I still don't own Glee, not even after 52 chapters, sigh.

Thanks to Devin Jaste and TheIrishGilmore for the talks and discussions, they always help to spark ideas!

Thanks as well to all of your reviews! It is still great to learn what you are thinking, no matter how dramatic the last chapters were. I'm also still grateful for all the followers and favorites.


Chapter 52

Rachel sighed. Her curiosity took over and then turned into dread. Most people she was in contact with now knew that she was deaf. So none of them would actually call her. And even if someone would have called just to wish her a happy new year, they most probably would have left a message at the first call.

Quickly she accessed her transcription software. She could have also tried to call back the number and root it though an interpretation line. This way an interpreter would call the respective number – or forward a person calling to her and would interpret the conversation. But you needed a camera in order to see each other for this to work. In the middle of the night Rachel was not inclined to turn on her computer.

Finally the message flickered across her phone's screen.

She had to read it twice.

And then her heart almost stopped.

Rachel stared at the phone in her hand. She needed to read the message again before she truly understood what it said.

This is Claire Evans from the medical emergency center of the Beth Israel Medical Center on First Avenue at 16th Street, New York. Your number has been listed as the emergency contact for Ms Quinn Fabray. Please contact us as soon as possible.

Finally it registered.

With the realization a feeling of panic and shock took hold of her.

Various thoughts and questions raced through Rachel's mind as shejumped out of bed with a jolt and grabbed the next best clothes she could find. She was sure she had never been so fast to get dressed. She grabbed her bag and flew down the stairs.

Outside she was startled by a flashing light from above, remembering belatedly that it was still the night of New Year's Eve. Apparently some people still had not had enough of the fireworks at three o'clock in the morning.

As luck would have it, an empty cab approached her at the next crossing and she sent a prayer skywards as thanks. Finding a cab on the night of all nights in New York City was almost impossible.

She gave the driver the address and he sped along the streets as fast as possible, apparently sensing her urgency. While they drove through the streets, Rachel had a moment to take a deep breath and to collect her thoughts.

She had not started thinking clearly until then. She had just acted on instinct. Her heart was still beating fast and her stomach felt like a tight ball. She wondered shortly why Quinn still had her as contact person in case of an emergency, but then figured that she probably had not come around to change the number.

Quinn had made it a habit of carrying a little card with contact details with her at all times. It was something her mom had taught her and her sister at an early age. Somehow Quinn had never given up on that precaution.

Rachel had asked her why she had her as contact person even though she would not be able to pick up the phone if someone called her. Quinn had shrugged and said that she was sure Rachel would get the right information when needed and she wanted her to be the first person to know. Just to make sure and at Rachel's urging, she had added Santana's number as well.

Hopefully they would have tried to reach Santana as well.

The lights of the streets flew by her window as Rachel stared out into the night.

No matter what stood between her and Quinn, the sudden possibility that she might never – NEVER - see her again, scared Rachel beyond anything she had ever felt. She tried to ignore the unavoidable thoughts of regret, of wasting her time reasoning her stupid actions while she could have spent it with the person she loved most on this earth.

Rachel almost laughed at the irony of it all. She had been selfish enough to push Quinn away, to tell her that she needed time alone and that she could not be with her. And now, at the prospect of maybe never having a chance to apologize for her mistakes, for her behavior and mean words – even though she would not expect Quinn to take her back after what she had done – she felt like all her walls were crumbling down and her heart showed her how strongly she did care.

She had never stopped loving Quinn, but her heart reminded her vehemently again now that all the right reasons were just plainly wrong sometimes. Reasons were often made up by your mind, but the truth, the real truth, often lay in your heart.

Just the pure fact that she was racing towards the hospital without ever stopping once to try to figure out what to do, told her enough about her own truth. But why the hell did it always take such drastic events for people to remind them of what was truly important? Why had she not been able to reach her own truth in her heart before? Instead she had gotten lost in her old patterns of self-pity and hate and sadness.

She tried to not fall into a panicky state, she needed to stay calm in order to find out what had happened and if and how she could help Quinn. And she needed to keep her wits together in order to get people to communicate with her in a way that she could understand.

