Broken Serenity

Rachel Berry groaned and grabbed her stomach, just managing to run out of the kitchen and into the downstairs bathroom before she was sick.

For the last week she had been ill. She put it down to the stress of Quinn and Finn's rekindled relationship, and maybe the return of her mother and new daughter.

Rachel grimaced and wiped her mouth with her hand as she lent back against the cool wall of the bathroom. The sound of the toilet flushing being the only sound she could hear.

She hated it, feeling weak, and Quinn and Finns sudden make up had damaged her slightly. But then there was her mother, waltzing back into her life, flaunting Beth in her face, that had hurt. She felt like a broken and tattered doll that had been replaced.

Most of all she blamed herself for her weakness, she felt she should have known better than to just let everyone back in so easily.

Sighing, she stood, shaking slightly, and grabbed a toothbrush from the sink, she applied some toothpaste and brushed her teeth and tongue, as much of her mouth as she could.

Five minutes later she set the brush down and washed her mouth out. As she left the bathroom she glanced at her watch. She frowned when she realised she was ten minutes late for her babysitting job. Still frowning, she picked her phone up from the sitting room table.

She punched in a number and hummed as she waited for Puck to pick up.

"You're late." Was the first thing she heard.

She huffed impatiently, "I know, Noah, I got distracted. Do you think you could pick me up?" She asked.

There was a small pause, Rachel shifted from foot to foot.Sshe heard, what sounded like, Aladdin playing in the background. There was a small sigh. "Fine, Rach, I'll be there in five."  

Rachel felt herself smile, "Thank you Noah," she replied sweetly.

Rachel could almost feel Puck roll his eyes over the phone, "Make sure you're ready." Puck said, before the line went dead.

As she waited, Rachel ate a cereal bar, in the hope it would settle her stomach.

As she was throwing away the wrapper, she heard a car pull up outside the house. Grabbing her back, she skipped out of the house, making sure to lock the door behind her. Her dads had gone away for the weekend and she'd been left alone with her next door neighbour checking in on her every now and then.

As she climbed into Pucks car, her stomach gave an uneasy flip. She took a deep breath as she slipped her seatbelt on. "We should hurry, Aria's not impressed you're late," 

Rachel frowned as he glanced at Puck. "I'll make it up to her." She replied. 

Puck snorted, "She's already set everything up. Honestly Berry, she's like a clone of you."

Rachel smiled, "There's nothing wrong with being organized, Noah,"

Ten minutes later Puck pulled up in front of his house, "I'll be back around Three, My Mom will be back around four if I'm late," 

Rachel nodded as she got out of the car. "Have fun." She replied, as she shut the car door.

Rachel turned and made her way towards the Puckerman house. Aria Puckerman was stood next to the front door, her arms crossed, a scowl on her face.

Rachel frowned, "I'm so sorry, Ari, I didnt mean to be late," Aria's face softened, "Ok," she sighed and lead Rachel onto the house.

"Aladdin or Bambi?" Aria asked, as she lead Rachel into the sitting room. Rachel thought it over, "Bambi." She replied. Aria smiled and slipped the disk into the DVD player. Rachel took her coat off and hung it on the coat hook, before sitting next to Aria on the couch.

Fifty minutes into the movie Rachel felt sick again. She shifted slightly in her seat, she took a glance at Aria, and saw the younger girl was asleep. Sighing, Rachel got up and made her way to the bathroom, where she was promptly sick.  

She wiped her mouth, and lent against the wall, groaning, as she quickly leant over the toilet again.

After about fifteen minutes she panicked, she was still being sick and her chest hurt. Suddenly she started coughing violently.

"Rachel?" There was a soft knock at the door, "Rach?" 

Rachels coughs grew louder.  

"Rachel?!" The knock became louder, until the door opened.

Rachel motioned for some water, Aria's eyes were wide, she nodded and left the room, she returned a minute later with a large glass of water.

Rachel grabbed it and took a sip, but she couldn't swallow it over her coughs, and began choking. Aria knelt down and started to gently rub Rachel's back, "What do I do?" 

Rachel managed to cough out the words, "Ambulance. Noah." Aria nodded frantically and pulled her mobile out of her jeans pocket.

Her fingers slipped whilst she typed in the numbers, "Hello? I need an ambulance. Yes, my it's my babysitter, she having a coughing fit, and I don't think she can breath."  

Rachel turned away slightly when she reaslied blood was mixed in with her spit.  

"51, Greenway avenue, hurry please."

There was a pause before Aria started speaking quickly, "Noah, you need to get home...

No! I dont care if you're with Beth, there's something wrong with Rachel....

I'm not joking Noah! Get your ass home now!"

Rachel heard Aria throw her phone down, "Just, keep breathing Rachel," Rachel nodded and tried taking a deep breath. Three minutes later there was a wailing sound and Aria jumped up, "I'll bring them up." She said before disappearing.

Rachel shakily wiped her hand on her skirt as three paramedics ran in, just as the world went black.

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Rachel wasn't sure how long she'd been unconscious, but when she woke up she was in a hospital bed, and there was a grave faced doctor stood next to her bed.

Rachel frowned, "What happened?" She asked the elderly doctor. His badge read Dr Parker, he sighed, "You collapsed." Rachel nodded, she knew that. "Why?" she questioned.

"We're still running tests, but for the moment it doesn't look good," he replied honestly. Rachel nodded slowly. "OK" she whispered.

"How long have I been out?" she asked quickly, worrying she may have missed her father's return. The doctor sighed, "Three days," Rachel's eyes widened. Her father's returned tomorrow.

"You have visitors," The doctor announced. Rachel glanced up, she didn't expect any, only Aria, and perhaps Puck. "Can I see them?" she asked. The doctor nodded, "Of course,"  

He left the room and five minutes later three people entered the room. 

Aria, Puck and Shelby.

Aria smiled and hugged Rachel. "Are you ok? You've been out for five hours" she asked. Rachel nodded, "I'm fine Aria, all thanks to you" Aria blushed slightly as she sat next to Rachel.  

"You sure?" Puck asked, there was a hint of something in his voice. Worry? Or maybe he'd sounded.. scared?

Rachel nodded, "Good" she heard Shelby say.

"What are you doing here?" she asked stifly. There was a pause, "You're my daughter Rachel, I love you and I was worried,"  SHelby moved foward slightly, and Rachl turned her head away, she would have rolled her eyes, if they weren't filled with tears, "Right." she replied.  

"Rache-" Shelby was cut off by the door opening, and Dr Parker stepping in.

There was a clipboard in his hand. "We have your test results, Miss Berry"  

Rachel almost question how fast they got the results, until she remembered Shelby had a lot of money.

"And?" she asked. The doctor sighed, "Our test results show, that unfortunately you have cancer.."

Rachel gave a little gasp, 'Cancer..'