Hey guys!
The third chapter is UP! Surprisingly, for once, I'm quite pleased with it. Although, I have to admit I'm afraid some of the characters are a bit OOC. Well, we'll see what you think!
Enjoy!
3. Sharing the Horror
I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while even though
Goin' on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again I pretend I'm okay
But that's not what gets me
(What Hurts the Most – Rascal Flatts)
Will Schuester had been sure that the piece of news considering Burt Hummel's heart attack would be the worst one these glee kids could possible deliver to him. That special evening, however, made him regret that thought as it turned out to be wrong. Too wrong.
He had been forced to call the New Directions back after getting a hysterical call from Tina telling him about Mike. He didn't even want to think about it. Gratefully he took the opportunity to stand up and go help Artie when his wheel chair collided with the doorframe. The kid seemed distraught and nervous. Maybe Tina had called him? No. She wouldn't have. Couldn't have. It had been hard enough for her to call Will.
"Is everything okay, mister Schue? You look upset. And frankly, you didn't sound very… well, well, when you called," Artie questioned while Will closed the distance and rounded up to Artie's backside just to be able to roll his chair into the choir room. Will sighed and was suddenly very happy about the fact that Artie couldn't see his face.
"I'd rather tell you all at the same time. So, let's just wait for the others to come," he mumbled. And just then there was the moment he had been threading.
"Hey Artie! Mister Schue, what's going on? It's like six o'clock. We shouldn't really be at school anymore. Right?" Finn greeted eagerly and got accepting mumbles in response from Kurt, Quinn, Santana and Puck. Brittany hadn't really been listening to the others so she didn't say anything. She had a bad feeling, but felt it was stupid to try and come up with an explanation before hearing what mister Schue had to say.
"May I add that I really need all possible time to rehearse? Not that I have much I can improve in, but the little way I have left to be perfect, I…" Rachel almost sang, just to be cut off by Mercedes.
"Shut up girl! You know I'm sick of you always putting us all down. Right Tina? Tina? Where is she?"
"Yeah. And where's Mike? I thought we were all supposed to come. Look, I'm not going to make any big decisions without them being here!" Sam protested sharply. He was a new member, yes, but he appreciated Mike. The Dancing Asian was already an important friend for him and Tina came along being his girlfriend. Besides, Sam was a fair guy. He'd never leave anyone out.
"I… Umm… Sit down everyone," Will finally succeeded to say. The glee members looked at him with wondering frowns written all over their faces, but sat down, nevertheless.
"Tina called me a bit after Mike, Artie, Brittany and she had left. She…. she had apparently got a call from… from Mike's mother," Will explained slowly. The kids were changing worried looks and Sam ran a hand through his hair. This wasn't going to be pretty.
"Mike… Mike is in a hospital. Surgery, last I heard. He got into a car accident and… Well, the ambulance was quick so he was awake when they got to him, but passed out on the… on the way to hospital," he finished gravely not standing to look at his students.
"Mike…" Quinn choked and Sam sifted a bit closer to her to offer a shoulder to cry on if she needed one. Everyone else was quietly sitting and staring in front of themselves.
"So… Is it bad?" Finn whispered while Rachel clung to his side even tighter than before sobbing harshly.
"I don't know. I… I wish…" Will mumbled and shook his head. What was he going to tell them? What if Mike died? What would happen to these kids? They were a family and if someone was ripped away from their little community it would be bad. Really, really bad.
They fell silent again. No one bore to look at each other the girls crying miserably and the boys trying to blink away their tears. Mike had just been singing to them a couple of days ago for the first time. He had been so nervous and they had been picking him up for it. He had made it out fantastically, though. Their own happy-go-lucky Mike.
"Let's go then. What are we waiting for? A tornado that could fly us there?" Puck was the first one to recover enough to act. He jumped up from his seat and looked at the others with stoic expression that didn't show the feelings welling beneath his hard surface.
"Y-yeah. We should go. Is… Is Tina there already? She needs us," Kurt agreed quietly. He was a man of big emotions and it really was hard for him to cover anything that had to do with tears and misery. This time though, he hadn't been weeping openly, but buried his hurt deep inside just to be there for the others like they had been there for him when his father had had a heart attack. He felt a firm hand grip his shoulder and turned around to see Finn smiling softly at him.
"This is going to be alright. Mike is going to be alright," the jock mumbled soothingly, though there was a hint of fear audible in his voice. Kurt closed his eyes for a second and then nodded.
"Yeah. I'm sure," he answered as the others too started to get up and move towards the door.
"Okay, we've got a few cars and we should all be able to fit in them… Let's go," Will encouraged the kids and stood up. He could only hope that by the time they got to the hospital Mike would be either released or sitting up in a bed grumbling about the few days of bed rest he was required to take as the only thing he wanted to do was dance. Sadly, Will couldn't really see either of those things happening.
Tina sat in the hospital waiting room fidgeting slightly in her chair. Mike's parents were sitting next to her, clutching each other tightly. His mother had a soft, desperate expression on her face while his father sported a stoic and almost mean look. The two had been quiet all the time. Tina had felt like asking about Mike, but was afraid to break the silence, like it could take Mike's life away. So she had settled into an uncomfortable silence that tore her heart apart every second.
She had a hard time keeping her breathing under control. She knew she would eventually have to concentrate on it if she didn't want to start hyperventilating. That would've been awkward, although it most definitely was not the first thing in his mind. The only thing she really wanted to think about was Mike. Her sweet, loving Mike. She had no idea what had made her get mad at him. He was the most awesome boyfriend a girl could hope for.
Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by the group of people crashing into the room. They weren't loud or anything but you could tell only from the sound of their footsteps that there were many of them. Tina looked up in order to glare at the incomers just because she felt like it, but when she saw who had come in her whole body melted.
"Tina. Are you okay?" Merceded asked quietly stepping in front of her and pulling her up into her arms.
"I'm so sorry and so worried. We all are," she continued after Tina had started crying against her shoulder. Soon Quinn, Rachel, Santana, Kurt and Brittany had surrounded Tina, giving her shoulders reassuring squeezes and telling her everything would be alright. The rest of the boys, including Will, stood awkwardly still at the door way keeping their eyes firmly on the floor.
"Thank you for coming. All of you. We appreciate it. And I know Michael would too", Missis Chang said quietly looking at the New Directions with teary eyes. Mike really did have good friends that cared about him. She was sometimes so scared for him not finding people that were close to him. He was always so quiet and quite often serious too. And focused. Focused on school and dancing and glee. Part of her felt like it was her fault that her son seemed to be so different from the other kids of his age.
A cough startled them all. It took a moment from them to direct their attention to the doctor who was standing at the door.
"Family of Michael Chang?" he asked lowly. Everyone in the room took a cautious step forward as they wanted to hear what was going on.
"Family only, may I ask?" the doctor then announced firmly and nodded towards Mike's parents. Mister and Missis Chang stood up to follow the doctor who was indicating towards the corridor. On the way Missis Chang gripped Tina's arm and pulled her along. She deserved to be one of the first ones to hear how Mike was doing. Besides, she could have as well been his sister.