Second Chances

Chapter 16

TW: Mentions of rape/sexual assault

Rachel chased Beth all throughout the playground, hoping she would get tired soon. Beth was the most energetic person she knew, and that was really saying something. It seemed as though Beth could play for hours without even batting an eye. But Beth stopped completely in the middle of the park.
"My tummy hurts," she said and turned to Rachel with a frown.
"Ok, well let's eat something. You're probably just hungry," Rachel said, then held onto Beths hand and walked them over to the bench where Rachel had set down her bag with their lunches.
"I'm not hungry," Beth said and climbed up onto the bench, her small hand holding onto her stomach.
"Just eat a little bit, you'll feel better," Rachel replied and handed her a peanut butter sandwich.
Beth reluctantly took a few, slow, bites then handed it back to Rachel.
"My tummy hurts," she said and her voice broke. Rachel knew she was going to start crying if she didn't do something.
Rachel tried to think of what she could do to help her, but there wasn't anything she could do. Before she knew it Beth had thrown up on the grass, which was freaking them both out.
"Beth, come on I'm gonna take you home," Rachel said, she felt her hands shaking with nerves.
She helped Beth walk a few steps before Beth started wheezing and gasping for air. In all of the hassle of Beth getting sick Rachel hadn't even noticed how pale she'd gotten or how wide her eyes were. She felt panic taking over her body, she didn't know what to do. So out of fear, she did the only thing that seemed rational at the time and called an ambulance.
"Rachel what are you thinking about?"
It was a Wednesday afternoon, Rachel had just gotten out of work which meant taking Beth back to the doctor with Quinn. Rachel had started going with Quinn to all of her appointments because the one time Quinn had tried to take Beth by herself, she'd called her from the bathroom in tears because she was so scared for her daughter.
But now, Rachel was dazed in thought and Quinn was trying to pull her back to earth. She was asking her questions and trying to get her to engage in some sort of conversation. Normally Quinn was quiet and reserved, normally Rachel was the one to start conversation, normally Quinns constant pestering would of annoyed Rachel to the point of her snapping and yelling at her. But Rachel excused it, because right now they were sitting in the waiting room while Beth was in with the doctor. And Rachel knew how anxious waiting rooms made Quinn.
"Rach?"
"Yeah?"
"I miss your voice," Quinn said and fiddled with a hair tie on her wrist.
Rachel smiled in confusion. "What do you mean you hear me talk every day?" She asked.
Quinn exhaled. "Not like that. Like singing. I know, you sing when you cook for Beth or when you're in the shower, but you never really sing like you used to."
Rachel nodded. "Well don't worry, you know I'm planning to return to Broadway after I graduate NYADA."
Quinn continued to fidget with her hair tie until the doctor entered the waiting room.
"Miss Fabray."
Quinn stood up abruptly and Rachel followed. Quinns fidgeting got more intense as she waited for the doctor to speak.
"After running some more tests we've found the root of Beth's illness. A genetic disorder called Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome. Clearly it went undetected, which is what caused the tumor. It's best you get tested to see if you're a carrier, so that we can determine if you need to be treated," The doctor said, her tone was almost condescending.
"When could I get tested?" Quinn asked and spun her hair tie around her fingers even faster.
"We could do it as early as today," The doctor offered.
Before she knew it, Quinn was wearing a white and blue hospital gown and had the same doctor from earlier injecting different needles into her arm. She hardly even noticed the pain, she was to distracted. If Quinn had known Beth carried the gene for this disease, maybe none of this would have happened. She could of gotten Beth treated. Then she wouldn't of gotten sick.
"After a blood and DNA test, we've found that you aren't a carrier for VHL syndrome. It's unlikely that any of your relatives are a carrier, as you didn't have any trace of it in you. Is it a possibility that her father could be a carrier?" She asked.
Quinn couldn't be sure. She hadn't talked to Beth's father since after Beth was conceived. She couldn't even be sure if she'd talked to him that night, she was to drunk to remember. She could hardly remember anything from that night.
"I- I'm not sure," She said quietly.
If Beth's father were to get tested, he would have to come to New York. And he would meet Beth. He had met Beth when she was a baby, for the first few weeks of her life he'd helped Quinn take care of her. But he wasn't much of a help. He would continuously try to get into Quinn's pants and ignored her when she tried to get him to act like a father to Beth.