I have no words...except I'm sorry for the long wait.
...I really am.
Quinn had stood in the doorway long after Rachel had left. It was weird. She'd wanted to move, she wanted to find Finn to try and get something out of him, but she couldn't bring herself to.
She'd basically fought with Santana, the only person who was actually able to help her and Rachel had told her she was done. That she and Finn could be together.
It was supposed to make her feel something. Anything. But she couldn't, she just felt empty.
And that was wrong.
Her faith was fading and she wasn't sure if she could hold on anymore.
This situation was not only depressing, it was scary. The more she thought about it the worse it got.
What if Finn wasn't the answer? Maybe this was actually how it was all supposed to end for her?
Quinn let herself contemplate that a little longer before stiffening up and standing straight. She couldn't think like that. This was not how her story was supposed to end. There was so much she'd yet to do. Taking another look at her fragile body on the bed she turned to exit the room.
Only she couldn't. It was like there was this force pushing her back. A barrier she couldn't break. She tried several times to pass the entrance to her room and each time she was unable to.
Quinn stared out into the hallways of the hospital seeing doctors and visitors carrying on with their days completely oblivious to her.
It was then that panic set in. Why couldn't she leave her room anymore?
Had her condition worsened?
She found herself moving toward the bed, "wake up." She demanded. "Do you hear me? I'm done playing this game. Get up!"
There was no change in the girl laying on the bed. "Why are you doing this to me?" Quinn mumbled. "I don't want to do this anymore." She let herself fall into the chair next to the bed. And for the first time since this had all started she stared at herself.
This is it. Quinn thought, this was how it was all going to end. The panic of not being able to escape the room finally faded and she raised her head from her hands. She was gonna die and that was that. She stared at her broken body again, the tears finally subsiding. "I just don't understand." She whispered. "What have I done?"
"Okay, Quinn." The voice of Doctor Lopez startled her as she glanced up to the man walking toward her body as he glanced at the clipboard that was at the foot of her bed. "It's time for you get wake up." He shook his head at something that was on her charts before he glanced back to her. "You're a stubborn one aren't you?" He placed the chart back at the foot of the bed before he stepped toward her, pulling out the small light and clicking on it. "Come on, kid, show me something." He shined the light over her hazel eyes before pulling away with a heavy sigh, shoving the pen-like light back into his pocket.
"I know you can hear me, Quinn." The doctor said, taking a seat on the very edge of her bed. "Look, You're Santana's best friend…and I don't really know what she'd do if you didn't come back and um…as her father I really don't want to find out."
Quinn shook her head as she watched the man in front of her start to breakdown. Mr. Lopez had always been like a second father to her; more of a father than her real one even. She really didn't like seeing this side of him. She didn't want to hurt anyone else. This whole routine was getting kind of ridiculous.
"Please, wake up." Santana's father finished. "Just don't give in Quinn. I know it's hard, and I know you're tired…but we're all here for you. We're waiting."
The moment was broken as a nurse poked her head into the room asking for a consult and once again Quinn was left alone with herself.
"You're pathetic." She whispered harshly. "Just soaking up all of this attention, huh? What are you waiting for? Get up!"
She spent a lot of hours in this room, pacing back and forth, yelling at herself or screaming just for the hell of it every so often. She watched doctors and nurses pass through every couple of hours to check on her, but she knew there was no change. There couldn't be any change.
If there was she'd be able to leave right?
When the sun was finally setting, and she had slumped back into the seat next to the bed the door popped open again. "Quinn?" Santana asked, stepping into the room. The blonde raised her eyes, but she didn't greet her friend. "Hey, Q, are you okay?" Santana tried again.
Still saying nothing Quinn only shrugged. Santana stepped further into the room and closed the door behind her. "Cut the silence and talk to me, huh?" She leaned back against the solid metal of the door and shrugged, "visiting hours may be over, but I've got connections. I'll stay all night."
Quinn rolled her eyes, "why are you here? Go be with Brittany."
"I wanna be with you." Santana replied. "I'm here for you. Brittany understands that." Her eyes shifted away from Quinn's ghost to the body lying on the bed. "You've been here all day? Any change?"
"Does it look like there's any change?"
"Don't bitch at me, I'm trying to help."
"And look how far it's gotten!" Quinn waved her hand drastically, "I'm still stuck here."
"How is that my fault?" Santana retaliated. She sighed, pushing her hands against her eyes, "God, Quinn I'm trying." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "We'll get you out Q, I promise."
Quinn watched her friend push herself away from the door and take a step toward her. "You said Finn might be able to fix this?"
"I don't know."
"Well, it's the only thing we have going for us." Santana said, crouching in front of Quinn to get a better look at her. "So we get him back in here. I'll get him to admit how he feels. I'm very persuasive."
"And what do we do when that doesn't work?"
"It's gonna work."
"And when it doesn't?"
"We'll find something else." Santana snapped. "God, why are you being so negative right now? I know this situation sucks okay, but we keep holding on okay. Quinn we're gonna fix this."
Quinn shrugged, "because I don't think we can." She sighed, "Santana there's no way to hold on when there's nothing to grasp."
Santana frowned, "Quinn-"
"I can't leave." Quinn shared. "I've been here all day because I'm stuck."
"No." Santana shook her head. "I just—you were just at school this morning."
"You went out with Brittany and I came here." Quinn chuckled darkly. "You know the funny thing about all of this is when I came here earlier Rachel was in here…she was sitting right here, in this chair. She said she was done." Her eyes fell to the body on the bed. "I could have him. Finn. If I woke up, he'd be mine."
"Well, there you go." Santana told her, her eyes filling with hope. "Now we gotta get Finn to admit his true feelings and then everything will go back to normal."
"Santana, I can't go anywhere." Quinn reminded her. "Every time I try there's something that holds me back."
"So I'll get him here….I'm not giving up on you, Q."
Santana's phone ringing had pulled the raven-haired girl to her feet and she stepped aside to answer the call. Quinn watched her friend chat, overhearing that Santana was talking to Brittany. The girl seemed interested in what her girlfriend was saying, because Santana extended the conversation to explaining the current situation.
"Yeah, okay." Santana said, with a smile before, "I love you, too." Fell from her lips.
Hanging up Santana turned back to Quinn, "Brittany's in." she smiled, "she said she has a way to trick Finn into skipping practice tomorrow and coming straight here to see you."
"What do you mean a plan? What is she gonna do?"
"Well she didn't say." Santana told her, "but don't worry. It's Brittany, it can't be that bad." She walked back over to Quinn, "this is a good thing, Quinn." She told her, "this time tomorrow everything could be fixed."
Quinn nodded, and gave Santana the best smile she could muster, because that was just the thing.
Come tomorrow everything could be fixed. She could wake up. Things could go well.
Or she could die.
I feel like this chapter sucked, I've rewritten it four times. I'm sorry, but this story has really gotten harder for me to write, but I really do want to finish it. And hopefully this was good enough.