Beca roused from the light sleep she had drifted off into about half an hour after Chloe started driving home. The brunette blinked tiredly, a bit confused as to where she was and why she had woken up, until she finally remembered her impromptu quest. A glance to her right identified Chloe's buzzing phone as her impromptu alarm clock.
"Hey sleepyhead. Would you mind checking that for me?" Chloe said, noting that she was awake. Beca yawned, nodding, and reached for the lit-up device. She roused when she saw her sister's name on the screen and hurried to unlock the iPhone. "Who is it?" The other girl asked.
"It's J-" Beca's voice cut off as she scanned the short message she had opened. The words were misspelled, but their meaning was clear. It took Beca a few seconds to find her voice again, and when she did, it came out screaming.
"No!" Chloe jumped at the violent outburst. She dared to take her eyes off of the road for a second in order to look at Beca. "We have to get home. Chloe, we have to get to the apartment, you need to drive faster-"
"What's going on? What are you talking about?" Chloe cut her off. Her pulse was rising by the minute, but she followed Beca's rambling and pressed the gas pedal harder. The small car took off down the highway, zipping past the vehicles in the lane beside it. "Give me the phone," Chloe demanded. She took one hand off of the steering wheel and snatched it from her rigid girlfriend, before daring to take her eyes off of the road for a few seconds. The message sent bile into the back of her throat.
"Beca, call 911 and give them our address." She said gravely. The redhead handed her the iPhone back and continued driving; her speed increasing every second. She spared another glance over towards Beca, just to make sure she was capable of following her instructions, and trained her eyes back out the windshield when she saw that Beca had lifted the phone to her ear with a shaky hand. Before she knew it, she felt hot tears streaming down her face. Determined to be strong for Beca, she wiped them away as her girlfriend started stammering to the operator on the phone.
"I need an ambulance t-to 922 Freeport Street, suite 405. I think my s-sister tried to…to kill herself." Beca whimpered. "I don't know how! Just get someone there!" She yelled into the microphone a few seconds later. The nearly hysterical brunette hung up and slammed the phone down onto the car floor. "Chloe, you have to go faster."
"I'm doing the best I can without killing us, Beca." The older girl snapped back. They whipped between other vehicles at a terrifying speed, racing towards the exit they needed to get into Barden. When the green sign finally appeared, Chloe screeched on the breaks and practically slid into the lane to their right. Beca gripped her seat as they went flying down the road; narrowly missing a deer that had found its way onto the pavement.
"What do we do when we get there? What if the ambulance isn't there first? What if she's d-"
"Don't say it," Chloe cut her off before the word "dead" could slip out of her mouth. She could not watch Beca lose Jaiden like she had lost her brother. That was a pain that she simply could not live through again.
"Why would she do this? What could have happened?"
"She got drunk, Beca. I told you that you couldn't let her do this." The statement came out more accusing than Chloe had planned it, and the girl in the passenger's seat tensed visibly.
"So, this is my fault?" She muttered.
"No, no, Beca, that's not what I meant. This is what depression does. I just meant that the alcohol probably made her stupid enough to do this." Chloe clarified. The last thing she needed was for Beca to start blaming herself.
"I should have stopped her. We should have stayed home."
"Beca! You can't do this right now. Just…just be quiet until we get there. Five more minutes." Chloe said. She took a sharp right onto Barden's Main Street, narrowly avoiding a few parked cars, and began to think about the game plan if they got there before the ambulance. The message's plea of not letting Beca was honestly a good idea, considering what they could potentially find. Her pulse began to race and she gripped the steering wheel tightly as they pulled onto their street. Chloe yanked into the first spot in front of the apartment complex that she could find, and before she could stop Beca, the brunette was out of the car and sprinting into the building as fast as her injured ankle would let her.
"Beca!" Chloe called, running after her. The pursuit lead up the stairs, onto their floor, and Chloe found her girlfriend struggling to get her key into the lock. The redhead was about to offer to help when Beca finally managed it and shoved her way into the apartment.
"No!" Beca's voice sent chills through Chloe's body and the older girl braced herself as she stepped through the door. Beca hadn't even bothered to hit the lights, but Chloe could still see her knelt by Jaiden's crumpled figure in the hallway. Light flooded the apartment as Chloe ran to their side and did her best to put aside her feelings and assess the situation.
"Jaiden? Come on, please wake up. Wake up!" Beca whimpered. Her small hands shook the younger girl's limp body and tears streamed down her face. Chloe moved her aside, knowing Beca was too hysterical to help at this point, and rolled Jaiden onto her side.
"What are you doing?" Beca sobbed.
"She overdosed," Chloe answered, looking over towards the empty orange bottle on the floor. "We have to make her throw up." With that, Chloe shoved her two fingers into Jaiden's mouth and bit her lip as she felt the teenager gag. She forced herself to keep at it, and used her other arm to lift Jaiden's torso up slightly. A sickening sound came from the 18 year old's mouth and Chloe yanked her hand out just in time to avoid a stream of vomit, dotted with half-digested blue tablets. Jaiden coughed weakly, and then fell limp again, with Beca watching in horror all the while.
"Becs? Can you go and get a bottle of water from the kitchen?" Chloe lightened her voice, hoping it would encourage her girlfriend not to completely break down. To her relief, the brunette got up and hurried back down the hall. She returned mere seconds later with a plastic bottle from the fridge, and handed it to Chloe carefully. The older girl had been taking Jaiden's pulse; wincing at how slow it seemed.
"Thanks. Can you try talking to her? I'm going to sit her up and see if she's responsive." Chloe said. She took Jaiden by the shoulders and sat her up against the wall. Beca moved to sit beside her, tears streaming down her face at the look of her younger sister. Jaiden's face was pale and her chin rested against her chest before Chloe took it gently and lifted. She pressed the bottle to her lips, and to her satisfaction, Jaiden stirred just enough to allow some of the water to trickle into her mouth.
"Beca?" Chloe prompted.
"Right, yeah, sorry," Beca sniffled. "Jay? C-can you hear me?"
"Mmm," Jaiden's response was practically inaudible, but her eyes fluttered enough to show that it had in fact been a weak reply.
"I need you to hang on, okay? You promised you weren't leaving, and this is leaving. I need you here," Beca's voice hitched in her throat. "Please, stay."
"Beca," Jaiden mumbled. Bleary eyes opened and focused unsteadily on Beca, who nodded in affirmation. Chloe watched, holding the bottle of water, as Beca pushed her hair back out of her face and stifled another sob.
"I'm right here," Beca assured her. Just then, the sound of sirens made their way through the windows in the living room and Chloe got up to go open the door. Without her support, Jaiden started to fall over again and Beca hurried to grab her. The 18 year old fell into her lap and Beca could hardly stand to look down at her. The girl who was normally so strong and determined seemed even weaker now than when she had gotten shot. Just then, she tensed in Beca's lap and the older girl watched in mute horror as her eyes rolled back into her head slightly and began making a choking sound. A small trickle of vomit made its way out of her mouth and Beca hurried to roll her over enough to keep her from drowning in it.
"Jaiden, please, stay with me. You can't go." Beca begged her. The sound of footsteps down the hall still seemed too far away, and she placed her fingers against Jaiden's neck in a desperate attempt to find her pulse.
She found nothing.
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