A/N: I apologize that I don't get to update and post as much as I would like. I am chugging along on my story, and while I have major plot points in my mind, getting everything together takes longer than one would think. I sincerely appreciate everyone who returns to this story to read or review.
The Lima County Hospital was buzzing with activity Thanksgiving weekend. The Glee kids staked out various areas in the visitors lounge, waiting for any news regarding Mike's condition. By now all everyone had heard what had happened to Mike, and it was unofficially decided that plans were being put on hold for the rest of the evening.
"I got everyone hot chocolate from the cafeteria," Santana announced, doling out Dixie cups of liquid. "It's cold and looks awful, but it's better than nothing."
Quinn readily accepted the drink, reading her Blackberry with her free hand. She was making a conscious effort to update McKinley students on Mike Chang's condition.
Across the hall, Puck was engaged in combat with a vending machine in an effort to secure himself a free chocolate bar. Through a combination of swift kicks and slams, he was determined to obtain his prize.
"Fifth time's the charm," Puck called out victorious, holding his candy up for all to see. Puck took a seat on the sofa next to Quinn. "Any change with Mike's condition?"
Mercedes shook her head. She had opted to stay close to the nurse's station, so that she could hear the hospital news.
Will and Emma were trading off jobs with one of them staying with the Changs while the other waited with the Glee kids in the lobby. Emma Pillsbury pulled her knitting out of her purse and was manically going through the motions in an effort to keep herself busy.
"What exactly are you making?" Kitty asked, lounging across another sofa.
"It's going to be a sweater for Mike, when he gets out of the woods."
"Are you sure that's going to happen?" Brittany asked nervously. "I mean, are you psychic or something Ms. Pillsbury?"
"No Brittany, I am not psychic," Emma replied wearily. "I just have faith."
"I think we could all use that," Mercedes whispered. "I was talking to Mike on the phone last week and he was fine, just fine. I just can't believe that now he's…"
Artie sent Mercedes a silencing look while he tried to comfort Tina on the loveseat. Tina, out of all the Glee kids, was taking the news the hardest.
"Has anyone seen Blaine?" Quinn asked.
Kurt, who was trying to watch TV with Sam, flinched at his former boyfriend's name.
"I think he went to the diner across the street to get some actual human food for everyone," Santana responded, pulling black nail polish out of her purse.
Marley, Jacob, Unique and Ryder were involved in card game on the carpet. "Do you guys think Mike will actually die?" Marley whispered.
Unique shook her head. "I hope not. I've seen his dance moves on YouTube, and that boy can really move."
"Is that all you're thinking about?" Quinn snapped, overhearing the conversation. "Whether or not he can dance again?"
"Quinn, that wasn't what I meant…" Unique struggled to explain herself but felt tongue-tied against the domineering blonde.
"Lay off, Quinn," Puck warned.
"I don't see why they came here. They didn't even know him."
"We have just as much a right to be here as anyone else," Jake said defensively, standing to see Quinn eye to eye. "And if you have a problem with it then you can just…"
"Stop!" Emma shouted, causing all eyes to turn to her. "I will not have fighting in this room. If you have an issue, take it outside!"
"I've never seen Ms. Pillsbury so angry," Sam whispered to Kurt.
"She's right," Mercedes pointed out, her arms crossed over her chest. "Mike wouldn't want us fighting like this, and for all we know, he could pull through."
"If anyone can pull through, he will," Artie said confidently.
Finn stretched one arm around Rachel, who was sleeping on his shoulder.
"Is there any news?" Rachel murmured.
"Nothing in the last hour," Finn said gently. "Why don't you go back to sleep?"
Rachel shook her head and stood up, her feet wobbly. "I can't sit anymore. I'm going for a walk."
"Let me go with you," Finn insisted, following her down the hall.
Brittany began to braid Tina's long dark locks. "You two can make all the Asian babies you want when he gets out of the hospital," Brittany pointed out in an attempt to cheer up her friend.
