This story is an AU set immediately after the episode "On My Way" and thus contains spoilers and makes allusions to a suicide attempt.
Warning: References to suicide, language.
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee. If I did, this all would be canon and season 4 would not have happened the way it was ever at all.
Twenty more minutes passed by, and it was obvious Rachel wasn't budging on waiting for Quinn to show. Yet it was all a moot point now, as their appointment time had come and gone and they'd need to reschedule it altogether anyway. Finn's face went stony when the receptionist informed him of this, and he came into the room walking stiffly towards Rachel who was staring at her phone, looking positively desperate.
"So, it's not happening today then," he states in an eerily calm voice, but everyone observing can tell how upset he is, and those left who didn't support the wedding are surprised that they were almost disappointed.
"I'm so sorry Finn. But I don't understand," Rachel whispered, eyes still glued to her cell phone. "She said she was coming Finn. She," she let out a deep, shuddering sigh, "she practically promised."
When her voice wobbled Finn's face softened but he didn't make any move towards her. Kurt went over to her and took her hand.
"You know how Quinn is," he spoke consolingly. "No matter how happy she may be for you guys, if she's hurting she tends to avoid."
"No Kurt. She said she would be here. If she wasn't coming or suddenly disapproved again she wouldn't hesitate to tell me, you know that... and now she's not answering my texts," Rachel started speaking really quickly, barely taking a breath, her hand squeezing Kurt's almost painfully, obviously getting herself quite worked up.
"How about I call up her Mom, see if she knows where Quinn is?" Leroy suggested whilst Hiram disappeared out of the door. Leroy dialed and raised the phone to his ear while moving towards the empty part of the room and Hiram slipped back into the room with a small plastic cup filled with water, walking towards his teary eyed daughter. Finn was still standing in front of her awkwardly but seemed to be leaning towards trying not to pout (for now) and he accepted the cup for Rachel, sitting by her side and handing it to her.
"I'm sorry Finn," she whispered again, eyes still locked on the phone resting in her lap. "It just wouldn't have felt right without her here. Something feels off."
She swallowed down the water in three sips, handing the teeny cup back to Finn who placed it on the ground and intercepted her hand with both of his as she reached for her phone.
"I don't totally get it, I mean, are you sure this is about Quinn and not, like, doubts or nerves-"
"We'll be right there," Leroy was saying into the phone, having walked quickly into the center of the room, drawing everyone's attention to himself. Time seemed frozen as everyone in the room took in the look on his face. Rachel squeezed Finn and Kurt's hands.
"What's wrong Daddy?" she asked, breaking the thick silence that had built up in those few seconds.
"Quinn was in an accident, sweety. She's in surgery, her mother's waiting for us-" No one heard the rest of his sentence as they all practically sprinted towards the door, Rachel and Brittany shocked and in tears, Kurt, Finn and Santana comforting them, Blaine following with a blank look on his face. Mercedes had drifted over to Sam looking gob smacked and he had grabbed her hand on his way out. Artie felt himself being wheeled forward and turned around to see Rory pushing his chair at a fast pace, Sugar loping behind them in her heels as quickly as possible to keep up. The adults were shouting orders about driving arrangements, no one even batting an eye at the various people drifting through city hall gaping at the wedding party's boisterous flight out of the front door.
No one noticed Puck whom hadn't moved an inch until everyone was out of the room. He pulled out his cell phone, called his sister, and then booked it out of the backdoor, jumping into his truck and speeding to the hospital. He had sound enough mind to not get himself into an accident, but when he found himself parked in the ER entrance lot he couldn't remember getting there. Once the pounding noise in his ears stopped, he turned up his music and waited for his sister to call him back.
