Nick opened his eyes slowly, trying to keep his breathing slow so that he wouldn't wake the sleeping boy holding him. He was in more pain than he could have thought possible. He refused to complain even a little though. All of this was his own fault and he wasn't going to put Jeff through knowing that his pain was intolerable. He looked up at Jeff, who was leaning his head back to sleep. Jeff had worry lines on his face and Nick slowly reached up to touch his cheek, realizing how odd it felt to pull on the IV drip. Jeff's face relaxed a little at the touch and Nick smiled.

Not only was Jeff missing school to stay with him, he had fought his parents and the hospital to be able to come, and his mother had been so great when she visited. Unlike Nick, Jeff's parents were totally fine with his sexual orientation. In fact, when he had come out to them, his father had joked that he would need to start scouting the all-boys schools in the state. Of course, Nick had always had a little jealousy for Jeff in that regard, especially when his parents threatened to send him to "Get Straight" camps. Nick frowned, but looked up when he heard a small knock on the door. Jeff shifted a little, but didn't wake up.

"Good morning, honey. Get some rest?" Jeff's mom walked in the door with a small bag that he assumed was for Jeff until she set it on the end of his bed and started to unzip it. He nodded and smiled at the woman who was being a better mother to him than his own mother had ever been. "Good. I brought some things for both of you. I know it must be incredibly boring, so I brought Jeff's favorite book, some word search puzzles, a Nintendo DS that was sitting in Jeff's room, and some cards. I hope it'll help." Nick just looked at her completely speechless. "I hope you don't mind me stopping by." She looked down nervously, but Nick reached out to her hand slowly.

"Thank you so much. For everything. It means a lot." His voice was raspy and it hurt to talk. He gulped down some water that was on the table and tried to continue. "I'm so glad you're visiting." Jeff's mom smiled and squeezed his hand gently, then looked up at Jeff.

"That boy could sleep through a tornado, I swear. How long has he been out?" She looked back to Nick, who smirked.

"I think he fell asleep shortly after I did the second time, so maybe midnight. I don't want to wake him though. He hasn't slept much, even before I got in the hospital." He looked up at Jeff again and shook his head. "I don't think I know the last time he slept through the whole night."

"I'm worried about him. He seems stressed. I think Dalton may be a little tough for him, though he won't admit it. He likes a challenge. Says life would be boring without one. His father and I spoke last night about maybe transferring him to the public school a few miles away." Nick looked up in shock. She squeezed his hand again, hoping to calm him down. "Oh, don't worry. We decided it would only be necessary if his grades were poor. I wouldn't take him away from you." Nick blushed and felt Jeff move a little bit. They stayed quiet until Jeff seemed to be comfortable again. "I have to go to work. I just wanted to drop those things off. His dad will be by on his lunch break, and I'll be back after work if you'd like. Just tell us if we get to be a pain okay?" Nick nodded, smiling brightly. He wanted them around as much as possible. He hated sounding selfish, but they were the closest things he had to parents right now.

Jeff's mom got up, waved, and left the room quickly. Nick settled back against Jeff.

"I am so good at fake sleeping." Nick was startled to heard Jeff's voice, slightly rough from sleep, but definitely a normal volume.

"How long have you been awake?"

"About thirty minutes. I woke up right when you did. I can't actually rest when you're in pain." He reached over to the call button, pressed it, and kissed Nick's forehead. "Don't try to be brave. You're in pain and you need medicine." Nick nodded and Jeff got off of the bed, right when a nurse came in.

"How can I help you?"

"He needs some more relief."

"Of course. The doctor will be in shortly to give it to him. Unfortunately, I've been told not to give him anymore until then. We can get you some food while you wait, though."

Nick thought for a moment. "Do you have pancakes?"

The nurse smiled. "Sure. I'll send some up." She left the room and Jeff looked furious.

"What the hell? They can give you medicine. I watched them give you tons all day yesterday, what's a little more gonna do? That doctor is going to…"

"Jeff. I'm fine. The doctor will be here soon. I can deal with it." He winced as he tried to shift to a sitting position.

"No you can't. You shouldn't have to. You shouldn't have to feel pain at all. That's why you're here."

