. Chloe had already requested that the two sisters be put into joint rooms, but the hospital staff had insisted that Jaiden be taken to the ICU after her operation in order to follow protocol. So Beca and Chloe remained in one of the rooms of the ER, with the smaller of the two sleeping under the influence of her painkillers.
"Stacie?" The exhausted woman jumped at the sound of her name and turned around to find a familiar man standing in the doorway. Dr. Mitchell, who wore a worried and slightly tentative expression, stepped into the room and eyed her with a hint of confusion.
"Dr. Mitchell, hey. I was…I was just waiting with her until she wakes up." She replied. Jaiden's father nodded and walked closer to the bed, staring at the sleeping girl in it sadly.
"Are you two close friends?" He asked. Stacie blushed and shook her head slightly.
"I'm actually her girlfriend. We've been dating for a little over a month now." She informed him. This time, it was Dr. Mitchell's turn to blush and he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Sorry. I'm a bit out of the loop when it comes to her." He admitted. Stacie nodded in understanding and then jumped when she felt a bit of pressure on her hand. She turned her attention back to Jaiden, who's eyelids were fluttering slightly. The 18 year old let out a tiny groan and slowly came to; taking in her surroundings slowly through her blurry vision. Stacie waited silently, a bit afraid to say anything, until the younger girl's eyes came to fix on her.
"Hey," Jaiden croaked finally. A relieved, choked up laugh escaped Stacie's lips and the older brunette's eyes welled up with tears. She kissed the back of Jaiden's hand and squeezed it tightly before Dr. Mitchell cleared his throat. Unaware of his presence until now, Jaiden turned her attention towards him and tensed visibly.
"Why are you here? Why would they call you?" Jaiden's eyes widened and she shifted in bed, which resulted in a wince of pain. "Where's Beca? Are you here because…oh my God, is she dead? Where's Beca?" The heart monitor began to beep loudly as the 18 year old's panic levels rose and Stacie stood up from her chair.
"Dr. Mitchell, please just go. I don't mean to be disrespectful but-"
"No, I understand. I'll…I'll get a nurse on my way out." The man backed out of the room as fast as he could, and glanced apologetically at his daughter before he left. Stacie sat back down in her chair and grabbed Jaiden's hand again in an attempt to calm her down.
"Jaiden, listen, Beca's alive. She's just on a different floor, but you need to calm down. You just had surgery," She coaxed. The girl listened in vain as Jaiden's breathing continued to speed up and she pulled at the oxygen tube under her nose. Just then, much to Stacie's relief, a nurse sped into the room and took in the situation quickly.
"I need to see my sister, she's hurt," Jaiden explained hysterically, struggling to get out of the bed. It became apparent that the anesthetic hadn't completely worn off, and the teenager managed to swing one foot over the side of the bed before her nurse took her by the shoulders. The middle aged woman managed to hit the nurse call button on the side of the bed and within seconds, two more scrub-clad women jogged into the room. Stacie stepped back and watched, helpless, as Jaiden was held down and a syringe was stuck into her arm. The struggling teenager fell still several moments later, and her eyelids drooped heavily.
"We requested this earlier, but can you please bring her sister down here? That's why she started freaking out. Her name is Beca Mitchell and she's down in the ER." Stacie asked desperately. The three nurses exchanged glances before the one who had entered first nodded.
"Of course, honey. We've all heard what happened and those damn doctors can afford not to follow protocol for once." She replied definitely.
"Thank you so much," Stacie ran her fingers back through her hair and watched the women leave. As soon as they had left, she sat back down beside Jaiden and kissed her cheek gently. "Can you still hear me, babe?" She asked. The younger girl's head twitched in a slight nod and she struggled to open her eyes the rest of the way.
"They're going to bring Beca up here so you can see her, okay? But you've got to be careful, because you basically have a big hole in your side right now." Stacie told her softly. Jaiden's eyes slowly shifted towards her, a bit glazed over, and she nodded slightly once again. With that, the two girls went silent and Stacie resumed holding her hand, watching Jaiden drift in and out of consciousness from the sedative. Nearly 20 minutes later, Chloe stepped through the door, followed soon after by a nurse pushing a very bruised Beca in a wheel chair. Stacie perked up and gently nudged Jaiden's shoulder, attempting to rouse her. The 18 year old jumped a bit in surprise and then took a few seconds to get her wits about her. When she finally realized who was in the room, Jaiden forced herself to sit up again despite the sharp pain in her side.