The surgeons had helped relieve the pressure in her brain ("The fragment of skull cap will remain off until the swelling goes down; she didn't hit her head on impact but seemed to have smashed it against the glass but no, there doesn't seem to be any permanent brain damage. We will continue running tests, can't promise anything until she's awake."), repaired her smashed hand ("The pins will be in for a few weeks, there will be physical therapy to improve function, but no, it will never be back to 100%, it's lucky it wasn't her dominant hand"), set her collarbone and left leg ("The breaks were clean, but the collarbone will be painful while it heals and the leg will also require physical therapy, but yes she has a good chance of regaining full function.") and wrapped up her middle to helps with her bruised ribs ("She had internal bleeding from the bruising, but we took care of that effectively, there was no permanent damage."). She was in a medically induced coma now, six hours later, and the people in the waiting room were told that while she was out of the woods, she would be in the ICU for the foreseeable future.
Mrs. Fabray prepared to hunker down in the waiting room overnight, her eyes practically swollen shut from all of the crying she'd been doing. She'd called her eldest daughter, Nicole, who planned on arriving in the morning, and pretended that her husband hadn't once again shirked his duty as a father.
Rachel was sleeping in Finn's arms, having cried herself into a stupor long ago. He picked her up bridal style, trying his damndest to ignore the irony of it all, to ignore the various pains of the whole day, but tears slipped down his cheeks as he carried her out to his truck. Her dads spoke quietly to Quinn's mom and the Hummel's and then took their leave as well.
Brittany and Santana were sitting on the floor, backs pressed against the wall, their pinkies locked and their heads resting together. They didn't look like they planned to move any more than Mrs. Fabray, and considering how long they'd known Quinn no one was surprised.
"We can give you guys a ride home if you need one," Mike offered one more time, his arm around Tina's shoulders. Artie was riding with them since he didn't want to bother his father and Mike's dad's van was convenient for his chair.
"We're gonna stay until Nikky gets here," Brittany said, and Tina felt tears spring to her eyes at the emptiness in Brittany's voice. This was all wrong.
Rory and Sugar had gone home already, feeling like intruders on a family that had welcomed them readily enough, but which they hadn't quite acclimated into yet. Mercedes sent them both texts to update them on Quinn and allowed Sam to lead her out, having hugged everyone goodbye (when she's gotten to Kurt she'd held on for about two minutes, though Kurt wasn't bothered at all), making plans to meet up at 8 tomorrow morning when visiting hours began. Kurt nodded along but couldn't quite locate his voice. Blaine squeezed his hand and motioned towards his parents.
"Alright sweety," Carole spoke quietly, "you ready to head home? I heard you talking to Mercedes about coming back in the morning, you should get some sleep."
Kurt was suddenly struck with the feeling that there was something he really, really needed to do.
"Uh actually, I'd like to stay here for a while if that's alright. Do you mind driving Blaine home?" Kurt asked, keeping his eyes trained on his father's chin. His skin felt prickly and he just needed to be away from them like, thirty seconds ago. Carole's empathetic gaze and Blaine's soulful puppy dog eyes and his Dad's x-ray vision that all left him feeling like an open book, and he couldn't take it.
"Sure kiddo, it's no problem," his dad said, and if Kurt was surprised at the quick agreement he didn't let it show. "I'll see ya at home then, okay?"
Kurt finally met his dad's eyes and nodded. They shared a hug, and then Carole was hugging him, and Blaine was giving him a kiss on his cheek, but his mind was already in a room on the third floor.
The door was slightly ajar and Kurt pushed it open quietly, hoping it wasn't a bad time. Visiting hours were over but no one seemed to give him a second glance. He figured he didn't look threatening enough to warrant suspicion and thanked the universe for his unimposing demeanor.
David was lying on the bed facing away from the door, eyes on some black and white movie playing on the little TV screen. Kurt cleared his throat softly and David's eyes darted to the door.
"Kurt? What are you doing here? It's late- aren't visiting hours over?" Dave asked, looking concerned. Kurt felt his resolve crumbling and a tear slipped out of his eye.
