Shooting Stars

Chapter 1- Prologue

Victim. McKinley. Shooting.

A buzzing sound overcomes her senses as she momentarily tunes out what the other nurses are saying. Fear gripped her soul as she tried to regain the ability to breathe normally, this was her job; she was a professional. She had seen families being decimated by car accidents, parents taken away by cancer, friends contracting terminal diseases, children dying before they ever got a chance to truly enjoy life. But these are your kids; Finn's kids. She quickly shuts down the little voice that keeps nagging at the back of her mind and automatically goes into nurse-mode, these kids need help medically and emotionally, and she wasn't going to let any of them down or leave them alone.

Sixteen hours later and all ten students that had been injured during the shooting were stable and in their beds. Her double-night shift was coming to an end, and she couldn't wait to get back home to her husband. Only four out of the ten had actually been shot and hurt by the gunman, the rest had gotten injured during the commotion to hide. A shiver seizes her body as she wonders how many more students could have been hurt if Coach Beiste had not tackled the gunman after he was distracted by Will; the two were the heroes of the hour. But they didn't want any recognition, they just wanted their kids to be okay; and most of them were. Except they weren't. While only two had been hurt physically, she knew that the others would need countless hours of counselling to help them get over what they had witnessed in the choir room that day. They would have to get over their fear every time they heard a sharp noise, would have to forget seeing the pool of blood underneath their friends. It would take time before they truly felt safe in that school again. It was kind of ironic that the place they used to feel the safer in the entire school was now the only room that they deigned enter.

It would take her quite some time as well to forget seeing the two fragile teenagers, bleeding on the white stretchers, crying, afraid, and alone. They looked so young in that moment, their hair and skin contrasting sharply with the white of the room. Mr. Shue was trailing behind them solemnly and she could see that he was trying to be strong for the other kids that had followed to the hospital, he was the leader and he couldn't afford to be weak in front of any of them. She doesn't remember clearly what happens next, as if her body was moving on its own accord without her registering what was happening. She remembers stopping the bleeding; on the leg and in the stomach for the young girl, and in the stomach and on the shoulder for the young boy. They were shot twice each; that she remembers. She doesn't remember the reason or how it happened; nor does she really care. It isn't fair that the two young singers were shot simply because they were at the wrong place, at the wrong time, wearing the wrong thing. They would probably never be able to wear their white and red uniforms again, it would only remind them of the time it all been all red, of that time when they distracted a shooter to protect the youngest uniform-clad singer hiding at the back of the choir room.

The day has been draining both physically and emotionally, yet she knows that she has to see them one last time before going home to make sure they are alright and with their family. It's not because her kids left the house that she doesn't have a maternal instinct anymore. She grabs her bag and heads for the hospital room where the two teenagers are resting, both refusing to be separated from one another (having a full-blown panic attack when they couldn't see the other one). She silently hopes that their parents have not come to pick them up yet so she can see with her own eyes that they are alright. The scene she arrives at is the exact opposite of what she was expecting.

"I'm sorry both of you, but we simply cannot let you leave the hospital without an adult."

"My parents won't be back for another six months, you're not going to make me stay here until now are you?" asks the young boy with more bite than usual.

"Mine are gone on their honeymoon -again- I also don't know when they're coming back." Murmurs the young girl, much more quiet than her usual bubbly self.

"Well then we'll have to wait until a guardian or someone can take care of you, you're still just kids, we can't just let you leave all on your own-"

She can see right away that both teens are not listening anymore as they lean back in their respective beds dejectedly, they want to get out of here; forget about what has happened to them. She can understand their point of view, but with their injuries they wouldn't be able to take care of themselves.

"They'll come with me Jackie." She says before she can stop herself. She should really discuss this with her husband before taking the decision, but she knows he'll see eye-to-eye with her. Her words immediately startle the two teens who look to her with their big eyes, she can see unshed tears in them and a certain maturity that wasn't present before the accident.

They don't event think to argue with her, they know that when she sets her mind to something there is no turning back. Instead they thank her with a small smile and start moving out of their bed, they're both wearing some baggy sweatpants and sweater that seem quite familiar to her; they probably belong to Sam. She quickly fills out the paperwork and turns back to the two teens, the guy can walk – more like hobble- but the young girl has to be wheeled out of the hospital.

Well one thing was for sure, this was not how Carole Hudson-Hummel had imagined her day going when she started her shift that morning. Working in the hospital was always unpredictable, but never in her life did she think she'd live a day like today. A day where she helped patched up shot teenagers and leave the hospital with one Brittany S. Pears and one Blaine Anderson. Yup, not really how she had expected her shift to go.

After a quick call to Burt, to assure him that no student was too bad off and to tell him that she was bringing two home (which he immediately agreed to), she called Sam to ask him to go get clothes for the two injured, he knew his way around both house and would save her an awful amount of time.

"You can drive us home Miss Hummel, we'll be fine by ourselves. There's no need-"

"Now you stop that sentence right there Blaine Anderson. First of all, it's still Carol, no matter what happened between you and Kurt. That goes for you as well Brittany. Second, there is no way I am leaving you both in big empty houses to fend for yourself. You are staying at our house, I've already called Burt, and I will hear no complaining. Understood?"

"Yes, m'mam…." Came the mumbled answer from both teenagers in the back, there really was no arguing with the woman when she set her mind to something.

"Good. Now I heard from the nurses that you two have a problem about being separated so we'll set you up in Kurt's old bedroom; he's got the bigger bed."

"NO!" Blaine shouted. "I-I mean…. I c-can't… He wouldn't want…. I j-just can't…" he started mumbling shaking in the back seat until Brittany curled up next to him and started whispering some things to him.

Carol couldn't hear what was being said, but it seemed to have the desired effect. "It will be just fine Miss- I mean Carol- we'll stay there." Replied Brittany after a few seconds with a maturity that she had never displayed. "Just, please, don't tell Kurt about any of it. Or anyone in New York for that matter, it would probably be better that way."

She can only give short nod to the young girl; it was a promise she didn't think she could keep.