I do not own Glee, or any of the characters, though I wish I did. I also do not own 50/50. I am simply borrowing from them!

Rachel Berry was never late.

In her entire four years at Boston Conservatory, and now her fifth year in the graduate musical theater program, she always made it a point to be as punctual as possible. Rachel knew how unprofessional it was to arrive at script read throughs or stage rehearsals long after they had started. It either made the director think you were a diva, or that you didn't take your craft seriously. Therefore, Rachel Berry was never, ever late to her classes or her rehearsals at the conservatory. She decided that her punctuality was helping her to prepare for her successful career on Broadway.

So, Rachel was never late. Until today, that is.

Rachel ran as fast as she could past the slow moving group of students belting out random lines from Barber of Seville, restraining herself from commenting on how sharp the notes were on the soprano parts. She dashed down the hallways, lined with actors reciting their same parts over and over. She trudged up the stairs, until finally Rachel swung open the door of the studio she was looking for.

Completely out of breath, Rachel began to burst out her apologies.

"I am so, so completely sorry, Ms. Fiore. My alarm clock must have been on a lower volume than I normally set, because I did not hear it at all this morning. This, of course, led me to waking up much later than I had planned. I know you must already know how seriously I take this class, and my career as a performer, so I hope you will not perceive this small incident as a-"

Ms. Fiore held up her hand, effectively putting an end to Rachel's speedy explanation.

"That is enough, Ms. Berry. If you are quite finished interrupting my class, will you please just take your spot."

"It was such an embarrassment, you have no idea!" Rachel exclaimed, standing in the lengthy line of the coffee store down the street from the conservatory.

"Yes, I'm sure your entire career as a performer is completely ruined," Santana replied dryly, anxiously looking up to see exactly how long the line was in front of her.

Rachel's face turned an entire two shades lighter, "Do you really think so?"

Santana rolled her eyes, "Oh my god, you are a complete drama queen."

"This isn't funny! This is the fifth time this week I've let sleep disrupt my normal schedule, and now it's effecting my rehearsals and school work, too," Rachel said.

Santana could tell how worried her friend was becoming, "Come on, Rachel, it's just one dance class, I'm sure Ms. Fancypants Fiore wouldn't mind you doing some extra credit or something to make up for your one little time lapse."

"It wasn't just that, San," Rachel replied, "I couldn't even participate, I was so exhausted by the time I arrived that I could barely move. I just stretched in the corner and had an 'observation period' as Ms. Fiore put it."

Now Santana was getting a little worried. "Jeez, maybe you just need more of a boost in the mornings."

"Why do you think I invited you to have coffee with me before class?" Rachel asked, pointing to the line in front of them.

"Speaking of which, I don't think this line is ever going to get any shorter, we're better off buying some crack off of that creepy Jacob Israel afro guy," Santana replied.

This finally got a small smirk out of Rachel, "I don't think he's on crack, San."

"Whatever, all I'm saying is that it'd be faster to get a little buzz on from some low blow druggie down in ghetto town than it would be waiting in this line," Santana said.

"Ha ha, like I would ever jeopardize my chances at stardom for a chance to get high," Rachel scoffed.

"Hey, don't knock it til you've-whoa, girl, are you feeling ok?" Santana held onto Rachel who was suddenly finding it hard to keep balance.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Rachel responded, grasping Santana's arm, "I'm just suddenly finding it hard to stay awake."

Now Santana was getting really worried, this wasn't the first time she had seen her best friend so exhausted lately. Her roommate had been bitching a lot recently about being tired and how her legs would ache so much she could barely walk, let alone stage block anymore. "Hey, why don't you go back home and just sleep off the rest of the day?"

Rachel started whining, "But my classes-"

"I'll cover for you," Santana interrupted, "we have repertoire together in an hour, then I can talk to Mr. Caggiano on my way to script analysis."

"I don't know, San…" Rachel hesitated.

Santana raised Rachel's chin so her face was eye level. "Look, you're not going to look any better to your professors if you're just 'observing' during classes. Just take the day off, I'm sure even Patti LuPone had to call in sick a couple times from Evita rehearsals."

Rachel still looked unsure, but couldn't forget the embarrassment of her morning dance class. "Yeah, yeah ok I'm just going to go home, maybe I'll give Sam a call."

"Sounds great, I will call and check in on you in a couple hours. I'll probably still be here, waiting to get my latte," Santana responded.

A few hours later, Rachel was nestled deep into her comforter on the couch, her feet propped up on her boyfriend, Sam Evans's, lap. There was a Meg Ryan romantic comedy marathon on the television, and they were currently in the middle of When Harry Met Sally.

Rachel diverted her eyes from the TV to look over at her boyfriend. She thought about how lucky she was to be with someone as caring as Sam, someone who would take his afternoon of strenuous law school classes off to look over his sickly girlfriend.

She had been with Sam for over four years now. They met at their high school in Lima, Ohio, where they were both in glee club together. They didn't exactly run in the same social circles back then-she was a theater geek, and he was a football jock-but they had had their moments in glee club. It was the one place where all of the members were free to be themselves, regardless of the high school status quo. They were a small, and not very well liked club at school, but they became a family.