"Kurt?" Dave said his name again, softly, full of all sorts of emotions; suddenly Kurt was crying like he hadn't since his dad's heart attack. Dave got out of the bed, part of Kurt's brain noting that he was wearing Thor pajamas. "Kurt, what's going on?"
"Quinn, she's- she," Kurt stammered, and Dave looked even more concerned now, reaching out for Kurt's hand.
"Breathe Kurt, come on. What happened to Quinn?"
Kurt took a deep breathe to compose himself, squeezing David's hand and closing his eyes, missing the way Dave's eyes darted to their joined hands and the jock swallowed thickly.
"She was in a car accident. It was pretty bad. She had some internal bleeding, lost a lot of blood; her brain was swollen so they had to take off a piece of her skull - her SKULL, David! - her left hand is shattered, left leg broken," at this point he was crying again and couldn't continue. Dave's eyes were wide and he felt the tears coming at the sight of Kurt so distraught.
He led Kurt by his hand with a gentle pull to the bed, the chair still pulled up beside it. He sat on the bed and placed Kurt in the chair, stroking the back of his hand with his thumb.
"Hey, shh, is she out of the woods, did they say?"
Kurt nodded his head, quickly accepting the tissues David handed him. Kurt still seemed incapable of speech, so Dave tried his best to be comforting.
"It's Quinn Fabray, Kurt. She's like the definition of tough, yeah? She'll pull through this just like everything else she's overcome," Dave spoke firmly; glad to finally be able to repay Kurt a little for all the comfort he'd given the jock. David could also admit to himself that after Kurt, Quinn was someone he admired most for her sheer bravery and attitude. He was confident that the audacious gleek would pull through this.
Kurt's tears seemed to have stopped flowing, and his breathing was slowly returning to normal. Still they sat together, David's thumb stroking over Kurt's knuckles, allowing the constant buzz of hospital noise to float around them as they tried, and failed, to center their thoughts and feelings.
Kurt had finally left the hospital at almost 1 am (his curfew, which he made with 3 minutes to spare) with a promise to David that they'd be seeing each other again soon. He was disappointed that David would be gone by the time Kurt arrived to meet Mercedes, Dave anticipating leaving so badly he planned to be ready to go by the first morning's rounds.
Kurt had barely gotten any sleep, him mind going round and round with thoughts of David (was it too soon for him to be home, possibly unattended? what was he going to do about going back to school? why did sitting with him last night feel like the most natural thing in the world?), Quinn (had anything changed while Kurt had been home? what would she be like when (if) she woke up from this, because no one could possibly be unchanged by something like this? why Quinn, who already had a steel plate around her heart? why, when things were finally looking up for her?), and Blaine (slash Sebastian, i.e.; what was with those looks those two had been giving each other? why was it that David Karofsky managed to give him the most romantic Valentine's WEEK of his life, yet his boyfriend's first point of business when making his big return was SINGING? also, back to the googly eyes- did Blaine forget that Sebastian had admitted to Santana that the Slushy of Death had been meant for Kurt?) and when he woke up the next morning he was almost afraid to look at himself in the mirror, knowing he had to look like a train wreck. What was going on? Senior year was turning out to be the craziest so far, and that was saying something.
By the time Kurt had pulled himself together he was fifteen minutes late to meet Mercedes, who was already in the ER waiting room with Santana, Brittany, Mrs. Fabray, Rachel, Finn, and a young blonde woman Kurt assumed to be Nicole.
"I'm sorry I'm late. Is there, uh, has there been any change?" Kurt whispered to Mercedes, but Rachel was the one who answered.
"No change," and when Kurt finally took in her appearance he thought she looked worse for the wear than even he, with his mussed up hair, bags under his eyes and two year old jeans. Her eyes were swollen, her nose red, one shaking hand wiping away the tears that didn't stop falling while the other held a glass cup with a handle and gold stars covering it.
Finn was rubbing soothing circles on her thigh, looking a little sick, and Rachel was staring blankly ahead, not even seeming to even register his touch. Kurt felt like he was missing something, but was a little afraid to ask.
