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It had been a month since Quinn's accident and there was still no sign of her waking up anytime soon. The young blonde lay motionless and unconscious on a hospital bed, her chest rising and falling slowly as she breathed. Occasionally, her eyes would move beneath her eyelids - which were too heavy to open. It was like she was in a really good dream - from which no one could wake her.
Rachel sat on an uncomfortable plastic chair in Quinn's hospital room. She hadn't left Quinn's side since Quinn got out of surgery. Her dads tried to get her to come home and rest but Rachel refused, arguing that Quinn would need her when she woke up, but she knew if Quinn was awake she'd tell her to get her ass home and shower because she smelled.
All of the other glee members had visited Quinn, even Santana. They wanted to know she was okay just as much as Rachel did.
Quinn's older sister, Frannie, and her husband, who Rachel couldn't remember the name of at the time, even flew home from California just to check up on her little sister.
Grace, Quinn's cousin, was always by Quinn's bedside when she wasn't working or at school or looking after her little brothers and sister because their grandmother had spontaneously decided to go to the Bingo. She occasionally brought her younger sister, Maya, her younger brothers, the twins Oliver and Oscar, and baby Noah, who was too young to understand what was going on, to visit Quinn.
Even Quinn's uncaring grandmother made an occasional appearance in Quinn's hospital room, even though she didn't care much about Quinn.
All of the teachers from McKinley High got their classes to sign "get well soon" cards and Mr Schuester brought them to the hospital when he visited. Miss Pillsberry and Miss Sylvester visited Quinn on the weekends.
Everyone hoped that Quinn would wake up soon - even a tiny part of Quinn's grandmother hoped she'd wake up. They hoped she'd be okay, but no one hoped as much as Rachel and Quinn's family.
Rachel felt slightly responsible for Quinn's accident, it was her house that Quinn was driving to and Rachel was texting Quinn while she was driving.
Rachel felt guilty, it was undeniable. All she wanted was for Quinn to wake up and tell her to stop thinking so hard and to stop blaming herself for the accident - it wasn't her fault. She needed to know Quinn was okay. She needed to know Quinn was going to get through this.
Rachel looked at Quinn. Quinn's pale body looked almost white, it was almost like she blended into the sheets on which she was lying. Rachel took Quinn's hand in her's and squeezed it, hoping to gain some sort of response from the unconscious girl.
Quinn had a permanent scar on her forehead and a fading black eye. The doctors had told Quinn's family that Quinn had a spinal injury and may never walk again, her left arm was also crushed in the accident, her bone broken in three different places. The doctors had managed to fix the broken bone but Quinn would have a metal rod in her arm for the rest of her life and she'd have to go the physical therapy for a few weeks to make sure her arm was okay. Quinn had to have her side stitched up because it had been cut open by something and a large, deep gash was left.
The news of Quinn never being able to walk again made Rachel very upset and it made her feel even more guilty than she already did, she didn't want to see Quinn have long term injuries from the accident.
When Rachel didn't get a response from Quinn, she sighed. She leaned over in her seat and moved a strand of Quinn's blonde hair out of her face. She smiled lovingly at Quinn, remembering Quinn's favourite song. She had the idea of singing it to Quinn to try and wake her up.
Rachel took a deep breath and began: "You're not alone Together we stand I'll be by your side You know I'll take your hand When it gets cold And it feels like the end There's no place to go You know I won't give in No I won't give in Keep holdin' on 'Cause you know we'll make it through We'll make it through Just, stay strong 'Cause you know I'm here for you I'm here for you There's nothing you can say Nothing you can do There's no other way when it comes to the truth So, keep holding on 'Cause you know we'll make it through We'll make it through So far away I wish you were here Before it's too late This could all disappear Before the doors close And it comes to an end With you by my side I will fight and defend I'll fight and defend, Yeah yeah Keep holdin' on 'Cause you know we'll make it through We'll make it through Just, stay strong 'Cause you know I'm here for you I'm here for you There's nothing you can say Nothing you can do There's no other way when it comes to the truth So, keep holding on 'Cause you know we'll make it through We'll make it through Hear me when I say When I say I believe Nothing's gonna change Nothing's gonna change destiny Whatever's meant to be Will work out perfectly Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.. La da da da, la da da da da La da da da da da da da da Keep holdin' on 'Cause you know we'll make it through We'll make it through Just stay strong 'Cause you know I'm here for you I'm here for you There's nothing you can say Nothing you can do There's no other way when it comes to the truth So, keep holding on 'Cause you know we'll make it through We'll make it through Ahh, ahh Ahh, ahh Keep holdin' on Ahh, ahh Ahh, ahh Keep holdin' on There's nothing you could say Nothing you could do There's no other way when it comes to the truth So, keep holding on 'Cause you know we'll make it through We'll make it through." Rachel finished the song, holding Quinn's hand tightly, tears were streaming down her face. Rachel got no response from Quinn after the song. Could Quinn even hear her? Was Quinn even trying to come back to her? Or had she retreated so far beneath her the shell of her body that she couldn't hear anything?
Rachel sighed. "Keep holding on, Quinn." She whispered. "Never let go, please." She swallowed thickly, squeezing Quinn's hand as she watched Quinn, waiting to see if she'd respond. "Come back to me, Quinn, don't leave this world, you've got so much more to give."
After a few minutes of deafening silence Quinn's index finger moved weakly against Rachel's hand. Quinn's index finger tapped the palm of Rachel's hand softly. Rachel almost missed the movement because it was so soft.
A smile grew on Rachel's face. "Quinn?" She said softly. "If you can hear me, squeeze my hand." She squeezed Quinn's hand gently and in return felt the blonde squeeze her's back.
A quiet groan left Quinn's mouth and she opened her eyes slowly. "Rachel?" She breathed. Her voice was croaky and raspy from lack of use. Quinn swallowed, her mouth felt dry. She felt weak and tired, like she had just been hit by a bus.
"Oh my god!" Rachel gasped. She stood up and threw her arms around Quinn. "I'm so glad you're okay." Quinn's familiar aroma - vanilla with a dash of honey and lemon mixed with that all too familiar hospital smell - drifted up Rachel's nose. Rachel sighed in relief.
Quinn weakly wrapped her arms around Rachel, closing her eyes and holding back a groan of pain.
Rachel pulled out of the hug after a few minutes and kissed Quinn's forehead. Quinn's eyes fluttered open and she smiled weakly. The two girls just stared at each other lovingly.
