I didn't want to marry Finn. I-I wasn't ready for marriage. To settle down. To have a family. I had dreams: Broadway stardom. Singing. I didn't know what to do.

So I stalled.

I text Quinn repeatedly. Begging her to get here. I didn't know what I was expecting her to do exactly: stand up to Finn. Rescue me from this situation I found myself in.

So I kept texting. No replies for what felt like an eternity. Until I got a call that made my blood run cold.

"Is this Rachel?"

"Yes it is. Who's this?"

"This is the Lima Highway Patrol. Do you know a Quinn Fabray?"

My heart thudded against my chest. Something was wrong. "Y-yes."

"I hate to tell you this, but Quinn was in an accident."

"Oh god." My legs wobbled beneath me as I sank into a nearby chair. "How-how bad is it?"

"Its pretty bad. She was hit on the driver's side by a big rig. The entire side of the car crumpled. My crew is talking to the driver right now to get the full details."

I swallowed the lump that had suddenly appeared in my throat. I didn't want to ask the question. Didn't want to know the answer. But I had to. "Is she…?"

"She's alive, but it's pretty bad. They had to fly her out of here by helicopter."

"Helicoppter? Why—"

"Life flight Miss. When someone is flown out of an accident, they're not doing to well." He pauses for a moment as another voice is heard. "She's been taken to Lima General Hospital. I can give you directions if you like—"

"No. I can find it. Thank you." Without waiting for a reply, I hung up the phone, my hands shaking.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" Kurt knelt down, looking at me. "Rachel, you're as white as a sheet."

"It's Quinn. She-she's been in an-an accident. A really bad car accident. A big rig hit the driver's side door." I swallowed the lump again. "She's at Lima General. The Highway Patrol said she had to be flown out by helicopter."

"Holy hell," Santana whispered. "Is she—"

"She's alive, but it's bad. Really bad."

"Dude, we have to go see her. We have to do something." Finn sprang to his feet.

"Yeah, we have to make sure she's alright," Tina added. "We'll all go."

"No." I stared at Kurt as he held up a hand. He sighed. "We can't all go; it would overwhelm her. When my Dad had his heart attack, the nurses only allowed family members or a few people in at a time."

"Uh, okay then. The three of us will go." Finn motioned to himself, me and Kurt. "Come on Rachel." As he gently pulled me from the chair, I heard Kurt talking to the others.

"We'll let you know as soon as we hear something."

That was two hours ago. Now here I sit on the other side of a hospital bed, watching as Quinn fights for her life. Her entire body is a mess of tubes and wires. Wires that connect to nodes on her chest, wires that measure her heart beats and her breathing.

I've been told the two tubes taped to her face are to help her breathe. One goes down her nose; the other goes down her throat. She's hooked up to something called a ventilator. Her lungs were so damaged in the accident that she can't breathe on her own. The machine has to breathe for her.

It's scary and cold. The whole hospital smells like antiseptic and death. It's to much to take; I bend over and put my head between my knees, taking several deep breaths. I have to make it through this. For her.

The door opens and my head snaps up immediately as a nurse bustles in. She smiles at me.

"Oh don't mind me honey. I'm just here to do my job. You just go right ahead and keep on doin what you're doin." She bustles around, checking the tubes and wires, glancing at the machine the tubes are connected to. "My she's doing well."

"How can you say that?" My tone comes out harsher than I mean it to. "She was in a car accident. She-she got hit by someone. She's hooked to tubes, there are gashes all over her body and she can't breathe on her own." I motion to the machine. "How can you possibly say she's doing well?"

"Because she's alive honey. And you know how I know that?" I shake my head. "I can tell by those numbers right there." She motions to a bunch of numbers on a nearby monitor. "She may not seem as alive as we are right now, but she is alive. That much I know."

She walks over to me and gently lays a hand on my shoulder. "She'll be fine child. Everything will be alright. You wait and see." The nurse smiles kindly at me. "Now I have other patients, but if you need anything, you just call for Mama Loretta, you hear?"

I nod as she exits the room. "Thank you."

"Tain't no problem child. I'm always willin to help."