The car hardly stopped when Rachel already pulled the door open, handed the driver the money without waiting for her change and sped off towards the entrance.

Inside, she pulled out her pad and looked for the information desk. Luckily it was still occupied, despite the time and day. Rachel took a deep breath, trying to collect herself. It would not help if she started ranting in panic, not being able to understand the answer from the woman who sat behind the counter.

She approached the woman and briefly stated her name and why she was here. The lady was polite enough to write her answer for Rachel down once she learned of her deafness, which Rachel had explained quickly in her introduction. She directed the brunette towards the emergency center where Quinn apparently had been admitted roughly half an hour ago. Rachel thanked the other woman quickly, gathered her writing utensils and took off down the hallway and through the indicated doors.

The emergency center was not as busy as she had anticipated. Either it was because of the special night or because it was one of the lucky New York days where people did not try to kill or hurt each other as much.

Looking around, Rachel found the nurse's desk and went through the same motion as with the woman outside. Waiting for the nurse to check her admittance list, she scanned the area and noticed a male nurse pushing out a bed from one of the emergency bays. That in itself was not unusual; what caught Rachel's attention was the blond hair and the familiar features on the white sheets.

Her heart skipped a beat. Leaving the startled nurse at the desk, she sprinted after them as they headed towards the elevators.

"Please, wait!" She managed to catch up with them and caught a better look at the woman lying on the sheets.

"Quinn." It was hardly more than a whisper. Rachel quickly stepped around the nurse and placed the back of her fingers on Quinn's right cheek, hardly daring to touch her. She looked so pale and fragile.

The blonde had her eyes closed and seemed unconscious. On the right side of her forehead was a large bluish bruise. There was an IV drip attached to her left hand.

"Oh my god, my god, what happened?" Forcing herself to tear her eyes away from the pale features she looked at the nurse.

"… relative?"

Rachel guess the guy asked her of her relation to Quinn.

"Please, tell me what is wrong with her, she's … my girlfriend. What happened?"

Rachel was desperately clinging to the man's lips while she pulled out her pad and a pen. He said something else, ready to hurry off. It was impossible to read anything from his lips as he had turned his head already towards the elevators.

"Can you please write down what you were saying? I... can't hear."

He looked at her again, then at the pad. He grabbed her pen and impatiently wrote a very short, non-descriptive information.

Further examination because of head injury.

He handed her back the pad and added some spoken explanation, before he pushed the bed into the elevator and held up a hand to indicate that she was not allowed to follow them. The doors closed and left a distraught Rachel standing in the hallway. She had to swallow hard to not start crying.

Looking around she tried to identify the doctor who might have handled Quinn when she came in, but there was no one in sight at the bay where Quinn had been treated first. Probably they were already taking care of another patient.

She had never felt so alone and so helpless in her life except right after her own accident.

The person she cared most about was hurt and she was not even able to get the information of what exactly was wrong with her and where they were taking her. Though she was not sure if the unfriendly demeanor the nurse had displayed was because of her deafness or because she had mentioned the word girlfriend or that he was just in a hurry to deliver Quinn to the next examination. Whatever it was, she was still shocked at how bad Quinn had looked with her too pale skin and the big bruise on her head.

Rachel tried to stop the waves of desperation that heaved through her. It let her hands grow cold and numb. Slowly she lowered herself onto a chair nearby.

Desperately she tried to control her breathing in order to focus on what to do next. She couldn't let her panic take over.

She was not helpless.

But she felt so utterly alone.

At least after her accident her parents had been at her bedside, but now there was no one. And she could not even call someone.

After this long time of depression, desperation and longing she finally found a small part of happiness again with the one person she held dearest in her life. And then she had pushed her happiness – their happiness – aside like an unwanted child. Because she thought that her pain and loss of hearing was more important to deal with than their love.

But there was not time to ponder on her own feelings and regrets now. She needed to focus on how to help Quinn, on how to find out what was wrong with her.

She needed an interpreter. Surely the hospital must have one for such cases. If not, maybe she could call Carmen. But it was New Year's eve, the likelihood of reaching anyone at that time of night was minimal. Well, she probably would have to manage on her own.

But she needed someone. She needed a friend. Someone who could tell her that everything would be fine. She felt a wave of panic rise again.

