Note: whoa. What a heartbreaking episode it was. Some of the spoilers were false, some weren't. I'm moving on with the story anyway. But I couldn't help but add a few canon elements.
I highly suggest that before reading this chapter you listen to On My Way, by Boyce Avenue, and to On My Way, by Phil Collins. I'm also convinced the episode was based on the first.
And again, thank to each and every one of you reviewing and reading this.
A doctor comes in with a nurse, hurriedly, opening the door with a bam. She recognizes both immediately, she could recognize pretty much all the staff that was somehow involved in Quinn's case after all this time. She faces the doctor looking for answers. She likes him, he's young and attentive and he was always nice to her. She feels a little bit of despair rushing out of her chest, letting her breathe again.
"She said my name, she squeezed my hand, I don't know what happened, she woke up, I swear, she said my name", Rachel started rambling, holding on to Quinn's hand like her life depended on it. She felt like she was, somehow, letting some of her energy go right to her, helping her to get better.
"Give us a second, please", the nurse said, pushing Rachel away from Quinn's right side as the doctor immediately checked the report coming out of one of the machines on her left.
The beeping still was sounding and Rachel felt desperation running through her veins. It felt so wrong not to be able to help, to have to look at this slow motion scene in front of her. And why were they the only ones in the room? Quinn needed attention, full on attention. Their silence was killing her.
"How can you be so calm? DO SOMETHING!", she shouted as the nurse had her back at her once again, turning her attentions to Quinn, checking her vital signs and pulling out her stethoscope. She was quick, but it still frustrated Rachel to death. She was the same nurse that sometimes gave her disapproving looks when she was caught singing to Quinn songs that talked about love. She was in her 50s and Rachel thought it wouldn't be fair, but she really wanted to punch her in the face right now.
"Relax, Rachel, she's fine", Dr. Spencer turned off the sound that was driving her insane. She felt a little dizzy with the new information, but didn't say anything. He looked away from the report he had in hands, "This machine was just warning us that he had an unusual brain activity before waking up. It's like instead of waking up because she had enough sleep, she woke up from a nightmare, or felt like she was falling, but nothing too big."
Rachel tried to process what she was hearing. She looked at him like he was some kind of angel and his voice was the sweetest melody she had ever heard. Quinn was fine. The beeping was gone. Quinn was fine.
"Like before, she's still stable, but it appears now that her brain is now going back to its normal activities. We don't know for sure the damage that the coma could have done to her, but we have to wait. If she said your name, it's probably a good sign", he was still looking at her, trying to sound positive. Rachel just hurriedly started walking over to his side of the bed and hugged him.
She didn't say a thing, because she felt like if she said something, she might start crying. She felt like a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders.
"We'll have to run some exams, but your girlfriend should be okay", he said, before pulling away. The nurse immediately did a disgusted face, but Rachel chose to ignore it completely. She was just too lost in the thought of someone thinking that Quinn Fabray was her girlfriend. Once again, she didn't say anything, which was highly unusual for her. Everything was going too fast and her body was having a lot of trouble answering it properly.
The doctor checked some reflexes and signs that indicated that Quinn didn't need any urgent medical help. Apparently, she was alright, because he was smiling and nodding all the way.
"It seems like there's no serious brain damage", he said, "She probably will go to sleep, but only sleep, really soon. It usually starts like this, she'll be awake for a few minutes and sleeping for the most time. It's normal."
Rachel just nodded, looking at Quinn again. She wanted to be left alone with her but couldn't think of a subtle way to say it.
"Rach", she heard Quinn's voice a little stronger this time. She forgot everything else and immediately ran to her left side, holding her hand again. It was a habit she would have a really hard time forgetting.
"Quinn, I'm here, I'm here", she said, her voice uneven, "You're okay. You're gonna be fine." She could see the effort Quinn was doing to open her eyes. It looked like every time they began to open, they trembled and closed again. She immediately used her free right hand to gently caress her face, "You don't need to open your eyes, if that's too hard. You need to rest. You're in a hospital. Just take it slow, okay?"
"We're going to give you some privacy, but she really needs to rest. I'll be back in a few hours to start running the exams," Dr. Spencer shared a significant look with Nurse Chelsea, one that Rachel couldn't see but she could tell that she was leaving against her will. If she wasn't so sure that the doctor wouldn't leave unless it was completely safe, she would worry.
"Thank you", she smiled at him the most genuine smile she had smiled in a long time. She couldn't think of anything she had wished more in the last month than to hear someone say that Quinn was fine. Of course, they didn't know a lot yet, but she was alive. Truly alive now.
