Artie started on his way to his next class as he thought about Mr. Schuester's recent Glee assignment. They were supposed to come up with a song that describes their life at this moment. Artie hadn't yet picked a song and it was coming close to when he had to perform. What was going on in his life?
Well, he had a girlfriend. A girlfriend. To be honest, he never really thought he'd be saying that anytime soon. And she was the perfect girl, too. They had some problems, with her fake stutter reveal and when he decided to be the typical douchebag about her body and clothes. That only took her making a comment on his own clothing and a rant in the hallway for him to understand how stupid he was.
He knew he wanted to sing about her though. Maybe 'My Girl'? He was contemplating more songs when he saw Rachel Berry walking down the hall and she looked absolutely dreadful. She looked like she had just rolled out of bed.
He gave her a strange look as he rolled by before saying "Are you okay?
She turned around and looked up from her cereal bowl and then at him. "No, I'm not. I'm not getting any better!"
Oh, right. She lost her voice. How could Artie have forgotten her performance of 'The Climb'? It was legendary.
"I'm sure you'll be fine if you," Artie looked her up and down, "Keep resting or something."
"You don't understand! If I don't get better I might have to have that surgery!" Rachel was getting hysterical and she grabbed onto Artie's shoulders and got close to him, fear in her eyes.
"Surgery?" Artie questioned.
"Yes." Rachel said impatiently. "What if it takes my voice away forever and I can never perform again? I am my voice. I'm like Tinkerbell, Artie, I need applause to live!"
Artie was staring at her wide-eyed. "Okaaay, Rachel,he said, moving her hands that were gripped on his shoulders off of him. I think you need to calm down."
"I don't know what I'd do if I lost my voice forever. It's all I have," Rachel said, slowly becoming less crazy and more defeated.
"Well, Rachel, sometimes people lose things that are important to them and it's out of their control," Artie said in a sharp tone.
Rachel's mouth quivered a little and she stared at him questioningly. He looked annoyed with her now and she didn't know what to say. She felt like she had said something wrong, and as he rolled passed her she suddenly understood.
Later that school day they had Glee practice and Artie didn't seem annoyed anymore. However, before he could leave with Tina, Rachel grabbed one of the handles of his chair. "Um, Artie, can I talk to you?"
Artie and Tina exchanged confused glances at each other before Artie nodded and Tina left. Artie turned to face Rachel, who had grabbed a chair that was nearby.
"I just wanted to apologize...Rachel said while staring at her knees and pushing her hair behind her ears.
"For what?" Artie said gently.
"For earlier today. I know I must have come off as really annoying in my freak out about losing my voice. I know I need to think more about others around me before I speak. Or think about others in general."
Artie blinked cluelessly. And then he smiled and shrugged. "Eh, don't worry about it."
Now it was Rachel's turn to blink.
"I don't really know why I snapped at you anyway," Artie said as he squirmed a little. This was weird. It wasn't often he had a one on one talk with Rachel, much less about this. "If there was a chance I was going to lose my voice, I'd be hysterical too."
The room rang with their soft laughter. Rachel tugged on her sleeve. "Still, people, including you, have lost much more important things. It was rude to be so in-your-face about it."
"I was thinking that," Artie said honestly. "But then, things could have been a lot worse for me too." He looked off to the right and stared at the floor wondering if he really wanted to say these things to Rachel, of all people. He didn't even have this conversation with Tina yet.
"I did lose the ability to do a couple of things I enjoyed," he said after clearing his throat awkwardly. "But there are a lot of things you can do with your hands, especially if you're a musical guy like me." He looked over at his guitar. "It wasn't like I was much of a sports guy before the accident, and if I did have the urge sometime to do that I could always play basketball."
Rachel smiled. "That sounds like fun."
"I love the guitar," Artie said with eyes that shined with enthusiasm, he was getting lost in the conversation. "Lately, I have thought about trying the piano and the violin too. Miss Pillsbury said there was a huge chance I would get a scholarship for my work in the jazz band and/or the A/V club."
"Really? That's great, Artie," Rachel said, with genuine enthusiasm.
The corner of Artie's mouth lifted and then he stared down at his hands. "You know, after this conversation I can understand you a little better. I'd be losing it if I thought there was a chance I would lose my hands."
Rachel lifted her hand and hesitated but then put her hand on the one Artie had just rested on his armrest. "Thanks, Artie. Really."
Again, Artie had a creepy feeling about this, but he pushed it away to the back of his mind. "I don't think you're going to lose your voice because if you did I'd start fearing it was a sign of a coming apocalypse." As they laughed Artie felt disturbed about how true that statement was.
"However," he started again. "If you ever feel you might have lost something really important, remember that there is almost never a choice in the matter and that the best thing to do is just adapt. The only other option is to just let yourself die and that is never a good one."
Rachel's hand tightened on his as she was overcome with emotion. She was always easily moved. She spent too many evenings with her dads watching musicals old and new and crying over someone's amazing (or terrible) vocal performance. She blinked and nodded.
"By the way, I enjoyed your performance of 'My Girl' in Glee today," she said as if she had just remembered. "Tina seemed to really like it. She's a lucky girl."
Artie blushed and squirmed a little as he muttered his thanks. A few seconds later Rachel got up from her chair and started pushing Artie out of the room.
"You know, if you're serious about the piano and violin, I know how to play both," Rachel said.
"Of course you do."