Chapter Text
“Chloe, Kate” the wheezing, disgustingly sweaty version of Steph Gingrich shoved open the door to the hospital room with a grimace, the door had bounced off the wall with a loud crack that had caused the blonde in the hospital bed to yelp and to further worry Steph, the bedridden thespian attempted to turn away from the doorway to shield her worryingly sensitive eyes from the dim lighting from the corridor outside the room.
“Steph. Thank fuck you're back” Chloe moved over toward her while Kate shut the door cautiously, making as little noise as possible. Steph gasped once Chloe had her in a vice-like grip of a hug, the blunette was tired, terrified and traumatized.
“Something's wrong with Rachel” the petite Christian sobbed, finally able to take in some air into her bruised and battered lungs and finally able to let out her own emotions since Chloe had let go of her to latch onto Steph instead
“What... What's going on?” Steph whispered, her eagle eye piercing both of the other young women's souls. “What's wrong with Rach?” Chloe's best friend felt the spike of adrenaline, the feeling of dread crawling up her chest.
Chloe opened her mouth but no sound came out, the blunette shook her head slightly then retreated behind her walls that she created to keep everyone out, walls that only Steph had been able to get through since William’s death. Steph turned to Kate, seeking answers from the Christian blonde instead. The blonde in question shrugged, “They wouldn't tell me. They took Chloe aside and she's been distraught ever since. Haven't been able to get many words out of her”
Sighing, Steph stepped up closer to Chloe, pulling her in an even tighter hug. “Chloe, talk to me”
“They... They said she... H-had a bleed on her brain. She took too much, the meth and alcohol interacted.”
Steph covered her mouth with her hand and teared up. Poor Rachel
It was a quiet, solemn evening for the gaggle of girls. Naturally, none of them wanted to leave Rachel's side since the fear of her getting worse was still very very real but none of them were really able to process what had happened since they couldn't talk, not without causing Rachel significant discomfort and unfortunately, the slightest noise seemed to disturb the thespian, causing her to whine in distress and pain. It wasn't until a nurse came by to do one of their many medical checkups a lot later that Steph plucked up the courage to ask if Rachel could be sedated. The nurse hurried off to find a doctor and soon after, the nurse was hooking Rachel up and the blonde quieted, finally falling into a deep drug-induced sleep
“Well, that was harrowing” Kate sighed quietly, trying to prompt one of the other girls to open up about the series of events that had led to the situation they found themselves in while fighting back her own distress to allow Steph and Chloe the chance to decompress, Chloe especially. Rachel was her girlfriend after all
“Agreed” Chloe breathed. The blunette was exhausted and consequently was curled up at the bottom of Rachel's bed like a cat. “I can't believe that doctor accused Rachel of putting people in danger!!” the blunette hissed furiously, still rather upset by the accusations
“I know, Chloe. She's gone now though” Doctor Starr’s shift had ended awhile back and Kate had politely mentioned to one of the other doctors that it would be best if Chloe didn't see that particular doctor near Rachel again. The doctor in question had heard Chloe's earlier yelling so agreed, tentatively at least, to see if there was anything she could do to keep Starr away from Rachel and by extension Chloe.
“Rachel was doing so well” Steph sighed, looking at the charm bracelet they had banded together to put together so that Rachel could keep a memento of how far she had gotten since she had started to attempt to give up her addictions. “Relapse is a part of recovery, though I'm worried. It only takes one relapse gone wrong and we'd lose Rachel forever”
“I know, that's a scary thought I try my utmost not to have” Chloe admitted. “I love her, Steph”
“I know you do, Chloe”
“I want Rach to be my wife”
“Oh, wow. Chloe, we all knew it was coming but hadn’t expected you to bring it up just yet. Marriage isn't even legal yet” Steph replied calmly
“Fuck America” Chloe grumped. Other countries had repealed or abolished laws that prevented gay marriage so why the fuck couldn't America do the same?!
“Yep. I have to admit I agree with the sentiment” Kate piped up, much to the surprise of the other two. It wasn't often that Kate made such remarks that weren't in jest so the serious time threw them. “What possible harm could come from allowing people like us to marry who we love?”
There was silence after Kate's comment. “People like us?” Rachel and Chloe suspected Kate was either gay or ace but for her to openly admit it?
“Surprise...?” Kate chuckled quietly. She felt totally relaxed around Chloe, Rachel and Steph after all and wanted them to be the first to know of the big secret, the secret that she likened to one of those creatures from Alien. She blamed Chloe for that, it had been her idea to watch that movie and she hadn’t slept for days after witnessing that particular scene