Rachel had a funny feeling. Bad funny. She hated that feeling. It wasn' that she was nervous. She knew that, every time she was about to get up on stage. She knew how to handle that. Now, she had a bad feeling. It was crushing her guts.
''Rachel, it's now or never !''
She looked into Finn's eager eyes. He was right there, handsome in his tuxedo, ready to link his life to hers forever, but yet, she couldn't. Quinn wasn't there. She wanted Quinn to be here. She needed Quinn to be here.
"Just a minute, please Finn. She said she'd be here. Look at her text : 'On my Way'. She's coming !''
She promised.
Finn looked disapointed, a inch of irritation in his eyes. She heard Santana's exasperated sigh on her right. On the background, there was the sound of a TV that they used to watch while they were waiting.
"Rachel, we don't have a lot of time. We have to go, now !''
Finn again. But before she could answer anything, her father, Leroy, did :
"Finn, if Rachel wants to wait for Quinn, you should respect her wish."
She looked at her father with gratitude.
"Well done !", whispered Hiram at his husband.
A few minutes passed in an awkward silence. Kurt hasn't moved, his gaze fixed on Rachel. He secretly hoped that she was having second toughts, that she would stop this crazy idea of marrying his step-brother.
But, sure enough, Finn lost his patience.
"Come on Rachel, she's not coming. Since the beginning she hated that idea. She won't come because, no matter what she told you, she's not your friend. She's selfish ! She won't be able to stand the fact that I'm gonna get married to you. She's jalous. Now please, I want to marry you. She-"
But Rachel stopped listening. She stopped paying attention to his rambling because, somehow, her ears cought something the TV said. 'car crash' and 'road 424'.
No.
This road was the road to go to Quinn's house.
No.
Like a zombie, Rachel slowly walked toward the TV, leaving Finn utterly confused.
''It appeard that the driver of the truck who hit the car managed to call 911 before passing out.'', said the journalist on TV.
Please, not Quinn.
"It seems that there's only 2 victims. The truck driver and the other car's driver. We still haven't any information about these too.''
Please, please, please, no.
Rachel was praying. She was selfishly begging that it was anyone else on that car. That Quinn would enter the room in her beautiful pink dress. That she would smile to Rachel and everything would be alright.
That bad feeling from earlier was much worse. She felt like she couldn't breathe.
Around her, people started to understand what was going on. The room was now dead silent.
No. Please. No.
"Wait. We just got other news. The truck driver, a man in his mid-fourties, seems to be fine other than minor injuries. On the other hand, the other car's driver, a young girl, about eighteen, is in critical condition. She's been taken care of by the EMT. She's now being transported to the nearest hospital. The firemans-"
Again, Rachel stopped listening, because on the screen of the TV, she saw the form of a girl on stretcher being hopped into the ambulance. She was wearing a pink dress. Something broke inside of Rachel. She felt like someone had just punched her in the face. Her lungs wouldn't work. She took a few step back until her back bumped against something. Her father. Her knees started to become weak. She turned aroung and looked into Hiram's eyes. She didn't need to say anything, he understood.
All was in a blur. She hardly remembered how she got into he car. Her mind was focused on Quinn. This day was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. She was supposed to marry the man she loved. Her best friends were supposed to have fun with her. She was supposed to dance with her fathers. She was supposed to throw the bouquet, congratulate Kurt for catching it (because he obviously would do anything to catch it). And Quinn was supposed to be there, smiling, laughing, dancing.
'You were singing it to Finn... and only Finn, right ?'
Why would she need to ask that ? Why did she asked that ?
'I am not gonna stand there watching you ruin your life by marrying Finn Hudson.'
She realized tears were falling dow her cheeks. This feeling was unbearable. Like she just opened her eyes after a dream, and everything was starting to become clear.
She remembered the way Quinn would look at her. Her head was a mess, she coudln't think straight anymore. Everything was confused. She didn't want to thing about that right now.
Sooner that she expected, Hiram announced that they arrived at the hospital. Still on her white dress, Rachel ran toward the ER. She heard her fathers follow, talking to the secretary, asking if the girl from the car crash was here. The secretary said that she wasn't here yet, but she was... on her way. They continued talking but Rachel didn't hear the rest.
She was standing in the middle of the hospital in her wedding dress, waiting for her best friend to come trought the door, lying on a stretcher. Maybe dying. She refused to think of that.
Suddenly, she heard a lot of doctors speaking really fast, things that she didn't understand. She didn't want to understand. All she saw was Quinn. She was bruised, little pieces of broken glass in her skin, a mask on her face. And blood everywhere.
"Quinn !" The scream escaped her mouth before she could do anything to stop it.
Rachel hurried to be at Quinn's side, walking along with the doctors. She managed to grab Quinn hand, squeezing it. She cried more when she felt the blonde squeek back. The doctors were saying things to her, but she didn't care. She heard Quinn coughed painfully and whispered trough her mask :
"Rach-Rachel-"
"I'm here Quinn, you'll be alright. It's all gonna be alright.", she managed though her tears.
She saw Quinn lips forming a small smile, then she said something else.
Rachel felt Quinn's hand letting go of hers.
The doctors kept her from going further. They said she couldn't follow them anymore. They said that they'll take care of Quinn. That she shouldn't be worried.
But Rachel wasn't listening. She felt her father behind her, taking her hand, leading them toward the waiting room where the rest of the Glee club was. Finn ran to hug Rachel. She let him do without reacting. When he released her with a confused look, she merely sat on a chair. She saw everyone asking her questions. But everything kind of faded away. She couldn't hear them. Instead, Quinn's three little words kept on repeating in her head, like a mantra.
"You look beautiful."