"Rach", Quinn said one more time, opening her eyes completely for the first time. Rachel felt tears blurring her vision and she immediately let them run down her face. She didn't want anything, anything at all to get in the way of finally looking at those beautiful hazel eyes again.
"Yes, Quinn, I'm here," she said, her tone so light and soft that cotton candy would have a hard time competing. She continued to caress her face, as if she did that all the time. She also wasn't used to Quinn calling her that, but she could.
"Don't…", Quinn had a hard time talking, like her tongue wouldn't obey her properly. She tried to inhale deeply and realized that there were sort of tubes in her nose. She thought they made her feel funny, but remember she had something to say, "Don't… get married", Quinn said, slowly. She looked at Rachel like it was really the first time their eyes met. She wasn't sure where she was, or how she got here, or what day it was. She was just pretty sure that this was something important, something that she had kept in the back of her mind.
Rachel chuckled softly, letting her tears fall freely, smiling at how innocent Quinn looked. Just to know that she didn't have a bad case of amnesia was a huge relief for her. She was terrified that Quinn would wake up and not remember… her.
"Okay", she said, kissing her hand again, "I won't."
"Good", Quinn said, trying to understand what was going on. It felt like her head was moving in slow motion, not letting her think in normal speed, like when her mom woke her up on Sunday mornings and she was really tired and took her half an hour to truly be awake.
"You're in a hospital, Quinn", Rachel said. Maybe it wasn't time to tell her exactly what had happened, but she had to at least inform her the basics. It must be really scary to be in her position and she did her best not to freak her out, "You were asleep for a long time, but you're fine now, you're okay."
"Okay", Quinn said, slowly. She looked at Rachel again, after letting her eyes wander through her room. She remembered that time when she had surgery and she had anesthesia and that's exactly what it felt like. Like she was in this dense haze. But Rachel said she was okay, so she believed her.
"I love you", Rachel whispered. It felt so natural so say it out loud now, something she had learned with such an intense clarity for the past month. And now that Quinn could really hear her, this was the first thing she wanted to say.
"Yeah," Quinn said, her voice still weak. She felt something warming her up from her heart to the rest of her body, slowly making her really feel again. It took her a few seconds to realize that maybe Rachel didn't know she felt the same. But how could she? It was something so obvious to her that she was startled that maybe she didn't know. So she gathered her strength again, "I love you too", she said like it was the 1000th time.
Rachel immediately hugged her, covering her cheeks with butterfly kisses. She was as careful as possible and Quinn made no motions for her to stop. She felt her tears making her face wet too, and apologized for it. Quinn dismissed it entirely and said she wanted to sleep. Rachel reminded herself that she needed rest, so she let her.
"Just don't sleep too much, okay?"
"Okay."
So Rachel probably never felt happier. And she had a #100: Quinn was great at waking up.
"Yes, she woke up!", Rachel had called Judy first, of course, eager to tell her the good news. She could hear the crying on the other side and a promise that she was leaving her job immediately to go to the hospital.
"I'm not kidding, she's asleep now, but she got out of the coma!", she called Santana soon after, who had on the speaker so Brittany could also hear her. This time, she could hear Brittany cheering and sounds of something that she thought it was hugging.
"Yes, yes, I know, it's amazing", she nodded as Kurt repeated over and over how great new this was. She was also on the speaker this time, he was in his house with Blaine, Sam and Finn. Everyone seemed to be just as excited as he was, from what she heard.
"Noah, please don't swear", she smiled as she heard Puck cursed out of happiness. He was probably sleeping when she called because his voice was all messed up, but definitely excited.
Everyone else soon followed and in 15 minutes everyone she knew that really cared about Quinn, including her dads, had heard the good news.
It didn't take long until most of them arrived at the hospital.
Judy was the first. Quinn was still asleep, but Judy was informed by Dr. Spencer about everything that happened and he assured her over and over that she wasn't in a coma anymore. She started crying with a huge smile in her face. Rachel left the room to give her some time alone with her daughter.
The Glee club arrived pretty much at the same time, gathering together at the reception's room. Some of them couldn't make it but most of them were there. Kurt noticed how different they were from the last time all of them were here at the same time. Last time everyone looked like a dark cloud was hovering over them. Last time, they didn't know if Quinn would ever wake up. Last time, tears had a secure spotlight. Last time, they were all sitting in dresses and suits. But a lot had changed. This time everyone looked like if the sun had risen up again. This time, they knew that Quinn had come out of this alive. This time, smiles were shining through the room. This time, they were themselves, wearing their clothes, standing up, being teenagers again.
"I think we should sing her a song", Rachel said, excited.
