-Chapter 24-

There was a moment of silence where Quinn honestly felt the world stopped spinning.

"What?!" Quinn and Rachel shrieked. The world started spinning twice as fast as it had been.

"I guess she tripped over something and landed on her knee. It must be pretty bad because I've seen her take harder falls than that and she got up like nothing happened. She was all cryin' and stuff when Mr. Schue and Santana carried her out of the elevator."

"So…so what do we do?"

"I don't know Baby Mama."

"Well, duh," Rachel said. "We go to the hospital."

"That sounds familiar," Puck muttered. "I'm pretty sure you said the exact same thing two years ago."

"Actually what I said was 'Get your shit, we're going back to Lima!' and I'm pretty sure I yelled it and got death glares from several parents."

"You mean like you're getting now?"

Rachel glanced over and Quinn was glaring at her. "If she starts swearing…"

"I'm sorry."

"By the time we get everyone rounded up and ready to go they'll be back here though. I mean…they won't be there that long if it's not life threatening."

Quinn turned around to see Rachel behind her with her cell phone to her ear.

"Mr. Schue? What's going on?"

"Rachel!" Quinn hissed. "What are you doing?"

Rachel waved a hand at Quinn and kept talking. "How long are they saying?"

"She's insane," Quinn shrugged. "She's just insane."

"Four hours!" Rachel shrieked. "Just for a room?! What is wrong with them?!...Yes, Mr. Schuester, I am aware that Branson has a smaller population and therefore a smaller hospital than the one in Lima but four hours?!"

"She's going to do great as an actress," Puck said. "Already demanding."

"You didn't know that before?"

"Well how do I contact the bus driver so that we can…We are too coming!"

"Oh boy," Quinn said. She handed Elizabeth to Puck and pulled the phone out of Rachel's hand. "Sorry about that Mr. Schue. Rachel's a bit wired from the Pixie Sticks she smuggled in." Rachel smacked her arm. "Ow, Rachel!"

"Quinn, please try to keep her under control," Mr. Schuester said. "I'm counting on you. We're going to be here for a while. One of the other choirs is here with food poisoning, there's more than twenty of them ahead of us," Mr. Schuester said.

"I will. So what exactly happened? Puck isn't exactly the best resource for information."

"She tripped and fell. Santana said she la—"

There was a scuffle on the other line and Quinn sighed.

"Hey Fabray, listen up," Santana said. "Hold on – Brit, I'll only be gone for a second, okay? I have to yell at Quinn." There was a pause before Santana came back on the line. "Okay, B is not happy about this and you guys being here won't help that. She already feels guilty and I had to stop her from bashing her head through the taxi window on the way here. You come here and that will just remind her of what happened. She feels like she's let everyone down and I'm not going to sit here and listen to her cry after you guys leave. So just stay there and tie Berry to something if you have to and I swear if you make a perverted joke out of that I will reach through this phone and smack the blonde off your hair."

Rachel started basically climbing on top of Quinn to try and hear the conversation. "Calm down, Santana. Just tell me what happened before – ow, Rachel! Get off of me! I'm trying to find out! – Just tell me what happened before Rachel claws the phone out of my hands."

"She tripped over her shoelace and landed on her knee. I heard a crunch, it was pretty sick and she probably dislocated it. Whether or not she did she won't be on her feet Saturday. I'm going to yell at someone in this hell hole to make sure she gets a wheelchair that isn't a rusty health hazard and maybe we can have her mirror Artie or something."

"Okay, I'll tell everyone and see if we can't start working on some of the choreography. Tell her we love her and we are not mad at her. And Elizabeth sends her lots of kisses."

"I'll try not to vomit when I do. When the hell did you get so damn mushy?"

"Shut up and go take care of your girlfriend."

"And you go shut yours up."

"Later, S."

"Later, Q."

Quinn hung up the phone and sighed.

"What'd she say? What? Is Brittany okay?"

