I rarely get personal in this context, yet I'm going to break that for a spell and dedicate this story to Mari, a young student of mine who passed away over the weekend, and her entire family. Also to Ethan, Faith and Alena who were also lost this year.


The wait out in the hallway with his dad was excruciatingly painful and far longer than they had anticipated. Kurt is so thankful that they allowed Finn to go in when they did, because if they had been separated for nearly an hour after claiming it would only be a few minutes none of them would have taken it well.

Finally, after way too long, the doctor they spoke to earlier came out. "You can go in now. We've gotten him as stable as he's going to be tonight. However in the PICU we have a very strict rule that only two visitors are allowed in the room at any one time." That's not ideal, but considering they're not actually family Kurt's glad they're being let in at all.

"Have you figured out what's making him so sick?" asks Burt.

"Not yet, we've taken cultures from every possible site, but won't have results until tomorrow. In the meantime the IV antibiotics will have an effect regardless of where the original source is."

"How exactly did this happen? It just came out of nowhere?" asks Kurt, voicing the one thing he can't stop wondering.

"It seems like it, but that's unlikely to be the case. Rory's probably felt this coming on all day, but just didn't say anything until it became too serious to ignore. It's not uncommon for kids with chronic illnesses to go out of their way to hide medical problems and, from what I've read on his chart from nurses, he would certainly fit that profile."

So that would make this partially their fault. Kurt had been afraid of that. Both of them had suspected from the moment Rory woke up that something wasn't quite right. Yet they had bought into every single one of Rory's lies and hadn't pursued their concerns further. Even though Rory wasn't giving them much to go off of they should have been more observant.

"Kurt you go in and, if you can, send Finn out. I'd like to tell him privately what the doctor just told us. After that I'm going to see if I can track down Rory's cell phone in his bag so I can contact his parents."

Kurt winces at the awful tasks his dad has taken on. Both sound like the worst conversations in the world to have.

In order to enter the PICU Kurt has to pick up the phone by the door and tell the nurse on the other line his name and who he's here to visit before the doors are unlocked for him. Once inside he then has to wash his hands with harsh disinfectant soap before he's allowed to enter Rory's new room.

Rory has on an oxygen mask and is attached to far more hospital equipment then before. There are multiple monitors up that release a constant orchestra of noise and have glowing lines that are always in movement in a way that is almost hypnotizing. Rory's eyes are open, but saying he's awake would be a stretch. Finn is sitting on the edge of the hospital bed speaking softly to him.

"Finn my dad wants to talk to you out in the hallway. And before you protest it's about what the doctor told us about Rory after you left. You can't talk about it in front of him," Kurt whispers the last part in his ear so Rory can't overhear.

"Is it important?"

"It is." His voice cracks as it he says it, but for Finn's sake he refuses to let himself break down again.

"Okay, I'll be quick. Look after him."

"You know I will."

Reluctantly Finn leaves the room, though it looks like doing so is killing him. Almost as soon as he leaves a nurse enters the room, begins fiddling with his equipment and takes his temperature.

"How's he doing?" asks Kurt quietly.

"His temperature's still way up there, but he's holding on as well as could be expected."

"Is it okay to touch him?" Rory looks so incredibly fragile right now he's scared of accidentally hurting him.

"Of course it is."

"Could I hold him? Or would that get in the way?"

"It would a little, but go ahead," she said sadly, appearing to be thinking along the same lines as Kurt. If Rory were to die tonight, at the very least he shouldn't be alone and devoid of human contact. Kurt lowers the railing on one side of the hospital bed and lies down next to him, wrapping his arms around Rory spoon-style. Through this intimate contact Kurt can feel just how warm Rory really is and that he's still shaking slightly, no longer enough to see, but he can definitely feel the light tremble.

"Finn?" his voice is muffled through the oxygen mask.

"No it's Kurt, but Finn will be back soon."

"He'll be back?"

"Yes and until then I've got you."

