I have really tried to take time to wrap up all the story plots in the story I may have accidentally started; however, that being said, this is the last installment of this story. Thank you for sticking with me through all of the chapters and I really appreciate any and all the tips/ comments you guys gave me. I will continue to write stories about what happens after the winter finale because I feel the writers have to have some major brain damage to have decided to end the show with a car crash. Who does that? Fair warning: this chapter is as vivid as the first one. Anyways here is the last chapter, enjoy!

Sam ran into the room once he heard the screaming. He through the door open to find Quinn sitting up in her bed with her eyes glued to the door. Her eyes locked with his and he found himself weeping with joy and relief. Her mother had been about ready to give up on her. To Sam it seems Quinn does best when people give up on her. It's like she's telling the world that she won't give up despite what other people think about her. Quinn began to claw at the tubes down her throat. She grasped at the clear plastic tube and began to pull it out of her body. With each tug Quinn's body was wracked with spasms as inch by inch the tube emerged from her lungs.

Quinn began to gag on the tube and a putrid smell pervaded the room as Quinn threw up into the tube. Quinn was drowning in her own bile. Sam rushed to her side and began to force her hands down by her sides while he used his elbow to call the nurse. Within a few seconds the nurse rushed into the room and saw Sam and Quinn struggling together with the tubes. The nurse hurriedly rushed to the cupboard in the corner of the room and got a large syringe filled with a clear liquid and forcefully plunged it into Quinn's hip. Within seconds Quinn was limp in Sam's arms.

He relaxed his grip on her a little bit but refused to let her go completely.

"What did you give her?" He asked the nurse worried that he had just gotten her back and now she was being ripped away from him again.

"It's a simple sedative that should keep her under until we can get the tubes and monitors switched for a conscience patient. A comatose patient requires more monitoring than a person capable of watching themselves." The nurse began to pull on the tube Quinn had been frantically clawing at. With a small suction sounding noise the tube came out as well as some tan looking liquid. The room was once again tainted with the smell of acid and undigested food.

Quinn's chest was rising and falling on its own accord now. Sam listened as Quinn's body took its first breaths in four days. Air rushed in as her chest expanded and then was slowly released in a soft exhale. The girl lying in front of Sam was no longer some robot hooked to machines that looked like Quinn. No, this time when Sam looked down at the girl in the hospital bed he saw Quinn; the girl, who had saved him from a slushy, sang with him, frustrated him, loved him, and had broken his heart. The minutes he had stayed with Quinn had healed his heart. He was ready to love again and not Mercedes like he had originally thought. He loves Quinn and wants to try to restart their relationship. It's not going to be the same thing. A small voice in the back of Sam's mind reminds him. Sam banishes this thought. He knows it won't be the same; they had both changed so much in the last year and there was no way they could fall back into their same easy relationship. Maybe that was what was wrong in the first place. He had been the quarterback and she was head cheerleader they were kind of expected to be together. It had sucked the romance out of their relationship. This time there isn't that same pressure. I'm not the quarterback and she's not a cheerleader. Sam continued to sit at her bedside while the nurse worked to switch all the machines to different modes and removed others.

A while later Sam called Mrs. Fabray who had ran out of the hospital room after receiving the tragic news and he told her she was awake now. He listened as she sobbed on the other end of the phone and promised to be there as soon as possible. After he hung up there was a quiet moan from Quinn. He looked up in time to see her eyes slowly flutter open only to snap shut at the brightness of the room. She blinked her eyes a couple more times trying to get used to the lights and finally she was able to open them. At first she could see nothing because her eyes wouldn't focus on anything but then slowly shapes started to form.

Quinn turned her head to her right where she was sure all of her visitors had come to sit beside her. She hoped that Sam would be the first person she saw. Sure she wanted her mother to be there but Sam was really the only one who had stayed beside her the whole time. Her eyes rested on his and she felt like she might start crying.

Sam looked into Quinn's eyes and smiled softly. He took her hand in his giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Welcome back to the world of the living." He joked softly. She laughed softly and then cried out in pain. "What's wrong?" He asked standing ready to call for the nurse.

"I don't think my body is ready to laugh quite yet." She sighed and leaned back into her pillows.

"Right so no impressions, jokes, or funny stories got it." He smiled and watched as a weary smile graced her lips. He felt her hand shift beneath his so he lifted his hand away. She turned her hand over palm up and left it resting there on the bed.

