I'm a bad person, I know.

I'm so sorry you guys! I haven't updated in forever! I tried making this chapter as long as possible, so there's...that.

Thank you everyone for reading, favoriting and reviewing! Please enjoy the new chapter!

She had just gotten out of church when she got the text message. She politely excused herself from the other church members she had been talking to and pulled her phone out of her purse. Kurt knew that she had church, so something had to be wrong or there was another ridiculous sale going on that she had to know about right this moment.

Mercedes was dead wrong.

Looking at the screen, she saw it wasn't from Kurt, but Finn. Finn never sent her messages. She was surprised he even had her number. In any case, she opened the message and was almost floored by the words spelled out there on her screen.

'Kurt in hospital, tried to kill himself, get here fast.'

She felt all of the breath knocked out of her by all of this information in so few words. Kurt…Kurt tried to kill himself? That was impossible! Kurt wasn't….he didn't….She put a hand over her mouth and tried to stop the cries so desperately wanting to get out. But she couldn't, not here. She looked around and spotted her mother, and quickly walked over. "Ma, I need to go." She whispered, trying to hold her tears in. Seeing her daughter so upset, Mrs. Jones's eyes widened slightly and she smiled politely and told the churchgoers she had been talking to that she would see them next weekend.

Mercedes allowed her mother to pull her out of the church, and the two of them walked to the car in the parking lot next to the building. "Sweetheart, what's wrong? What happened?" She asked ferverently, cupping Mercedes' face in her smooth hands and looking into her eyes, searching for any kind of answer.

Tears escaped Mercedes' brown eyes and slid down her cheeks, brushing against her mother's hands. "It's Kurt, he…" She choked on her words, not wanting to believe it or say it. Saying it would only make it all the more real.

Hearing Kurt's name, Mrs. Jones's eyes widened. She knew how close her daughter was with the boy. Kurt often went over their home for sleepovers, and he absolutely spoiled them both when he not only cooked dinner and dessert for them, but when he gave them makeovers and helped Mrs. Jones put together outfits for church outings or for work. She adored him as much as Mercedes did, and she was sure that whatever Mercedes was trying to tell her wasn't good.

"He tried…killing himself, ma. He did, oh my God, he did." Mercedes gasped, clinging to her mother and letting out heartbreaking sobs. Mrs. Jones held her daughter tightly as she felt her own heart clench. Kurt? Suicide? But why?

"Oh my God, baby, oh my God…it…it's going to be okay, alright? Let's go, okay? Let's go see him."

Mercedes nodded, but made no move towards the car. "He's in t-the hospital." She said through her tears, trying to catch her breath. Mrs. Jones nodded and helped her daughter into their car before rushing into the driver's seat and taking off to Lima General. She concentrated hard on the road, making sure not to rush and cause an accident. To her relief, their church wasn't too far from the hospital.

Mercedes' sobs had died down a little before they arrived, and she made sure to wipe her eyes and blow her nose before getting out of the car. She didn't want to upset Mr. Hummel more than he probably already was. She followed her mother into the Emergency Unit, where her eyes filled with tears when she saw Burt, Carole and Finn sitting in the waiting room. She ran over to them and threw her arms around Burt first. The man wrapped his arms around her and let out a shaky sigh.

"Hey there, Mercedes." He mumbled, and Mercedes could tell by his low voice that he had been crying. She pulled away slightly and tried smiling, but it faltered easily.

"How is he?"

Burt sighed softly. "The doctor says he's stable. They're going to move him to Intensive Care until he wakes up."

Mercedes' eyes widened. "He hasn't woken up?"

She felt her heart plummet when Burt shook his head. He looked over and smiled sadly at Mrs. Jones. "Hey there."

Mercedes walked over to Finn and hugged him, allowing her mother to hug Burt and Carole and offer her sympathy. Finn gave her a one-armed hug, and Mercedes sat next to him.

"Finn…what happened?"

Finn bit his lip and bowed his head, running his hands through his short hair before looking over to her. "It was real scary. He was just standing there, and then he ran, and there was a car…" He shook his head and looked away again, trying to contain his tears. "He just ran in front of it…he just ran…"

As Finn's voice slowly started to shake, Mercedes put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed small circles on it. "But why, Finn? Kurt would never do something like this. No matter what."

Finn chewed on his lip as his eyes roved over the tiled floor, as if he was looking for the answer himself. "Well, you know he was having trouble with Blaine." He mumbled, glancing over to Burt and Carole, who were talking softly with Mrs. Jones now. "But…I don't really know what happened, but he was on a date with Dave and-"

"Whoa, hold up." Mercedes said quickly, her eyebrows raised. "Dave? Dave who?"

Finn looked over, his face a little pale. "Kurt didn't tell you?"

"No, what?"

"He slept with Dave Karofsky."

