DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!
It felt as though she'd only just closed her eyes for a second. Like she just needed to take a break and think. She had thought that being in a coma meant you could feel the days ticking away, listening to your loved ones tell your unconscious body that everything was going to be okay. But it wasn't, it was like she had clicked her fingers and the light of the world flooded her eyes once again.
"Where am I?" She groaned, bringing her hands up to rub her sore eyes. What seemed like a million faces hovered above her, smiles on their faces as a dark skinned man called out for a doctor. The excitement in his voice was undeniable. A doctor and two nurses rushed into the room and pushed away the smiling people so they could inspect her.
Without warning a bright light was shone in her eyes and a strong grip on the sides of her face stopped her from cowering away. "Everything's good." The doctor confirmed with a smile after running short experiments on her. "She should be right to go home in a couple of days."
Rachel turned to face the dark skinned man from before and a paler man with glasses who shared a quick hug and a pasty looking woman that held a baby on her hip. Her eyes wandered to the other side of the room where a young boy and girl who looked to be her age stood with an older curly haired man. They all seemed happy to see her, but she had no idea who any of them were.
"How do you feel honey?" The paler of the two men beside her asked, lightly taking her hand in his. She instantly retracted and tried to push herself into a seated position, but an intense throbbing in her head stopped this action.
"Who are you?" The smile fell from the man's lips as he turned to the doctor and started speak way to fast and quiet for her to understand. She strained to listen to the doctors response and all she got from his hushed voice were two words... memory loss!
After a while the two men stood at the end of her bed and her doctor smiled sweetly, looking down to the clipboard in his hands. "Now, Could you please tell me who you are?" He asked.
She thought for a while before bringing her casted hand up to her forehead. "Um, I don't know... Rebecca, no, um, Rachel... Rachel Berry."
"Good. Can you tell me your age?"
"Seventeen." He nodded and mumbled a silent 'good' under his breath. He asked more questions and received straight forward answers. They learned she could do as high as her five times tables and remember the chorus of Gangnam Style. She remembered most of the trivial things in life, but when it came to remembering the names of her parents she had no idea at all.
"We'll have to do some tests but the best thing for you to do is try and teach her everything about her life that you possibly can." The doctor gave her parents a sympathetic smile and left the room to book her in for an MRI scan and give the family some time alone. Everyone stood around her in silence, not wanting to be the first to speak.
"Maybe we could start with some introductions." Rachel suggested, her voice hoarse from a lack of speech over a long period of time.
"Well, I'm your Dad, Leroy." Rachel smiled and turned to the woman with a baby.
"I take it you must be my mum." She nodded her head and stepped closer, slipping her hand into Rachel's.
"Yeah, I'm Shelby and this is your baby sister Beth." Rachel's eyes looked to the next man that stood beside her parents. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she tried to think of who he could possibly be.
"I'm Hiram, your second Dad."
"So, you're gay?" She slowly asked. The two men nodded, looking on with worry, fearing that she wouldn't accept their lifestyle like she had before the accident. "Okay, I guess love is love." She smiled and turned to the other group of people that quickly introduced themselves.
"I'm Sophia and this is Chamberlain." The young girl said with a smile, motioning to the boy that stood beside her. "We're your best friends." Their arms were linked together as they practically stood on top of each other. Rachel smiled at the pair before her eyes moved over to the curly haired man that was yet to introduce himself. Her two friends looked across to him and smiled knowingly at each other.
"I'm Jesse..." He paused for a moment to think of how she might react to finding out he was her teacher and her boyfriend. He knew that anyone in their right mind would frown upon their relationship and find absolutely disgusting, but he hoped that their love was strong enough for her to remember him and how much they loved each other. "You're Music teacher and Glee Coach."
Rachel forced a smile, unsure of why her teacher thought it was important to be here after what had happened to her, whatever it was. She hadn't really thought about it in her scared and confused state of mind. What had actually happened to make her forget everything?
