The pain was the first thing Chris knew, the searing pain that was shooting through his body followed closely by strange whispers that seemed to be coming from either side of him. Slowly Chris opened his eyes and was met by the most powerful streak of blinding white light that he had ever had the misfortune to see. Chris let out a scream that startled the people around him who hurried to close the curtains and gently lay Chris back down on the bed for he had bolted upright when the light pierced his eyes.

'Chris, sweetie, calm down' Karyn Colfer pleaded her son for he was writhing in agony and letting out horrible moans that were piercing into the souls of those who cared about Chris. Two nights ago Karyn was sewing a cushion back into its former glory when she got a phone call by the police in San Francisco, her baby boy was attacked, again, and left for dead again by one of the same boy's that attacked him back in February. Luckily for Chris one of his neighbours heard what was happening and the police got there just in time to wrestle Mark off the unmoving Chris. Mark was arrested and was heading to trial next week, but Chris, Chris was in a bad shape. He had a broken arm, two cracked ribs, he had cuts all over his body, his head was cracked open and by the look of it, he was stabbed once in the stomach, it was a miracle that he was alive, let alone awake two days later. Of course as soon as Karyn hung up on the police, she screamed and cried so much that Tim had to carry her to the car so they could get to San Francisco. They decided to leave Hannah back at the house; they quickly called the neighbours to look after her because they didn't want her to see Chris like this. When they arrived at the hospital, they were told that Chris was in surgery so they waited in the waiting room, hoping for good news. They weren't expecting to see Darren Criss come running up the hallway about an hour after they had arrived. He asked them if there was any news and then slumped into one of the hard plastic blue chairs, not saying a word until the surgeon came out and told them the surgery went fine and Chris was going to make a full recovery.

Chris recognised his mother's voice and tried to calm down, but the pain in his head was mighty so in the end the nurses had to dose him with pain killers so he would stop shouting.
Darren was standing by the window, watching Chris writhe in agony, he began to shake, he really didn't want to see Chris like this, he hated seeing him in pain, and he hated seeing him back in the hospital where they both met. Back them Chris was here for a hate crime now he was back for an even bigger hate crime. Darren hoped with all his might that the dick who did this to Chris would be going to jail for life. No one should be able to get away with this, not even the old captain of the Clovis football team.

After Chris had the pain killers injected into his system, he began to calm down and stop screaming which was a relief for Darren. Tim Colfer moved closer to Darren and said 'he means a lot to you doesn't he?'

Darren looked over at the taller man who was watching his son with sad and empty eyes.

'Y-y-yes he d-does' Darren stammered.

'You mean a lot to him too, he never shuts up about you, it really gets annoying, no offense but every time we call him or he calls us, you get dragged into the conversation.' Tim looked sideways at Darren, trying to gather if the man was a homophobe, someone who would befriend his son then attack him like Mark did.

'Yeah, I never stop talking about him either, not to my parents, but my friends, they get so annoyed whenever I mention Chris because well they haven't met him yes, I'm sure when they do they won't be able to shut up about him either.'

They stood there in silence, only broken by the constant beep of the heart monitor that told everybody that Chris was still alive, Darren was beyond thankful that the machine was working and the annoying beep was there, it proved to him that Chris was alive even though he looked really dead at the moment.

'I should have been there' Darren mumbled 'I was there not even half an hour before, I could have helped Chris and maybe he wouldn't be here.'

'Stop it' Karyn said, she was walking over to Darren and Tim 'if you were there, I doubt anything else would be different, no offence Darren, but Mark is a very strong and violent man, he would have hurt you too and I know Chris wouldn't have wanted that, he cares a lot about you too Darren' she said calmly, placing her hand gently on Darren's arm.

Darren felt so sorry for her, she had one child who is gay and is targeted my most of society and she had a daughter with severe epilepsy, but she loved them so much and was so proud of their accomplishments even though she seemed to be visiting more hospitals then she would have liked because of them.

'I really am sorry, Mrs Colfer' Darren said glumly as Chris snorted in his sleep 'I just want Chris to be alright'.

'Me too sweetie, but he will be alright, the doctors say he will make a full recovery, it'll just take some time…and he has you' Karyn smiled at Darren, knowing that he will be an important person in Chris's life and one day hers.

The three of them stood and sat in silence as the beeping of the heart monitor continued on in to the night.