A gasp, a quick swerve, the screeching of brakes and tyres.
The crunch of crumpled metal, the smashing of glass and the taste of trickling blood.
The accident still fresh in her memory, haunting her night after night.
She jolts up in her hospital bed dripping with her own cold sweat as she tries to convince herself it was a nightmare, but the feel of the cast and pins holding her leg in place make it all too real.
It happened, there's no changing that.
She can almost hear the sirens, practically smell the burning.
Her chest constricts yet she wills herself to power through.
She reaches to the bedside table in search of the array of pills that are meant to help.
She chokes them all down with a glass of water before looking to the clock.
3:05am it reads, she sighs reaching for the remote to turn on the TV; pleading with her eyes to not betray her again.
When she sleeps it's not just the memories that scare her, it's the thought of not telling her how she feels before it's too late.
It's been a week since the accident and she still hasn't said anything.
Her doctors are puzzled, her mom can't hide her tears and her friends are scared.
The victim and mute? Quinn Fabray.
The Glee club visit her as a group to start with, but then everyone thinks they might have a better chance at getting her talking if they visit separately.
Puck goes first and as soon as he greets Quinn with 'baby mama' she scowls and does nothing else until he retreats from the room.
Santana tries to crack a joke about the blonde looking good in her hospital gown and gets flipped the bird.
Mercedes manages a half assed fist bump.
Brittany takes her a toy duck and gets a tiny smile.
Rachel Berry goes in for five minutes and comes out smiling.
"What did you get?" They exclaim, the brunette opens her hand revealing a crumpled piece of paper with 'hello' written on it in Quinn's handwriting.
The second week
Quinn still hasn't uttered a word, and since writing to Rachel she's refused to use the notepad for any kind of communication.
"Honey, please, you need to start talking" Judy pleads with her daughter who just shakes her head.
The doctors tell her to stop being stubborn and she just gives them the famous glare which is enough to make them back down with exasperated sighs.
The Glee members visit again ready to try to see what their friend has for them this time.
Puck sings Beth and makes the girl cry silent tears.
Kurt tells her she needs to keep up her skincare regime and gets his bag of products thrown at him.
Finn tries to tell a joke and Quinn turns the opposite way.
Mr Schu visits with his ukulele and gets a thumbs up.
Rachel goes in and threatens to sing Barbra Streisand's greatest hits, she leaves with another note.
'Geek' written upon it this time.
The following day Rachel goes back by herself, she doesn't know why she's making the most progress but she's determined to get Quinn talking.
She takes a portable dvd player and Quinn's favourite musical, hoping that maybe if she wasn't ready to talk she'd sing instead.
But the girl just sways along with the music.
The next visit she gets frustrated and tells the girl to speak up if she wants her to shut up, Quinn just quirks her eyebrow.
She apologizes the next time she sees her, and has bought her flowers. The blonde smiles and writes 'thank you'.
Rachel decides to try bribery, she's running out of ideas when it suddenly occurs to her what the perfect thing to bribe Quinn with is.
Bacon.
"Though it's against what I believe to be right if you say hi to me then I'll sneak you in one of my dad's famous bacon sandwiches"
Quinn can't squeak out her hi fast enough.
After 3 weeks of nothing but the 'hi' Rachel is determined to be tough.
"You're just being silly now, Quinn" she tells her, "Why won't you talk?"
The blonde shakes her head and Rachel sighs.
She takes the girl's hand in hers.
"You said hi for bacon, what is it going to take for you to speak again?"
Quinn looks nervous as she taps her cheek.
Rachel looks unsure until she clicks on, she doesn't know why the blonde wants her to kiss her cheek but she does it anyway.
"Well?" the brunette asks.
"I'm" she says nervously.
"You're what?"
Quinn shakes her head reaching for her notebook and pen.
"A word a day for the next week" Rachel reads.
She doesn't know why but she sighs and agrees.
The following day Quinn let's Rachel babble before she looks to her expectantly.
"Scared" she utters.
Rachel frowns; she barely gets any sleep thinking about the first two words.
Next Rachel gets an I.
By the end of the week Rachel has five words, 'I'm scared I think I'
"You're confusing me" the brunette comments as she strolls into Quinn's room on a sunny Monday afternoon.
"Love" the blonde blurts out causing Rachel to look at her in surprise.
She edges closer to the girl standing right next to her bed.
"Tell me the last word" the diva demands.
Quinn looks panicked; she shakes her head and closes her eyes.
She feels the brunette take her hand.
"Tell me" she whispers.
"You" the blonde eeks out shakily.
Rachel's eyes grow wide and her mind puts the seven words together to form the sentence, she shakes her head thinking she must somehow be wrong.
"Now the whole thing together" she breathes staring right into Quinn's eyes.
The blonde visibly gulps before letting her eyes drift to the brunette's full lips.
She places a quick peck to the corner of Rachel's mouth.
The diva smiles at her and nods, "please say it?"
"I'm scared, I think I love you"