Focus Rachel, she told herself. With shaking hands she tucked her hair behind her ears.

Kurt.

After they had last talked in Lima, Kurt had offered her to take back the train with him and Blaine, but they would have stayed longer in Lima than Rachel wanted to.

Back in New York, Kurt had skyped with Rachel twice to know how she was doing. Rachel had been glad that he cared so much, even Blain appeared for a couple of minutes on screen and let Kurt interpret for him. She was sure that they also had talked to Quinn, but she had not dared to ask about it. Kurt had told her about their Sylvester plans and had even invited her to come along. She had declined for obvious reasons which the two guys could understand. At least, Rachel knew that he and Blaine celebrated Sylvester in New York.

Rachel dug out her cell phone and dialed Kurt's number, not caring how weird it seemed that she tried to call a friend without being able to hear him. But her hands were shaking so hard that she was not able to type a coherent message. She stared at the screen and waited until it showed that the call was connected. She waited for a few more seconds and then tried to get her voice to work.

"Kurt… it's Rachel. Please, I …. I don't know if you are on the phone or if this is just the mailbox, … please…. I need you." She paused for a second trying to stifle the sobs. "Quinn was in an accident and I'm at the Beth Israel Medical Center on First Avenue and… they won't tell me anything. I mean, they told me something, but… but… I don't, I can't …" The sobs overwhelmed her again. "Please, can you come?"

Hoping that the message reached Kurt, she disconnected the call. She didn't dare to put the phone away in order to notice right away should Kurt send a text. Rachel placed it on her lap.

Belatedly she wondered if Santana already knew. Had they tried to reach her as well? Did she and Quinn not celebrate together? Or was she hurt as well?

Quickly Rachel sent an urgent message to the Latina. She informed her of the news she had received and asked her if she was ok and if so if she could meet her at the hospital.

As she sat there waiting for any of her friends to answer, she couldn't hold back her feelings. She was so afraid for Quinn. She bent forward and threw her hands in front of her face, trying to stifle the sobs.

Too late she thought she just could have asked someone to make the call to Kurt for her. But in her current state she was not able to think clearly a hundred percent. Besides, the desk at entrance had not been occupied, probably the nurse had to help out somewhere.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Quinn needed her to… Rachel stopped at that thought. Did she really? Did Quinn really need her?

With all her strength she pushed the doubts aside. Whatever stood between them, had to wait.

All of a sudden Rachel felt a hand on her back, and sensed someone in front of her. She looked up and saw the nurse from the desk kneeling in front of her. Her lips were moving in a question, judging by her quizzical and concerned expression on her face.

Rachel managed to sit up a and took the offered tissue to wipe her eyes. She shook her head and managed an explanation.

"I… didn't understand what you were saying. I'm can't hear. My … girlfriend was just admitted." Rachel felt herself hesitate a second time at saying the word 'girlfriend'. It felt weird, but just saying "friend" did not seem right either.

"I don't know what is happening right now. They took her somewhere, but I didn't understand what the other nurse who took her said."

The other woman nodded and made a writing motion with her hand. Rachel stared blankly at her for a second until it registered.

Jesus, she needed to get her brain functioning properly again.

She took the pad and handed it to her. The nurse – Kayla Johnson, as her nametag indicated - sat next to her and wrote down.

Can you tell me your name and the name of your girlfriend? Then I can try to find out where she is. Is there someone I can call for you?

Rachel shook her head. "I already called my friend. Well, I tried. I'm not sure if he heard the message." Her eyes fell back to the paper and she answered the first question. "I'm Rachel Berry and I'm here for Quinn Fabray. She was brought in about forty minutes ago."

Rachel thought at hearing the two names the nurse had a spark of recognition cross her features. If so, she did not let on.

Ok, let me check and I get back to you. Are you ok? The blonde woman scribbled on the paper.

Rachel just nodded and mustered a brave smile at the kind person in front of her. Belatedly she added:

"Could you also check for a Santana Lopez? I'm not sure if she was admitted also."

The nurse wrote something down again. I don't think so, I believe your friend was admitted alone, but I will check anyway.