"Okay, I like you too." Wow, could this kid ever not be a sweetheart? If there was ever a time he could get a pass for being anything less than that it would be now.

"I don't feel good," he adds in what is certainly the understatement of the year.

"I know, I know baby. You must feel awful," Kurt soothes, pulling him closer. He resists the urge to kiss his head again, realizing it might be interpreted the wrong way. "Try and sleep, you need the rest and will feel better when you wake up."

That last part was a blatant lie, but he felt like he had to say something to give the sick boy some comfort. Within minutes Kurt feels Rory's body relax in his arms as he drifts off to sleep.

Kurt hadn't been watching the clock so he didn't know exactly how long he was alone in the room with Rory, but he does know that his dad and Finn are out far longer than he expected. Finn must not be taking the news well. When he finally does return Finn's eyes are still red from crying and he has on a completely shell shocked expression.

"Do you want to take over?" Kurt asks softly. Rory's out cold so it doesn't matter who is holding him right now, but doing so would benefit Finn more than anything else.

Finn nods, most likely because he doesn't trust himself to speak. It looks like he could fall apart again at any moment. At least it will make him feel as though he's doing something to help in a situation where they are, in reality, completely powerless.


It's nearly a half hour before his dad appears at the door and when he does he's still on the phone with Rory's parents.

"Could you step outside for a few minutes Kurt? Rory's parents want to talk to him and with these stupid rules I can't go in unless-"

"Go on in," Kurt interrupts, jumping aside so that his dad can enter the small room without breaking the rules. He then watches through the window as his dad and Finn gently poke Rory awake and hold the phone up to his ear for him, since Rory is too weak right now to even manage that. After a few minutes Burt passes the phone over to Finn to hold and steps outside with Kurt. It's been a long time since he's seen his dad cry.

"Too emotional?" Kurt asks, giving his dad a hug.

"You can say that," he says roughly. "I can't not imagine myself in the Flanagan's position right now. This is literally a parent's worst nightmare."

"Are they coming over?"

"No," whispers his dad, looking pained.

"Why not?"

"They want to, by god they want to. The problem is that they live a few hours away from an international airport and it's a ten hour flight from Ireland to Ohio and then another two hours to get to Lima, and that's all under ideal circumstances. By then he'll either be doing much better or… Either way, no matter what happens they won't be able to be with Rory during this crucial time and if they get on a plane, they won't be able to hear any news, talk to him on the phone or make important medical decisions. So right now the painful choice is to wait it out and keep them fully updated. They're faxing over a form to give me authority to make medical decisions if there isn't time to call them and serve as a temporary guardian."

"Wow… I didn't think of any of that."

"That paperwork will allow us to stay with him past visiting hours without lying like you two rather brilliantly did last night."

"Does that mean you'll let us stay?"

"Yes, after the conversation I had with Finn I realize how important it is for you guys. However I did promise his parents that either Carol or I will always stay with him so he's never without an adult guardian. That means you and Finn will have to take turns being in the room with him."

"I'll go wait in the hall first," Kurt said, glancing back in the room at Finn who still had his arms around Rory. Right now Finn needs the comfort of being with Rory more than he does.


He hadn't been out in the waiting room long, absentmindedly flipping through old magazines without really reading them, when he gets an unexpected surprise.

"Kurt!" he looks up and sees Mercedes, Santana and Brittney walking down the hall towards him, all looking sheepish.

"What are you doing here?" he snaps, a little more bruskly than he had intended. He actually does feel bad for them, since they obviously didn't mean to hurt Rory the way they did, yet given the circumstances it's hard to feel anything but anger.

"Calm down twinkletoes, we're here to apologize to Brittney's platelet challenged Leprechaun," says Santana.

Those particular choices of words made Kurt's blood boil, but he takes a deep calming breath so he can focus on the issue at hand. As much as he wants to, freaking out at them won't help anyone.

"How do you know that? His condition is supposed to be confidential?"

"Figgins more or less told us and Brittney filled in the gaps," says Mercedes mournfully. "Is he okay Kurt? I've been thinking about him all day. I feel terrible. Could I please see him so I can say how sorry I am?"

