Something - Quinn Fabray

Chapter 61

Late on Friday afternoon, Shelby was sitting in her office, trying to grade a set of senior papers, when a knock sounded on the door. "Come in."

She stretched, putting the papers to the side for now. Seriously, reading high school papers could be like hell on earth. There were a few good writers here and there - Quinn was actually very good with words, she'd have to talk to the girl about applying to a few writing competitions - but for the most part, America's high school population couldn't write an essay to save their lives.

She looked up in time to see Tina Cohen-Chang enter her office a bit nervously. "Yes, Tina, what can I do for you?" Shelby asked pleasantly.

"Um, hi Miss Corcoran, Mr. Schue sent me to get you, there was a little accident in the auditorium..." Tina said. Shelby was immediately all ears. "Finn kind of hit Ryan in the face while we were doing some choreography," the teenager continued. "It was kinda bleeding when I left."

Dear Lord, she probably had one of the most hospital-prone children in the world. "Okay, let's go."

The two of them set off towards the auditorium, where they found the entire glee club and Mr. Schue huddled around Ryan, who was sitting on the piano bench with a bloody handkerchief pressed to his face. Quinn was standing next to him, holding another used handkerchiefs. "Oh my god." Shelby quickly rushed to him.

"Hi, Mom" Ryan said thickly, his voice congested.

Shelby bent down a little to get a closer look. "What exactly happened?"

"Finn's elbow smashed him in the face when we were learning some dance moves," Quinn explained. "We're not sure if it's broken."

"Let's see," Shelby murmured, carefully pulling the handkerchief away from Ryan's face. A slight trickle of blood kept oozing out of Ryan's nose, and Shelby shuddered a little as she saw how swollen the teenager's nose was. She wasn't a stranger to these kind of accidents, she'd dealt with her fair share on Vocal Adrenaline, but there was a reason she hadn't become a doctor. She prodded Ryan's nose gently, drawing back when he yelped in pain. "I think it might be broken."

"Yeah, I think so too," Ryan deadpanned.

"Are you okay?" Shelby asked, pulling her own handkerchief out of her pocket and handing it to her son. "Aside from the broken nose, I mean. Any other damage?"

Ryan's nose twitched a little, and he frowned. "I'm kinda dizzy," he admitted. Might be from the bleeding, Shelby surmised.

"Looks like it's finally happened, Finnept's dancing is so bad it's deadly," Santana snarked.

"Santana," Mr. Schue reprimanded. "It was an accident."

"Yeah, totally," Finn said, nodding vigorously before shrinking back as Shelby glared at him. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to hit him."

Mike came jogging back onto the stage with an ice pack. "Here," he said, offering it to Ryan. "The nurse is gone, so I got this from the locker room. Coach Beiste keeps a bunch in her office."

"Thanks, Mike," Ryan said, smiling, then wincing as the motion caused his nose to shift.

"Tilt your head forward," Shelby instructed, taking the ice pack and pressing it against Ryan's nose gently. "Let's get you to the clinic."

..

"It's broken," Dr. Moritz announced, pinning the x-ray of Ryan's nose up to the illuminator. "Fortunately it's a clean break, so no need for surgery. It looks like you rebroke an old fracture."

"Wait, wait, wait," Shelby said, holding a hand up. "When did you fracture your nose?"

Ryan frowned. "I don't really know..."