Chapter 12
The first thing she noticed when she woke up was the awkward angle of her body and the pain shooting through her neck. She cracked her eyes open hesitantly and saw she was slumped at the waist, bent to lean her head on Christopher's bed. She groaned, sitting up slightly, her hand going to her neck when it cracked loudly.
"Hey, babe, that doesn't look comfortable at all," Noah said.
She moved her eyes to the side and saw him standing with Quinn, Will and Matt. "I don't know why, it's extremely comfortable," she quipped. She sat up a little further and winced when her neck cracked again. "Ow."
He moved behind her and she felt his hands at the base of her neck. "Easy," he cautioned, kneading the sore muscles there.
She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his warm skin against hers, his gentle touch soothing her. She let out a moan of pleasure and her eyes snapped open in embarrassment. Quinn and Matt were hiding their laughter behind their hands.
"Feel good?" Noah asked from behind her, amusement evident in his voice as well.
"Nope. You suck at this," she told him.
Quinn laughed outright this time. "Ooh, she got you, Puck," she teased.
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled good-naturedly. His hands moved down a little to her shoulders and she closed her eyes again, feeling her body relax inch by inch.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asked them lazily. "What time is it?"
"A little after seven," Matt told her. "We couldn't sleep, we wanted to get the decorations up before he woke up."
"We know he's weak," Will explained from across the room. "We want everything to be ready when he wakes up so he can enjoy it."
"We weren't sure how long he's going to be able to stay awake," Quinn continued. "No time wasted decorating. As soon as he wakes up, the party is a go."
Rachel smiled. "He's going to love this," she said quietly. "Thank you for doing it."
"Don't thank us yet," Matt grinned. "Britt and Kurt got really into shopping. This place is going to be overrun with toys and decorations soon."
"You guys didn't have to," she said, sitting up a little straighter. Noah's hands stopped their ministrations and she turned to look at him. He grinned and placed his hands back on her shoulders, fingers resuming their massage.
"The party?" Quinn asked in confusion.
"The presents."
"It's not a birthday without presents," Puck said firmly.
"You could have saved your money, I don't think he's going to be able to enjoy them for very long."
Will came to stand in front of her and looked into her eyes. "So it's definite then?"
Rachel nodded. "Pretty much," she admitted. "He's not getting any better. I spoke with his doctor last night and he said the kidney function is down even more."
"Have you made a decision yet?" Puck asked carefully.
Quinn exchanged confused looks with Will and Matt. "What decision?"
Rachel sighed, moving away from Puck's touch to stand up. "They say when the time comes, he will no longer be able to breathe on his own. They can either give him medication to make him comfortable when that happens or they can put him on a ventilator that will breathe for him."
"What are you going to do?" Quinn asked softly.
Rachel shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea," she admitted.
Will exchanged a quick look with Puck but she caught it. "Did you tell her?" their former teacher asked.
Rachel turned back to Puck. "Tell me what?"
Puck licked his lips nervously. "Uh, a few nights ago, when we were in with Christopher, you'd fallen asleep and Christopher woke up. He said that he'd seen the angels and they wanted him to go with them."
Rachel paled. "What?" she whispered.
"There's more," he cautioned. "He said he couldn't go with them because he had to take care of you and if he went, he didn't know who would take care of you. Then he…he asked me to take care of you if he went with them."
She blinked at the sudden moisture in her eyes and Will put his arms around her. She pulled away a little. "Is that all?" she asked. "Is that all he said?"
Puck nodded, averting his eyes. "He said he was tired. I told him to get some rest because there was no one you wanted to take care of you other than him. He went back to sleep after that."
Rachel sighed and moved around her friends to stand beside her son. She gazed down at his, his pale little face, taut skin, sunken eyes. "I don't think it's going to be long," she said quietly.
The room was silent then, and she knew they didn't know what to say to her. The tension was broken when the rest of the group came bustling into the room, arms full of bags and packages.
"We come with gifts," Kurt announced with a flourish.
"I thought we came in peace," Brittany said evenly.
Rachel giggled then, a small burst of laughter bubbling up out of her. As the others looked at her in worry or confusion, the laughter overtook her and soon she was giggling uncontrollably. She wiped tears of joy from her eyes and laughed even harder when Quinn started giggling with her. Soon she, Quinn, Matt, Will and Puck were all cracking up, leaving the rest of the group baffled and bewildered. They had no idea what they'd just walked in on and the thought made Rachel laugh even harder.
"Oooook," Kurt said, glancing back in confusion at the rest of the newcomers. "We're just gonna start setting this stuff up so if you crazies will just stay out of our way, that would be great."
Quinn laughed so hard she snorted and Rachel leaned against Puck, her face red with mirth. He slung an arm around her waist, laughing as Matt tried to dry his tears as even more ran down his face.
"Ok, losers, go get some coffee or something," Santana snapped, fed up with not being part of the joke.
"And some for Santana since she's clearly not a morning person," Quinn cackled.
