A/N: I would like to address a review from a guest reviewer who said the following,
"I love your last story and I want to keep reading. I know you didn't do research for this story but it's too much suspension on the medical side. Even if you don't want to suspend countless hours researching remember logic. Would Quinn actually be allowed or able to walk just after waking up from a serious car crash in the hospital? Would Quinn be allowed to leave the hospital bed after being unconscious for so long? Would Quinn be disconnected from medical equipment before an assessment? Remember the medical world operates in logic. Stop and ask yourself if Quinn could be in the state of discharge so quickly.
I understand you don't want to research, but a little research will maintain realism throughout this book of the series. A medical storyline is a delicate dance meaning a great story could be ruined with too much or too little. Honestly just take your time, you're not constrained to TV quick medical recoveries your painting a picture"
As always, I would like to thank you for taking the time to review, and taking the time to read. I apologise to everybody if the last chapter seemed unrealistic. I really did try to do my best with it. I would just like to mention that in the last chapter (and probably sporadically throughout the story) there will be medical things thrown in, and I do not know, and cannot find out lots of the information to make it fully realistic. I would like to say, however, that while Rachel has suffered serious injuries we do not as of yet know the consequences of, Quinn managed to escape with really minor injuries. She showed no signs of concussion, and apart from a few cuts and bruises, the worst it got was a broken wrist. That is the only reason why I thought Quinn might be allowed to see Rachel. I have been in a hospital before, several times for different reasons, and can only use my experiences to base this off of. I apologise if it was hard to read, confusing, or plain stupid, and I will strive to make it better in future chapters. I would really just like to emphasise that Quinn has the smallest injuries (one's for which you can usually leave A&E straight after treatment) and Rachel has serious injuries that are for better or worse, fictional. Quinn's will be a lot more realistic and likely, whereas I really have to make Rachel's suit my storyline. To the reviewer, I do hope you will continue to read despite the errors. I also did do research, to quote myself last chapter, "I have tried to be as realistic as possible, and have done vast amounts of research in order to do so.", so I'm not sure as to where you got the idea that I 'didn't want to do any research'…
I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter, I rather enjoyed writing it, and I hope you will also enjoy the next one. I would like to add that this story won't be very focused on medicine, hospitals and stuff, though it may seem like it at the moment, it will be a small part of the storyline. And Rachel's POV is kind of based on my experience of what being in a coma was like. Different experience for everyone of course, but hers is similar to mine.
Also, there is a poll on my profile page that I would appreciate you checking out. Thank you!
ALSO, the current year in this story is 2012, Kurt's, Rachel's, Finn's etc, senior year. It's around the middle of February at the moment, unfortunately, Faberry missed Valentine's day. Sorry for the long A/N.
Quinn's POV
I could hear a voice in my room, it sounded like they were talking to someone, probably on their phone. I blinked a few times before opening my eyes and turning over,
"I gotta go, I'll call you back okay?" Santana said to the person on the other end of the line, "Hey," She greeted,
"Hey Tana," I greeted back, sitting up in the bed with a groan,
"What happened?" Tana asked,
I looked at her in confusion,
"You passed out, outside Berry's room, what happened?" She clarified,
"Rachel's room," I grumbled, "I was probably just stressed or something, nothing to worry about."
Santana quirked an eyebrow up at me, but nodded anyway,
"You literally just missed your mom. She didn't want to, but she left twenty minutes ago to take Soph to school. Didn't want her missing out on anything." Santana explained,
That was pretty annoying. At the moment, my mom was the only person that knew that Rach and I were friends, nobody else knew that. They certainly didn't know about the fact that the girl lying in a coma two floors below me was my girlfriend.
I buried my head in my hands, "This is so fucked up," I groaned,
"Yeah, don't worry Q, the police have interrogated the driver, turns out he was drink-driving. They've already pressed charges against him."
