Hey everyone! Thanks for all your reviews on the last chapter. I know that there was a long gap between these two episode on the show, and since it was a seven-week hiatus, I'm just going to guess that it was seven weeks in gleeverse. Plus, Quinn would need time to recover and show up at school. Hope you enjoy this chapter and review if I should keep going!

Chapter 62: Big Brother

The members of the glee club sat in the waiting room at the hospital, waiting on news about Quinn. Everyone was still in their clothes for the wedding, which was going to be postponed to an undetermined date. Rachel couldn't really think about the wedding right now. She was just feeling guilty that one of her friends had been in a car accident on the way to her wedding.

A doctor came into the waiting room. "You're all here for Quinn Fabray?"

"Yeah," Mr. Schue said. "We're friends of hers."

"Well, the good news is that she's alive, but that's the only good news you're going to get," the doctor said. "Her car was hit by a truck, and we determined that she was texting and didn't see the truck coming. She's unconscious, but she still has a pulse, and has multiple broken bones."

Rachel gasped. Texting. What if Quinn had been replying to one of her texts?

"Can we see her?" Puck asked.

"Not yet," the doctor said. "She's going to be in the hospital for a while, so you'll have opportunities to see her."

"But do we know if she'll make it?" Mercedes asked, asking the question everyone was wondering.

The doctor paused. "We don't know."

"Thank you," Mr. Schue told the doctor. "Keep us updated, okay?"

"I will," the doctor said, leaving the room. The group all stayed in their seats. No one wanted to leave yet.

"This is my fault," Rachel mumbled to Finn.

"No it's not," Finn said. "You weren't driving that truck."

"Yeah, but it was probably one of my texts," Rachel said. "I was texting her to ask her where she was and..."

Finn pulled Rachel in for a hug. Rachel couldn't stand to face anyone else. What if the other glee club members blamed her?

Rachel's dads came over. "It's getting late, and no one's eaten. Would you guys like some of the food we prepared for the wedding?" LeRoy said.

"Yes, thank you," Rachel said, taking a sandwich.

"How are you doing?" Hiram asked.

"I feel horrible," Rachel said. "I just know it was one of my texts..."

"You don't know for sure," Finn said.

"I just have that feeling," Rachel said.

"This isn't your fault, honey," LeRoy said. "Would you like your dad and me to give the food to the other people?"

"I can't face them," Rachel said.

"Why not?" Hiram asked.

"What if they're mad at me?" Rachel wondered.

"They won't be," Finn said.

"Try not to blame this on yourself," Hiram told Rachel.

The night went on and there was still no news on Quinn. Even though it was getting late, no one wanted to go home quite yet. Rachel was tired, but she didn't want to sleep until there was news. Several other glee club members had laid across the couches and chairs in the waiting room to sleep, and Finn had his head on Rachel's lap to sleep. Then the doctor came in, and Rachel found herself getting nervous.

"Hi," the doctor said. "For those of you who are awake, we are putting Quinn in surgery."

"What kind of surgery?" Santana asked.

"Well, this is a pretty intense surgery, and she's going to have to be in the hospital for a few weeks afterwards," the doctor said. "But we do think she'll make it."

"That's good," Brittany said. "When can we see her?"

"If you guys come over sometime tomorrow, she might be up for visitors," the doctor said. "But she can't have visitors shortly after her surgery. If you come by tomorrow, she might be able to have visitors. But you guys look exhausted. You should go home and get some rest."

Rachel sighed. "Okay." At least she knew now that Quinn would make it. She woke up Finn and updated him on Quinn's condition before driving home.

x

Quinn's surgery had gone well, according to the doctors, and after a few days, Finn and Rachel went together to visit her in the hospital. Rachel had to admit that she was a little nervous. What if Quinn was mad at her?

"I'm nervous," Finn admitted as they walked through the hospital hall.

"Me too," Rachel said.

"What if she's mad at us?" Finn asked.

"Why would she be mad at you?" Rachel asked. "You're not the one who was texting her..."

"It was our wedding," Finn admitted. When they arrived at Quinn's hospital room, they knocked on the door and the nurse let them in. Quinn was under a blanket, but from what they saw of her face and arms, she was covered with bruises and cuts.

"Hey," Rachel said softly, walking to Quinn's bedside and putting the flowers they'd gotten on her bedside table.

"Hey," Quinn said. "So, are you guys a married couple now?"

"Not yet," Rachel said. "We wanted the whole wedding party there."

"That's sweet," Quinn said. "So when's it going to be?"

Neither Rachel nor Finn had thought much about the wedding over the past few days. "We'll figure something out."

"Good," Quinn said.

"So, how are you feeling?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I can't feel much because of my spine injury," Quinn admitted.

Rachel felt sick. This was because of her. "What?"

"Yeah," Quinn continued. "Maybe it's for the better that I was unconscious for the first few hours."

Rachel didn't know what to say now. She just took Finn's hand. "So, when are you going to get out of the hospital?" Finn asked.

"Not for another few weeks," Quinn admitted. "I have a few more surgeries."

Rachel felt even worse now. Surgeries? Plural? More than one?