"Rachel, I am going to find someone in this building with valium and I will drug you with it if you don't calm down."

Rachel dropped onto the bed and sat still, her eyes pleading for an explanation.

"Puck, go to the guy's floor and tell everyone to meet in the lobby of this floor, okay? Rachel and I will get everyone else."

Puck nodded and handed Elizabeth back to Quinn and left the room. Quinn dragged Rachel out of the room and they rounded up everyone on the girl's floor and as soon as they were all in the lobby Quinn handed Elizabeth to Finn. Everyone piled on the couches and chairs, Quinn stood before them.

"Brittany hurt her knee, bad," Quinn said. "Really bad. They think it might be dislocated but no one knows for sure yet because there's a really long wait before she'll see a doctor. Santana specifically asked that we not come because Brit's feeling really guilty about tripping because she thinks she's let us all down. They're going to see that she gets a wheelchair for the performance which means tomorrow we're going to have to change a lot of the choreography. I want everyone up and ready to start practice in the conference room at seven-thirty in the morning."

"Who died and made you boss?" Quinn heard from one of the girls that was hidden behind Finn.

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

The girl stepped out from behind Finn. Quinn groaned. It was the same one that had taken her spot sophomore year. She never could remember the irritating girl's name.

"Do you seriously still not know my name?"

"No, I don't."

"Katie Thomas. Why are we getting there two hours early? That's going to be really hard on…"

"You want to talk about hard?! Try being seven months pregnant and performing at regionals against Vocal Adrenaline, that's hard!"

Rachel's jaw dropped and Quinn smirked.

"So, seven-thirty?" Quinn said chipperly. Everyone else agreed and adjourned to their rooms.

"Smooth move, Sue Sylvester," Rachel murmured on the way back to the hotel room.

"I did learn a few good tips from her, I have to say."

Quinn's phone started ringing at two in the morning. She answered groggily and sat up as soon as she heard Santana's voice on the other end of the line.

"We're back. B's on some good painkillers and completely out of it right now but we're back."

"And?"

"Hold on."

Quinn waited for a few seconds before Santana came back on the line.

"Okay. I have to sit in the closet because she may be out of it but she can still understand. It's bad, Q. Really, really bad. They couldn't tell much because all they could do were x-rays but they know for sure that she dislocated it and there's probably some ligament damage, if they're not torn they're at least stretched really bad. Maybe cartilage damage, too."

"Oh God…S…S what about Columbia? She…she can't dance with something like that."

"The doctor said they won't know just how bad it is until we get home and do an MRI and all of that stuff but he said it's not good." Santana sighed. "There is a possibility…" Quinn heard Santana choke back a small sob. "He said that if it's as bad as he thinks it is that she won't be able to dance again for a while. Like…a really long time, especially if she has to have surgery."

"Does she know?"

"She knows she's going to have to have more pictures taken of it when we get home and it will hurt for a while but no, she doesn't know."

"Are you okay?"

"This is her dream, Q. I mean, she's got the whole sewing thing to fall back on but the only thing Brit's ever wanted to do is dance. If this is something that won't allow her to do that it will break her heart."

"You have to be there for her."

"I will be. I'm going to wait until we get back to Lima and she starts getting all the tests and shit done there before I let anyone tell her and I know her parents will agree with me. I know if I tell her now she'll break down and not be able to perform and I know she'll regret it later. We got the wheelchair, by the way. I'll make sure she doesn't lose this one."

"Get some sleep, S. I told everyone to be downstairs at seven-thirty to start rehearsals in the conference room. If you're late I'll understand but try to be there by nine at least."

"I will. I better get back to her before she forgets she's in pain and tries to walk."

"Night, S."

"Night."

Quinn hung up the phone and rolled over to check on Elizabeth who was still sleeping peacefully. Rachel had her head propped up and was looking at Quinn curiously.

"Well?"