"Yeah, she just woke up, the thing she probably misses the most is listening to her iPod", Santana said, rolling her eyes. Before, Rachel would be a little hurt, but after this last month, Rachel knew she was just being Santana. She had accepted that she had a different way to show her emotions. Well, except for when it came to Brittany. She was pretty obvious that way.
"I think it's great idea", Artie said, "It's what represent us the best, right?"
"I'm totally down with it", Sam nodded, looking at Mercedes for support. Even though they had agreed that they worked out best as friends, they still were very close by now.
"Me too", she said, "She loves music just as much as we do."
"But they won't let us go in there together, remember?", Puck sounded frustrated.
"But we know everyone here now", Brittany shrugged, like it was no big deal, "San, me and Rachel are like, besties with some of them. One time, Dr. Hadley even said we were a very cute couple, which is obvious, but it was nice", she smiled, looking at Santana. Rachel smiled too, because Dr. Hadley was a very nice doctor and she was also extremely beautiful. And because that day Santana blushed.
"Well, can you talk to them?", Finn said, a little unsure. His relationship with Rachel was at the most confusing point they ever got, which really was something. While all the couples in the room had their hands clasped together, he and Rachel kept enough distance to be facing each other across the room.
"Of course we can, no one resists my Latin Golden Globes charms," Santana smiled seductively, stuffing her chest a little more, which made everyone chuckle.
"If that doesn't work Rachel can do one of those super-long rambles, getting them so confused that they'll have no other option but to accept our demand so they don't look stupid", Brittany said, "Not that those won't work, because if I were a doctor, they totally would", she smiled at Santana again.
"Enough with the lesbian subtext", Kurt said, waving his hand at the air. Rachel swore she heard Blaine saying that this wasn't exactly subtext. "We haven't even picked a song yet."
"Dude, no offense, but I don't think we should choose from the top 40", Sam said, looking at Blaine, "Quinn deserves something really special."
"Not taken", Blaine raised an eyebrow, which was something for him, "But might I suggest something from the top 100?"
"Floor's all yours", Santana said.
"Brighter than the Sun, by Colbie Caillat", he said, smiling, "It's really optimistic and happy and I think Quinn could really use that right now."
"I think that's great, but I've never heard it before", Finn looked at everybody else, "What is it about?"
"Falling in love, mostly", Rachel replied sadly, looking at him, "How everything seems to be so bright when you're finally with someone you love."
Finn caught the hint. He didn't look so happy either. He knew that was a song Rachel definitely wouldn't sing to him anytime soon.
"What about something more… personal?", Mercedes intervened, "Like something she said or did, or even something that reminds us of her?"
"Yeah, something special, like Sam said", Mike spoke for the first time.
"Well… the last thing I've heard from Quinn was that she was on her way to meet Dave", Santana said, shrugging. Everybody at that point already knew that Santana and Dave were close friends and she was probably the one that really knew why the met that night. "And Dave told me she made life changing choices that night… That she was on her way to something really amazing the next day. His words."
Rachel sighed. She felt so frustrated for not knowing what happened exactly between Dave and Quinn. He never really told her and Santana always deflected the subject. It was up to Quinn to tell her, when she was well enough.
"Quinn always told me I have an amazing life ahead of me", she said, her voice happier at the thought of Quinn getting better, "That I'm on my way to great things."
"And she doesn't let people stand in her way", Puck smiled, "Baby mama has attitude."
"Maybe we should try something about the future, about… our way?", Finn suggested, a little insecure.
"I think that'd be awesome. Q will come around this on top", Brittany said.
"I would suggest On My Way, by Boyce Avenue", Rachel replied, "It's a beautiful song, and…", she hesitated a bit, even though she knew they probably didn't know the song, "It really reminds me of her."
"Ok, hold that thought, I also suggest On My Way, but by Phil Collins", Santana said.
"I'll have to be really honest here and say that I've never heard either", Kurt looked surprised at both of them.
"Me neither", Mike, Sam and Finn said in unison.
"Ok, we'll have to wait until she wakes up again, and that can take hours. I say we have enough time to get acquainted with the songs, choose one, rehearse and make a beautiful surprise to Quinn", Rachel had already her iPod in her hand, searching for the song.
"Or maybe we could do a mash-up", Brittany said. "I think our mash-ups are my favorite covers, they sound as amazing and creative as we are."
"Sounds good to me", Mike said.
"All in favor of Quinn waking up to her favorite choir club?", Artie smiled.
Everybody raised their hands.
"Do the songs fit?", Sam asked as everybody started to make a circle around Rachel.
Santana and Rachel looked at each other and shared a small nod.
"We'll make them fit."
3 hours passed by before Quinn woke up again. Santana and Brittany went to see her before they all came in and no one objected. They had to be quick because Quinn wouldn't stay up for long, so it took them only 5 minutes to come back, wild smiles plastered in their faces.