"Thank you!" She felt a hand lightly squeeze her shoulder as encouragement and watched the nurse disappear into a small glass covered office behind the reception desk a few feet away.

Rachel was surprised that she had taken the time to talk to her.

Looking around, the brunette noticed that two bays were empty and that some of the people who had been sitting on the other chairs around her had disappeared. That's probably why the nurse had had the time to check on her.

She must look like a mess. In her haste she had not even checked a mirror. Her dark hair fell in messy waves around her shoulders and her eyes were probably red from crying.

Rachel turned her attention back to her phone to see if Kurt had sent a message.

Indeed he did. She had been so caught up in her thoughts and in the talk with the nurse that she had not noticed her phone give off a short vibration on her legs.

Quickly she accessed the message. Even though it was just three words, they were the best ones she had read the whole day.

On my way.

Rachel felt like crying again, this time out of relief. Feeling a little calmer she managed to type her answer.

Thank you Kurt, thank you! Can you try
to reach Santana and tell her that we
are at the hospital? I already sent a message,
but she did not answer yet. Not sure
where she is or if she was admitted as well.

After sending the text she thought that someone needed to inform Quinn's mom as well, but decided to wait until she had more information. Across the distance Ms. Fabray would not be able to do anything anyway and it was better if they could provide her with more solid information.

Rachel tried to wait patiently for Kayla to return with any news. She turned in her seat so that she had the nurse's desk and the emergency entrance in her view.

When the other woman finally returned, she handed Rachel a paper. Eagerly the brunette soaked up the words.

There is no Santana Lopez listed and Ms. Fabray was admitted alone.

Rachel was relieved to read that. This still did not answer the question where Santana was, but hopefully she would read Rachel's message soon, or better yet, Kurt would reach her. She read on.

Your girlfriend was taken to get x-rays and an MRT done to check for inner injuries or broken bones. She's currently still in the MRT. So far, the X-rays did not show anything broken. She just has some badly bruised ribs and she has twisted her left arm. But she is still unconscious and they are not sure how bad the head injury she obtained is. This is what they are currently checking on now. I'll get a call when they are done.

Rachel felt nurse Kayla's eyes on her while she read the words over and over.

No broken bones that was good, wasn't it? But that she was still unconscious worried Rachel immensely. This could mean anything and did not help to put her at ease.

Good Lord, was this just history repeating?

She herself had suffered a severe head injury, now Quinn as well. Scenarios started to build in her head when the kind face of the nurse appeared in her field of vision. She gently took Rachel's pad out of her hands and scribbled something down.

Your friend does not have any injury that showed up on the x-ray, not even on her skull and that is a good sign. She probably suffered a heavy concussion that causes her to still be unconscious. Let's just hope that there won't be any complications. I'm sure after a couple of days she will be fine again.

Rachel peered into the blue eyes in front of her, trying to gauge the sincerity. The young nurse, Rachel judged her to be in her mid-thirties conveyed a confidence with her words, that she was inclined to believe her.

She nodded. "Ok, thank you so much. Do you think I can see her later?"

Let's wait until I know more, then I see what I can do, ok? If she will be in intensive care usually only relatives or spouses are allowed to visit. But if you are her emergency contact and her family is too far away to visit right now, I'm sure they will let you in.

Is someone coming to stay with you?

Rachel nodded again. "Yes, my friend texted me that he was on his way."

Good. If you need anything, let me know.

"Thank you," Rachel managed with a small, but grateful smile.

With a friendly nod the nurse handed Rachel the pad, before turning back to her station.

Thanks to the effort and the warm words Rachel already felt a tiny bit better. She was so grateful for the nurse to have taken the time to talk to her and explain what was going on.

The doors at the other end of the hallway burst open and with a searching look Kurt entered. His gaze fell on Rachel and he quickly ran up to her to hug her.

What happened? How is she? Do you know anything? His hand quickly flew through the air once the two friends released each other again.

Rachel explained to him what she had learned and he hugged her again, then they sat down on the chairs. Now that Kurt was there, Rachel felt so relieved that the tears started to fall again.

"God Kurt, I'm so glad you could come! I'm so scarred!"

I know. Kurt rubbed her arm for comfort.

