A/N- Sorry for the delay everybody. I had a mad case of writer's block, and I was dead for about a day after watching "On My Way". Pretty sure I went into cardiac arrest in addition to a nervous breakdown. But, I managed to get this chapter out. I originally had a different plan in mind, but this just sort of came out. I incorporated some of the spoilers for the next episode of Glee in this. Remember to review and tell your friends! Enjoy :)
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Glee or its characters
With one last fleeting bout of strength, my eyes snapped open.
Bright lights assaulted my vision. It felt like my brain had been stabbed by a thousand nails. I let out a pained groan. Rachel's head popped up and she looked at my face.
"Quinn? Oh my god Quinn! Hold on honey. Everything is going to be OK. I'm here. Don't worry." She jumped off the bed and hit the nurse's button frantically.
"We need help in here! Please hurry!" she yelled out.
Four nurses came running into the room and made a beeline for me. They checked the monitors surrounding the bed.
"Page Dr. Pierce right away!" one of the nurses said. An intern nodded and hurried out of the room.
"What's happening? Is she going to be alright?" Rachel asked, her voice gradually rising in pitch.
"I don't know. She shouldn't be able to do this yet. We just need to wait for Dr. Pierce to get here. There's nothing wrong that I can see."
Rachel sagged and came over to my side. She pushed some hair out of my face and peered into my eyes.
"Dr. Pierce is going to come and help you."
I opened my mouth but couldn't get words to come out through the pain. I let out a scream as a shock came catapulting through my brain.
Rachel looked at me alarmed, "Quinn! Somebody do something, she's in pain! Don't just stand there; what is wrong with you people?"
The nurses snapped into action and pushed morphine into my IV bag. The pain started to ease up pretty quickly after that.
Dr. Pierce entered the room flanked by two other doctors.
"Welcome back to the world Miss Fabray," he turned to the nurses and said, "Status report?"
"We were called into Miss Fabray's room approximately five minutes ago when she opened her eyes. She has tried to speak several times but has not been able to. Her stats are normal, but three minutes ago she screamed in pain. We pushed morphine intravenously and the pain has seemed to ease since then."
"Thank you Rose. OK Quinn, I'm just going to check on you neurological function and see what we're dealing with."
He stepped up to me and pulled a small flashlight from his lab coat. He pulled up my eyelid and flashed the light in my eye. I winced and squirmed away from the light in pain.
"I know this hurts. It's going to for a while until I find out what's going on in your brain. I really need you to hold still for me so that I can make you feel better. Can you do that for me?"
I nodded my head. He smiled and shone the light in my other eye. My vision was starting to get cloudy and I could feel myself slipping away.
"Hold on Quinn. Don't let it get the best of you. Try to stay with me. Just keep focused on staying awake," Dr. Pierce urged.
"What do you mean? Is she going into a coma again?" Rachel cried out.
"She's starting to fade yes. The amount of strain this is putting on her brain is tremendous, and it might cause her to go back into the coma. I don't think she has healed all the way yet."
Rachel pushed past Dr. Pierce and grabbed both sides of my face.
"You had better not leave me again Fabray. Fight. You need to be here. Please, I need you to be here. Look into my eyes OK? Don't go back into the darkness, just focus on me. I'll keep you grounded."
Her brown eyes were staring directly into mine. The blackness slowly slipped away as her warm chocolate eyes engulfed me, and held me to Earth. I couldn't look away. Her thumbs were gently stroking my cheeks, and I knew that this was where I belonged.
"I…love….you." I could barely get it out. My tongue was so heavy, and my mouth was incredibly dry. But, she needed to hear it, I needed to tell her.
Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over. They ran down her face as she gazed at me in awe. I slowly lifted my hand to her face. My thumb caught the tears, and wiped them away. She turned her face to the side and kissed my hand.
"Oh Quinn," she whispered against my hand. She pulled her face away and leaned into me until she was a centimeter away from my face.
"I love you too."
She closed the gap between us and pressed her lips softly against mine. The kiss was slow and sensual; she was everything I had been looking for.
Dr. Pierce cleared his throat, "We'll give you two some privacy. Quinn seems to be doing much better. I don't see any harm in waiting for an hour before we run some tests. Page us if you need anything." He turned around and ushered the nurses out of the room.
Rachel turned her eyes back towards me with a smirk firmly in place.
"Now, where were we?" She leaned forwards and captured my lips with hers.
