Hi everyone! Thanks so much for the reviews on the first chapter, I have wanted to cover the one year of their high school lives that I haven't covered yet for a while. I'm sorry for the lack of Nicma and Ryva in this chapter, but there will be more in upcoming chapters. Hope you enjoy this chapter and review if you want me to continue.

And I hope you all join me in wishing Cory well. So sad for him and Lea :( I just hope he checked in before things got too bad and he's back to normal soon!

Chapter 2: Back to the Waiting Room

It had only been a few hours, but it felt like longer. Emma's heart felt like it was beating a million miles an hour as she sat in the hospital waiting room with her siblings. She couldn't believe it when Ava's mom had come into the changing room to tell her to meet her family immediately and her dad told her that her mom had collapsed.

Only Finn had been able to ride on the ambulance with Rachel, so Emma, Ryan, Sarah, Grant and Zoe had followed behind in the family car. Emma didn't go into the examination room with her parents because she knew she couldn't stand seeing her mom in pain. Besides, she, Ryan and Sarah had to take care of Grant and Zoe. Zoe had fallen asleep, and Grant was complaining about being tired.

"Is Mommy going to be okay?" Grant asked quietly.

"Of course she is," Ryan said, pulling Grant on to his lap.

"But our other brother wasn't," Grant said. It broke Emma's heart hearing Grant say that. She felt like her family had been through enough pain when she was in fifth grade. Losing Jack had been the hardest thing she'd ever had to go through. What if Rachel had a tumor or leukemia? Emma was sixteen. She needed her mom. She wanted her mom to be there to see her go to prom, graduate high school, go to college, get married and have kids.

Emma's phone vibrated. She opened it and saw a text from Nick. "Any news?"

Emma sighed and typed back. "Nothing."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come?" Nick typed.

Emma thought for a minute. It would be comforting to have her boyfriend there, and he and Ava had both offered to come, but she just wanted to be with her siblings now. She typed back a reply: "We're fine, but I'll let you know when we get updates on my mom." She also had a feeling this would bring back bad memories for Nick of when his mom was dying in the hospital.

"Grandpa!" Emma heard Grant say. She looked up and saw Rachel's dads coming over toward them.

"No news yet?" Hiram asked.

Emma shook her head. "It's nerve-wracking waiting."

"Your mom will be okay," Hiram said. "She's a fighter."

"We're just scared," Sarah said, gripping on to Emma's hand.

Emma hugged her sister. As the oldest, she felt like she and Ryan had to be the strong ones, but it was hard.

"Thanks for coming," Ryan said to his grandfathers.

"We wanted to see Rachel," LeRoy said. "Plus, the five of you shouldn't be alone. Your grandma's visiting Beth, but she should be getting in tomorrow."

"Thanks again," Sarah said. She looked at Emma. "Can we take a walk?"

Emma nodded. "Of course." She put her arm around her sister and turned to Ryan. "Just text one of us if anything happens."

Emma began walking down the hall with her sister. She knew she had to be strong, but her sister was four years younger and needed her. "If you need to cry, let it out," Emma said.

"Emma?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember at all when Jack was in the hospital?"

"I do." Of course those memories would be clearer for her than they were for Sarah. Sarah was only six when Jack was diagnosed, whereas Emma was ten. Sarah knew that things were wrong at the time, but she didn't know how serious they were.

"I remember spending lots of time there, and Mom and Dad were gone a lot," Sarah said.

"Yeah," Emma said. "But I really don't think Mom has cancer." She didn't know if Rachel didn't have cancer. She HOPED Rachel didn't have cancer. But she didn't want to upset her little sister.

"Remember how our parents told us that Jack was our guardian angel?" Sarah asked.

Emma smiled. "Of course I do."

"Do you think he's watching over Mom tonight?" Sarah asked.

Emma pulled her sister in for a hug. "I know he is. I know he is."

x

"We have Rachel's test results back," the doctor said. "One of the disks in her back is ruptured. She is going to need surgery."

Finn sighed with relief that it wasn't worse. At the same time though, he was worried about Rachel getting surgery. He looked at his wife in the hospital bed, and his heart broke. He took Rachel's hand. "How serious is the surgery?"

"It will take time for her to recover," the doctor said. "Rachel, you should take some time off work."

"But I can't!" Rachel protested. "There's a big competition for the show choir that I'm the director of in a few weeks."

"Rach, don't worry about Sectionals," Finn said. "They'll find someone else to take care of them."

"How are you feeling now?" the doctor asked.

Rachel shrugged. "I think the painkillers are helping."

"Well, we should keep you here for at least another night," the doctor said.

"When can our kids see her?" Finn asked.

"I'll go get them if you want," the doctor said.

Finn took a deep breath. "I should probably get them."

"Okay," the doctor said.

Finn looked at Rachel in the bed again. Rachel was the love of his life, and he'd been so scared earlier tonight that he was losing her.