"Hey Dad." Both men turned to her instantly. "What happened to me?" They shared a look before stepping closer to her bedside. Hiram took her hand in his and sat down on the mattress beside her.
"Well honey, you were in an accident."
"What kind of accident?" She questioned, looking up to him curiously.
"A-a-a car accident. You've been in a coma for a little over two weeks." Her breath caught in her throat as she tore her gaze away from her father. "Your injuries were severe and you have been on life support as your lungs weren't working. You had shown signs of brain damage and we are so glad you woke up because if you had of been in this coma for one more day we would have had to make the decision of whether to turn off your life support or not."
"Could you please get me a mirror?" Was her only response. Sophia nodded her head and opened her purse. She pulled out her pocket mirror. Without hesitation Rachel reached out and took it from her hands, flipping it open and looking into her own reflection. What she saw looking back was a broken version of herself, beaten and scarred. There were stiches along her jaw and severe bruising to the majority of her face. She couldn't stop herself from breaking down into tears as she slammed the mirror shut and covered her face with her hands. "I'm ugly." She screamed, curling her body into the fetal position.
"I think you should all leave." Leroy said, leading her friends to the door. Jesse wanted to stay but he was told that it would be best for Rachel if he wasn't in the room. Beth had begun wailing at the same time has Rachel had so Shelby took her out into the corridor to calm her down. Rachel's fathers remained in the room with her, trying to calm her down but she was inconsolable.
"Could, I, please, be, alone." She spoke between sobs, still covering her face. Her father's reluctantly gave her what she what she wanted and left the room, allowing her some time alone.
The next day Rachel had been released from hospital after her MRI scan showed that there were no big issues and she had simply been struck with a mild case of amnesia. Her parents had been advised to try and help her to remember who she once was, but take it easy and not bombard her with too much information all at once because she won't be able to handle it. They were warned that it would be hard and in some cases the patient never remembers.
Rachel was silent for the entire car trip home, too scared to say anything as the people that surrounded her were still strangers, even though she now knew them to be her parents. When they finally pulled into the driveway her dad took her bags from the trunk as her daddy and mother helped her out of the car. They all walked up to the path that led to a dark empty house that looked all to welcoming for Rachel's liking.
She stood behind the two men as they fiddled with the lock and pushed the door open. As Shelby flicked the light switch on a loud cheer of "Welcome Home" came from inside their living room. Rachel looked on at the large group of people that instantly bombarded her with introductions and more welcome home's. She was told by a group of people her age that she was a true hero. She tried to hide behind her mother but they all still found her, encircling her in the seemingly small, stuffy room.
"I-I can't do this." She mumbled to herself, looking down to her feet as she clung to her mother's shoulders. Silent tears fell from her eyes as she started to hyperventilate. There were so many new faces and names that she was supposed to remember. Having them so close and so rapidly thrown at her was scaring her and all she wanted to do was run and hide, so that's what she did. She pushed through the thick crowd and navigated her way to the front door.
After grabbing a set of keys that hung off a hook by the front door, she exited the house and just ran. She didn't know where she was going or what she would do when she got there, but what she did know was that she had to get out of there.
Tears continued to fall from her eyes as she unwillingly cried, wishing that she had never gotten into that damn accident everyone was telling her about. She knew that if she had never gotten in that accident than she wouldn't be so scared right now, and she would be able to remember everything in her life that had once been important to her. But right now, all she knew was her name and age.
After ten minutes of straight sprinting, she found herself at a small park and learned that she had great agility. A smile graced her lips as she had found out something about herself without the help of anyone else.
She walked to a set of swings and sat down, trying to stay stable but finding it impossible as the wind continued to push her around before finally knocking her down into the pit of sand beneath her.
"Are you alright?" A soft voice asked behind her. Two small hands helped her back to her feet and she turned to thank the source of help, but when she saw the beautiful blonde girl standing before her she was rendered speechless. "You took a pretty hard fall." She smiled, dusting sand off of Rachel's jacket, not even taking notice of the damage to her face.
