Grilled Cheesus
Tina looked up at the sound of the familiar squeak stopping behind her.
Not again. She couldn't keep explaining herself over and over, not now.
She took the few seconds it took to finish shoving her books in her bag and slam her locker shut, before she turned to face him.
Artie cleared his throat, "We need to talk-"
"I told you-"
"About Kurt." Artie interjected quickly.
Surprised and bit embarrassed at where her thoughts leapt, Tina leaned against the locker meeting his eyes as she regained her composure. "What about Kurt?"
"He's not returning Mercedes's texts. She thinks he's mad about the impromptu spiritual conversation we had."
"I don't see why," Tina retorted, "I can't believe he never said he doesn't believe in God!"
"A lot people don't have much reason to."
Sometimes when he said things like this, she was sure he was intentionally or not gulting her about the chair, but this however this rang true.
He didn't say a word in the choir room, but she saw his expression. For a moment she didn't doubt Artie lacked as much faith as Kurt did.
"Oaky then," she said trying to ignore the elephant in the room, "what should we do about it."
"Operation Kurt," Artie proposed and Tina felt her eyebrows rise. "I'm serious. Mercedes gave me the idea. His dad's in the hospital, no one at his house he could crash at one of our places."
"What about Finn, their parents are still dating."
Artie shook his head. "Dead end. They had a blow up in the spring, so it's bit weird. And Kurt's weird about -"
"Wait, blow up?" Tina asked, "Kurt never said anything about blowup with Finn!"
Artie blanched and Tina made the next logical leap, "Finn told you, Kurt never said a word to any of us! What was it about?"
Artie looked away, where the Karoafsky shuffled passed them parting the crowd of scared freshman, with a few slurs tossed their way. Tina muttered, "That."
He nodded.
"Why didn't he tell us? He keeps talking Lady Gaga and how I'm ruined my hair by dyeing it."
"We haven't all talked since the summer."
The elephant in the room tooted its horn a bit, but Tina ignored it, since he looked kinda embarrassed, tugging at the collar of shirt.
"Anyway, we should go up him and insist that he stays at one of our houses."
Tina sighed, knowing there was no easy way out of this, and it was better than attempting to make a casserole to give to Kurt.
It was also the perfect excuse for them to stop pretending the other didn't exist in the choir room, fearful of when Schue would finally assign them a duet other the hundred of chances they could have, and should have happened the previous year.
"Sure why not?"
Artie was waiting for his ride, when his phone buzzed loudly.
He barely managed to see the number before he saw Tina running out of the parking lot.
He stared wondering if she was going to trip over her heels, when she came to halt in front of him. "Good, I thought you already left jazz band practice."
"It ran a little late…" he watched as she shoved her phone back into her purse. " What's up?"
"Operation Kurt is in crisis. Mercedes and Quinn, oh and Rachel," she added an afterthought, "staged a prayer circle and Kurt kicked them all out, even Mrs. Hudson. Mercedes worried about him, but she think he might have banned them from coming to his dad's room."
"Or he might not leave, unless someone forces him."
Tina nods.
Artie tapped the wheels of his chair deep in thought. He hadn't willingly gone to a hospital in ages, and he avoided Lima Memorial like a plague after the length of time he took up residency there. But knowing Kurt was likely to stay there overnight wasn't something he could forget about.
The day after Kurt had come to his house for dinner, Artie had found his mother praying over the rosary beads he had thought she had thrown away.
He couldn't go home knowing his mother was relieving the accident, nor could he leave Kurt to hang dry and his other friends panic.
But if Kurt really did but the hospital on alert of visitors, how could they get in?
He stopped tapping the wheels as a slight smile crossed his face.
"I know that look, what are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking we can sneak in right under their noses."
The nurse looked up she heard the yells and sounds of stampede ahead up her.
Dropping the chart onto the counter she stared at the sight of a pair of kids, joyriding with one of the wheelchairs down the hallway. The girl ran pushing the boy with wild abandon, only to stop when the nurse blocked their path.
"Aren't you a bit too old for this?" she inquired looking down at them.
The Asian girl, panting out of breath gestured to her partner in crime, "we have to get to-"
"This is hospital property," the nurse said scowling at the boy, "get out the chair and stop fooling around with. People actually need to use them."
"I can't walk." The boy said.
"Sure, sure," the nurse grumbled the stress from the long shift making her temper short, "You look perfectly fine to me, I don't have time for this get out the-" she stopped as she glanced at the pinstriped socks resting on the foot rest. His legs were positioned unnaturally that would have been uncomfortable otherwise. Bells of alarm began to ring in her head, and her face flushed with embarrassment. "You really are-"
A crash rang from behind her and the file she reading off fell on the ground, and she grabbed the papers, she turned around to see the kids had disappeared.
Sighing, she wasn't sure if it was good thing she was relieved.
Tina was still giggling as they left the elevator entering.
"I can't believe we've did that. I thought I was going to trip in your shoes," she said as the skillfully pushed the hospital wheelchair, "I can't believe you even thought about that, have you done it before?"
When he didn't answer, she looked down, to see Artie had clenched his hands into fists on his laps.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." He took control of the chair propelling himself forward, "Mercedes said it was this room right?"
Tina nodded, following him to door glancing through the glass window.
Kurt sat in a chair his face buried in his hands, the monitors attached to his father beeping softly and unchanged.
They entered unnoticed into the room, Kurt not looking up until Artie came to a halt next to him.