Rachel laughed as Puck tugged her out of the room and into the hallway, the giggling trio following close behind them. They collapsed in the waiting room chairs as their laughter died down.
"Dude, San was so about to kill you," Matt sputtered and they were all laughing again.
Santana stuck her head out the doorway, eyes narrowed into slits. "Coffee. Now!" she hissed venomously.
Quinn was on her feet in an instant, pulling Rachel down the hall to the elevator. "She's like the praying mantis, about to eat her mate," she giggled. "And since she's bi, I don't think she'd have a problem eating us too!"
"Ew," Rachel said seriously. Then she giggled again as Matt went into a praying mantis martial arts pose in the elevator and Noah mimicked him, the two boys circling each other as the girls giggled and Will shook his head in amusement.
The cafeteria was pretty deserted at this early hour, a few nurses in scrubs holding steaming cups of coffee in a corner. They all got coffee and Noah handed her a muffin, narrowing his eyes at her when she wrinkled her nose until she finally took it. Will paid for them all, despite their protests, and they took a table on the far side of the room.
"So what's this big day you have planned?" Rachel asked as they nursed their coffee and she picked at her muffin.
"Stop playing with that and eat it," Puck told her. "We have presents, obviously, and a few games that he can do from his bed. We didn't know about cake, but Mercedes talked to one of the nurses and she said Christopher can have a popsicle if he wants it so we got some of those. Nothing fancy but I think he'll like it."
"He'll love it," she told them decisively. "Thank you guys so much."
"Please," Quinn said, tossing her hair over her shoulder in her best bitch impression. "This isn't for you, this is for that beautiful little boy in the fashionable hospital gown."
Rachel grinned. "Well, he thanks you too," she said cheekily.
Quinn grinned back, leaning her head against Rachel's shoulder. "Ok, so maybe it's for you too. A little bit."
Rachel laughed and leaned against her friend. "Gee, thanks."
33333
Everything was ready by eight o'clock, and everyone was crowded into the hospital room, waiting on Christopher to wake up. Rachel's dads were conversing with Will and Emma and the glee kids were mingling around the gift table. Rachel, perched on the edge of her son's bed, saw that they had thoughtfully put the gifts in bags with very little tissue paper so Christopher wouldn't have to exert much effort to open his presents. The decorations hung around the room were bright and colorful, with streamers twisting from one corner to the other. An array of games was laid out on the windowsill.
They had thought of absolutely everything and Rachel knew her little boy was going to love it. Her heart swelled as she took in the efforts of the people around her and she caught Noah's eye across the room. He nodded to her, giving her one of his genuine smiles and she swore she felt her heart stop.
"Mommy?" she heard a groggy little voice say.
The room quieted instantly and she turned her attention to her son. "Hey, Little Man. How are you feeling?"
"Ok," he said hoarsely, and her forehead creased in concern. "What's going on, Mommy?"
Rachel grinned down at the confused look on his little face. "Well, sweetheart, Mommy's friends have something they'd like to tell you."
"Happy birthday!" they all chorused, careful to keep their voices from being too loud.
Christopher's eyes widened and he clapped his little hands. "But it's not my birthday," he said.
"We don't have to tell them that," Rachel whispered conspiratorially in his ear.
Christopher giggled and clapped his hands again. "Yay!"
Puck came forward from the group. "What do you say, buddy? Presents first or games?"
"Presents!"
Rachel laughed and settled back against the pillows next to her son, helping him into a sitting position as Brittany brought him a huge gift bag with a bright green thing sticking out the top.
"This is from me," Brittany said, grinning at the little boy.
Rachel helped him pull the stuffed animal from the bag. It was a giant frog, almost as big as Christopher. Rachel laughed as Christopher squealed. "What's his name?" he asked excitedly.
"You get to name him," Brittany said.
"I name him Brittany," Christopher said proudly.
"That's my name too. It's a good name," the blonde told him, and everyone in the room giggled.
Artie and Tina came forward next with their presents. "This is from me and Tina," Artie said.
Rachel helped Christopher pull the gift from the bag and gasped at what she saw. "Artie, you shouldn't have," she said breathlessly. "Christopher, do you know what this is?" The little boy shook his head, looking up at her. "This is portable DVD player," she explained. "That means you can watch movies right here in bed with this."
"But I don't have any movies here," Christopher said, his face scrunching up at the prospect of not being able to use his new gift.
Tina grinned. "Sure you do," she said, handing him a bag.
Christopher squealed as he emptied the bag, pulling out Barney, Sponge Bob, Scooby Doo and various other cartoons. "Mommy, look!"
Rachel blinked away a few tears at her son's happiness. "I see that, Bug. What do you say?"
"Thank you!" he yelled, reaching his arms out to Tina and Artie. They laughed and hugged him gently.
Matt and Mike got him a Sponge Bob pillow and fleece blanket and Christopher unfolded it immediately, throwing it over his legs and his mother's. Santana got him Candy Land. Will and Emma got him some more videos and Quinn and Finn got him some Sponge Bob pajamas.
