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“How long has it been since she said she was on the way?” Rachel asked Finn as she nervously paced the courthouse hall. He knew she had texted Quinn to tell her to hurry up, but hopefully he had been keeping track of time just as much.
“Almost 15 minutes,” Finn replied. He seemed a little less nervous than Rachel, but his tone had changed to one where he was trying to keep her calm rather than a more easy-breezy manner when he assured her that maybe Quinn was just stuck in traffic.
“She should have been here by now. Do you think maybe she doesn’t want us to get married? Like she didn’t come because she doesn’t approve? Is she jealous?” Rachel reminded herself that she was still a teenager and that even though she knew Quinn wanted to come to the wedding, sometimes people’s emotions just take over and they can’t handle what they thought they could.
“I really don’t think she’d say that to get out of showing up. Maybe she started not feeling well.” Finn frowned, unsure if he even believed those words.
“All right kids, try to relax,” Carole said. “These things happen. I know you said she had to get her bridesmaid’s dress, but maybe she had another errand to run that she forgot about until now. She could have even gotten her period and needed to change. Finn, sorry to say that, but sometimes these things happen to women when we don’t expect them.” Kurt briefly looked up from his phone, but otherwise seemed unfazed at a discussion of unexpected period emergencies.
“I don’t know, though. I think something’s wrong.” Rachel couldn’t stop pacing no matter how much she tried. “This isn’t like Quinn. Even if she were sick or had to go home or got stuck in traffic, why wouldn’t she mention that to me or Finn? She’s a terrible liar. She wouldn’t hide something like that anyway. We should just cancel if she can’t get here. Could this be the universe’s way of telling us this isn’t the right time to get married?”
“Or you’re just extra nervous now?” Finn suggested. He held her hand. “Look, we can take some extra pictures for Quinn if you’re worried about that. I’m sure she’ll understand that we had to get started. She’s coming out to dinner later anyway. We can catch her up then. At the end of the day, the vows only take a couple minutes; it’s the celebration that really matters. Do you think maybe you want to get back in there now? The rest of our wedding party and Sue and Mr. Shue are still waiting. We have everyone else we need.”
Rachel nodded and opened her mouth to start talking, but before any words could come out, Mr. Shue and Sue came out into the hall. She and Finn both looked at him, anticipating that he’d say the show needed to go on or that Sue would make an inappropriate joke about a runaway bridesmaid. But instead, he was holding his phone in his hand, and they both had grim expressions on their faces.
“I think you guys should cancel the wedding,” Mr. Shue said. “But not for the reason you might think. I just got a call from Judy. There’s been an accident, and all of us need to go to the hospital right away. Sue and I will tell the rest of the kids; you guys get going. We’ll see you at the hospital.”
Rachel gasped and started to cry. Finn immediately took her hand again, and without another word, they quickly started walking towards the courthouse exit. All that mattered now was getting to see Quinn.
In the hospital waiting room, everyone was trying to cope in their own way since Quinn could only have three visitors at a time and they all had to take turns going into the room. Santana observed how overdressed they all were, as if they got lost on the way to a wedding rather than ending up in the ER on what was to be the best day of Rachel and Finn’s lives. She didn’t want anyone else to look at the group and feel sorry for them that Quinn could be on the brink of death. Kurt felt the wedding would be that much better someday if Quinn survived and got the chance to see it, and this would just be a bump in the road. He was trying to lean into the meditation and spirituality concepts he’d been studying since Burt’s heart attack, although he didn’t consider himself religious. Shue reminded everyone to stay optimistic while visiting Quinn since right now, she needed to be stronger than ever to get through this.
Rachel didn’t say anything, though. She was still wearing her wedding dress, having only taken off her veil, and was sitting in a corner of the waiting room by herself. All she wanted was to go see Quinn, and she was starting to think her turn would never come. But at the same time, she didn’t know if she could ever prepare herself for something like this.
“What do you think it will be like when we go in?” she asked Finn. “Is it going to be like one of those TV shows, or similar to how sick Kurt’s dad was, where she’s lying there lifelessly with all these tubes and wires and we have to talk to her like she can hear us?”
“I think she’s conscious from what I overheard Shue say.” Finn explained. “So maybe not. But she is seriously injured. So I think we should be ready for anything. And I don’t think we should dwell on the wedding too much when we’re talking to her. She’s going to feel bad enough. Let’s not say anything like ‘we wish you could have made it’ or make her feel like this is her fault.”
“You’re right. Especially since we didn’t go through with the ceremony anyway. I just wish we had time to stop home and change so she didn’t have to see us in our wedding clothes. It’s going to feel awkward.”
“For sure.”
She figured he was running out of things to say. Quinn was important to Finn too, she remembered, and he was probably having a hard time processing some of his own feelings.
“Hey, you guys,” Kurt said, walking over to catch their attention. “We can go in now. You ready?”
“Yes.” Rachel stood up and smoothed out her dress. “I know I’d regret not going to visit. This is the best thing to do.” She followed Kurt and Finn down the hall, and when they arrived at Quinn's room, they saw her lying in bed in a neck brace and hooked up to some monitors and at least one IV. Judy was in a chair in the corner of the room, trying to stay awake, but smiled at everyone as they walked toward Quinn.
“You guys, don’t text while you’re driving,” Quinn said. “I told everyone that so far. Even Mr. Shue. You don’t want to end up like me. I’m going to be paralyzed from the waist down. At least temporarily. I may never cheer or dance again.”
“I’m really sorry.” Rachel replied.
“It could be worse. I could be dead. And I did pass out for a minute when that truck hit my car. I’m getting a second chance, but this is going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. Even worse than giving birth. I need glee more than ever, even if I won’t be able to dance.”
Rachel looked down at the floor, trying to think of what she could say, but then an idea popped into her head.
“When you’re ready, we’ll let you sit front and center,” she declared. “I’ll step back. And that’s OK with me.”
Finn smiled at her in pride.
“Are you guys still going to get married?” Quinn asked. “I didn’t get all dressed up for nothing. You can even do it here in the room if you want to ask the staff to find the chaplain on call. At least I’ll get to witness it.”
“No.” Finn replied without hesitation. “We talked about it on the way here, and Kurt agrees with us. The wedding is off until you make a full recovery. Which you will. If anyone can do this, it’s you.”
“Right now, I don’t feel so sure. But I’ll try to have faith. It means so much to me to have everyone taking turns coming in. And I think it gives Mom a break. She’s trying so hard to be positive, but I can tell she’s freaking out.”
“We’ll help her too,” Rachel said. “That’s what glee is all about. It’s like family.”
“Thank you all for coming in here.” Judy told them. “It means so much to Quinn that you two put the biggest day of your lives on hold to be here for her, and I’m seeing her spirits lift the more she talks to her friends and teachers. It’s too early to say what her long-term prognosis is, but we’re so relieved we can count on everyone.”
“I may have been running late, and then couldn’t come at all, but you guys came just at the right time.” Quinn added. “Thank you.”
Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. Now that she was finally by Quinn’s side, she didn’t want to leave. Once everyone else got a turn to visit, she decided she’d come back as quickly as possible.