Hospitals have never been comforting. Listening to the cries of patients and other families only makes others more upset. Which is exactly what was happening to me.

The chairs were highly uncomfortable as I awaited any news. Any at all. Getting a phone call like that at two in the morning was awful. They had only spoken a few weeks ago. Closer to a month really. Maybe two. My sudden lack of knowledge at the last time we actually spoke frightened me.

If only my parents were here too; I wouldn't feel so alone in this big place. I felt so small, like the chair was consuming me from the outside and I was becoming one with the chair. Every agonizing minute only made that feeling stronger.

"Anderson?" I jumped up and quickly made my way over to the man calling my name. He was definitely in his fifties or sixties, judging by hair loss and the grey in his hair. He wore rectangular glasses that didn't compliment his face quite right. It was almost like he was trying to make himself look younger. If that was the case, it truly wasn't helping his cause.

My wandering thoughts were brought back to the matter at hand as I took in all the information being fed to me. Car accident. Still unconscious. Lacerations on his face. Two broken ribs and broken arm. Suspected DWI. Person in the other car in surgery. Possible drug abuse.

I had to sit when all of the information finally pooled to the front of my brain. My limbs felt heavy with dread, fear, and sorrow. I hadn't even tried contacting him in so long, and this is what happens. His whole life gets thrown upside-down and I don't even know the cause of it.

"Would you like to see him?"

Such a simple question. Do I want to see him hooked up to various machines, arm in a cast, cuts all over his face? Can I face him knowing he nearly killed the other person? Knowing that he has sunken so low that he would start drinking and doing drugs?

"Yes"

My voice was quieter than I expected. I got up and followed the doctor to his room. Every footstep echoing in the rather silent hallway. I knew this wasn't normal. The other times I had been in the hospital, it was always loud in the hallways, even at nearly four in the morning. It did nothing to prepare me for what was to come. It only made me more worried.

"He's in there. He has a tube down his throat helping him to breath, so be prepared. If you need anything, I'll be right outside. I'll give you a moment."

I walked in and closed the door behind me. Taking a deep breath, I slowly turned around and nearly collapsed where I was standing. Whatever I had been imagining in my head didn't compare to what was in front of me.

A ventilator and heart monitor were making steady beats in the otherwise silent room. An IV was coming out of his uninjured arm. His face was pale, which made the cuts stick out that much more. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, even though he was sleeping now.

I slowly made my way over to the bed. His hand looked limp and lifeless, which terrified me. I knew he was still alive, the heart monitor told me that much. Upon closer inspection, his face looked worse. The angry red lacerations stood out too much against his too pale face.

I took hold of his hand and gave a small squeeze. "Coop? Can you hear me?"

I didn't expect a response, but for some reason, it only made my chest feel even heavier. Knowing that he is right in front of me, but not responding.

"I don't know what happened to you. I didn't try to find out. I only wanted you to make the effort of contacting me. I was selfish and now..." My voice came out in a whisper.

Something warm hit my hand. I looked down and was confused to see something wet there. At least, until I noticed the tears falling down my face. I stood in shock at first, but only for a moment. A whimper came from my mouth that quickly turned into all out sobs.

"I-I can't b-believe you would d-do this! You could have died! O-Or killed someone else! C-Cooper..." My knees soon gave out and I was left to kneel on the ground, willing the tears to go away.

There was a vibration in my left pocket. I pulled my phone out with one hand, while wiping at my eyes with the other. I looked at the screen and felt another wave of tears hit. I couldn't answer him right know, not when we where only just getting back on good terms. Why would he even call this early? My mind told me to just ignore it, but my hand didn't listen to my mind.

"Blaine? I had this terrible dream and I had to call. I was just being silly, but I got scared and we always used to ca- Blaine? Are you crying? What's wrong?"

"Blaine, please answer, you're scaring me. Blaine!"

"K-Kurt... h-he's in the hospital. Car accident."

"Blaine, you aren't making much sense. Who are you talking about?"

"C-Cooper."

Silence.

"Oh my God. Blaine, I'm getting a flight right now, I'll be there in a couple of hours, okay?"

"No, Kurt, you don't have th-" "My dad gave me an emergency credit card, and I'd classify this as an emergency."

My crying intensified, which stopped Kurt in whatever he was doing, which was presumably changing. "Blaine, it'll be okay. Shhh, it'll be okay."

"He was on drugs and drinking Kurt! Cooper! He always hated that stuff! He always advocated against all of it! What would make him do any of that?"

There was more silence, save for my sniffling. Then, "Blaine, I wish I could answer you. I really do. But I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't."

I nodded. I already knew he couldn't answer. I just needed to understand. I needed that more than anything right now.

"I'm going to go book a flight, okay? I'm assuming you are at Lima General?"

"Yes"

"Okay, I'll meet you there. I lov- I'll see you there," he said, his mistake obvious in his voice. My heart felt heavy after that conversation, but not as heavy as before. I stood up and looked at his face one more time before I wiped my eyes again and left. It was going to be a very long morning.

When I called my mom, I got a voice mail saying she was currently in Guatemala for vacation and would not be using her phone until the end of the month. When I called my father, his secretary said he left for a conference in California the day before. She sounded surprised that I was unaware of this.