Puck brought one more present to Christopher, a small gift bag. Her son took the gift out of the bag and glanced at it in confusion.
"It's an MP3 player," Puck explained. "Already loaded with some songs, including the complete anthology of Billy Joel." He grinned as Christopher bounced excitedly.
"Mommy, I have my own Billy!" the little boy beamed, holding up his new gift.
Rachel smiled, noticing that the electronic device was simple and would be easy for Christopher to use. "I see that, Bug."
"Can we listen to Billy now, Mommy? Please?" he begged.
"Baby, I think they have some more stuff planned for your party."
"We sure do, Christopher," Will said, stepping forward. "We've got a game to play, if you want."
"Yay!" The little boy clapped his hands again.
"We're going to play Pin the Tail on the donkey, but it's going to be a little different," Will explained, holding up a blindfold. "Mike has volunteered to be our donkey and he's going to be blindfolded. He's going to walk around the room and everyone gets to pin the tail on him."
Christopher giggled. "Anywhere we want?"
Will laughed. "Well, we're supposed to put it where the tail goes, but if you want to put it somewhere different, you can."
Rachel watched anxiously, fearing Mike was going to run into the bed or some other machinery. He caught her eye and winked, holding up the blindfold and she realized he must be able to see out of it. She smiled and sat back to watch the game.
Mike made big, exaggerated movements as he circled the room and the adults were equally exaggerated as they tried and purposefully failed to get his tail on. He came close to the bed and Christopher giggled. He reached out and Mike was still just long enough for Rachel to help her son attach the tail to Mike's behind. Christopher giggled when the tail hung down and Mike whirled away. By the time Will called an end to the game, Christopher was the only one who'd gotten a tail to stick to the Asian.
Mike pulled his blindfold off and looked at the tail hanging off. "Oh man," he said in an exaggerated voice. "Who got me?"
Christopher giggled again. "I did," he said.
"Well, Christopher, that means you get a special prize," Will said.
Katelyn and Debbie came forward, leaning down to hug the little boy. Debbie gave him a drawing. "This is from Amanda. She's sad that she couldn't come, but she sent this for you to hang up."
Christopher insisted they hang the drawing up immediately and Quinn produced some scotch tape. Rachel hung it right where Christopher pointed, knowing if she didn't, she'd just have to re-hang it until he was satisfied.
"How's that, Bug?" she asked when she was finished.
Christopher coughed into his hand. "Good, Mommy," he rasped, coughing again. The coughing fit continued and Rachel could hear him wheezing to breathe in between coughs. She approached him in panic as his face began to turn first purple, then blue. One of the machines started beeping rapidly.
The room erupted into a flurry of movement then, with Debbie and Katelyn lowering the rails on the bed and barking orders. Someone hit the call button for the nurses' desk. Debbie and Katelyn lowered Christopher's body into a horizontal position and as soon as his body was stretched out on the bed, he began to shake. Rachel heard someone scream and she moved toward her son, not realizing it had been her. Strong arms restrained her and held her back as she watched Debbie and Katelyn struggle to hold Christopher's body still. His eyes were rolled back in his head and Rachel fought the person holding her back from her son.
"Easy, babe, they know what they're doing," she heard Noah say in her ear. "Let them work." The room filled suddenly with doctors and she was aware of everyone being pushed out. She refused to budge and she was glad Noah didn't try to make her.
It seemed like Christopher's body jerked on the bed for hours, though Rachel knew it was more likely only a few minutes. Finally his body stilled and the doctors stepped back, breathing in relief.
Rachel stepped toward the bed and this time Noah let her, though he walked forward with her, hand still on her back. "What happened?" she asked, hearing the panic in her own voice. "What happened?"
"His oxygen stats dropped, very low," Debbie explained gently. "They've increased the percentage of oxygen flowing through the mask. He had a seizure, but he's doing better now. His stats are almost back to where they should be."
"Will it happen again?" Rachel asked fearfully.
A doctor came over to her. "It might. We're going to keep him on an increased level of oxygen from now on. His lungs are weak. I've paged Dr. Stevens, he should be here soon."
Rachel sighed, dropping into a chair beside the bed. She knew what this meant, what they weren't saying.
Katelyn came over and squeezed her arm gently. "How are you holding up, Mom?"
Rachel exhaled shakily. "Ok. I'm…ok."
"Have you made any decisions yet?"
Rachel's tearful gaze met the nurse's. "No. I just…he's my baby. I don't want to lose him."
"I know that was really scary," the nurse said quietly. "Hopefully upping his oxygen will prevent that from happening again. Is there anything I can get you?"
Rachel shook her head no. "Thank you, though. You've both been so kind. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been here."
"You would have been ok," Katelyn assured her. "The ICU nurses would have taken care of him. We're going to head back upstairs now, but if there's anything you need, please let us know."
Rachel nodded as the two oncology nurses exchanged words with the ICU nurses before leaving. Noah came over and crouched in front of her. "Are you ok?" he asked softly.
She shook her head silently as tears spilled down her cheeks. He took her into his arms as she cried silently against him.