"Well, we're starting to get ready for Nationals," Finn said, clearly trying to make the conversation more upbeat. "We're doing Paradise By The Dashboard Light as the big group number."

Rachel tried to smile. "Yeah, Finn's going to be the main singer on it, and I'm the secondary singer."

"Of course," Quinn said. "You two are our best singers."

"I hope you can perform with us at Nationals," Finn added.

"I will," Quinn said.

Finn and Rachel spent the next hour visiting with Quinn, and when they left, Rachel turned to Finn. "That was tough."

"She's going to get better," Finn said.

"I'm just glad she isn't mad at us," Rachel said.

"Of course she isn't," Finn said.

x

A few weeks went by, and Quinn still wasn't back at school. It had been nearly seven weeks since the accident. Finn and Rachel had gone to visit Quinn in the hospital a few more times, and then at her house when she went back home. As they walked through the hall, a question came to Rachel's mind. "So do you think if Quinn hadn't gotten into her accident, we still would've gone through with the wedding?" she asked Finn.

"Yeah, totally," Finn said. "I mean, I'm kind of glad we're waiting. Now it doesn't have to be a Justice of the Peace quickie. Hey, I was thinking since Nationals are in Chicago this year, we should have the wedding someplace special. Like-like on the pitcher's mound of Wrigley Field..."

Rachel's thoughts were now returning to the reason why the wedding hadn't happened on the day they'd planned it. "It's not that, it's Quinn. I can't stop thinking about her. She's..."

"Right behind you," Finn pointed out.

Rachel turned and saw Quinn in a wheelchair, wheeling up to them with Artie by her side. If Quinn was back at school, that was something. "Hi, Quinn! We missed you so much," Rachel said.

"No, don't," Quinn interrupted. "I could have easily become one of those creepy memorial pages in the yearbook, but by the grace of God, I'm here. Believe it or not... this is the happiest day of my life. Come on, Artie. I'll race you to the choir room."

Quinn and Artie went to the choir room and Finn and Rachel went to sit there. Quinn and Artie opened the glee practice with a number the two of them had put together, and then Quinn spoke. "Here's a lesson for your board, Mr. Schue. Don't text and drive. Ever. It's the stupidest thing I've ever done. Besides sleeping with Puck. There's a lot of rumors floating around, so let's clear the air. First of all, all my plumbing still works, which is awesome. But my spine was severely compressed in the car accident, which basically means I can't move my feet or legs. But the good thing is that I'm starting to regain feeling, so with a lot of physical therapy, and your prayers, I stand a good chance for a full recovery. So no tears. That means you, Tina. Oh, and I apologize for the number. My dance moves aren't as smooth as Artie's yet."

"With practice, they will be," Artie encouraged.

"I promise that by the time we go to Nationals, I'll be out of this chair, and dancing on that stage," Quinn told the group.

Rachel just hoped that would happen.

x

The glee club had gathered in the library to decide what to do for senior ditch day, but Finn couldn't help but notice how upset Rachel looked. "Quinn, I'm so sorry," Rachel said. "It was my wedding that you were going to when you got into your car crash, and... you were answering my text message, and now... we're all sitting here, and we're talking about this day that's supposed to be the most amazing and unforgettable day of our high school lives, and we're completely ignoring the fact that she's sitting in that chair? It's not right. It's not right, and it shouldn't be like this."

"Well, maybe not, but this is the way it is," Quinn said. "My accident, which you did not cause, by the way, does not define me or ruin our senior year. I meant what I said in the choir room. I'm not gonna dwell on this, and neither should any of you, okay? Come here." She motioned for Rachel, who went over to Quinn. Quinn gave Rachel a hug and then turned to the group. "Now, we are ditching as planned. I think we should go to Six Flags."

Everyone seemed to like that idea. "The Lady Fabray has chosen wisely. Six Flags it is. Meeting adjourned," Puck said. As everyone else started to leave, Puck looked at Finn. "Hey, Finn, can you hang back for a sec?"

"Sure, what's up?" Finn said.

"The Apple guy. The Facebook guy. Abraham Lincoln. What do these guys all have in common with us?" Puck asked.

Finn didn't know. "I don't know. They were all in a show choir?"

"None of 'em were taken seriously in high school, dude," Puck said. "They were written off by the world until they got the big idea. Then bingo! The rest is history."

"Okay. So what's your big idea?" Finn asked.

"Lima's only got 22 pools," Puck said. "Southern California has 800 freaking thousand! I Googled it. So after graduation, I'm gonna move to L.A. and expand my pool cleaning business. And I want you to be my business partner. With your brains and my jaw line, I'm telling you, we'd kill it."

Cleaning pools? That didn't sound like Finn's type of thing. "Wow, dude, I'm so honored that you'd even consider me. But you know, after we graduate, I'm going to New York with Rachel."

"Okay. Let's say you weren't, just 'cause maybe she doesn't get into that fancy school or you don't get married right away," Puck said.

Finn knew Rachel would get in. "We are. It's gonna happen."

"Okay. But, hey, could you do me a favor? Um, you know that blonde on Sycamore Street that likes to mow her lawn in tube tops?" Puck asked.