"It's bad, Rach. We're talking possibility of permanent damage, bad. She doesn't know it though so don't say anything. Santana only told her it will hurt for a while and she'll be in the wheelchair to perform. There's a chance she won't be able to dance for a long time."

Rachel sighed and leaned over Elizabeth to kiss Quinn.

"Get some sleep, Quinn. Early start tomorrow thanks to you, mini-Sue."

Quinn stuck her tongue out and Rachel smiled.

Everyone, including the redhead whose name Quinn had again forgotten, was in the conference room at seven-thirty and Santana rolled Brittany in around nine. They'd already altered the majority of the choreography and Brittany only nodded and did her part for the rest of the morning while they finished the rest. It was harder than they thought because Brittany couldn't bend her knee, it was immobilized and sticking straight out and more than once Santana yelled at someone who knocked into it and made Brittany wince and hold on to it trying not to cry.

When they broke for lunch Quinn, Rachel, Santana, and Brittany sat together at a table in the hotel restaurant and Brittany kept ice on her knee, per doctor's orders. She didn't smile or talk, just picked at her salad and winced every time she shifted in her chair. Quinn's phone vibrated in her pocket and she jumped and picked it up, it was a text from Santana and Quinn looked at the girl across the table from her curiously.

"She has barely said a word since last night. Can u & Berry try?"

Quinn looked at Santana and nodded.

"Hey Brit," Quinn said. "We're going to the amusement park on Monday. Aren't you excited?"

Brittany shrugged.

"Don't they have a big water thing with ducks in it?"

Brittany shrugged again and poked at a crouton in her salad.

"If you want to rest for a while this afternoon I'll have Mr. Schue push practice back a few hours."

Brittany shook her head. Santana took out her phone that had started going off and turned off the alarm then rummaged around in her purse and pulled out a bottle. She grabbed two of the pills and put them in Brittany's hand and the blonde dropped them onto the table.

"I don't want them," she mumbled.

"B, you've got to," Santana pleaded. "It's not the painkillers, I promise. It's the stuff that makes sure you don't start swelling again."

Quinn whipped out her phone and immediately shot a text to Santana.

"She won't take the painkillers?"

Santana got Brittany to take the pills and then texted Quinn back.

"She says they make her too tired to perform. And I think she's punishing herself."

"That's ridiculous. Why would she do that?"

"She feels stupid for tripping over her own shoelace."

"This is going to be harder than we thought."

"I know. I may have to crush it up and hide it in her food."

"Whatever helps."

"I keep telling her she's not stupid, she won't listen to me."

"Who are you texting? I've been poking you for five minutes trying to get your attention. –Rach"

"It's Santana. Brittany's depressed."…"Rachel tripped over one of Lizzy's toys the other day, should I tell her that?"

Brittany cleared her throat and all three girls looked up from their phones at the blonde and then to each other. Santana looked at Quinn and nodded.

"Rachel tripped over Lizzy's shapes cube the other day," Quinn said.

Rachel snorted. "Quinn tripped over her own feet."

"I tripped my little brother." Santana shrugged.

Brittany looked at all three girls and they looked hopeful that the blonde would feel better. Brittany thought for a moment then sighed and went back to poking her salad.

"Brit," Quinn said. She brushed the blonde hair out of Brittany's face. "B, please. Talk to us. We're your friends."

"I'm fine," she whispered.

"You're in pain and you're sad. Those are two things that kill us, B."

"Laryngitis," Rachel said. Everyone looked at her and Brittany cocked her head to the side.

"Myocardial infarction," Santana said. "I can come up with spontaneous ailments, too. What's your point?"

"When we were in elementary school there was a talent show, remember? It was in fourth grade. Noah broke boards, Artie did a dance routine in his wheelchair, Tina read really scary poetry for a fourth grader, and I was supposed to sing."

"I remember that!" Quinn said. "My sister was a sophomore and she taught me a Cheerios routine!"

"I think I was suspended from performing for kicking the shit out of JewFro but I went because you and B were in it."