"What," Kurt said his voice a shadow of his usual snark as he glanced from Tina to Artie, "what do you want? Come to pray over him as well?"
Tina jostled from foot to foot in Artie's shoes, as she glanced over at Mr. Hummel. Mercedes had mentioned in her text about acupuncture, though she didn't know much about it, Tina couldn't help but think bringing it up as being as faith based as religion would be a silly to do at the moment.
"We're worried about you," Tina said instead, "you can't stay overnight."
Kurt sniffed ignoring her.
"But it's very easy to stay overnight," Artie said quietly, "they really aren't that great about kicking people out."
The confrontative look in Kurt's face fades a tad.
Artie wheels forward a bit. "My mom used to talk to me when she stayed overnight. She sang sometimes too." He paused, "when I woke up, she was holding my hand."
Kurt grunted, and nodded along.
The two boys sat there in mutual silence that made Tina more nervous than her initial fear Kurt was going to kick them out a moment earlier.
She sat down in a chair, and the three of them sat in complete silence in the room. Eventually she left to make texts and calls to alert Mercedes Operation Kurt was still a go, to tell her parents that she won't be home in time for dinner and no, she wasn't hanging out with Mike.
When the visiting hours were over, they retrieved Artie's chair, Tina put her heels back on, and the three of them pilled in her car and they headed home, the boys talking about Beatles songs on the way back.
"Guys, I need a favor."
Mercedes looked beseechingly at Tina and Artie stopping them from leaving the choir room.
"Come to my church on Sunday."
"Why?" Artie said even as Tina kicked his chair slightly.
"It's all part of Operation Kurt."
Mercedes lips twitched slightly, "I can't believe you guys insisted on calling it that."
"Isn't that what is it?" Artie said, "a mission to keep Kurt grounded." He winced at his words, "so to speak."
"How did you convince him to go?" Tina asked.
"A fabulous hat, what else" Mercedes admitted, "but I'm afraid he'll bolt if I don't have backup. SO" she begged, "please?"
"You think going to your church will help?" Artie asked, "he's seemed against it."
"I just feel a bit helpless," Mercedes admitted taking a seat in an empty chair, "when stuff like this happens, my family always turned to prayer to help get us through. I feel I screwed up since he keeps rejecting me."
"Just –"
Tina glanced at Artie shutting him up before word vomit could come out.
Tina sat down next to her friend, "He's not rejecting you, just the prayers. He's still upset with me, but he rather stay at my house than Artie's, something about the couches resembling sweater vests."
Mercedes smiles a bit. "I just don't think he's believes in anything anymore, not just religion, but other things too."
"Why don't you tell him that?" Tina suggested, she looked at Artie who nodded, "we all can all tell him that."
"I feel like I'm in the Wizard of Oz." Kurt remarked as they entered Mercedes's church the following Sunday. "Bring on the fiery head bemoaning my doom."
Tina nudged him in the ribs with her elbow, as they make their way seats Mercedes had saved for them. "Don't tell me you're Dorothy in this scenario."
"You're the lion, because your growl than anything" Kurt said adjusting his hat, gesturing at Artie and his checkered suit jacket "Artie's the scarecrow because he hasn't gotten any sense." Artie ignored him as usual, "but Dorothy is Mercedes. Tin man's more suitable for me anyway."
"But you have heart," Tina protested, "you care about people."
He laughed hollowly, "You know what my last conversation with my dad was? I told him I didn't care about our dinners. I didn't care about what it meant to him, and I now I probably won't have the chance too."
"That doesn't mean you're heartless, Kurt." Tina looked over to Artie who sat to her in the open aisle. She nodded her head at him towards to Kurt.
"She's right," Artie said, "just because you've been pushing away your friends doesn't make you a bad person."
Tina glared at Artie.
He gulped and held out up his hand making the Vulcan salute. "Live long and prosper."
Kurt chuckled a bit, and Tina tried not to roll her eyes.
Boys.
The conversation was cut off as Mercedes was introduced by her pastor.
Smiling down at them, Mercedes focused her eyes on Kurt, so that even while she was addressing her church as a whole she really was talking to Kurt.
"I know you're going through hard time, and I know you don't believe in prayer. And that's okay,"
Tina glanced over Kurt, who staring at Mercedes, his fingers clenched over his crossed legs. She reached over and placed a hand on the crock of his elbow, and he jumped a bit before he turned to see her.
Tina smiled and saw Kurt looked beyond her where Artie sat on the other side her.
"….but you got believe in something Kurt, something bigger than yourself, something you can hold sacred. Anyway, this song's for you…"
After they left they finished performing "One of Us", Tina hung back telling Mike she'll catch up with him later.
She cornered Artie at the back of the stage as he texted his dad to come get him.
"Are you like Kurt?" she asked abruptly.
He glanced up, playful smirk crossing his face. "I'm pretty sure we determined I'm not."
Tina ignored the flash of irritation at his words, knowing it wasn't word vomit as much as trying to deflect her question. "You know what I mean. Do you believe in God, or don't you?"
Artie tucked his phone away, taking his time. "You waited after all time this to ask?"
"What can I say," Tina admitted, reminded of another time she hung afterwards in the auditorium to ask him equally personal question, "I'm curious."
He nodded acknowledging the question, "Agnostic," he said finally unlocking his wheels, "at least now anyway."Artie smiled faintly at her before he wheeled away, "we all got to have something to believe in."