"Yeah, Mrs. Tennison," Finn said.

"Yeah. Well, her Jacuzzi's busted. So, I thought since you know so much about motors, you could take a look at it. Help me out," Puck suggested.

"All right, I could probably do that," Finn said.

"Okay, let's go," Puck said. He led Finn to his car where they drove to the Tennisons' house. Puck went inside with Mrs. Tennison while Finn worked to fix up the jacuzzi. Finn had to admit, this wasn't his idea of a good career. Then Mrs. Tennison and Puck came outside.

"Just a busted control panel, Mrs. Tennison. Nothing too serious," Finn said.

Mrs. Tennison handed cocktails to Finn and Puck. "You're a lifesaver. Noah told me you're going into business together."

"No, I said we were thinking about it," Puck said.

"Well, I think it's a great idea," Mrs. Tennison said. "And if you need any investors, I'd love to be a silent partner. Or a noisy one."

Was this woman old enough to be Finn's mother hitting on him? Finn turned to Puck as Mrs. Tennison left. "In California, she's considered ugly," Puck said.

"Dude, I'm not going to L.A. Okay, end of discussion," Finn told Puck.

"Let me just say this, and I'll shut up forever," Puck insisted. "If getting hitched is a team effort, why are you the one that's always giving up everything? Maybe it's time for Rachel to start thinking about you for a change. It's not like you're asking her to sacrifice her career. You heard Blaine's famous brother. L.A. is where it's at. Rachel could probably get on TV, play the quirky next-door girl or whatever. And you could try acting, too. Or go to college. This could be your day job. You spend so much time thinking only about her. Take a couple seconds and think about yourself."

This may not be Finn's ideal career, but at least it would be money. And Puck had a point. Rachel could be in movies or on TV in LA. And there were plenty of colleges out there. There could be one that he and Rachel both liked in LA.

x

"Finn, are you sure you want to go on that ride?" Rachel asked. Finn and Rachel were in line at Six Flags, waiting to go on a big roller coaster. The glee club had arrived shortly after Six Flags opened for the day to avoid lines, and Finn had wanted to go on this one.

"Yeah, of course I'm sure!" Finn said.

"It looks big and scary," Rachel admitted.

"Hey, you're going to be fine," Finn said. "You can just hold my hand and I'll be right there."

"Promise?" Rachel asked.

"Promise," Finn said. He tried to think of something to do for Rachel. "I'll even win you a stuffed animal from one of those games after we go on the ride!"

Rachel's eyes lit up. "You will?"

"Yeah!" Finn said, giving Rachel a kiss.

"Thank you!" Rachel said, giving Finn a hug.

Finn and Rachel got on the ride. The ride was fast and made some sharp turns, and Finn had to admit that it was fun. When the ride reached a high point, he pointed out to Rachel that he could see the tire shop, and Rachel laughed. He felt better knowing that she was enjoying the ride more than she thought she would. At the end of the ride, he turned to Rachel. "Ready for me to go win you a stuffed animal?"

Rachel gave Finn a big hug. "Yes!"

x

A few days later, Rachel got her letter saying that in a few weeks, there would be a NYADA representative coming to McKinley to see her and Kurt audition. "So the NYADA scout is gonna be here soon. I'm pretty sure I'm ready for it," Rachel told Finn at his locker.

"Have you ever thought about what I'm gonna do in New York?" Finn asked.

Finn hadn't really told Rachel what he wanted to do. "Well, one thing I know is for certain is, we'll figure it out together."

"Well, that's really nice, but I feel like I need to start thinking seriously about what's next for me. You ever thought about California?" Finn asked. "I just, I feel like there's, there's so many more opportunities for me there. And Puck, he's got this really great pool-cleaning business opportunity. And you could audition for your actor jobs and you wouldn't even have to worry about money, because I'd be able to support you you know, as... as your husband and..."

Rachel thought Finn was better than cleaning pools. "Finn, what are you doing?"

"Well, I'm thinking about my future," Finn said.

"I thought it was our future," Rachel said.

"Of course," Finn said. "Of course, it is our future, but it feels like the conversation's been a little one-sided lately. Even Blaine's brother said you know, Hollywood is where you want to go if you want to be famous as an actress."

Rachel had never been interested in Hollywood. "I'm not a Hollywood actress, okay? In New York, New York is about the work that you do and not the work that you've had done. There's no other option here for me, okay? I am Broadway bound."

"Right, but if I'm going to be your husband, shouldn't I have something to say about it, too?" Finn asked.

Rachel couldn't help but focus on that one word. "If?"

"Just seems like you don't care about my dreams," Finn pointed out.

Of course Rachel did! "I care. Of course I care."

"Right, of course you care as long as they don't interfere with yours," Finn said.

Finn WAS Rachel's dream. "Look, I need to be in New York, and I need you with me. I can't do this without you."

"I just want you to be really sure," Finn said. "I just want you to be really sure that you're in love with me and not who you want me to be."

As Finn walked away, Rachel's heart sank. Finn thought she didn't love him? Of course she did. Her heart broke to think he didn't.

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