"Judy said we're more than welcome to sing to Quinn and Dr. Spencer gave us his blessing, as long as we didn't sing too loudly. We had to do a pinky promise and everything but we can go", Brittany said like it was the best news in the whole world.
"Quinn still looks like she had some pills, but she understands what's going on and she was happy to hear we were all here", Santana complemented. "She asked for you, Berry."
Rachel tried not to smile, satisfaction running from her head to toes. Finn looked at her, confused. Her relationship with Quinn had been underestimated by far. He knew that she came here every day, but still.
"So we shouldn't keep her waiting! Let's go!", Rachel said, excited again. "Please remember your timing, tone and lyrics, we're about to serenade Quinn Fabray!"
"I wasn't there the moment, you first learnt to breathe. But I'm on my way, on my way. I wasn't there the morning, you got off your knees. But I'm on my way, on my way", Santana is the first one to come inside the room, singing acapella. She looks at Quinn, who had her eyes open and a soft smile on her lips. She takes then her place by her right side of the bed.
"Lay down, and come alive in all you've found, all you're meant to be. For now wait until the morning light close our eyes to see, just close your eyes to see", Brittany is next, joining her voice to Santana's, standing by her side.
"A tear must have formed in my eye, when you had your first kiss. But I'm on my way, on my way. So leave a space deep inside for everything I'll miss", as Rachel starts singing, Brittany and Santana immediately stop and begin to do background music, "Because I'm on my way, on my way"
"Lay down, and come alive in all you've found, all you're meant to be. For now wait until the morning light close our eyes to see, just close your eyes to see", she keeps singing in her solo, looking Quinn in the eye like she's the most precious human being in the world. Quinn feels her heart melt at the sound of her voice.
Rachel joins Brittany and Santana in the background music, changing the rhythm as they move on to their next song. The boys then come in, snapping their fingers to the new beat.
"Tell everybody I'm on my way and I'm loving every step I take," they sing smiling as they see Quinn awake for the first time, "With the sun beating down, yes, I'm on my way and I can't keep this smile off my face…"
"'Cause there's nothing like seeing each other again, no matter what the distance between. And the stories that we tell will make you smile, oh it really lifts my heart!", they're all making a big circle around Quinn's bed by now, some whistling, some clapping their hands.
"So tell them all I'm on my way, new friends and new places to see. And to sleep under the stars, who could ask for more? With the moon keeping watch over me", they are all singing together as Quinn lets the first tears come down.
"And when you feel no saving grace, not the snow, not the rain, can change my mind", their voices are in different places now, some of them are singing one song and some are singing the other, "Well I'm on my way, on my way. The sun will come out, wait and see! And the feeling of the wind in your face can lift your heart", Rachel is incredibly proud of the mash up by now, hearing everyone hit all the right different notes at the same time as some kept the instrumental background.
"And when you're bound to second place, well I'm on my way, on my way! Oh there's nowhere I would rather be! So don't believe it's all in vain, because I'm on my way, on my way… The light at the end is worth the pain, because I'm on my way, on my way", as they get to the last lyrics, a few of them stop singing every line. Rachel is the only one singing in the end.
"I'll be there the moment you come out in white, because I'm on my way, on my way…" She keeps her tears to herself as Quinn smiles like nothing bad had happened to her at all.
It's silence and everyone stops for a second and just share a moment of bliss together.
"Thank you", Quinn finally says, looking not so confused anymore.
And as if someone had commanded them, they all start showing their affections in every part of Quinn they can. Santana and Brittany kiss her right cheek as Rachel strokes her arm. Kurt and Blaine reach for her right hand and on the other side of the bed, Artie is does the same to her left. Rachel feels a little jealous of the gesture that had become so natural to her. Finn is by his side when he squeezes Quinn's arm and smiles at Rachel. She smiles back, avoiding any negative thoughts that could ruin this moment.
Sam, Puck and Mike start messing with her feet, over the blanket. They are laughing but Quinn is not complaining about anything at all. Rachel stops for a second. Something is wrong: Quinn either laughed uncontrollably when tickled or started to get really pissed off at anybody who tried to tickle her. This was a lesson learnt in Quinn Fabray 101. Instead, she was talking about something with Artie like nothing was going on.
"Aren't you gonna say something?", Rachel pointed out.
"What?", Quinn said slowly, turning her head slightly to Rachel's side. That was when she realized what the boys were doing and became suddenly really serious.
"Sorry, we couldn't resist", Mike said. The three of them looked like they were caught doing something really bad with sheepishly smiles on their faces.
"It's okay…", Quinn blinked a few times, "I… I didn't feel anything."