I shook my head in annoyance, 'Who gives a fuck about the guy who hit us? My girlfriend is in a fucking coma!' I thought to myself,
"Why were you in the car with Berry anyway?" Santana asked suspiciously,
Didn't think about that one,
"Uh, she was the only person left at school to give me a lift home," I answered,
"I thought your mum was giving you a lift? That's what you told Britt and me…"
"She, uh, was supposed to. But she forgot. Rachel was there to give me a lift, and we've been getting along slightly better recently." I came up with,
Santana raised an eyebrow again, but didn't continue with that subject,
"Where's the rest of Glee club?" I queried,
Santana shifted in her seat uncomfortably, "They're waiting near the ICU." She answered, "We all got the next two days off, just to see what happens, then we're going to take it in turns to visit Berry, but by that time you would have already been released."
Part of me was really glad that Rachel had people there for her, and part of me felt upset at the fact that no-one had come to see me. Then that part felt extremely guilty for feeling that.
A woman strolled into the room,
"Oh good, you're up. I was starting to think you'd sleep forever!" She joked,
Really? Could this woman be any more insensitive,
"Like the driver of the car?" I shot back,
"Ah, right, you were in the two-vehicle collision, the driver of your car is in a coma, is she not?" She confirmed,
I raised an eyebrow at her, unimpressed,
"Right, well." The doctor coughed, "Since your injuries were fairly minor, we should be able to let you go tonight, we just had to keep you in longer because you passed out, we wanted to check that it hadn't been due to any brain trauma we had missed." She explained,
"Okay, then what happens?" I questioned,
"Well, we will let you go home after your…" She checked the clipboard in her hands, "Mother signs the discharge papers, then you will have to be back in four weeks to see how you're doing. We may or may not be able to take the cast off then." She continued,
I nodded, "Thank you, doctor," I replied,
"No problem, I'll see you before you leave." She farewelled,
It's funny, the doctor said I would be able to leave that day, but I had a feeling I would get very familiar with this hospital over the next few weeks…
Rachel's POV (Day 2)
I walked into school that morning very tired but also looking forward to the day. I had Glee after school and all my favourite subjects.
"Hey, Rachel," A man with a beautiful high voice greeted, sounding slightly, off, but I shook that thought away,
"Hello," I replied, "Beautiful day isn't it?"
"It's a beautiful day today isn't it?" He chuckled, apparently completely ignoring my comment,
"I just said that," I replied indignantly,
We walked into the choir room and took seats next to each other,
"I don't really know what to talk about," He said, sounding nervous,
I turned to look at the guy, I couldn't really tell what he looked like, the light was shining on his face,
"Talk about anything," I replied with a shrug,
"Everybody's here, you know," He said,
"Everybody's where? School?" I asked him, confused about the statement,
"I'm sure Tina wants to talk to you." He laughed,
Tina, why would she want to talk to me? I saw her yesterday,
"I saw a hideous animal sweater online; you would have loved it." The man chuckled,
"Well, I am quite partial to the odd animal sweater," I pondered,
He shifted in his seat, "Look, I don't know if she knows, but Lucy isn't here. Or at least, I haven't seen her. I don't know how to contact her, and when I asked your dads, they didn't know who she was, and they can't unlock your phone, so…" He trailed off,
"It's okay," I replied, not really sure who Lucy was, or why she would be at McKinley, we don't have any students named Lucy at McKinley,
The man sniffed, "You just, you have to wake up, okay?" He pleaded with me,
"Hey," I said, grabbing the man's hand, "I am awake silly, don't cry,"
He stood up, "I have to go, but when I come back you better be awake." He said in a mock stern voice and walked away.
I sat up in bed with a jolt. Jesus, that was a realistic dream. 'Wait, I'm not in my bed.' I thought to myself, looking around in confusion, I was on a beach, it was nice. Very warm, and comforting.
There was a lady sitting next to me legs out, arms supporting her, and staring out at the sea. Again, the light was shining on her awkwardly so I couldn't make out her face,
"Hey Rach," She greeted,
"Hey," I greeted back, relaxing slightly. Her voice was calm and familiar. She made me feel safe,
"I'm not going to school today, or tomorrow." She announced,
I chuckled, "I can see that." I told her, gesturing out to the ocean,
"I just want to spend time here, with you, be with my best friend." She said, sounding very sincere,
"I like the company," I told her, which was true, I much preferred being with someone, whether that was at school, or the beach,
"You know, we all love you, right Rach?" She said, grabbing my hand,
"Who's we?" I asked her,
"All of us, Puck, myself, Mercedes, Kurt, everybody in Glee club wants you to get through." She said sincerely,
"Get through what, exactly?" I checked,
"I decided that I would read a poem to you," She told me, ignoring the question, "It's one of my favourites,"
"Go ahead," I said, lying back on the sand. I loved poems. They were one of my favourite things.