Tina finally let out a tiny smile. "When he gets out of this, things are going to be different. I won't let distance dictate our relationship. In less than a year, I'll be able to join him in Chicago…"
"Do you even know what you want to do there yet?" Kitty asked dubiously.
"That's beside the point," Tina insisted. "Mike and I get to have a second chance – how many other couples get to have that?"
"I hope you're right Tina," Mercedes said, resting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "This is a second chance for everyone. We shouldn't take it for granted."
Will came into the room, signaling to Emma that they could switch places. Will kissed Emma on the forehead.
"Is there any change?" Emma asked in a low voice.
Will hopelessly shook his head. "The doctors are saying that anything could happen but…" Will pulled Emma into the hallway. "They've told the Changs to be prepared to say their goodbyes, just in case."
Emma covered her mouth. "No."
Will pulled her into an embrace. "Would you rather stay with the kids in the lounge?"
Emma shook her head. "The Changs need both of us," Emma told herself firmly, waving goodbye to Will.
Blaine walked down the hallway, armed with bags of food from the local diner down the street. "I brought actual food, Mr. Schue."
"That's great," Will nodded, holding back a sniffle.
"Would you make sure that Kurt gets this bag?" Blaine asked, holding up a small white bag. "It's his favorite cheeseburger with all the toppings."
"You don't want to give it to him yourself?"
Blaine shook his head. "Kurt and I…well…we're having a really big fight," Blaine explained, lying through his teeth. "And I don't want to cause a scene or anything. If no one minds, I think I might head home."
Will shook his head, resting his hand on Blaine's shoulder. "I think it's important for all of us to stay together tonight."
"Kurt's really upset with me. I don't think it would be a very good idea for me to stick around."
"Mike's in bad shape, and he may not make it," Will said slowly. "You're the first one, other than Emma who knows this. I don't know what's going on with you and Kurt, but I do know that it would be good for the group if we all stayed together here."
"I didn't realize it was so bad for Mike," Blaine stammered. "Of course I'll stay." Will hugged Blaine and the two began to deliver food to the people in the lounge. Blaine was careful to avoid Kurt's gaze, opting to play cards with the underclassmen.
Around another corridor, Rachel was now pacing the floor.
"I don't want you getting worked up over this," Finn said gently.
"Mike is lying in a hospital bed on the verge of death," Rachel said, exasperated.
"I meant the other thing," Finn explained, reaching for her hand. "About Kurt and Blaine."
Rachel's body stiffened. "You know about that?"
Finn nodded his head. "While you were talking to Kurt in the school, I was talking to Blaine."
"What did he have to say for himself?" Rachel demanded to know, placing her hand on her hip. "Because there is nothing that someone could say after what he did."
"He made a mistake."
"Just a mistake!" Rachel blinked her eyes. "How can you say that?" Her voice displayed the ache, pain, and exhaustion that she had been keeping to herself ever since high school. Rachel slumped down on the floor, and Finn took a seat next to her.
"Rachel, you don't know everything that's been going on in Kurt and Blaine's relationship. I've been writing to Blaine over the past several months – it's been part of my way of staying in touch with Glee club. And he's been lonely here without Kurt, the whole long distance thing has been really hard on both of them."
Rachel shook her head. "You can't blame long distance as an excuse to cheat." Rachel wiped a tear from her eyes. "What does that say about us?" she asked frightened.
Finn pulled Rachel onto his lap. "We are not Blaine and Kurt, and we are not Tina and Mike. But we all make mistakes. Blaine knew what he did was wrong. He was lonely and in a weak moment, and rather than lie to Kurt and pretend that nothing happened, he told the truth."
Rachel rested her head on Finn's shoulder. "Things will never be the same. You know that."
"Mike is going to pull through, and Kurt and Blaine…well I've heard a lot of smart people say that time heals all wounds."