"No. No he's not okay and you can't see him. Rory is in the ICU, which is why I'm out here because only two people are allowed to be in there at a time. He's seriously hurt and extremely sick. I know you didn't mean to, but the damage your bullying did is severe. The apology will have to wait until if and when he recovers."

"If? What do you mean if?" asks Santana, the smirk now gone from her face and replaced by a look of horror.

Kurt stiffens, realizing what he had just said. He knows that it is the truth that Rory might not recover from this, but to hear it out loud from his own lips makes it seem all the more real. What they did to him seems more real.

"It means exactly what it sounds," he hisses, fighting to keep his cool. "Just… I don't have time to give you a blow by blow account of everything that has happened. Just go. If Finn finds you here he's not going to be as diplomatic about this. He might just kill you."

Without another word Kurt turns away from them, not trusting how he'll react if he looks at them again.

What finally does get him to look up is the sound of crying. The other two have already left, but Mercedes still stands motionless in the hallway shaking and fighting back tears. At this sight Kurt's icy demeanor melts and he steps forward to comfort his best friend.

"This isn't your fault Mercedes. You and I both know that Santana was the one who started it and I know you hadn't intended to hurt him. You just got a bit carried away."

"But I did, I did hurt him. I might not have started it, but I did throw a few of them at him. I've always been against bullying and that was exactly what I was doing. I've never done anything like that in my life. Are you sure I can't see him? I really need to clear my conscience."

"No. I'm sorry, but he's in no state for outside visitors right now and even if he was I think your presence might scare him. Right now Rory's needs come first. You're just going to have to deal with it the best you can."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" asks Mercedes desperately.

"Actually yes. Can you go to Toys R Us and get him some Toy Story memorabilia, if they have any? He's really missing his Woody doll which apparently always stays with him when he's in the hospital. I don't really know what any of his other interests are, but maybe you can check his facebook and find out? Anything you could get to lift his sprits would be great."

"I'll drop them off first thing in the morning. Thanks Kurt."

"Mercedes?" he asks, just as she's turning to go. "I don't suppose there's any chance the whole school doesn't know about this by now, is there?"

"I'm afraid not. Your boy Blaine's been making a valiant effort to discourage the rumors, but according to Tina Mr. Schue spoke to the entire Glee club about what happened during today's meeting. By tomorrow morning everyone's going to know."


The rest of the night passes in a complete blur. Looking back neither Finn nor Kurt can remember half of the things that happened during that horrific twelve hour period. At some point Carol arrives to give them support and provide her unique set of expertise as a nurse. All through the night they sit with Rory in two hour shifts, always making sure that either Finn or Kurt is in the room with him at all times to prevent Rory from panicking. In between shift in the ICU room they sleep on the couches in the waiting room, or more accurately their parents do. Kurt and Finn both spend the time pacing the hallways and texting each other every few minutes for updates on Rory's condition.

Rory sleeps for most of the time, which is actually a good thing because when he is awake he's completely miserable. He spends a lot of time squirming around in the bed, whimpering in pain and discomfort. He also gets these random moments where out of nowhere he becomes extremely agitated. During these times he refuses to wear the oxygen mask, yells for no apparent reason in Gaelic and once attempted to pull out his IVs. Other times he'll be sound asleep and suddenly wake up screaming and struggling to breathe.

The random fever induced mood swings aren't even the scariest thing that happened that night. On two different occasions the alarms on his monitor went off because he isn't getting enough oxygen to a point that required the doctors to increase the amount he was getting from the mask. At around two at night he almost had to go on dialysis since it looked like his kidney were failing, but by some miracle it never quite reached that point. The worst moment thus far happened a few hours after that scare when Rory had a full blown seizure. The doctors said it was just a response to his high fever combined with all the medications he was on and not to worry, though having witnessed his frail body jerking around uncontrollably not worrying is not an option.

But Rory makes it through the night.

To be continued...