I never knew where my parents were. My father told me to call his office if I needed something because he didn't need his cell phone having a hundred voice mails of useless information. My mother was almost always on vacations because of her position at her work place. She only gave me one of her cell phone numbers. The one she brought everywhere, but never looked at. I love them both, but the gap between me and my parent's always makes me question whether or not that love was real.

I was back in the waiting room because they needed to check on Cooper again. The amount of crying families had grown since I was last in here. It was now seven in the morning. If it was a normal day, I would be eating breakfast right now. I would have already changed and slicked my hair back.

Self-consciously, my hand went up to my hair. It was coming out of the little gel that was in it, but wasn't as crazy as normal. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and I went back to my morning routine. After eating, I would go brush and floss my teeth, leaving them feeling very refreshed. I would then put on just a bit of make-up (at Kurt's insistence) under my eyes to help the bags go away.

I would then go feed my cat, Izzie, and leave to drive to school. Normally, I was early, so I would sit in the parking lot for a few minutes, making sure my hair was alright, before getting out of my car and going inside. My locker was my first stop of the day, which led straight to Pre-Calculus/Calculus. My parents insisted I take all college classes, but I only took Calculus and English 101. I wasn't interested in taking too many college classes, and with my desired profession, they weren't necessary.

Kurt picked on me at first, telling me I was insane for taking any college classes. He soon realized that the college classes were more like Dalton's education, which I had excelled at.

A hand on my shoulder startled me. I looked up and my mouth nearly dropped in shock.

"Kurt called me. He was afraid I might've been in D.C., but that's not until next week. Thought you might want someone to talk to until he gets here," said Burt, a small smile on his face that was laced with concern. I looked away, not wanting to cry again, even though I felt the prickling behind my eyelids.

"Thank you, but you didn-"

"Of course I did. I see you as part of the family, remember? I will come if you need me to, no matter what."

More prickling. It is a lot harder to keep tears at bay when you are exhausted and scared. I'm pretty sure he saw my face because I felt arms lock around me in a very warm hug. I couldn't hold them in any longer and tears spilled out of my eyes onto Burt's jacket. It was not nearly as intense as before, but it was for a different reason. The last time I had felt this kind of love from another person was from Kurt. I didn't feel quite so alone, if even only for a moment.

I'm not really sure what time it was anymore. I didn't feel like checking my phone like I had been. It only seemed to make the time go by slower. Burt was getting a coffee, which I kindly declined when he offered to get me some.

My fear factor kept increasing when no one had come to talk to me about Cooper, like if anything had changed. Something could've happened. Maybe he stopped breathing and they were trying to get him back to the world. Maybe he slipped into a coma and they are trying to figure out why he's not responding to stimuli. Maybe he's in surgery because of a complication they didn't see before. Maybe-

"Mr. Anderson?"

I looked up and saw the doctor from before. I was instantly on my feet and asking, "Is he okay? Did something happen? Is he dead?"

"No, he is very much still alive. He woke up a little while ago. We took the tube out of his throat because he is breathing on his own now. He is very disoriented and is having some trouble remembering what happened, probably due to what I told you about earlier," he said.

Internally, I was conflicted. Part of me was overjoyed that he was awake and not dead. Part of me was terrified for when he did remember what happened and having to talk to him about it. There was no way I was ready to do something like that.

"If you want to go see him, you know where his room is."

I let out a deep breath and decided it was best to go. As soon as my foot took a step forward, I saw Kurt coming towards me. He looked tired, but beautiful as usual. The corners of my mouth moved upwards, which felt foreign on my face. Kurt said nothing when he made it to me and proceeded to give me a hug. It wasn't a purely comforting hug, like Burt's had been. It was so light and held so much emotion that I couldn't help but give an equal amount back. It felt so amazing to be back in his arms. I melted into the hug, resting my face on his shoulder. We stood this way for a moment until I pulled back.

Burt happened to come back right after we had stopped hugging. He smiled before hugging Kurt and giving him one of three coffees he held. I smiled a bit more when I realized I could definitely use it. The crying and not sleeping had taken its toll on how tired I was.

"Kurt, I've got to get to work now. I would've just called in if it were for the tire shop. I'll see you later, alright?" Burt turned to me and after handing me my coffee, he said, "And Blaine? Don't be afraid to come over tonight and spend the night. I'd rather you weren't either here all night or at your house all alone, alright?"

I nodded, forgetting how amazing it felt to have a real family.

"He's awake."

Kurt nodded and asked, "Are you going to go see him?"

I sighed, which confused Kurt.

"I don't know if I can face him without either crying or strangling him. He looked so... broken earlier, so I didn't focus on how angering his actions made me. He's my brother and I can't... I can't see him like that," I said, understanding blooming in Kurt's face.

"He probably felt the same way when he saw you in the hospital after the dance."

My jaw clenched. I had forgotten about that. I obviously didn't forget about the dance and what happened, but I forgot that Cooper saw me in a hospital bed unconscious for days. He must've felt what I'm feeling right now. He was there when I woke up. He cried for hours that day, so happy that I was awake and not in a coma like the doctors feared. He was there everyday he could be. But this wasn't the same.

Cooper really messed up. It wasn't quite the same as before. But I had to see him. I had to be there for him and get him help when he was finally ready to receive the help. I had to help him through all of this.

"Let's go."