"I said no laughing; I didn't say you couldn't hold my hand." Quinn hoped she wasn't being rude to him- that was the last thing she wanted to do after all the time he had spent with her. Sam laced his fingers through hers and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. After four days of squeezing and whishing she would squeeze back Sam felt the slight pressure on his palm that told him she was trying to squeeze back. He looked up from their hands and let his eyes linger on her face. The bruises were almost all gone in some places and were a dark blue green in others. She caught him looking at her and he turned away slightly.

She wanted to try and make this seem less awkward than it was going to be. How did you ask someone if they had meant what they said having thought the person wasn't listening? It wouldn't take long for him to guess she was listening if she just dived right in to talking about what the other glee kids were up to and there was really no other topic to bring up.

"So what's new with you?" She tried that angle hoping he would just start talking about something.

"Stacy and Stevie keep calling and asking about you although it's mostly Stevie that keeps calling- I think he has a crush on you. I can finally tell him you're awake. They wanted to visit but I told them you needed to rest." He felt like he was rambling but the look on Quinn's face told him she wanted to know all about what had happened.

"It was probably best they didn't visit, judging by the way I feel right now I probably look even worse." Sam quickly shook his head and said:

"You look better now then you did a few days ago and even with all the tubes and bruises you are still one of the prettiest girls I have ever seen." The words tumbled from his mouth before his brain could process them and he wished nothing more than to take it back. She smiled at his compliment and began to look at herself.

She glanced down at her arms and legs finding a stiff plaster cast around her ankle. Her eyes began to tear up but she blinked them away thinking of how close she had been to losing her fight. A sling was attached around her neck holding her left arm to her chest. She almost hysterically laughed when she realized the reason no one saw her fingers moving was because of the sling. Quinn thought she might have hurt it slightly in the accident but she didn't think it was broken to the point of needing a sling. Since she could only guess how much damage her yanking her shoulder out from the steering wheel had caused she had no idea how much motion she would lose in her shoulder. This would cause issues when she went and did cartwheels but Quinn was sure with physical therapy she could fix it.

Sam watched as Quinn's eyes took in the damage her body had sustained. There was a small frown on her face a line forming between her eyes. She continued to check herself for injuries and found the leg that was wrapped in plaster. He saw tears begin to well up in her eyes but she blinked quickly and they were gone. She was trying to be so brave even when she knew there was little chance of her recovering soon. This was one of the things he admired about Quinn.

Quinn wondered how long it would take her to recover before she could squeeze herself back into her Cheerios uniform and get back into shape. Nationals were in a little less than two months and they would need a kick butt routine if they wanted to win. Quinn could do it she knew she could. Sure she might have to give up sleep for a while and maybe bypass going to the mall with her friends but Quinn was prepared to do anything to prove herself worthy of the uniform. It was some odd miracle Coach Sue had given it back to her. It still smelled like her perfume although it was slightly tainted with the smell of mothballs and feet. She couldn't wait for her body to decide it was time to start walking again. She decided to try and sit up a little testing how nauseous she would be. To her surprise she wasn't all that nauseous so she sat up further.

Sam watched as Quinn slowly pulled herself into a sitting position and he positioned his hands slightly on her back to try and aide her as much as she would allow. She moaned a little as the sling on her arm loosened a little bit. Sam repositioned the strap of the sling for her and then moved her pillow to allow her to lean back into it. When she looked comfortable he sat back down still holding her hand.

It would be a long recovery till Quinn would be able to stand and walk again and Sam would be there every step of the way allowing Quinn to lean on him for support. In the beginning of Sam's journey at McKinley High School, Quinn had been Sam's support system, now it was Sam's turn to be Quinn's.

Thanks to all of the positive feed back I have gotten. As always please R & R! Thanks to all my fans that have helped me grow as a writer. This story is dedicated to my 10th grade English teacher who helped me realize my true potential as a writer and to never be afraid to open the door to new opportunities. Thank you so much.

~cold as ice 1915

P.S. I have started a new story featuring Quinn and Sam. This time Quinn and Sam must face danger and death as they are forced to compete in the Hunger Games. This new story should be a blast and will follow the HG book pretty closely but have some aspects of Glee thrown in there. I hope you check it out!