Rachel let out a small laugh. "After talking to Kurt, I know that it's going to take a lot of time before those two can be civil towards each other."
Finn kissed Rachel's hand. "I want you to remember that you're still Blaine's friend – he's our friend. What happened between him and Kurt – you can't let that destroy a good friendship."
Rachel nuzzled Finn's neck. "The Army seems to have made you smarter."
"Maybe it has," Finn agreed. "I know you don't like hearing this, but I love being there."
"I can tell; I saw how proud you were at your graduation from basic training. The way you talk about what you're doing in your letters – well the little information that I get anyway."
"I don't want to bore you with details," Finn laughed, kissing the side of her head. "We are in a good place."
Rachel looked up at Finn. "Yeah we are," she agreed, leaning in for a kiss only to be interrupted by Santana.
"Ugh, would you two love birds quit trying to get it on. You're making me sick."
"Hello to you too Santana," Finn replied with annoyance as Rachel crawled back onto the floor.
"How's Mike?" Rachel asked.
"Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury are being strangely quiet; my psychic Mexican third eye tells me that things are going really well or really bad."
"If Mike was doing well, wouldn't they say something?" Finn asked.
"Maybe they don't want to get our hopes up too soon," Rachel pointed out.
"I also came to return this." Santana pulled Rachel's phone out of her purse.
"That's mine!" Rachel grabbed the phone, fixing Santana with an icy glare.
"Touchy, touchy; there wasn't anything that great on there anyway."
"You read my phone!" Rachel looked to Finn for backup.
"Relax Berry; it's what I call research. I thought maybe there'd be a clue about Mike's condition – but there wasn't. You do have an awful lot of text messages from a certain stalker named Brody Weston…"
"Thanks Santana!" Rachel shouted. "Maybe you could find someone else to snoop on."
"I probably could," Santana smirked, walking off.
Rachel clicked through her text messages, steam coming out of her ears. "I cannot stand that girl. I don't care how close we seemed at our high school graduation, it must have been a fluke!"
Finn placed his hand on top of Rachel's. "Who is this Brody Weston guy and why is he stalking you with texts?"
Rachel shook her head. "He's Ms. July's teacher assistant, and one of my few friends at NYADA."
Finn nodded his head, not entirely convinced.
"I'm sure I've mentioned him in at least one of my letters to you."
"I'm sure you have – there's been so many, I must have forgotten about him."
"He's not that important," Rachel insisted. "Hardly worth mentioning – and he is not stalking me. I think he just wants to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving."
"How many times?" Finn asked curiously.
Rachel opened her mouth to speak, but the ringing of her phone cut her off. The name Brody Weston appeared on the screen.
"Take the call," Finn told her. "Maybe he'll stop calling and texting."
Rachel picked up the call. "Hello….wait, what….? How did this happen….are you sure….? Are you really sure…? Oh!" Rachel hung up the phone without saying goodbye. "Finn, you will never believe this!" Rachel was now beaming from ear to ear, her feet jumping off the ground. "I'm going to perform in the Winter Showcase at NYADA, personally selected by one Carmen Tibideaux, dean of admissions. I got a Golden Ticket, and there are only ten golden tickets given out each year and hardly ever to freshmen!" Rachel squealed.
"So you're performing in a winter concert?" Finn asked.
"Not a concert – a showcase; I will get exactly two solos, after not performing on campus all year, and all eyes will be on me – me!" Rachel shouted with glee.
"Done?" Finn asked.
"Yes." Rachel laughed.
"Good." Finn pulled Rachel in for a long, deep kiss, any mention of Brody Weston gone.
"We should tell the others about the good news," Finn said between kisses. "Everyone could use some good news right now."
Rachel agreed, linking her arms with Finn.
"There you two are," Emma came out to greet them, her eyes filled with tears. "The Changs want everyone to come up to see Mike, come up and say goodbye."
"Goodbye?" Rachel repeated, her body deflating.
Emma nodded her head, leading them to the elevator.