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night." She paused slightly,
I closed my eyes, this was a nice poem.
"Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieve it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
I could feel myself drifting off to sleep with the last words of the poem, calm and content.
The next day, I was resting at home when the doorbell rang,
"Coming!" I yelled out,
I went to open it and was presented with a tall young man on the other side,
"Hello." I greeted politely,
"Hey, my Jewish-American princess." He greeted back,
I laughed at the nickname, who comes up with this stuff? But, saying that, I actually found I like it.
"Would you like to come in?" I offered,
He pushed past me and went to sit in my kitchen,
"I don't know what to feel right now." He admitted,
"About what?" I queried,
"I'm angry, like, super pissed off. I hate that bastard. Then, I'm just, so, upset. I'm so sad, and scared that I might not see you alive again." He continued, wiping one tear from his face,
I waved my hand in front of his face, "Uh, hello? You're seeing me alive, right now." I pointed out,
He laughed, "If you tell anyone I cried I will kick your ass." He joked,
I could tell he didn't mean it. He looked like he was trying to be all bad-ass and everything, but he seemed like a big softie to me.
We continued talking for around 20-30 minutes, I think, before he told me he had to get home. So I said goodbye to him, and went to sleep.
A cheerio approached me at school the next day and put her hand on my forehead,
"Hey! What are you doing?" I snapped at her, hitting her hand away,
"You're burning up! We need some ice!" She called out to some of the nearby Cheerios,
"What? Why ice? What are you…"
I trailed off at the end of the sentence and felt myself falling to the ground.
The next time I woke up, I was in a gorgeous place. I was sitting by a crystal blue lake. Was this Alaska? It was really cold, freezing, even, I just pulled my coat around me and looked around.
I could see the beautiful snow-capped mountains off in the distance. It looked bright, it couldn't be Winter here, there were bright flowers hidden amongst the crisp, bright green grass. There were green trees scattered everywhere, and you could see animals flitting in and out of the grass around them.
I heard footsteps and looked up to see my daddy walking up next to me,
"Cold, huh?" He joked lightly,
"Freezing." I replied with a smile, "It's beautiful here. Do you see the bear over there?" I asked, pointing to a brown bear that was wandering around in the distance,
"Dad is getting coffee, more coffee, and I thought I would come sit here with you for a while." He told me, sitting down,
"That's fine. It's nice to have some company." I replied,
"Nice to have some company huh?" He asked,
I frowned, I just said that,
"I really don't know what I should talk about honey. I feel like an awful parent." He confided,
"It doesn't matter daddy," I reassured him,
"You know, you kind of worried your dad and me when you said you wanted to talk to us, and now you can't even tell us what you were going to say!" He laughed bitterly,
"Sorry." I apologised,
His phone rang,
"Sorry, this will be your Aunt, she's worried about you, I have to take this, I'll be back." He apologised and walked off.
The next time I woke up, I was in a park that was overlooking a park. It was sunset, and the sky was a beautiful swirl of oranges, pinks, purples and reds.
"Hey, sweetie." A voice came from beside me,
"Hello there," I replied,
I assumed that the voice came from the young woman sat beside me,
"I'm out today." She told me vaguely,
"Out of what, where?" I queried confusedly,
She sighed bitterly and rested back on her elbows,
"Life is so unfair, isn't it? Would this count as irony?" She asked, "You spend so long lying, then when you try to tell the truth, you are effectively sworn to silence by something you couldn't control?"
I tilted my head, not sure what the woman was talking about, but considering her problem, "I'm not quite sure." I replied,
Another voice entered the conversation, "You have to leave ma'am." They informed her,
"Can't I stay a bit longer?" She whined,
"I'm sorry ma'am." The voice apologised,
"I'll be back, I love you." She swore to me, kissing my hand and walking away.
I wasn't sure why she kissed my hand, but I didn't hate it, it was familiar, comforting.
