All noise in the room seemed to stop simultaneously, or maybe it was just the loud buzzing in her ears that drowned everything else out.

Everyone was staring at her, their comically shocked expressions would have been amusing, and if it weren't for the building pain in her abdomen, she probably would have laughed.

Rachel hadn't realized she had been slowly lifting her arm until her hand collided with… Her head snapped down, seeing, but not fully comprehending, the silver handle sticking out of her, a patch of red surrounded it and continuing to spread, a startling contrast against the white of her wedding dress.

Her fingers tightened around the handle, pulling it away from her person to reveal the cake knife -the metallic gleam of the blade unhindered by the coating of blood- the server had been holding.

Quinn, her wife of less than an hour, raised her arm quickly, pressing the knife back into Rachel's body. The surreal atmosphere that had invaded their party the moment that damn, clumsy server had tripped and plunged the knife into Rachel's abdomen burst like a bubble as excruciating pain invaded Rachel's every nerve, crippling her with the pain.

In her mind, it registered somewhere that the server was screaming his apologies as the people in her life moved around in a flurry of activity, whether the were actually doing something to help her, or just moving around because of the adrenaline rushing through their systems had yet to be determined.

She felt Quinn's arms wrapping around her waist and shoulders as the scene in front of her eyes changed from the mad rush of people, to the beautiful chandelier that adorned the ceiling, Rachel had fallen in love with it the moment they walked into the room -and she was positive Quinn felt the same- it was the reason they had chosen this specific room for their wedding reception.

"Rachel, c'mon Rachel, keep breathing," she could see Quinn out of the corner of her eye, but her voice seemed so far away, like that time they were at Tina's house, Rachel and Kurt were seeing who could hold their breath the longest underwater … which she still would have won, even if Blaine hadn't dived in and distracted Kurt. Quinn had been calling her name, worried as she had already been under for so long.

"Ambulance is on its way," A voice she couldn't place informed them.

"Hear that Baby, helps on the way," Rachel could feel Quinn's hands running up and down her arm in a comforting gesture, "just keep breathing for me."

Rachel shifted her head from the elegant chandelier to her wife's pain filled face, she cringed when her elbow knocked against the knife as she raised her hand to cup Quinn's cheek. There was a steady stream of tears falling from her eyes, moving her thumb Rachel rubbed them away, being careful so her thumb didn't catch on Quinn's eyeliner.

"hey," Rachel smiled softly.

Quinn snorted, "hey," her voice was shaky as a fresh wave of tears cascaded down her beautiful face, but she smiled, even if it was small, it still counted.

oh, now her eyes were watering, she was never able to stop herself when she saw Quinn cry, her beautiful, strong Quinn, her rock, while distance may have separated them for a while, Quinn had still be inadvertently helping her, just the thought of being able to see Quinn in a few days, or being able to secretly text her during class, where every single person was a copy of her, had made it all bearable.

She loved Quinn, Quinn was … Gone?

"Rach! Rachel, open your eyes please, love!" Quinn's frantic voice reached her ears, and she tried, she really tried, but as Quinn's hands tightened around her body, the pain that had been slowly intensifying increased dramatically, feeling like an exploding building compared to the small embers of pain from before, it consumed her.

As the noise around her faded again, Quinn's frantic words sounding further and further away, the feeling of Quinn's touch disappearing as Rachel's world became nothing.

All she was aware of… was pain.