I wait until she exits before getting out of the chair and leaning over the bed. I brush a strand of hair away from Quinn's face. "Come on Quinn; hang in there. You can't die. Not now. You just accepted to Yale. I-I thought that since Yale wasn't to far from New York, you could come visit me and Finn." I smile. "I could show you Manhattan and Times Square. We could go shopping. I could even show you around NYADA." I take her hand, bringing it up to my cheek as the tears start to fall. "I-I need you. I need you in my life Quinn; I can't imagine not having you in it." I was sobbing now. "Please don't die. Please."

Amidst all the tubes and wires, I can almost swear that I see her eyelids flutter. My heart stops beating for a split second and I wipe my eyes, certain that it was just my emotions playing against me. Until I feel it.

The slightest of touches to my cheek. A single brush. Suddenly, she starts making wheezing noises. I drop her hand immediately, racing outside. "Mama Loretta! Mama Loretta! Something's happening with Quinn! She's-she's—"

Loretta flies out of a nearby room. "She's what child?"

"I-I don't know. But I was talking to her and then she-she started wheezing and—"

"Lord have mercy." She put a hand to her heart. "Go back to the room child. I'll go get the Doctor."

"O-okay." I run back to the room, practically flinging the door open. Quinn's writhing on the bed, fighting against the machines. Her hands are balled into fists and the wheezing noise seems faster. In a moment of panic, I nearly jump on the bed to pin her down, only to have the doctor and Mama Loretta rush in.

"Get away from the bed child."

"But—"

"Listen to Mama Loretta. Get away from the bed and go wait outside. This will only take a minute."

My stomach drops out. "What will take a minute?"

"Child, we—"

"Nurse Loretta, I need you over here now! We need to pull this tube or she'll suffocate! She's already dislodged the IV!"

Without waiting for further instruction, I race out the door, running down the hall and hiding around the corner. My heart hammers in my chest as my hand comes up to my mouth. Something's happening and I don't know if it's good or bad.

Hours seem to pass as the hospital suddenly grows quiet. I peek out from my hiding place, cautiously walking down the hall towards Quinn's room. Any second now, something's going to happen. They're going to come out and tell me that Quinn has died. She had a heart attack; her lungs collapsed; something terrible like that. And then I'll have to back to McKinley and tell everyone what happened and—

My legs wobble and I find a nearby chair. I need to calm down; nothing's happened yet. If think like this, it's going to make me throw up from the stress.

Suddenly, the door creaks open and Mama Loretta walks out, a smile on her face.

I spring to my feet, rushing over to her. "How-how is she? Is she…?" I can barely bring myself to ask. "Is Quinn alright?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" She says nothing else; just walks off, leaving me alone.

I pace nervously back and forth, weighing my options. "Okay, if I go in and she's—well, that—I have to go tell the glee club. But if she's not—that—then…I'll still have to tell them and—" My heart pounds as I steel my resolve, pushing open the door to the room and cautiously walking in. The doctor's standing next to the bed, reading from a chart. "Um, hi. Are you…?

He turns around, looking pointedly at me. "Are you Rachel?" I nod and a smile appears on his face. "Looks like your friend is going to be alright."

I take a step toward the bed. "Where are the tubes that were taped to her face?"

"She doesn't need them anymore. The wheezing sound you heard? That was her breathing on her own; she was fighting against the ventilator. We had to take the tube out so she could breathe. She was mad as hell too." He chuckles. "Looks like your friend's a fighter."

"So she's going to be okay?"

"Absolutely." He glances at the chart before returning his gaze to me. "She's resting comfortably now, so no loud noises. She still needs to rest. But you can talk to her though."

"Thank you so much." I bring the chair back to the side of the bed, sitting down and taking Quinn's hand in my own. I'm only barely aware of the doctor leaving.

The room is quiet and dark now; the only light being the lights from the nurses' station outside. Quinn shifts in the bed, rolling over and blearily opening an eye. "Unnngghh. Rachel? What happened?" Her voice is gravelly from being on the ventilator.

It's all I can do to hold back the tears. "Quinn, you're-you're okay."

"I am?" Her eye slips closed. "Mmm…I'm so sleepy…"

I bring her hand to my lips, lightly kissing it. "You just rest. But know this; you're going to be okay Quinn." I smile through my tears. "You have the heart of a fighter."