Quinn's POV
After I got discharged, my mom walked me back to the ICU, to see Rachel. My arm was in a sling, fortunately, it didn't hurt much, and I had a couple of dressings over my cuts, namely the one on my neck, but apart from that, I was relatively unharmed. Physically, at least.
I only got to talk to Rach a minute or so before a doctor kicked me out because they needed to check her, I was like, 'Who the hell are you to keep me from seeing my girlfriend?', but I didn't want to be dragged out by security, so I begrudgingly obliged.
"Are you alright sweetie?" My mom asked carefully as we walked back out to the car,
"No," I replied,
We were silent for the next few minutes before my mom spoke up,
I could hear her sigh, and she pulled the car over,
"Sweetie," She said, grabbing my hand, "You know I love Rachel, so does Sophie. Does she love you back? You never told me..."
A couple more tears fell down my face, "We were going to," I sniffed, "We were supposed to tell you yesterday but…" I trailed off,
"Does anyone else know?" She asked, brushing the tears from my face,
"You're the first," I replied with mock enthusiasm, "Remember how I told you I was going to Rachel's tonight?"
My mom nodded,
"We were going to tell her dads that we were dating, then come back to ours and tell you, then today we were supposed to tell Glee club. By tomorrow we suspected it would be all over the school." I laughed bitterly,
"Oh sweetie, I wish you would have told me sooner, you know how tough school will be after this, I would have tried to help."
"I know. But we can't tell anyone at the moment, Rachel isn't even awake yet." I said bitterly,
"She'll wake up soon, you just have to have faith sweetie." She comforted, and pulled me into an awkward hug over the centre console of the car.
So, I waited. I visited Rachel every day in the hospital. I skipped a class or two every now and then so I could avoid seeing people there. I sometimes read to her or sing. Sometimes just talking to her and telling her how much I wanted her to be there with me, awake. Her fathers got used to seeing me there and were very kind to me whenever I visited. I think they were a bit confused about my relationship with Rachel, but they always left us alone when I came, to be honest, I think they were grateful for a break, without having to feel guilty about leaving her alone.
"Hey Rach," I greeted when I walked in, a week and 6 days after the accident,
I was officially exhausted and felt extremely guilty for feeling that way. Two weeks later, and Rachel was still in a coma. We ended up missing our first Valentines day because of this crash. It seems like a silly thing to be upset about, but I think it's just one thing on a long list. It was also emotionally exhausting because the New Directions were all leaning on each other, and supporting each other, and I didn't get the same treatment. Her girlfriend, of all people, is the one who is expected to be the least affected by this. I never visited Rachel when I knew the other New Directions members would be there, Santana had texted me their little schedule, so that I could be alone when I saw her. Obviously, Santana didn't know that, but I figured she would figure it out eventually.
"So, I bought my laptop, so we can do BuzzFeed quizzes together!" I said excitedly,
Of course, Rachel didn't respond. It's funny though, I kept on looking to her after I said something, completely expecting her to just, respond to me. It was getting disheartening, just, talking to someone who wasn't hearing me.
I scrolled through the website until I found something interesting,
"Ooooh Rachel, let's try appealing to the bashful side of you." I cleared my throat, "Apparently this quiz will, and I quote, 'Reveal Your Secret Sex Talent'. Seeing as we love secrets, let's give it a go." I said half-sarcastically,
"Okay, pick the scenery that makes you feel the most relaxed." I read her all of the options, and looked at her carefully,
"Well, your favourite season is Autumn, so let's pick the long, windy Autumn road, surrounded by orange-leaved trees. I think you'd like."
Sometimes, I imagined Rachel responding to me, sometimes it seemed like she smiled slightly, or that her eyelids flickered, I could practically hear her responses in my mind. Yes, I was slowly going mad, but as long as it happened when I was with Rachel, I didn't mind so much.
"Okay, the second one is; Pick the one that makes you feel the most anxious." I described all of the pictures to her, "Okay, they're all kind of creepy. Especially the girl that has a balloon for a head, but you're deathly afraid of heights, and you love animals, so I'm going to go with the Rhino balancing on a plank between two buildings."
There it was again! I could've sworn I saw her smile! The doctors had already talked to the Berry's, and I had overheard, and they said that you'll know when she's waking up. Like, that it would be obvious, not something you could imagine. So, moving on...
