Beca stayed by Jaiden's bed as long as her doctor would allow, and when the man finally came to take her away, the small brunette all but had to tear herself away from the younger girl. Though she knew Jaiden would be safe in the hospital, her anxiety levels spiked the further away they walked. Beca's mind whirred as she tried to piece together what Jaiden could have told herself in order to justify swallowing all of those pills.
"During the 72 watch, only family will be admitted into the room. After that, as long as she's stable enough, your sister can be discharged and taken home. Beca," He lowered his voice as they entered the elevator and found two nurses inside. "It's extremely important that you enforce and support Jaiden attending her therapy sessions. I'm also going to prescribe a new anti-depressant, which she needs to take consistently."
"Of course, yeah." Beca nodded in serious understanding.
"I see Jaiden is listed under her biological father's insurance. Would you like one of our nurse's to update him on what happened-"
"No. They…they don't have a good relationship and I don't think now is the time to fix that." Beca said. The dark haired man nodded and checked something off on his charts.
"Alright then. Well, you can come back up after her initial exam, as long as that goes well. And after visiting hours, I'm going to recommend that you go home tomorrow. There's going to be no use just sitting around this place, and I'm sure what happened has taken its toll on you as well." He advised.
"I'm not sure that leaving her alone here is a good idea," Beca replied anxiously.
"I can assure you that she won't have a lot of alone time," the doctor chuckled dryly. "But, I'm serious about going home Beca. You can't be much help if you're on edge and exhausted." Beca had no choice but to relent as the elevator doors opened. She had barely stepped out when Chloe and Stacie stood up and stared at her with scared, expectant eyes.
"Go update your friends and tell them they can go home. You can come back anytime between 9 and 6 tomorrow." He told her kindly. With a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder, he walked over to the nurse's station and exchanged the chart in his hands for a new one.
"Beca?" Beca tore her eyes away from the man clad in scrubs at the sound of Stacie's voice. She turned to find the taller girl wringing her hands and staring at her nervously.
"She's..she's going to be okay. They're going to keep her under watch for three days and then mandate a lot of therapy. They're only going to let family up to see her as long as she's in psych, so you guys can go home. Her doctor wants us to get some sleep too." Beca winced as she saw both Chloe and Stacie's faces fall when they realized that they wouldn't be allowed into Jaiden's room. Stacie sputtered for one minute, trying to come up with something to say that would let her see her girlfriend. Coming up with nothing, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and fell silent.
"Come on then. We could all use some sleep." Chloe tugged at Stacie's arm and began towards the emergency room entrance tiredly. Beca trailed behind them, fighting her own emotional and physical fatigue as she walked, and nearly dozed off on the walk to the car. Stacie crawled into the backseat, despite the limited leg room, and rested her head against the window. The expression on her face gave way to the troubled train of thought that was making its way through her mind.
"How'd she seem?" Chloe spoke up as she ignited the engine and pulled out of the parking space. Beca turned towards her, exhausted, and shrugged.
"She was a little out of it. I don't…I don't even know. She kind of seemed like she was disappointed that it didn't work," Beca's voice cracked at the admission and she bit back the new threat of tears. "But she said that she was sorry."
"I think this was my fault," Chloe said suddenly. Beca watched her hands grip the steering wheel tighter and tried to process the weight of the admission.
"What do you-"
"I set her off when I told her she needed to step up for you. I just…she got so upset and now I can't stop believing that what I said triggered this." Beca didn't reply, sending a bolt of fear through Chloe's chest. "Beca?" She asked cautiously.
"You may have set her off, but there was a lot more behind it." Beca said finally. Her voice had a hint of gruffness to it, no doubt brought on by her lack of sleep and the stress she had just endured. The small brunette willed herself to tone it down before she spoke again. "Whatever it was doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that we're all here to help her recover and never allow her to do something like this again."
"What can I do?" Stacie spoke up from the backseat and her words were laced with desperation. Beca's eyes flickered into the rearview mirror and she made eye contact with the other woman briefly.
"You know she's going to try to push you away, Stacie. Don't let her." Beca said. Too tired to offer anything else, Beca leaned her seat back and focused on trying to keep her eyes open on the short ride home.
"Beca? Baby, we're home." Beca lurched up in her seat and stared around in confusion for a few brief seconds. Her attempts to stay awake had obviously not gone well, and she had drifted off 15 minutes before they had dropped Stacie off at the dorms.
"Sorry," Beca mumbled. Her clumsy fingers struggled to unbuckle her seatbelt and she suppressed a yawn once she had finally made it out of the car. Chloe was waiting for her on the sidewalk and the couple made their way up to their apartment silently; both of them too tired to even try to speak. Chloe simply laced her fingers through Beca's and held her hand as they walked into the apartment.