Mercedes wondered if her heart had ever beaten this fast before. Her eyes widened and her hand dropped from Finn's shoulder. Karofsky? Kurt was on a date with Karofsky? He lost his virginity to Karofsky? Karfosky was gay? Why hadn't Kurt told her? How long had this been going on? She tried saying something, but it was lost in confused and short sputters of vowels.

"…wow."

"I know. I couldn't believe it either."

She glanced over to their parents, then looked back to Finn. "Does Burt know?" She whispered.

Finn shook his head quickly. "No, and we can't tell him. Kurt didn't want to tell him. Because of his heart and stuff."

Mercedes nodded slowly and let out a deep sigh. Today was just too full of surprises. "So..okay, Kurt was out with Dave…" That was just so weird to say out loud. She wasn't sure whether to feel happy that Kurt had been out on a date or want to kill Dave.

Finn nodded. "Right, and so I guess Blaine got jealous-"

"Wait, Blaine got jealous?" She groaned and rubbed her temple with her fingertips. She told Blaine that she would talk to Kurt for him, and she had, but all Kurt said was that he needed to think. That wasn't a signal for Blaine to start doing whatever he felt was right. That was a signal for 'hold your horses and let's see what happens'. "So what did he do?"

"I guess he kind of…sang to Kurt…in front of Dave, and at Breadstix."

Mercedes winced. That had to be all kinds of embarrassing. Not only for Kurt, but for Dave as well. Especially if he wasn't out of the closet yet, and by the way he had treated Kurt in McKinley, she was sure he wasn't. She sighed softly and closed her eyes. If all this rage, sadness and anger swelling up inside of her was any indication of what Kurt had felt, she could understand his desperation. Although she would have opted to throw Blaine under a car instead of Kurt.

In any case, suicide was most definitely not the answer. Kurt knew that people cared about him and loved him. Why had he done something so stupid? He could have at least called her. She would have been there for him in a heartbeat. A wave of guilt washed over her as she realized that the text messages between them had been few and far between. She knew he had been feeling sad and confused about everything lately, and she should have seen this coming. They were best friends. How could she not have seen this?

She was brought from her thoughts by Finn rubbing small circles on her back, and she smiled gratefully to him. Finn smiled back. "Want to see him?"

Mercedes nodded slowly. She wasn't sure how bad he would look, but she wasn't about to let fear get between their friendship. Kurt meant far too much to her for that to happen.

Finn stood up and waited for Mercedes, whose legs had suddenly felt like lead, before walking off. The adults glanced over, and Burt smiled a little at Mercedes. He knew how close she and Kurt were, and was thankful for her being there. Maybe she could get some sense out of all of this.

Mercedes followed Finn down a hallway, past a nurse station, then waited behind him as he knocked gently on an open doorway. "Hey, Mercedes is here."

Mercedes raised an eyebrow. If Kurt wasn't awake, then why was Finn talking to him? Her question was answered when Finn walked in and she followed him inside to find Blaine at Kurt's bedside, gripping the countertenor's hand. Blaine's eyes slowly widened, and Mercedes' eyes narrowed.

"Uh…h-hi Mercedes." Blaine said, flinching when the girl came into view. Mercedes did feel a little bad for scaring him. The Warbler's cheeks were stained with tears and his eyes were rimmed in light pink. He looked so miserable. Like he should, Mercedes thought. He's partly to blame for all of this.

"Hey." She mumbled, looking over Kurt's small frame. He was so pale, so broken. Mercedes felt the tears burning in her eyes again but she didn't want to cry. She had to be strong for Kurt. So she forced a smile and went over to his other side, his Blaine-free side, and took his hand and stroked it slowly. "Hey boo." She said softly, watching the oxygen mask over his face fog up every time he exhaled. That was comforting in a way. At least he was still breathing. He was still there with them.

But as she continued to take him in, as she took in every scratch, every bruise, every cast, every wire, the tears got harder and harder to blink away. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to feel like death was the only option for him. He deserved happiness…not a hospital bed. She felt his cold hand, limp in her own, and she felt her heart breaking even more.

Every beep of the heart monitor machine seemed to take an eternity, and Mercedes found herself holding her breath every time it seemed to stop. Just when she thought it was the end, the next beep would sound and she would let out a soft sigh. She couldn't do this. She couldn't be here with Kurt like this. Kurt wasn't as quiet or as still as this. Kurt smiled all the time. Kurt exchanged annoyed looks with her when Rachel opened her mouth. They both squealed when a new line of spring fashion was released. They sang and danced along when they listened to music. Kurt wasn't still. He was never still. This wasn't Kurt.

"Kurt." She said, her voice threatening to break. "You have to wake up, okay? What am I supposed to do when the Betsey Johnson Spring Runway show comes on?" She asked, smiling through her tears. "You have to help me choose what jewelry goes with which bag, then you have to convince my mom that I need another bag. And Finn's homework isn't going to do itself. Rachel's clothes won't make fun of themselves…and your dad…." Her voice broke and she bowed her head, her forehead touching the cool sheets on the hospital bed. "Your dad would die without you…."