"Can you wheel me a little closer?" Beca asked, looking up towards her nurse. The woman nodded in response and pushed her over to the side of the bed, opposite from Stacie. Jaiden followed her path the whole way and took in her older sister's appearance slowly. Beca's face was bruised and swollen practically beyond recognition, and her bottom lip was split. From way she moved and sat, Jaiden could tell that her entire body was radiating with a slight agony and her heart panged at the sight.
"Beca," The younger Mitchell spoke up finally. Beca's nurse took the hint that she was no longer needed and exited the hospital room. Much to both Chloe and Stacie's concern, Beca unsteadily got to her feet and perched on the edge of the bed beside Jaiden. Her breathing grew a bit labored, but she waved a bruised and cut hand towards Chloe when the redhead went to intervene.
"Hey kid," Beca replied quietly. She brushed a stray strand of hair back out of Jaiden's face and stroked her cheek.
"You look really bad," Jaiden noted. Her words were a tad slurred and Beca looked towards Stacie with an air of new concern.
"She had a bit of a meltdown when she woke up, so they sedated her. She was scared that…that you were dead." Stacie explained. Beca's eyes widened slightly, at least as much as they could, and she turned back towards Jaiden.
"I'm right here, okay?" She assured her
"Okay," Jaiden mumbled. Beca debated her options for a few seconds before just barely managing to lift her legs into the bed and reclined stiffly beside her sister.
"Can we just sleep?" The 18 year old requested exhaustedly. Beca's jaw locked at the familiarity of the sentence and she finally felt the tears that had been threatening to appear well in her eyes. She clenched them shut, despite the pain, and sighed shakily as she felt Jaiden rest her head against her shoulder. A few seconds later, she felt a blanket cover the lower half of her body and allowed the fatigue that had been plaguing her to finally take over.
Mrs. Mitchell sat in the front seat of her car, staring at the large building in front of her. She had been sitting in the hospital parking lot since 5 am, which was over an hour ago, debating whether or not she wanted to walk through those doors. When she had gotten the call that her daughters were in the hospital, she had known immediately why. The guilt had hit her as she listened to the policeman explain their conditions and then the hospital address. But then he had informed her of her technically ex-husband's death.
The 57 year old loved her daughters. She did. But Mrs. Mitchell also loved Ted. Despite his faults, and his temper, and his alcoholism, she truly believed that he loved her back. He would always knock on her door, telling her how much he needed her after things would get bad and she would convince herself that she could leave him. Because the truth was; she couldn't. And he couldn't leave her either, because he would always come back.
So Mrs. Mitchell had sat in her car, wondering whether she should visit her eldest daughter in the ER, her youngest daughter in the ICU, or Ted's body down in the morgue. The policeman on the phone had carefully elected to tell her that Beca had shot him in self-defense and that there would be no charges pressed to the young woman. And while her mother knew she should feel relieved at the news; she simply didn't.
Beca had always been her problematic daughter. Jaiden and Ted had fought more, but Beca was always the one to call out the entire situation. She was always the one to glare and push buttons when she came to visit. So, somehow, she began to wonder whether or not Beca had instigated what had happened. The idea that she had shoved Ted to what he had attempted to do was not unreasonable, at least not to Mrs. Mitchell. And the more she thought about it, the more she finally began to want to change her name back. The name Mitchell was becoming toxic to her.
"I can't," The middle aged woman muttered to herself. She turned the keys in the ignition and backed out of her spot. With that, she sped out of the parking lot and away from her daughters.
Two long, pain medication filled days later, Stacie was wheeling Jaiden out of the hospital doors and into the parking lot, where Chloe sat in the front seat of her idling car, next to a very tired Beca and her crutches. The brunette had been discharged the day before with a bruised ankle, bad concussion, and two cracked ribs, all on top of the various contusions and minor cuts that marred her body.
"I've got it," Jaiden grunted defensively as Stacie attempted to help her to her feet. The teenager had gone into a "Miss Independent" mode the second she had woken up beside Beca to two nurses trying to dote on her and change the dressings on her gunshot. So Stacie watched in concern as Jaiden just barely managed to open her own door and get into the car without collapsing. Both Chloe and Beca stared at her from the front seat and Jaiden met her sister's gaze for a few seconds.