"What will I do Kurt? What will I do if I never get the chance to talk to her?"

Rachel calm down, ok? The nurse was optimistic that Quinn will be fine again, let's just wait and see what the MRT says about her head injury.

"Yes," she sniffed, and then gazed at the big wall clock over the entrance. "How did you get here so fast?"

Rachel looked closer at her friend and noticed that he was not wearing one of his usual outfits, but just a pair of jeans and a "normal" sweater she thought to have seen on Blaine before.

Took a cab. We just got home when you called me. Well, we were already at home and uh, getting undressed.

This comment caused an eyebrow to crawl up on Rachel's forehead in an unspoken question.

Yes, well, that kind of "undress". Anyway, my phone rang and normally I would not have answered, but seeing your name on the display knowing that you would never really call me, raised all alarms. After I heard your message I grabbed the next best clothes, which, he looked down on himself, were apparently Blaine's. I told him to stay at home, hope that was ok? Thought that three worrying people would be enough.

"Three?"

I reached Santana. She's on her way here. Pulled her out of party. Could hardly understand her, it was so loud at that place. I'm still wondering how she heard her phone.

Rachel waved her phone lightly "Uhm, vibration alarm?"

Right.

"Wonder why she was not with Quinn."

She told me that Quinn and she celebrated a bit at home. Quinn apparently had refused to go to any party. When she wanted to go to bed shortly after midnight, Santana decided to go out.

"But what happened then to Quinn? And who found her?"

Let me ask the nurse.

Rachel watched Kurt make his way over to the nurse's desk. After a short conversation he smiled and turned back towards her.

He started signing while walking. She said that a neighbor had called nine-one-one, that's all she knows.

"A neighbor? Jesus, what happened, did she fall down the stairs? Was she robbed? What?"

Kurt shrugged. I don't know. I guess we'll just have to wait until Quinn can tell us herself.

"If she can tell us."

Rachel, don't imagine worst case scenarios, ok? We don't know anything yet.

She just nodded and leaned her head against her friend's shoulder. Kurt placed an arm around her for comfort.

A moment later the nurse came towards them. She had written the message down even though she had noticed Kurt communicate in sign language with Rachel.

Rachel took the offered paper and smiled gratefully at the woman, before she started reading. Kurt received the verbal version of the news.

Ms. Fabray is now on the fourth floor, room two, right opposite the nurse's station. She is not in intensive care, because the MRT luckily showed not internal bleeding or swelling of the brain. She just has a concussion from the fall. If all goes well and she does not develop complications overnight, she should hopefully wake up soon. She is under constant supervision, but since it is not intensive care, you may visit her for a very short while. Once she is awake, she will have to be awake for about twenty-four hours to make sure she's fine. I informed the station nurse that you'd come up.

Rachel looked up, with tears of relief in her eyes. "Thank you, thank you so much Ms. Johnson. You have been a great help. And thank you for your consideration." She waved the paper slightly. "God, I'm so relieved, I…" words failed her as she tried to get her feelings under control.

Quinn would be all right. She had no severe injuries, thank God!

Looking at Kurt, the other woman asked him to interpret for her.

"You're welcome. And call me Kayla. Ms. Johnson sounds strange," she smiled. "Well, good luck for you and Ms Fabray. And for what it's worth, I do hope you will have a happy new year."

Rachel nodded and smiled. "I hope so, too. The same for you."

The both walked towards the public elevators and rode up to the fourth floor. The hallway was empty as they made their way towards the nurse's station. The woman behind the desk looked up.

"You must be the two Kayla sent up from the emergency room." Kurt nodded and interpreted for Rachel.

"Well, one of you can go in, but don't take too long."

"How is she?" Rachel asked anxiously.

"Still unconscious, but her vitals are strong. You can go in." She waved with her hand towards the room opposite her desk.

Rachel nodded when Kurt finished signing. He squeezed her hand and then let got.

The door to Quinn's room was already open. There was a glass window that went out into the hallway so the nurse had the patient in her view. Slowly Rachel stepped forward and stopped in the entrance.

She let her eyes roam over the blonde's features who lay to the left of the door. She looked still very pale and the lump on her forehead shone in a darkish blue. Just looking at it hurt and Rachel involuntarily flinched as she touched her own forehead on the same spot.