He motioned his head towards Finn, who studied Rachel for a few seconds and took his hand off of her. When he stood up and still received no sign that Rachel was aware of his presence or lack there-of, he gave her a heartbroken look before nodding towards Kurt and ushering him towards the hallway.
"What's wrong with Rachel? I know she's upset about this but... did something else happen?" Kurt asked, feeling sick to his stomach. What else had gone wrong?
Finn scrubbed a hand over his face with a grunt, but there were still wet splotches on his cheeks when he turned towards Kurt.
"Turns out Quinn got into the accident because she was texting."
Kurt nodded but wasn't surprised; it was a hazard so many people ignored. And while he knew for a fact Rachel abhorred the practice that was no reason to seem to shaken.
"She was texting Rachel, Kurt," he said slowly, Kurt's pinched face telling him he understands the problem.
"Rach is convinced it's her fault and it's freaking me out a little bit. She's shaking and won't talk and if Quinn isn't okay I think Rachel's going to fall apart and I'm so scared Kurt," Finn broke down, reaching out for Kurt, and for the second time since Leroy got off of the phone he felt a warmth in chest at having a brother in Finn (what did it say that the first was with David?). While he didn't totally approve of the wedding happening so soon, he knew Finn and Rachel made each other happier than he'd ever seen them, and it was only out of protectiveness for both parties that he objected. Seeing Finn look so fragile at the prospect of losing two of the most important women in his life in one fell swoop, Kurt was again reminded that life is too damn short, and if you found happiness you couldn't go about fearing that you might lose it.
"Quinn's going to be alright, and she's going to be able to tell Rachel that no one made her pick up the phone, and that there is no fault because bad thing just happen, and I promise Finn we're all going to come out of this, okay?"
He wasn't sure if he was saying they'd be alright or asking if Finn agreed, but Kurt gave him one last squeeze and then let go, leading Finn back to his spot next to Rachel. Finn gave him a small, barely there thankful smile before returning his hand to Rachel's thigh. Both boys saw when her eyelids fluttered, and though she remained motionless beyond that it was enough to rekindle the dying embers of hope inside of them.
Everyone had been milling around the waiting room for about 4 hours when a doctor strolled in, headed towards Mrs. Fabray.
"News?" she choked around her coffee, not even batting an eye when a bit of the spray landed on her blouse.
"Good news, yes," the doctor said, and a sigh of relief was heard throughout the room. "The swelling in her brain has gone down, so we'll be reattaching the skull fragment. We'll be doing an MRI to check for any visible damage, but of course we won't know more until she wakes up." The doctor paused, wanting to make sure she didn't give the poor woman false hope. When Mrs. Fabray nodded that she understood and was taking everything at face value, she continued. "Tomorrow we will be taking her off of the medications keeping her asleep. She will, of course, still be on pain medicine so she'll be groggy, but she should start waking on her own within the next 36 to 48 hours. We won't know more about what's going on in her head until that happens, and will keep her the ICU until then. Her vitals are good, all of her incision sites are looking well, and I'd like to encourage you to be cautiously, very cautiously, optimistic."
Mrs. Fabray was nodding very quickly, a small smile on her face, and she hugged Nicole tightly. Everyone there sort of realized that there was really nothing they could do there now as the worst of the waiting seemed to be over, Nicole agreeing to enact a Glee club phone tree for any and all news. She and her mother were going home to shower and try to eat, would be returning around the time they planned to replace the skull flap, and Brittany and Santana were catching rides home with them.
"I'm gonna head to youth group then, you guys, I've got a lot to pray about. Kurt, I'll talk to you later," Mercedes said, giving Kurt a tight squeeze. Mercedes turned to Rachel and Finn, looking as if she wanted to say something, but just frowned and turned on her heel, heading towards the door.
Finn spoke softly to Rachel, repeating what the doctor said over and over until she appeared to finally take it in.