"I got laryngitis. I was going to sing 'Beauty and the Beast' and dance but I completely lost my voice three days before the show."

"And I remember going to church the Sunday after I found out and thanking God," Santana said with a smile.

Rachel scowled. "Anyways, even though I couldn't sing, I still danced. I did the best I could."

"And didn't you lose?"

"There were no prizes awarded, Santana. It was simply a showcase of talents. And I'm sure I would've won. The point is, I was so upset that I couldn't sing but I still made the best of it and I had a good time. You can't dance like you want to, Brittany, but you can still sing. And we did 'Proud Mary' in wheelchairs, remember? And you loved that!"

Brittany sighed. "Not the same."

"Maybe not exactly the same but you can do it, Brittany. You know you can do it and we need you to do it. Please. You can do this. We believe in you and we know you can do anything if you put your mind to it."

Brittany looked at Quinn and the blonde nodded. "Rachel's right, B. We have a ton of faith in you."

Brittany scrunched up her face in thought. Quinn glanced at Rachel then Santana then back to Brittany.

"Okay," the blonde said. "I'll do it."

"And you'll smile?" Santana asked. "You know I love it when you smile."

Brittany's lips curled upwards and when Santana broke into a smile Brittany couldn't help but smile fully as well. The other three girls got up from their seats and hugged the wheelchair-bound blonde.

The afternoon was spent perfecting the choreography and by dinner time even Rachel was satisfied. No one was knocking into Brittany and she was spinning around. Artie said he was very impressed and Mr. Schue ordered pizza for everyone, on him, because he was proud of everyone's hard work. Brittany was smiling but Quinn could see the pain behind the girl's eyes and Santana texted her that she had crushed up some of the painkillers and put it on Brittany's pizza. It was very apparent by the end of the evening because Brittany was nodding off in her wheelchair. Quinn and Rachel helped Santana get the blonde upstairs and into bed. Elizabeth kissed her BritBrit goodnight and Brittany slurred something that sounded like "goodnight" before she started snoring.

Quinn settled Elizabeth into bed early and Rachel put on some soft music and gripped onto Quinn's shoulder and took her other hand into her own, Quinn wrapped her free arm around Rachel's back. They danced together, Quinn spun Rachel a few times and the brunette giggled before coming back and resting her head on Quinn's shoulder.

"Do you have any regrets, Rach? About school, I mean?"

"Mmmm…not really."

"None at all?"

"If I'd done anything differently then I wouldn't be here right now and right here is where I want to be."

"I regret everything I did to you. All of it. Every slushie, every insult. Every time I hurt you."

"What about what you did to me Friday night? Do you regret that?"

Quinn giggled. "Definitely not. How's that bruise on your thigh?"

"Very your-mouth-shaped."

Quinn grinned. "You know…prom is coming up."

"Quinn, you know how I feel about school dances. They're just enablers for the fashion industry which fuels the theory of social hierarchy because of different socio-economic statuses and what they can afford in terms of clothing."

"I know and I respect your opinion, I really do. But…I-I was just wondering if maybe…" Quinn pulled away from Rachel and pushed the brunette's hair behind her ears. "Rachel Berry, will you go to our senior prom with me?"

"Quinn I don't know…I…I'm not…I don't have…"

"Kurt will take you shopping if I ask him to. And I promise you, I'll make sure he doesn't trick you or anything. He knows I'll kill him if he does that to you again."

"You really want to?"

"I do, Rach. I can't get you a limo or anything like that but I can promise that I'll make sure it's a night to remember. I want to dress up like princesses and go out and show you off. Surely you can indulge for one night?"

Rachel sighed and chewed her bottom lip. She finally smiled. "Okay."

Quinn smiled and pulled Rachel in for a kiss.

"Mama, Rachel night night!" Elizabeth called from the bed.

Rachel laughed and Quinn pressed a kiss to her forehead.