Your gonna miss me when I'm gone

chapter 36

Chloe had been walking to her next lecture when she had received the phone call. She had to juggle her books and files into one hand so that she could pause her music and fish her phone out of her pocket. The past two weeks had been so great. Beca was attending each and every Bellas rehearsal and was happy. She had been showering Chloe with so much affection that, for the first time, Chloe felt truly special. Sure she had been in relationships and flings in the past, but Beca made her feel so much more special than anyone else ever had.

So when her phone rang, she just assumed it was Beca. The small brunette called her a couple of times a day if she was I hospital. Chloe didn't check the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Miss Beale?" that voice sounded familiar but Chloe couldn't place it.

"Uh, yeah..."

"This is Ann Perkins from Barden Community Hospital." Chloe stopped dead in her tracks, her heartbeat speeding up considerably, her stomach plummeting. She now understood why she recognised that voice. Ann was Beca's nurse. Chloe tried to speak, but her voice failed her. "I'm calling about Beca. I'm afraid there's been an incident."

Chloe felt like she was going to throw up. There couldn't be something wrong with Beca. Not after everything that had happened. "What's happened?" she asked quietly.

Ann hesitated and Chloe wanted to scream at her. In that second of hesitation butterflies erupted within Chloe, but not the good kind like when Beca kissed her, but like she knew that what was about to be said would be bad.

"I'm afraid Beca's relapsed." Those four words made Chloe's world come crumbling down.

"I'm on my way." She spun on her heel and began to run towards her car.

"Hurry." Was all Ann said before the nurse hung up.

Chloe could felt pure panic. She couldn't believe that the world would be so cruel that she only got to spend a couple of weeks with Beca. She didn't even care for her own safety or the speed limit as she sped towards the hospital.

Over the past month, the redhead had learned to not hate the hospital but now, all she could think was what she would find waiting for her. She was surprised to see Ann waiting for her at the hospital entrance.

"Thanks for getting here so quickly." Ann greeted her.

Chloe couldn't fathom a smile. "Where's Beca? What happened?" she asked as the two began briskly to walk to where Beca was.

Ann looked down, unable to make eye contact. "Her lung collapsed and her heart and brain are too strained from lack of oxygen..."

"Too strained?"

Ann sighed. "Her lung cannot support her. After everything that has happened to her in the past months, we tried to put her on a ventilator, but her body rejected it. The doctors have given her a few hours."

"What? How? I saw her yesterday! She was fine!" None of this was making sense to Chloe.

"We believe that her lung collapsed a while ago and she either didn't feel the effects until today or she just didn't say anything."

Chloe felt a lump in her throat. This couldn't be happening. She barely even registered that Ann had stopped outside of ICU. She opened the door and let Chloe in.

What Chloe saw next brought back so many bad memories. Memories that she had tried so hard to block and forget. She was back to that night when they had pulled Beca's body out of the car.

As Chloe approached, she noticed something was wrong. It took half a second for her to realise what it was, and when she did, her knees gave out.

Beca was lying peacefully on the white hospital bed. Her heart monitor was flat filling the room with a constant beep. Beca was gone. And Chloe didn't even get to say goodbye. It was that thought that caused the redhead's consciousness to fade, leaving the last thing that she heard was the beep and Ann's voice calling her name.

"Chloe! Chloe for god's sake wake up!"

Someone was shaking her roughly. She was aware that she was crying and when she remembered why, she tried to shake the other person off, not wanting to face the reality of what has happened.

"Come on Chlo, wake up, goddammit!"

That voice. Chloe's eyes snapped open and was met with dark blue eyes that were filled with pure worry. Upon seeing her wake up, Beca sighed in relief, only to be tackled by the redhead who crashed her lips against hers.

When the redhead pulled away, Beca smirked at her. "Well that's the first time I've woken you up and you've responded like that. Especially after last night..." when Chloe still appeared to be upset, Beca frowned. "Chloe what's wrong? What did you dream about?"

Chloe brought her eyes up to Beca's. She couldn't tell the other girl what she had dreamed. She couldn't let Beca know that she had had a dream that she had died. But it appeared that she didn't have to.

"Oh." The brunette looked away. She knew that the redhead worried about her, but this was the first time this had happened. Chloe looked at her, terrified that she was angry at her. Beca looked up and met her crystal blue eyes. "Chloe Anne Beale, I am not going anywhere. I promise."

Chloe had never heard Beca sound so sincere. As she looked at the small brunette, she truly believed her.