I was freezing. Puffs of my warm breath were even clouding up my vision. I felt like I needed to walk back to my car to get my jacket, but my dad would be done with his chemotherapy in a little while and I didn't want to leave. I didn't want him to have to wait alone for me. So I shifted on the bench I was sitting on in the hospital's "Reflection Garden" and shoved my hands deeper into my dark blue suede coat pockets. That's when I saw Rachel running out one of the side doors.

Wait. Rachel? What on earth is Rachel doing here?

I was so curious that I stood up and called out her name. She didn't hear me, though. She just kept on running until she stopped in the center of the ridiculously large garden at the fountain. I half walked, half jogged over to her and saw tears streaming down her face.
I took a minute to really think this through. She's in the cancer ward of the hospital, just like me. I was here for my dad. Why was she here? Was it for herself? Whoever it was that she came here for, the news must be terrible. Should I go ahead and talk to her while she is this upset? Rachel really only let herself cry while singing emotional ballads, while acting, or when something was really hurting her. I walked closer to her and heard her sobs, saw her fall to her knees and fold her hands like she was praying. I decided then that I would talk to her.
I purposely took loud steps over to her, trying to alert her to the presence of someone else, and placed my hand on her shoulder.
"Rachel" I said softly.
She lifted her head and turned at the sound of her name.
"Kurt." she said and then broke down with a fresh set of tears. I kneeled down next to her and wrapped my arms around her. I just had to ask.
"Rach, what is it?"
And then she spoke the words that changed my life forever.
"It's Blaine."
Blaine. I hadn't heard his name spoken out loud in a while. He disappeared from school about two months prior to the day in the garden with Rachel. We all speculated to where he had gone. Sam thought he went back to Dalton. Finn said he thought Blaine was a super spy in a top secret mission. Santana thought he went to "old man's clothes" rehab, as she so eloquently worded it. Puck thought Blaine had been arrested. Rachel, being his step sister, offered no answers for all of us in our glee club, the New Directions. People talked about him for a few weeks, rumors circulated, but then people seemed to just lose interest.
Everyone, except me. I thought about him every single day. It was safe to say that I was madly in love with the boy. I couldn't help myself. He was perfect. His hazel eyes came to life every single time he sang. His voice was soothing and just masculine enough to drive me crazy. He was intelligent and funny and a really close friend of mine. I never told him how I felt though. I was just afraid of rejection, I guess. Only three people knew how I felt about him. Rachel was one of them.
But now Rachel is here. For Blaine. My mind was having trouble making this connection. I needed confirmation.
"Blaine?" I whispered.
"He's been here the whole time," she spoke softly through her tears. She stood up to sit on the edge of the fountain. I did the same. "He got sick. He came here. We thought he was getting better, you know? He had this surgery and everything and we thought things would be okay. But they aren't." She paused before continuing, "Gosh, it feels so good to say all this out loud to a friend. But you can't say anything! Oh my gosh, you have to promise me, Kurt."
I sat in utter shock. Blaine was sick? He's been here the whole time? I came two times a week with my dad. How had I never seen her or their dads here before? This is where Blaine had come when he disappeared. I've been so close to him the whole time. Maybe that's why I couldn't get him out of my head, especially while I was here for my dad, with nothing to do while I waited but to think about things. He's been so close this whole time. I just can't believe it. I want to see him now. Would he want to see me?
"Please." Rachel pleaded with me, bringing me back to reality.
"I won't say anything."
"You swear on your own dead body?" she urged.
"I swear it on Patti LuPone's." I replied, offering my pinky to her for a swear, which she returned with a sad smile.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" She then asked me.
"Waiting for my dad to finish his chemo." I answered. A look of recognition crossed her face. Everyone in glee club knew that my dad was fighting testicular cancer. I pulled my cell phone from my pocket then, to check the time. He would be coming out in a just a few minutes. I needed to get back to the waiting room now. I stood up. "I have to be going, actually. He'll be done soon and I have to drive him home"
"I'll go with you." She said, linking her arm in mine. "I don't want to be alone. You shouldn't be alone, either."
She was right. I hated being alone here. This place desperately scared me with all its sick people and antiseptic smell and humming machines and even its death. But I had to be here, and now, clearly, she did, too.
"Maybe if we're ever here at the same time again, we can hang out." I said as we walked through the side door she came running out from and moved quietly down the hall.
"I'd like that." She replied with a smile. We reached the elevator then and she pushed the button for the fourth floor. I wanted to ask her how Blaine really was, what kind of cancer he had, and if there was a way that I could see him. But it just didn't seem like the right time to ask.
We reached the fourth floor and the elevator doors slid open. We walked into the large waiting area where Rachel finally untangled her arm from mine and we took seats near the nurses station. The two nurses at the desk looked up briefly, but recognizing us both, went right back to work. We just sat in silence for a few minutes. Down one hall, we heard male voices arguing, but they were too far away to try to figure out what they were saying. In front of us, a tired looking mother sat holding a sleeping baby girl with a mop of dark hair. She gave me a sad little smile as our eyes met, which I kindly returned, and she went back to gently rocking her baby. At the nurses station next to us, a beeping began, signaling them that something needed checking in one of the rooms.
Holy beetle brooch, this place is so depressing.
Just then, my dad came around the corner, looking tired and a little green, escorted by a perky young nurse.
"You owe me a sponge bath, Shelly" he teased her in a hoarse voice. I blushed crimson and hid my face in my hands. Rachel just laughed and shook her head.
"Dad!" I mumbled into my hands.
My dad laughed as he took in my embarrassment and continued talking to the nurse, "Well, now, I have gone and embarrassed my boy, I think. Maybe another time, Shelly?" The nurse laughed and waved a good bye to us.
"Oh dear God. Bye Rach." I said as I got up to walk out with my dad, but he stopped me before I could lead him towards the elevator.
"Do I know you?" he spoke towards Rachel.
"I go to school with Kurt. I'm Rachel Berry." she replied, still smiling from the exchange she had just witnessed between him and his nurse.
"That's right. I do know you. You sing with him in the glee club. Did you just come to wait with him?" my dad asked her as he sat down in the chair I had just vacated. I kept standing, watching this conversation happen that I didn't seem to be any part of.
"Um," Rachel stammered, ""Um... Actually, my step brother is here getting treated."
"Really? What's he in for?" For maybe the second time in my whole life, I was glad my dad was so nosey. It felt wrong to ask, but I was so curious.
"Um.." Rachel glanced up at me before answering, "Osteosarcoma."
I had no idea what kind of cancer that was. But it looked like my dad knew, because he replied, "Really? Well, I'm sorry to hear that." He stood up then and took the arm I offered him. "I'm glad Kurt had a friend here to wait with today, Rachel. I really hope your brother gets better." and with that, he led me towards the elevator. I looked back over my shoulder to wave good bye to Rachel, but she had already gotten up and was heading down a hallway.