The Running Back

Chapter 23

 "I can't watch," Rachel murmured as she covered her eyes. "Rachel."

"I can't watch," Rachel repeated, shaking her head. "Rachel."

"I can't," she insisted.

"Rachel, it's just practice." A light giggle escaped her lips and she shook her head. "They'll do fine baby," she assured. At the very least they looked good on the field. There would be no way to replace Rachel, especially not with the little time that they had. The Titans would just have to formulate a new plan of attack. By the looks of things Sam would likely get more playing time as he was a more mobile quarterback then Finn. Hopefully that would be enough. Quinn scooted closer to her girlfriend and planted a kiss upon the corner of her mouth. "Better?" she asked.

Rachel's smile widened. "A little bit," she answered, her eyes still fully covered by her hands. "Maybe if you..." She let her words hang and Quinn rolled her eyes.

"I still can't believe that Santana bought me that."

"It would look good on you," Rachel argued, peeking through her fingers just to see if Quinn was upset with her. She had been taking good care of Rachel but she had yet to try on the nurse outfit. Rachel wouldn't push the subject if Quinn flat out refused, but she hadn't. She was only a bit skeptical about the idea. She looked to be deep in thought, as though considering her options. But then she noticed that Rachel was peeking and so Rachel quickly covered her eyes again. "Please," she tried, jutting out her lower lip as she pouted.

After a moment she heard Quinn sigh. "All right... but on one condition." Rachel found herself nodding before she could even think about doing so. Quinn laughed a bit at that. "You have to stop worrying, okay? You got the team this far. I'm sure they'll give it their all to win that championship for you."

Rachel dropped her hands from in front of eyes. She looked over at Quinn, tilling her head to the side uncertainly. "You think?" she asked.

"I know." Quinn carefully wrapped an arm around her girlfriend and pulled her in close. She had Rachel rest her head upon her shoulder and then gently rested her own head atop Rachel's. Rachel took a hold of Quinn's hand and intertwined their fingers. They watched the team run one of their passing plays. It didn't work out too well and Rachel started to worry again. "Nurse outfit," Quinn quietly reminded. That was all that needed to be said.

Rachel would have preferred it if she were on the field but there was nothing that could be done about that. She had other things to think about anyway. Specifically, she had her girlfriend in a nurse outfit to think about. Quinn hadn't said anything about when she'd try it on, but she had promised. Normally, Rachel would never make such a request but since they had the outfit available she felt that it would be such a waste if they didn't put it to good use. And she did need some nursing anyway. The pain in her side bothered her occasionally and so Quinn was always so soft and gentle with her, like she was afraid that she might break.

And after what she had seen, Rachel couldn't blame her. At first she had actually been afraid that she had been broken in half. The pain had been so intense as it shot up her spine. She had been hit before; of course she had, but never that hard. And usually she'd be able to see the hit coming and be able to brace herself for it or even just run out of bounds. That hit though, she was barely even aware of what was happening. One second she was celebrating, the next she was in the air, and then she was on the ground.

Then Quinn was beside her and she was crying while trying to assure her that everything would be okay. And Rachel tried not to cry too. She didn't want to scare Quinn any further but the tears escaped her eyes anyway. The ambulance ride was probably the scariest part since she didn't have Quinn or any of her friends with her. As the memories flooded back into her mind Rachel nuzzled closer into her girlfriend. There had been a moment, if only just a moment, when Rachel had fully expected the worst. As though sensing her worry, Quinn planted a kiss upon the top of her head.