Rachel squeezed Finn's hand. "I would really like to see the kids. Besides, it's getting late."

Finn gave Rachel a kiss, then went into the waiting room. It was after midnight, and no one was there except the kids and Rachel's dads.

"How's Mom?" Ryan asked when he saw Finn.

"She's awake and conscious," Finn told his kids. "She's got a problem with one of the disks in her back, and she'll need surgery for it. Don't worry, it's nothing life-threatening." He knew that question was at least on the three older kids' minds, and he wanted to just answer it for them so they didn't feel like they had to ask it.

"So she'll be okay?" Sarah asked.

"She'll be fine," Finn said. "They put her on painkillers, so she isn't really in pain right now."

"Can we see her?" Emma asked.

"You guys can come with me if you want," Finn said. He turned to Rachel's dads. "Thanks so much for coming."

"You know we had to be there for our little girl," LeRoy said.

"Also, we'll stay at the house with the kids tonight if you want to spend the night with Rachel," Hiram said.

Finn managed to smile. "Thanks. I'd appreciate that. I wanted to spend the night with Rachel, but I didn't want to leave the kids at home alone."

"We'll be with them tonight," Hiram said. "And Shelby told us she'll be here tomorrow."

x

Rachel felt like the painkillers were wearing off as she sat in the hospital bed. Finn had left to get the kids, and she felt horrible for the scare she'd undoubtedly caused for Finn and the kids.

"Mom!" Emma exclaimed as she came into the room. Ryan, Sarah and Grant followed close behind, and Finn came in with Rachel's dads. Hiram was holding Zoe, who was asleep.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked, looking nervous.

Rachel took her daughter's hand. "It's like Dad told you, I'll be fine. I just need surgery."

"We love you, Mom," Ryan said.

"I love you guys too," Rachel said. "It's like I said, I'll be fine." She noticed how tired Grant looked. It was way past his bedtime. It was even late for Ryan, Emma and Sarah to be up. She looked up at her dads. "Thanks so much for coming to Cleveland."

"We got in the car as soon as Finn called us," Hiram said.

Rachel wanted to hug her kids, but she was worried it would hurt her arms or her back to do so. It made her sad to see how scared the three oldest kids looked. Even Grant seemed upset.

"I told you, I'll be okay," Rachel said. "And you guys were amazing tonight in the play."

"I have plays picked out for all four of my years at Heights," Sarah said.

Rachel smiled that Sarah was talking the way her usual self talked. She then looked up at her dads. "You know, you two should go to the next show tonight." Since it was after midnight, the show technically would be tonight.

"Mom, maybe we'll skip this one," Ryan said.

"No!" Rachel said. "The three of you have to perform. You'll only be gone for a few hours, and then you can come back."

"If that's what you want," Emma said. "We really want to be with you though."

Rachel wanted to be with her kids, but at the same time she wanted their lives to go on as usual. "I want you guys to be in the show tonight. I don't want those audience members to miss seeing how amazingly talented the Hudson kids are."

"Okay, Mom," Ryan said.

After a little more time of talking with her kids and her dads, Rachel looked up at the clock. "Guys, it's getting late. You should go home and get to bed."

"But we want to stay here with you!" Emma said. Rachel saw how scared her daughter looked and remembered all the times she was scared to leave the hospital when Jack was sick.

"You guys can visit me after you've gotten some sleep," Rachel said.

"And I'll call your schools to say you won't be in today," Finn said. "I don't think you guys are in the right state to go to school."

"I didn't want to go to school after this," Ryan said.

"You should probably text Ava and Nick," Finn told Ryan and Emma.

"We love you, Mom," Grant said.

"I love all of you," Rachel said. She watched as the kids left with her dads before turning to Finn. "I'm so sorry, Finn."

Finn looked confused. "What are you apologizing for?"

"I'm so sorry I'm putting you through this," Rachel sighed.

Finn gave Rachel a kiss. "I love you, Rachel. I love you and the kids more than anything else."

"I feel horrible," Rachel blurted out. "We have five kids at home and Sectionals are in a few weeks..."

"You know that we have lots of people who'll be able to help with the kids until you're back to normal," Finn told his wife. "And the kids and I can handle the house. And as for Sectionals - remember who you hired when you went on maternity leave?"

Rachel giggled. "You."

Finn nodded. "I'll help them get to Sectionals. Everything's going to be okay."

"Really?" Rachel asked.

Finn nodded again. "Yes really!"

"I'm nervous about surgery, Finn," Rachel admitted.

"I know you are," Finn said. "But I'll be here for you, every step of the way." He lay down next to Rachel on the hospital bed. Rachel wanted to cuddle with her husband, but she just held his hand until they both fell asleep.

Chapter 3 preview: Rachel has her surgery. Some Finchel, Nicma, Ryva and Finchel family moments.