"I'm getting rid of all of our booze." The redhead muttered as soon as her eyes locked on the discarded whiskey bottle in the hallway. Beca watched as she picked it up and dropped it into the kitchen trashcan. Chloe reached up into the liquor cabinet and pulled out the half-filled alcohol bottles. The sound of liquid draining filled the dark apartment as she dumped their contents into the sink.
"Thank you," Beca said. A loud clang sounded as Chloe dumped the empty bottles into the trash and stepped back into the hallway. The two girls walked into their bedroom and practically collapsed onto the mattress; exhausted.
The next three days were agony for Stacie. Her mind hardly ever drifted from Jaiden and the time she spent in her classes was entirely wasted due to her lack of attention. Word had spread to the other Bellas, and they all offered their sympathies and tried to hide their shock. She appreciated Beca's attempts to relief some of the stress, but her vague updates made Stacie feel even further from Jaiden.
On the day of her discharge, Stacie headed over to the apartment around Jaiden's ETA; practically shaking. Her nerves were shot from waiting to see the younger girl, and she gripped at the sleeves of her oversized sweater subconsciously. Her heart raced every time she heard footsteps out in the hallway, and when she heard the doorknob turning, she almost pinned it up to being a figment of her imagination. After the brief moment of doubt, Stacie raced out into the front area of the apartment and braced herself as the door opened.
After a few tense seconds, Jaiden bolted forward and through her arms around Stacie. Three days of smelling nothing but anti-septic made the familiar smell of Stacie's perfume all the more comforting. She buried her face into the soft fabric of Stacie's sweater and hugged the older girl as hard as she possibly could.
"I love you," Stacie whispered. She could feel Jaiden's hands clinging to her back and held the small girl against her. "And I need you here with me. I need you here, Jaiden. I've never loved anyone the way I love you."
"I'm sorry," Jaiden replied softly. She remained in her girlfriend's embrace a while longer, relishing in the feeling of warmth after three long days in that frigid hospital. Even in her sweatpants and hoodie, she had remained chilly from the cold autumn air. She pulled back from Stacie slightly, but slid her hands down to hold her's.
"Do you want something to eat?" Chloe piped up from behind them. She and Beca had watched the entire exchange from the doorway, and the redhead had been practically buzzing with anxiety since they had left for the hospital. Despite Beca's reassurances, Chloe couldn't help but find herself at fault for what had happened with Jaiden. The 18 year old turned around to look at her, a bit surprised from the sudden offer, before shaking her head slightly.
"I think I'm just going to take a nap. Hospitals aren't really great for sleeping," Jaiden admitted. She looked at Stacie briefly, and the two of them walked into the living room together. Stacie laid down first and sighed comfortably as Jaiden filled the space beside her. The older girl pulled the soft blanket off of the back of the couch and across them both. Her arm wrapped around Jaiden's waist, promising both protection and affection as they tightened around the smaller of the two. Jaiden was just about to let her eyes flutter shut when she saw Beca sit in the chair across from them through her horizontal vision.
"Look, Jay, I know you're tired, but we need to go over some rules, okay?" The brunette said hesitantly. Chloe came to stand behind her; the only reason she had forced herself to bring up the terms they had come up with the previous night. Jaiden's eyes widened and she frowned in confusion.
"Rules?"
"We just want to keep you safe," Chloe spoke up. Jaiden's eyes met her's briefly and Chloe couldn't help but tense when they did. She still had no idea how the teenager felt about her, and it was hard to tell if the distance she felt between them was real or just an effect of her paranoia. Either way, Jaiden didn't reply as she turned her gaze back to her sister.
"Okay, um, the first one is that you can't lock doors anymore," Beca paused, almost as if she expected an argument. When Jaiden didn't respond, she went on. "You also have to let Chloe and I know where you're going when you leave this apartment. And no parties for a while; actually, no drinking at all."
"Or smoking," Chloe added. Once again, Jaiden looked towards her and then back at her sister.
"So, basically I'm just supposed to sit around the apartment, sober?" Jaiden deadpanned. Beca and Chloe exchanged a nervous glance.
"No. You can still go places, you just have to let us know-"
"Fine, okay, whatever." Jaiden interrupted. Her fatigue was practically clawing at her eyelids and the comforting warmth that radiated from Stacie was all but lulling her to sleep. Sensing her exhaustion, Beca stood up and pulled Chloe along.
"Okay then. Get some sleep. I love you," Beca told her.
"I love you too." Jaiden mumbled. With that, she tugged the blanket around herself tighter and succumbed to the heaviness in her eyelids.
That's a wrap. Not too sure about the sequel yet, but I'd certainly like to pick it up someday. Let me know what you've thought of the story and what you'd like to see, should I continue. Thanks so much for the support!