Suddenly she was unsure of what to do. One part of her wanted to rush to Quinn's bedside, take her hand, never let go and tell her that everything would be all right. The other part wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole. What would Quinn say if she saw her here? She, the one who had pushed her away, who said that she could not be with her, now came rushing back like a beaten dog.

Rachel was not sure if she would ever deserve Quinn's love again … should she still love her.

All of a sudden she felt a little nudge at the small of her back. Not looking around, she knew it was Kurt telling her softly to go inside.

Finally, after what seemed like an endless moment, she stepped closer. Pulling a chair up next to the bed, she sat on its edge and hesitatingly took Quinn's right hand. She choked on her tears, wishing nothing more than just to be there with her, wishing she would not feel so torn between the longing and the shame, knowing fully well that it was all her own fault.

… … …

Kurt watched Rachel slowly walk towards Quinn's bedside. He could understand that she felt so conflicted. But whatever had caused Quinn to end up here, if she was going to be all right, maybe the good thing to come out of it was that both his friends would find their way back together again.

Looking around, he found some orange plastic chairs lining the wall close by and he gratefully slumped into them. Tiredly he raked his hands through his hair.

This was not how he had imaged to start his new year. Then again, being there for his friends, giving each other support was actually something very valuable, even though the circumstances could have been better. It was important to have a social network you could rely on, people who loved you and cared about you, people you could lean on and trust to help you as well, should you need them. To be part of such a network made him immensely grateful.

Kurt was actually glad that Rachel had found the courage to call him and that she did not try to get through this on her own. Not because she needed an interpreter, he was sure she would have managed somehow; apparently she had already established communication with the sympathetic nurse downstairs. No, he knew she had called him to be there as a friend, to give her emotional support.

When he heard someone coming down the hall he looked up and found Santana quickly walking towards him, an alarmed expression on her face. She wore a red dress with black boots and was wrapped in a black down coat.

"Kurt what happened? Where is Quinn, how is she? Can I see her?" He was greeted by the Latina even before she reached him.

Kurt stood up and hugged is friend before he gave an answer.

"Calm down Santana, it seems that Quinn will be fine. Apparently a neighbor of yours called nine-one-one when he found her somewhere by the stairs. We don't know what happened. She has a concussion and some bruised rips and twisted her arm, but other than that she is fine. They will keep her here for the next two days probably to make sure that there will be no complications, but she should be ok."

"Thank god!" Santana sank onto one of the chairs and wiped her hand over her forehead.

"Well, Quinn is still unconscious. Hopefully she'll wake up soon."

"Yes, I hope so too. That was one call to get sober, let me tell you. I saw that the clinic tried to reach me, but I didn't hear any calls or messages because I had my phone in my bag. When I took it out I saw Rachel's message and then you called."

Santana looked around.

"Is Rachel with her?" She jerked her head towards the room she assumed Quinn to be in.

"Yes."

"And?" Santana caught on to his slightly hesitating answer.

"What and?"

"How is she, how'd she take it? And how did she get the information in the first place?"

Kurt sighed and then explained what he knew about the voice mail Rachel had received and how she had called him.

"She called you?"

"Yes."

"Did someone else talk to you, I mean talk for her?" Santana tried to wrap her head around how Rachel had managed. Not that she wasn't able to speak, but she must have had no idea if Kurt ever answered.

Her friend shortly relayed Rachel's words that he had heard on his end of the line.

"Huh. She must have been quite desperate to do something like that," Santana stated. "How is she doing?"

Kurt grimaced. "She feels guilty and torn and my guess she is not sure if it is her place to be here."

"Not her place to be here? God, someone needs to shake some sense into that woman!" the Latina huffed.

"Shhh, you're waking the whole floor." Kurt hushed her. "She already looked pretty shook up, so I don't think she needs any more shaking tonight."

"Kurt, I don't get it. I mean, yeah, partly I do, but then… I don't! They love each other. I know that Rachel still loves Quinn like crazy and vice versa. Why can't they just be together? I get the whole deaf and music thing. But still…" Frustrated Santana leaned back in her chair.

