Promises

Daria's boss called Jane up the moment one of the other dee-jays walked in the door. Daria was so tired, that they had to wheel out the chair she was sitting on to get her to Jane's car. Jane helped Daria to her feet and placed her in the passenger seat. Daria's boss told Jane that Daria was getting the next two weeks off and that he would have her car brought to their house. Jane thanked him before climbing into the driver's seat. Daria was asleep before the car was out of the lot. Jane would look over at her best friend and wife to make sure she was okay. Jane carefully lifted Daria out of the car and managed to wake her up just enough to get her in the house and into bed, where Jane soon joined her.

A sudden snowstorm and a bad break-out of the stomach flu had left Daria the only dee-jay available at the tiny radio station she worked at. So for eighty hours straight, Daria kept the WLDW airwaves alive. Jane could tell when Daria had to go to the bathroom and such, because she would play a couple of songs that were extremely long in a row. One time when Jane had called to check on her, Daria played Alice's Restaurant so they could have time to talk. While Daria was at the station, Jane would fall asleep to her favorite person's voice, but only for a few hours at a time.

For the first time in four days, Jane was sleeping good. So good in fact, that she thought she was dreaming when the phone rang. Jane's eyes forced themselves open as the phone continued to ring. Carefully, she slid off the bed hoping not to wake up the person sleeping next to her. Quickly grabbing the phone, Jane walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen before she clicked the button.

"Hello - Lane residence." Jane's voice almost growled.

"Hello, Jane. Is Daria home?"

Jane froze when she heard the voice on the other end of the line. Helen Morgendorffer had not spoken to either of them since they announced their engagement three years earlier. Even their wedding invitation to her and Jake was returned. That action had caused Daria to take Jane's last name instead of keeping her own. For a moment, she thought about lying to the Morgendorffer matriarch, but decided against it.

"Yes, she's home, but she is getting some much needed sleep after working eighty hours straight. How did you get this number?"

Helen was quiet for a moment. "Quinn. I know you don't want to wake her up, but I really need to speak to her."

Jane could tell that Helen's voice was stressed and ragged. Then, Jane remembered that Jake had heart problems. Walking towards the bedroom, Jane cringed at the thought of having to wake up Daria after only five hours of sleep. Shaking her wife gently, Jane was greeted by a weak smile and a pair of very bloodshot brown eyes. The smile instantly disappeared when Daria saw the phone in Jane's hands.

"I'm not going back to work - tell them to kiss my sleeping ass." Daria groaned.

"It's not work - it's Helen."

Daria stared at the phone for a moment before reluctantly taking it from Jane. "Hello, Helen."

"Daria - you need to come to Lawndale. There's been an accident."

"Accident? - What happened?" By this time, Daria was sitting straight up in bed. Jane sat down beside her so that she could hear the conversation.

"Quinn and Jeff were hit by a drunk driver. Jeff was killed instantly. Quinn's on life support, her doctors don't think she'll make it."

All of the color drained from Daria's face as the tears began to form. "What about Cleo? Was she in the car with them?"

"Yes - she's hurt, but not as bad as Quinn. Her left arm and leg are broken and she has a nasty cut on her forehead. Your father is in the room with her right now."

"Jane and I will be there in a couple of hours." By now, the tears were free-flowing down Daria's cheek.

"Okay." Helen hung up the phone.

Jane wrapped her arms around Daria as her wife's body shook against her. After twenty minutes, Daria broke from Jane's embrace and headed for the bathroom. While Daria was in the shower, Jane quickly packed and made two large thermoses of coffee. When Daria entered the kitchen, Jane kissed her forehead and pulled her into another embrace.

"Quinn's a fighter - she'll pull through this," Jane whispered.

Jane threw the luggage in the trunk and opened the passenger door for Daria. Jane pulled out her cellphone and called Daria's boss and Trent. Jane backed out of their driveway and began the four-hour trip to Lawndale. Jane tried her best to focus on the road, despite the emotions that were eating her alive. She was relieved to look over to see that Daria had fallen back asleep. Maybe she will sleep the entire way there. Please Quinn, hang on.

Jane heard Daria coming to right outside of Lawndale's city limits. Daria looked over at Jane and placed her hand on Jane's shoulder. Instinctively, Jane reached up and grabbed it.

"Jane - there is something you need to know before we get to the hospital."

"What's that? Your mom's going to try to get me kicked out?"

"No - Right before you and I got married, I made a promise to Quinn that if anything happened to her and Jeffy, I would take care of Cleo."