It was glee club where Rachel had met Santana as well. To say that Santana Lopez had hated Rachel Berry would be an understatement. Santana absolutely despised Rachel in high school, and she made sure that Rachel knew it. Santana was the classic "skanky cheerleader bitch" of McKinley High, and she loved to prey on those that were different from what was supposed to be considered cool, which definitely included Rachel.

It wasn't until the very end of their senior year that Rachel figured out that the reason Santana tormented the outcasts so much was because she was actually an outcast herself.

Rachel, Santana and Sam were a part of the handful of people that actually got out of Lima, Ohio, and they were the only ones who ended up in Boston—Rachel and Santana both musical theater majors at Boston Conservatory, and Sam, who turned out to actually be very smart under his jock boy persona, began a pre law major at Boston University. Naturally, the three of them developed a bond. With Santana finally feeling completely free to be herself, she and Rachel became best friends, and now shared a cozy two bedroom apartment five minutes away from school.

Sam had admitted to Rachel how cute he had actually found her animal printed sweaters that she wore in high school, and how much he admired how she had led their glee club into a successful win at nationals. He loved to hear her sing as he strummed on his guitar, and after a few months away at college they were attached at the hip dating. They didn't have the exact picture perfect relationship—with her dramatic tendencies, and the stress his classes brought him—they had several break ups and make ups, but Rachel felt that it was the constant ups and downs that made them stronger as a couple.

"Do you think we will end up like them?" Rachel asked.

Sam broke his gaze away from the television. "Who?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Harry and Sally, two people who had started out on a completely different page in life, but ended up bound together with the same happy ending."

"I don't know, Rachy. Maybe so," Sam replied.

Rachel laughed and pushed playfully at Sam's cheek with her foot, "Are you even watching the movie?"

Sam gave her his trademark huge lipped smile, "Of course I am watching the movie, you're the one that's fallen asleep at least three times."

"I can't help it," Rachel said, "I've just been so tired lately, I don't understand it."

"Maybe it's all the work you've been putting in on that Gary guy's musical, it's his senior showcase, you don't need to be working harder than he is on it," Sam said.

"I know," Rachel replied, "but I'm not just tired, my whole body has just been aching for weeks now, it can't be one theater major's silly musical about how a heartless billionaire falls in love with his Russian maid causing all of this."

"The flu?" Sam suggested.

But Rachel had already considered that possibility, "I don't think that the flu is supposed to last almost a month, Sam."

"This is why I went pre-law instead of pre-med," Sam smiled, "you really just need to make time to go to the doctor, Rachel."

"Oh, you know how much I despise going to the doctor, Sam," she reminded, "I don't like being poked and prodded at, and hospitals just creep me out."

"Either you go to the doctor tomorrow, or I'm giving your dads a call," he warned.

That convinced Rachel in an instant.

Rachel couldn't help her foot bouncing up and down incessantly as she waited in the doctor's office for her test results.

Heeding her boyfriend's warning, she had arrived promptly the next morning at the Massachusetts General Hospital near her apartment. After impatiently waiting a full twenty five minutes, she was ushered into a room by a young nurse named Rosie. There, she met Dr. Graham, whom she explained her ordeal to in great detail.

The doctor, who could not seem to stop smiling as big as possible, didn't seem too concerned in figuring out what was wrong with Rachel.

"It sounds just like you are putting yourself under too much stress at school, Ms. Berry," she suggested, "but we will give you a full physical and take a blood test and figure out if there is something more specific going on here. Easy peasy!"

Rachel felt that this doctor was too light hearted to be in a place as dreary as a hospital.

It was the next day when Dr. Graham had called Rachel back into her office. The doctor had not sounded so "easy peasy" over the telephone, but Rachel wasn't too worried. She figured that she had some sort of virus that was going around the school or the city, and that Dr. Graham just wanted to prescribe her some sort of antibiotics.

Rachel was placed in the doctor's office instead of an examination room today.

Dr. Graham walked in, and could not immediately look Rachel in the eye.

"Good morning, Rachel. How are you feeling today?" she greeted.

"I'm feeling just the way that I've been feeling the past few months, Dr. Graham," Rachel responded.

The doctor only nodded; no smile, no expression at all in her eyes.

Butterflies started forming in Rachel's stomach.

"Did you figure out what was wrong with me?" Rachel began, and then the rambling started, "Are there some sort of drugs I should be taking? I've tried simply getting more sleep than necessary, but maybe it's causing my sleep cycle to go crazy. Caffeine hasn't been working, but maybe it's anemia? I looked it up on WebMD. That would explain why I have been feeling weaker, although the soreness in my legs-"

"Rachel," Dr. Graham stopped her, "your blood tests results came back earlier today."

Rachel was beginning to become annoyed with how little the doctor was telling her. "Well, what did the results say?"

Dr. Graham looked over at her computer. "I'm sorry. I am not behaving professionally at all. I am just awful with wording this sort of news to patients."

Now Rachel was not only annoyed, but the butterflies in her stomach were starting to become lodged in her throat.

"Just say it, Dr. Graham. Is it anemia, like WebMD said? Or the flu? Or some crazy blood disease? What is it?"

"It's none of that. Rachel…"

Rachel was beginning to panic.

"Rachel, you have leukemia."