Kurt shrugged. "I don't know."

They were both quiet for a while. Then he said: "Maybe this needed to happen tonight. You know maybe the universe gave them a little push."

"It rather seemed it gave Quinn a little push down the stairs." Santana huffed.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do. I just hope it was worth it. God, Kurt, you should have seen Quinn over the past few days. She hardly ate, had dark circles under her eyes and looked like a ghost."

"Well, Rachel doesn't look any better."

"I tried to call her twice on Skype to see how she was, but she didn't answer."

"Don't take it personal, I think she just needed time and knowing that you and Quinn are quite close probably did not make things easier for her."

"But I told her that I would always be her friend as well!" Santana exclaimed.

"I know, and Rachel knows it too, I'm sure. Maybe she needed to digest things first before she could have contacted you again. Anyway, she sent you a message now, didn't she?"

"Yeah, you are right. And she asked me if I was ok and told me she was worried about me."

"See!" Kurt smiled.

Santana slid down her chair a bit and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Some way to start a new year. These chairs are fucking uncomfortable."

"Mmm, next time I'll bring my lounge chair for your highness." Kurt teased her.

"Gee, thanks Hummel, that's what I call a great suggestion." She stood up and looked around.

"I need a coffee. You want some?"

"Yes, please. With milk no sugar…" he answered, but the Latina was already walking down the hall, waving a dismissive hand over her shoulder.

"Yeah yeah, I know your coffee order, Hummel, remember, I know all your secrets."

Mumbling, Kurt said to himself: "And there goes my illusion I might ever have a good night's sleep again."

Santana walked down the hall towards he coffee machine. Passing Quinn's room she peeked inside and saw Rachel sitting next to the blonde, still holding her hand, staring into space.

… … …

Rachel could not help herself. She felt like she did not belong here. She was not even sure Quinn would be happy to see her if she woke up.

At least Rachel knew that she would be all right. That was the most important thing.

She focused back on the blonde's features, when she saw her eyelids twitch. Then she seemed to calm down again. Rachel tore her gaze away from her and looked at the window that faced the city. Outside the one or other late firework still illuminated the sky.

Suddenly Quinn stirred. Her hand twitched and Rachel's head jerked around.

Slowly the blond opened her eyes and blinked a few times. It took her a moment before she could keep them completely open. Her gaze fell on Rachel and then roamed the room before settling back on the other woman's features.

With a questioning look she tried to speak. "What...?"

But Rachel interrupted her.

"Shhh, it's ok, don't speak." She reached over and pressed the button for the nurse. "Everything is ok, just stay calm," Rachel tried to sound as convincing and soothing as possible.

"I… you… ," Quinn tried to sort out what had happened and where she was, but seeing Rachel's face was comforting somehow.

"Quinn, don't try to talk yet, let's wait for the nurse, ok? You'll be fine. You don't have any severe injuries."

"Oh." Then why did her head and upper body hurt like hell, Quinn wondered. "My... head… hurts," Quinn rasped.

Rachel was glad she was able to read those three words from Quinn's lips.

"It's because you have concussion. Try to lay still." She squeezed Quinn's hand lightly, before she added quietly: "Everything will be fine, I promise."


I probably won't be able to update during the next week, as I will be very busy at work and during the next weekend, but at least I left you with a sliver of hope – I hope :-).

On another note: Let's see if there are some Days of Our Lives fans who find the reference, lol… Sorry, couldn't resist. I'm just totally fangirling over Mary Beth Evans in the storyline from June/July 1988. For a daily soap that storyline was well written and showed some great acting from her and Stephen Nichols in my opinion, especially since both of them had to learn sign language. That made it really interesting to watch.

I wasn't able to watch this when it originally aired, I was a little too young for that and I'm not sure it was even on German television, but thankfully modern technologies make everything available now, even the "good old" stuff. (Just in case your interested about this storyline, check out Bradyclanfan's channel on YouTube.)

Even in the more recent storylines of Days or The Bay, MBE looks really great. I wish I will age as gracefully as her. At 52 she is still a beautiful woman.

Anyway, I digress. On to writing the next chapters as long as it is still Sunday and I still have some time today…