"You okay?" Beca asked quietly. Her sister nodded as Stacie joined her in the backseat on the other side and shut the door. With that, Chloe took the car out of park and pulled out of the lot and onto the street. Tentatively, Stacie scooted over to the middle seat and took her girlfriend's hand, unsure of how much attention Jaiden wanted from her. The 18 year old glanced at her for a few seconds before turning her attention out the window for the rest of the drive home.
Half an hour later, Chloe pulled into her usual spot and killed the engine. The redhead immediately got out of her seat and raced around to Beca's side in order to help her out. Beca gave her a small, grateful smile as she hooked her crutches under her arms and started towards the door. The smile faltered when they got to the entrance and noticed that the pavement was still stained a dark red on the spot that Jaiden had fallen to. With no time to think of a way to hide it, the couple watched nervously as Stacie and Jaiden caught up and crossed over the scarlet mark.
"You can go home if you want," Jaiden muttered as she and Stacie stepped into the lobby. The taller girl looked down at her in surprise and shot a glance towards the other two women.
"No, babe, I want to stay with you," She replied sincerely. Her girlfriend sighed and shook her head as she distanced herself.
"Stacie, I just…I want some space and I can tell you're really tired. Can you just, like, leave me alone for the rest of the day? Please?" Jaiden asked desperately. Trying to hide how much the request hurt, Stacie bit her bottom lip and shook her head up and down slightly.
"Yeah, sure," Stacie's voice came out a bit thick and she released her hold on Jaiden's hand regretfully. "I love you," The tall brunette muttered before leaving. Beca and Chloe watched her go in a bit of a shocked silence before looking at Jaiden apprehensively.
"Come on," Beca said at last. The injured girl hobbled over to the rarely used elevator and hit the "Up" button. Jaiden followed at last, just barely able to restrain herself as Chloe took her arm for support, and joined her sister as the doors opened.
"Can you believe Mom didn't even fucking show up?" Jaiden blurted out once they were all in the elevator. Beca turned towards her in surprise, not really expecting the younger girl to say anything. Chloe looked towards the floor uncomfortably and played with the ring on her finger as a weak distraction.
"I know. She sucks." Beca replied bluntly. Her younger sister nodded in agreement before falling silent again. Jaiden was the first one off of the elevator when it opened and fished her key out of the overnight bag that Stacie had brought to the hospital for her. As Beca and Chloe entered the apartment after her, Jaiden picked up her pace as much as she could and locked herself in her room before either of them could speak to her.
"I can't believe she just pushed Stacie away like that." Chloe shook her head sadly and helped Beca to sit down on the couch. The younger girl stiffly propped her injured foot up on the coffee table and put her hand on Chloe's thigh as the redhead sat next to her.
"I know. How long before she does the same thing to us?" Beca said sadly.
"I don't know," Chloe paused for a second before studying the girl beside her. She had been trying to pick up on Beca's true state of mine since she had been allowed into her exam room two nights before. The brunette had seemed mostly focused on her sister, which was understandable, but now that Jaiden was in a relatively stable condition, she knew Beca had to be thinking about other things. "Becs, how are you handing all of this? I mean, what even happened?" Beca tensed at the question and looked down at her hands. She had promised that she wouldn't shut Chloe out from the moment she felt herself wanting to. Which meant she had to talk to her about this.
"I…don't know how I'm handling this. I can't stop thinking about it and seeing Jaiden like that in the back of his truck. She was so scared and that's when I realized that, you know, she had been shot, because there was just so much blood. And so I made her get the gun, because I just needed her to be safe and I was scared I was going to pass out," Beca's voice broke off and she struggled to swallow the lump in her throat. After a few seconds, she got a hold on herself and continued. "So I waited until he stopped the truck and…and I shot him, Chloe. I killed him. And I don't regret it, you know? Because when it came down to it, it was Jaiden or him. He was going to kill her, and probably me too. So I killed him first." Beca fixed her eyes straight ahead and nodded at the end of her last sentence, affirming the words to herself. She had killed a man. She had taken his life away, but only to save her own and her sister's. She had kept her promise.
"I love you, Beca." Chloe whispered, leaning closer to her. She kissed Beca's temple lightly and then wrapped her arm around the smaller girl's shoulders. With that, Beca turned on the TV in front of them and they fell into a comfortable silence, relaxing against each other contently.
So…lots of emotions there. How will Beca and Jaiden handle what happened? Let me know what you think and feedback/suggestions are welcome as always!