"So, things are looking good for now?" She asked in a croaky voice, finally meeting Finn's eyes, and he reached out a hand to cup her face, rubbing at her tears with his thumb.
"Yeah, baby. Quinn's already getting better. We should go eat, get some rest."
She nodded slowly, moving as if surrounded by molasses, and Kurt was again unnerved at seeing Rachel Barbra Berry in such a state. So lost in his worrying he didn't notice when she practically leapt at him, and would've dropped her if she didn't have such a tight grip.
"I love you Kurt, okay? I need you to know you're my best friend and you're someone I need in my life to be my whole self and I'm sorry if I ever made you doubt how much you mean to me, how much your opinion means to me, I swear," she was babbling into his shoulder, and he was grateful he'd been lazy enough to wear a last-years line graphic tee when he felt tears, and maybe a little spittle, land on his neckline.
"I know Rachel, I know. I love you too. Now go with Finn and get some rest okay? You look like you need it."
She pulled a face at that, and it was just Rachel enough, just the right amount of levity, that all three felt better for a moment. Rachel leaned heavily on Finn as they left the room, and Kurt wondered what to do with himself now. His first thought was that he couldn't believe he was out in public looking like this, but he couldn't bring himself to go home. He picked up his phone with every intention of calling Blaine, but it seemed his hand had a mind of its own and before he knew what he was doing, Kurt was bringing the ringing phone to his ear.
Puck was sitting in his truck, waiting for his sister to return with any information she might have. There were few moments when Puck's badass-ery was called into question, but when the situation involved a combination of hospitals, baby mama's in coma's (medically induced or not she was still in a fucking COMA, like when did Puck's life turn into this demented soap opera), and the possibility of his baby mama's daddy showing up sort of convinced him that laying low was a good option.
Especially with all of these damn emotions floating around his head and chest and gut. Now, he knew he and Quinn hadn't worked as a couple, but there was still a part of him that thought 'but maybe one day'. They'd already made a perfect kid together, which Puck thought said a lot, and Puck was never tied to Lima so would have no problem going somewhere else, even if it was a uppity as the area Yale was in sounded.
He also knew Quinn would probably never take him back, especially after the Shelby debacle, but still the 'what if's hung in the air and were making it hard to breathe.
Thankfully Sarah chose that moment to show up, and the first words out of her mouth were, "You so owe me." Hitting thirteen soon, his sister had taken to puberty like white to rice, and sometimes it worried him, watching her grow up in front of his eyes.
Bringing himself back he asked, "What'd you find out?"
Sarah told him all she'd weaseled out (which was everything) after posing as one of Quinn's cousins. (Not that they looked related, but Puck figured that with all the visitors Quinn had last night the hospital had no idea who any of them were, probably had more important things on their mind like keeping her alive.)
Puck squeezed his eyes shut, reaching over to give her a pat on the back for a job well done. She scoffed at him
"I'm not a dog, Noah, don't PAT me! Ugh, you are so singing at my Bat Mizvah to make up for this, you know I hate hospitals," she said, trying to use bravado to mask how serious her discomfit was.
"I know, bubby, and I really appreciate it. I promise you'll have the best I-am-woman-hear-me-PMS party in the district." He gave her a genuine smile, belying his words, and her retaliatory punch landed like a wisp of air.
"Damn straight. Now let's go home, you need some sleep, I definitely need a shower, I HATE the smell of hospitals. Your friends from Glee will let you know if anything changes, right? But like the doctor said, things are looking good and it could be another couple of days until she wakes up until she wakes up..."
Noah nodded along, barely taking anything she was saying in. He was hit with exhaustion, and turned the music up loudly (much to Sarah's chagrin) and drove home carefully.
"Hey squirt," he said before ascending the stairs, "this DAMN well better teach you never to text and drive, you understand me?"
Sarah gave him a serious look, nodded twice, and whispered, "Promise."
Puck grunted out something that meant, 'kay I'm going to sleep goodnight/morning' and headed upstairs to crash.