I had never been happier in my entire life.
Three days, two hours, and twenty- seven tests later confirmed that I was in fact out of my coma and wasn't going back into it anytime soon. I was still operating pretty slowly, but it was better than anyone ever thought it would be.
I was using a wheelchair to get around because I couldn't quite gain control over my legs. They weren't sure if it was permanent or just a temporary thing.
I had forced Rachel to go home, take a shower, and eat some decent food. She still came to visit me every day for several hours at a time.
We hadn't put a label on anything, but we were constantly sharing "I love you's" and kissing as often as possible.
Mr. Schuester and Miss Pillsbury had been along to visit me; as well as Santana, Brittany, Kurt, and Mercedes.
Britt had given me a report she wrote on brain injuries. She told me that I had hurt my brain because I was thinking too much.
I was reading a magazine that Mercedes had brought me when Rachel walked in.
"Hey. You look really good today. Almost all the color has returned to your face," she said as she kissed my cheek.
"Thanks. I feel better; I'm not getting as many headaches."
"That's wonderful," she looked down shyly and said, "I missed you last night."
I beamed at her, "Yeah? I missed you too."
She smiled as she leaned forward. I met her halfway and kissed her.
She pulled away when I tried to pull her onto the bed. "This is a hospital Quinn! We can't just make out in here. It's disrespectful."
"Are you sure about that? Because you seem to enjoy it."
She gasped in mock irritation. "You are so rude to me. You know what? No more kisses for you." She huffed and turned her back on me.
"But how will I live without my special Rachel kisses? Do you want me to die again? I'm pretty sure I can go back into my coma. Oh no, I can see the light. It's coming. I…think….I'm…falling…asleep," I teased as I pretended to fall unconscious.
She slapped me playfully and said, "I hate you so much right now."
I opened one eye and stuck out my tongue. "I love you too." I grabbed her by the waist and tugged her onto the bed next to me.
"So, what do you want to do today?" she asked me.
"Can you push me around in the chair? I feel so cooped up in here, I really want to get out."
"Of course babe. Come on."
Her surprisingly strong arms wrapped around me as she lifted me from the bed onto the wheelchair.
"Thanks. What would I do without you?"
"Probably die," she teased. She wheeled my out into the hallway and towards the elevator.
"Haha very funny. Can we go outside into the courtyard? I need some fresh air."
"Sure, anything you want."
She pushed the button for the first floor. The elevator began its descent. I watched the numbers above the door light up as we passed each floor. Finally, we arrived at the first.
Rachel started to grab the handlebars on the chair, but I pushed her away and wheeled myself out of the elevator.
"I don't want you to do everything for me. I need to learn to do this anyways, in case it's permanent."
She sighed and looked down at me. "It won't be permanent. I'm sure of it. And it's really not that big of a deal, I don't mind pushing you. It's not like you're heavy."
We turned a corner and she held open the door leading to the outdoor courtyard.
"Would you be OK if this was permanent?"
"What do you mean?"
"Would you still want to be with me if I was in a wheelchair forever?" I whispered out.
We came to a stop next a bench and Rachel sat down.
"Oh Quinn. How could you think that you being in a wheelchair would have any effect on whether I would want to be with you? I almost lost you. In fact, I thought I had. I don't care if your legs never work again, I will always love you. No matter what."
I breathed out a sigh of relief. "I was so worried that you wouldn't. But, I do have something to ask you."
She grabbed my hand and laced out fingers together. "What is it?"
I swallowed nervously, "Well, I, uh….we say I love you to each other and we kiss, but we haven't exactly labeled this. So, I was wondering if you would be my girlfriend. I know you just called off an engagement and everything is going so fast, but I don't want to be without you. I just love you so much and-"
Rachel held up her free hand to cut me off.
"Of course I'll be your girlfriend Quinn. I've just been waiting for you to bring it up. I know we're moving kind of fast but I don't care. I love you, and that's what is important. I don't want to lose you again."
A smile lit up my face. I gently cupped her face and pulled it forwards. I kissed her with everything I had. When we pulled apart I was breathless.
Suddenly, an excruciating pain shot up my spine and into my brain. I fell forwards out of my chair and landed on the ground.
I was losing vision fast. My eyes searched frantically for Rachel but I couldn't see her. I could hear her screaming out my name. What was happening? The last thing I remember was Rachel begging me not to leave her. Then everything slipped away.