"Next one; Pick the light you would hang in your room. Okay, so it's basically a bunch of light up sign things. Ooh, this one is hard. There is a star, but there is also a Treble clef and a musical note. Okay, let's go with the star shall we?" I glanced at her for confirmation, "It is your signature after all."
"Final one! What image best represents your love life, well our love life." I chuckled, "They're a bunch of like, tea stains or something. I'm picking the one that kind of looks like two hands… Okay, drumroll please…" I pause for dramatic value, "You got; The Best Imagination. Ooh, here's what it says, 'Being with you is the most fun anyone could have because you're either inventing super-hot role-play scenarios, talking deliciously dirty or suggesting some truly wild stuff. We're very into it.'" I laughed, "We'll definitely have to test this theory when you wake up. I want to trial run your imagination." I decided with a smirk,
Rachel and I hadn't gone all the way yet; we were still waiting for the right moment. I was still kind of hoping the BuzzFeed quiz prove to be correct.
I walked out of her room half an hour later, because I had gotten a call from my mom to come home for dinner. I swear the only reason I had been eating anything was that my mom made me come home and literally forced food down my throat. I wasn't living, I was just, surviving. Already I had become, I don't like the word dependant, but it's kind of true, I had become dependent on Rachel.
I was in my bedroom that Wednesday evening, 2 weeks and 2 days since Rachel had been in the hospital, that I got a text,
'Get your ass to the hospital. x'-Tana,
I jumped out of my bed in a panic, what was going on? Had the Berry's finally decided to take her off of life support? Was she awake?
"MOM!" I shouted as I pulled on a jumper and brushed my hair back into a messy ponytail,
"Yes, sweetie?" My mother replied in a soft voice from the bottom of the stairs,
"We gotta go! Like, yesterday! Tana told me to go to the hospital and I don't know what the hell is going on." I rambled to her,
"Calm down sweetie, go get in the car and I'll tell Sophie to come down."
My mom drove as fast as she could down to the hospital (a little faster if you asked me) and we ended up making it in a fairly short time, arriving twenty minutes later. My mom had barely stopped the car when I jumped out and sprinted towards the hospital. Not even bothering to bypass the front desk, I jogged straight to the ICU and skidded to a stop outside Rachel's room.
I paused for a moment, not sure if I was prepared for what was facing me behind the door. I knocked softly and entered the room,
There she was, sitting up in her bed, surrounded by the Glee club and her dads and a woman I didn't recognise (her aunt),
"Rach!" I exclaimed and I ran over to her to give her a hug, "I can't believe you're okay, I was so worried about you." I told her, a couple of tears slipping down my cheeks,
She pushed me off of her, "Uh, Quinn… wouldn't have expected to see you here." She replied, a little bit coldly,
I pulled back to look her in the eyes, "Excuse me?" I asked her in disbelief, "Where the hell else would I be?" I demanded, not quite liking the thinly veiled accusation that I wouldn't be there for my girlfriend,
She avoided my glance and looked around the room, "Well, we just, don't talk that much, is all. I thought you were still mad at me about the Finn thing." She explained,
OH! She was trying to keep up the act for our friends, right.
"Where's Matt?" She asked curiously, the question directed at the room, not me personally, no, she was ignoring me,
"Who?" Kurt questioned,
"Uh, hello? Rutherford? Football? Glee? I kind of thought he would be here, I mean, the rest of you made it." She said innocently,
"Rachel…" Hiram started carefully, "Do you remember what year it is?"
"Of course I do Daddy." She said, rolling her eyes in exasperation, "It's 2010, middle of my Sophomore year."
A/N: Is it really, Rachel? Is it really? Sorry guys! You're probably going to hate me even more! You know when you're writing super intense scenes and you are writing them really quickly and your fingers can't even keep up? Yeah, that was me in this chapter. Hope you enjoyed, and I will see you next time! Please review, they make me write faster and betterer. :D –Lauren's Glee Stories
Check out my poll! I need an opinion from you guys for future stories.
The poem is real, 'Do not go gentle into that good night'-Dylan Thomas. I first heard it in Interstellar and instantly fell in love with it, it's beautiful.
The BuzzFeed quiz is also real if anybody was wondering.