Her sobs filled the room, and soon Blaine's strangled crying mingled with them. Kurt didn't hear anything. He simply laid there, eyes clothes, soft breathing filling the room, gone to the world.

Through some very strong convincing arguments that involved threatening to rearrange the doctor's face, Burt managed to stay after visiting hours were over. Carole, Mrs. Jones, Finn and Mercedes all went out for dinner to get their minds off of this horrific event, though it took a lot of prying to get Mercedes to let go of Kurt. "He needs rest. I promise I'll call you if anything happens." Burt told her, squeezing her shoulder gently. Mercedes watched Kurt for a moment more, as if watching him would make him wake up faster. But when he stayed the same, she nodded slowly. "Okay..." She leaned over and kissed his forehead, whispered for him to please get better soon, then left.

Burt looked over to Blaine, who was sitting in the same hunched over position he had been all afternoon, and sighed a little. "I'll drive you home, kid."

Blaine looked over, his eyes wide, and he shook his head quickly. "N-No. Please let me stay. I don't want to leave him."

Burt shook his head. "You have school tomorrow, and your parents-"

"My parents are fine with it." Blaine lied quickly. "I called them earlier."

"Kid, you haven't left this room all day."

Blaine was quiet, looking back to Kurt and gripping his hand a little more. "…please let me stay. I can't…can't leave him." Tears formed in his eyes again. The thought of being away from Kurt, now that he was in such a fragile state, would kill Blaine. What if something happened and he was stuck in Westerville? What if he missed an important call from Burt or Finn because of class or rehearsal? He would never forgive himself if he left Kurt in his dire time of need. Especially because it was all his fault.

Blaine looked back over to Burt, and Burt saw the desperation in the kid's eyes. He knew Blaine was really important to Kurt, and he had to be even more so now that they were dating. And if Kurt did happen to wake up and Blaine wasn't there, Burt would never hear the end of it. Burt smiled a little at the thought of Kurt yelling at him for being mean to Blaine.

Burt sighed softly, taking his cap off and rubbing his head slowly. "Alright. Just make sure you let someone know you're here. If you need to go home, I can take you no problem."

Blaine nodded quickly. "Thank you."

Burt nodded slightly, looking back to his son. He looked so small, just lying there, all broken up. His heart ached. Why would Kurt want to do this to himself? What happened? Burt knew that something had happened when Kurt stopped dressing in his usually fashion-forward outfits, but Burt didn't know how bad it was. Once Kurt woke up, Burt was going to get some answers. Kurt wasn't going to keep him in the dark anymore. Burt was going to fix this.

"You want some coffee or anything, kid?" He asked.

Blaine glanced over, and Burt thought he saw a hint of a smile, but it faded away quickly and Blaine nodded. "A medium drip, please."

Burt nodded and stopped slightly, glancing back to his son once more. "…take care of him for me." He said softly. A cold chill ran down Blaine's spine as he heard this, then heard the footsteps fade away from the room.

Blaine watched the boy, almost motionless in the bed. His hand gripped Kurt's limp hand gently. "The touch of fingertips is as sexy as it gets." Blaine recalled Kurt telling him once. Except now, it was anything but. Now, Blaine was just trying to anchor Kurt to earth, trying to keep him here, alive.

"Don't worry." He mumbled, squeezing Kurt's hand gently. "I'll take care of you, Kurt. Even if that means letting you go. Even if it means letting Dave have you." He smiled bitterly, and he leaned down to whisper in Kurt's ear, "If you wake up, swear I'll make Wes and David give you all the solos." He chuckled softly at the horrid joke, then pressed his lips tenderly to kiss the curve of Kurt's ear.

"I'll let you out of the cage I put you in." He said soberly. "Just…please wake up."

He pulled back and watched Kurt. He didn't wake up. His eyes didn't flutter. He didn't miraculously get better in the span of five seconds. He just laid there, a heart monitor keeping track of his beating heart.

Blaine shut his eyes tightly. He bowed his head and sighed softly. Why was he such an idiot? Why did he have to be a blind jerk? Why couldn't he have just given Kurt what he wanted when Kurt admitted his feelings for him? Why did he have to keep jerking Kurt around? Why did he kiss him and then tell him not to tell Rachel? Why did he tell Kurt to blend in? Why did he try to change Kurt?

He flinched when he heard footsteps, and turned around slightly, expecting Burt to be there with the coffee. Instead, he found himself locking eyes with Dave Karofsky, who had stopped dead in his tracks in the doorway at the sight of Blaine. The football player had a strap across his chest, and when Blaine tilted his head slightly to the side, he could see the neck of a guitar peeking over Dave's shoulder. Neither boy said anything for a long moment. Dave's eyes flickered over Blaine and Kurt's hands together, and Blaine saw a flash of anger dance across his features. Both boys opened their mouths at the same time.

"What the hell are you doing here?"