Rachel tapped her foot while in the waiting area. She twisted at her dress and un-did her hair while Finn was over at the soda machine talking to Puck. She waited and waited for Ms. Fabray to come back. To tell her she could see Quinn. The doctor had said only family members could come in the room, but Ms. Fabray said she would talk to the doctor for Rachel. She looked out of the window, seeing the other cars in the parking lot.
Just thirty minutes ago, she was going to marry Finn. She pleaded to wait, but he insisted since they didn't have the room for much longer. They were just about to get to the altar when her phone went off in her bra. She had tucked it in there in case Quinn did call. She looked at the screen and saw that it was a number she didn't know. She assumed maybe Quinn was at a payphone or something. Maybe her car had broken down and her phone was out of battery. She apologized to the pastor and walked off to the side, her dads looking a tad worried. She hit 'answer' and said "Hello?"
"Rachel. Rachel Berry?" a woman asked her. "Yes, may I ask who's calling?" she got a bit weary. The voice sounded distressed and for some reason, familiar. "Rachel, it's Judy. Quinn's mother." the woman had panicked breaths "Do you know where Quinn is? I've tried her phone and she won't answer. Some policemen have arrived at my door and insist she's been in a car accident. I'm telling them that can't be right, she's acting as the maid of honor at your wedding. Please tell me she's there!" Rachel's stomach dropped. She knew Ms. Fabray, from what she could tell, was not good at handling hard news. She knows Quinn was in a car accident if two policemen showed up at her house. "No Ms. Fabray, she's not here." she tried to sound as monotonous as she could, as not to upset Ms. Fabray more. She heard a sob in the phone and looked around. All the guests had heard the conversation, at least Rachel's side of it. But where was Mr. Schue? She hit 'end' on the phone and tucked the phone in her bra. "Um, I don't think we can do this," she got slightly cut off by Mr. Schue pushing open the doors. He turned his head to face Finn, then Rachel. "Quinn's been in an accident." gasps escaped everyone's throats and a feeling of panic spread across the room. Rachel dropped her phone in shock. The news had been confirmed.
Rachel shut her eyes and laid her head downs in her hands. She didn't want anyone to see her possibly cry. She felt a hand brush on her arm and looked up to see Ms. Fabray standing over her. "The doctor said you can see her for ten minutes. Come on." She tried to smile and Rachel could tell she had been crying even more. Rachel followed her to the room. "I'll be back in ten minutes to get you, okay?" Ms. Fabray lightly gripped her shoulders. "You mean you're not going with me?" "No, I think it would do you better to talk to and see Quinn by yourself." Rachel lightly nodded, not questioning Ms. Fabray's reasoning.
She heard the door shut behind her and took in Quinn's condition. She had stitches on her left eyebrow, a butterfly bandage on her lip, more stitches on her cheek, a tube up her nose and an I.V. in her arm. She felt her lip trembling, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She walked over to the chair Ms. Fabray had previously sat in. She covered her face and sobbed, not wanting to look at Quinn again but knowing she would have to. She wiped at her eyes even though she knew more tears were coming. "Quinn." she muttered looking at Quinn's shut eyes. "I'm so sorry. I'm so so so sorry. This is my fault. I was texting you. I knew you were driving. My parents told me when I first got my car not to text and drive. But I still texted you. Because, like always, I only seem to care about myself." a sob came from her throat and she grabbed Quinn's hand. "I promise when you wake up, we won't fight again. I'll never get mad at you again. We'll be friends forever. I'll be there for you forever." She sobbed some more and brought Quinn's hand to her lips, kissing it several times. "You just, you can't leave. You have to stay here, with me, and the Glee club, and your mom." She wiped her eyes again. "You've gotta go to Yale, and become the biggest actress in the world, and get married, and have kids, then grow old with somebody. Then you can leave. But for now, you just need to stay right here. For me and your mom. For your dad, Puck, Santana, Brittany, Mercedes, Sam, Finn, Tina, Mike, Kurt, Blaine, Sugar, Mr. Schue, Ms. Pillsbury, even Sue." She kissed Quinn's hand again. "You're strong. You delivered a baby. You can get through this." she laughed a little, trying to make herself feel even the slightest bit better. "You can get through this." She balled up Quinn's hand for her and held it to her forehead.
She then remembered she only had 10 minutes. She looked up at the clock. She still had seven minutes left. Funny, it felt like she had been in there for over an hour. She wiped at her cheeks one last time and looked up to make sure the curtains were shut over the windows that looked out to the nurses' desks. She stood up and bent over, bringing her face to Quinn's. "For luck." she lightly placed her lips on Quinn's, making sure not to press too hard because of the bandage. She sat back down and sighed, deciding just to sit with Quinn and hold her hand for the five minutes she had left.
A small groan came from Quinn's mouth. She flicked her eyes up and saw Quinn slowly opening her own. "What..." Quinn had her eyes fully open and looked at the ceiling. "What happened?" She started moving her head around. She appeared to be analyzing the scene in front of her. She finally moved her head and eyes in Rachel's direction. "Rachel..." she whispered, barely audible. "Hey." Rachel whispered back, her voice getting shaky because of more tears getting ready to come. "I'm in the hospital. Did that car hit me that bad?" her voice was groggy and a little slurred due to the pain medicine. "Yeah. I don't know how bad your condition is. The doctor will have to tell you that. Your mom will be back in here in a minute." Rachel smiled at Quinn. Quinn weakly smiled back.
"Did you and Finn get married?" her eyebrows furrowed the tiniest bit. "No. We had to cancel the wedding because of your accident." Rachel thought of maybe telling Quinn about her mom's phone call but decided against it. It would probably just stress her out. A knock came at the door and Rachel looked up. "Time's up, sorry." a nurse said. Ms. Fabray peeked from the side of the door frame. "I have to go. But I'll be back, I promise." She kissed Quinn's hand one last time and waved goodbye.
When she got back to the waiting room Finn was waiting for her. "So," he said sticking his hands in his pockets "How is she?" Rachel looked him in the eye and smiled "She's gonna be fine. She's strong."