"Yeah, I'm just trying to figure this thing out."
The blonde girls perfectly shaped eyebrow arched in curiosity. "You don't know what to do with a swing?" She questioned, receiving a curt nod in return. "It's pretty self-explanatory, the actions in the name. How does one not know that?"
"I... I lost my memory in a car accident." The girls face contorted into guilt as she immediately started to apologize but Rachel shrugged it off, not wanting another person to add to her sad list of people to avoid. "It's fine, you didn't know."
"I was still pretty rude." She replied.
"Don't sweat it, I liked the whole idea of someone not knowing because it means I've never met them and so I don't have to worry about past memories that I can't remember... It's refreshing." The two girls shared a smile as the blonde stuck out her hand.
"I'm Quinn Fabray."
"Rachel Berry." They shook hands and sat down on the swings, this time Rachel gripped the chain tighter with her spare hand, stopping herself from falling flat on her face again.
"You don't mind that I'm no longer a stranger do you?" Quinn asked, swinging herself back and forth. Her blonde hair flicked around her face as her dress lightly blew upwards every time she would descend. Rachel shook her head in response and tried to do exactly what Quinn was. The blonde couldn't stop the small giggle that escaped her lips as Rachel failed to kick start. "Let me help you." She smiled, jumping off the swing as it flew forward.
She walked behind Rachel and pulled the swing back at the base of the chains. "Trust me." She whispered in Rachel's ear when she sensed her fear. After taking a deep breath she let Quinn pull her back and release, lightly pushing on her lower back each time she would swing back towards her. "Do you wanna go higher?" Quinn asked but pushed harder before receiving an answer.
Rachel's knuckles turned white as she gripped harder, grabbing onto the chain with her casted hand and closed her eyes as she felt herself gain speed. The cool air against her skin slightly calmed her, but every time she would free fall downwards the feeling of fear settled in the pit of her stomach. "I don't want to do this anymore." She called out, but Quinn didn't make a move to stop the swings movement.
"Open your eyes." Was the response she received and after a moment's thought she obliged and slowly cracked her eyes open, one eye at a time.
"Oh my god, it feels like I'm flying." She squealed happily, smiling as she plummeted downwards.
"It's amazing isn't it?"
Rachel turned to the blonde and smiled. "This is the greatest feeling in the world."
"Does it feel weird?" Quinn finally asked. When Rachel had finally gained the courage to jump off the swing they had climbed the biggest tree in the park and sat on the top branches so that nobody could find them. They'd talked about all of the things Rachel could remember and the things that Quinn wanted her to know. Their instant friendship continued to blossom with every word spoken and Rachel actually felt as though she could trust Quinn.
"No... It doesn't feel like anything." Rachel spoke blankly, staring right into Quinn's innocent, trustworthy eyes. After a moment of comfortable silence Rachel averted her gaze and looked down to the park. "Thanks for teaching me how to use a swing again. As unimportant as it sounds, I'm really grateful."
Quinn smiled and wrapped her arm around Rachel's shoulders. "It was nothing, really. If you want help with anything else I'm happy to help."
"That'd be great, I appreciate it." They shared another long lasting smile before the sounds of Rachel's fathers echoed through the park, desperately calling out her name.
"You better go, but I want to see you again.
"I'd give you my phone number if I could remember it." Rachel joked, drawing an angelic laugh out of Quinn.
"Do you have your phone?" Rachel nodded and pulled it out of her jacket pocket. Luckily her prior self hadn't set a lock code so she could easily get in and hand it over to Quinn who quickly typed her number in and saved it to Rachel's contacts. "Call me when you have some spare time." And with that Quinn was already halfway down the tree and had run off in the opposite direction of Rachel's fathers by the time Rachel made it to the bottom of the tree.
Her father's immediately ran to her and enclosed her tiny body in a group hug. "We're so sorry, we had no idea your friends had organized a party."
"It's fine, I needed to clear my head anyway." She smiled. "Can you take me home now?"