"I really can handle it. How about you take a break, go get some breakfast? I'll wait here." Nick winked and Jeff smirked. He grabbed some clothes from his bag and started to walk towards the bathroom.

"Fine. I'm only going to go for ten minutes though. That won't leave you enough time to die on me or anything."

"I'm not going to die. Just go eat something." They smiled at each other before Jeff went into the bathroom to change and freshen up. Nick gasped in pain when he leaned back too fast and Jeff opened the door, not wearing a shirt, toothbrush in his mouth. He held his thumb up, obviously asking if Nick was okay and he nodded with a grimace. Jeff shook his head, walked into the bathroom, then walked back out, pulling his shirt on.

"You aren't very good at convincing me you're okay, you know." Jeff brushed the hair out of Nick's face. He really needed to get it cut, but school and Warblers had made him so busy, he didn't have the time to make an appointment. Nick felt tears in his eyes when he felt a stinging sensation in numerous places all over his body. He took a deep breath and tried to hold back the tears, but one fell anyways. Jeff wiped it away. "I love you. I wish I could make all of this better for you." Jeff was trying to be strong, but it was hard watching the boy he loved go through so much. "I think I'll stay here and share your pancakes." He rubbed Nick's arm gently, making sure to avoid the bruise that spread across his elbow where it nearly broke. Nick just sighed and nodded, leaning back and trying to relax until he got breakfast or the doctor came in. He felt a headache coming on. He also felt a little nauseous. Before he realized what was happening, his vision went blurry and he started to shake. He heard Jeff yelling his name, but he blacked out moments later, giving in to whatever was happening to him.

He woke up God knows how much later. He felt someone holding his right hand, but he also felt someone holding his left hand, which he found odd. He blinked his eyes open carefully, immediately looking to Jeff who had red eyes and tear tracks down his cheeks. Nick squeezed his hand and he wiped at his face a few times, trying to look like he wasn't a complete mess.

"What happened?" Nick's voice was barely more than a whisper. He turned to the person on his left, and was shocked to see Jeff's dad smiling gently at him.

"You had a seizure about three hours ago. Do you remember anything, bud?" Jeff's dad reminded him a lot of Mr. Hummel, Kurt's dad. He was more of businessman, always dressed in a suit, but he had the same caring nature that Mr. Hummel did and he found it relaxing and touching. Jeff looked up at Nick, hoping he would be able to remember something.

"I felt like a migraine was starting and I felt sick and then I started shaking." Jeff looked down at his lap and Nick saw a tear fall. "I blacked out after that. Am I okay now?" Just then, the doctor walked in and looked at Nick.

"Nice to see you awake. You gave us quite a scare. Thought we might have lost you for a minute there." Nick looked at Jeff. That explained why Jeff was a mess. "We called your parents to let them know about your seizure and its affects. They will be back next week as long as nothing else too serious happens. We're pretty certain that this is a one-time occurrence. How are you feeling right now?" The doctor pulled a stool to Nick, checking his pulse and blood pressure.

"I feel like I'm in a lot of pain, but nothing different than before." His voice was still quiet. The doctor wrote a few notes on his clipboard and stood up.

"I think everything checks out normal. If it happens again, we'll do an MRI to make sure there wasn't any permanent damage done. If you feel like it might happen again, tell us immediately." The doctor moved the stool where it belonged and headed towards the door. "I have to check on another patient who isn't looking too good. If you need something, press the button." He left the room and Nick sighed.

"You should probably get some rest, Nick. Your brain needs to heal more I think." Nick didn't need to be told twice. He was already drifting back to sleep before Jeff's dad could even finish that sentence. He squeezed Jeff's hand before completely falling asleep again.

He awoke to voices in his room, one most definitely Jeff's, the other sounding a lot like Jeff's mom, but he couldn't be sure unless he opened his eyes. He didn't want to though, so he pretended to be asleep.

"Jeff, you can't let your grades drop. I know Nick is important to you, but missing this much school can't be good for your grades. He wouldn't want you to fail." He heard Jeff sniffle.

"Don't you even see that I don't care? I won't get better grades if I show up anyways. I'll be too worried about him to actually pay attention. I'm better off here. He won't be in here much longer."

"You heard the doctor. He'll be here for at least four more days unless some miracle happens. Even when he goes home, he'll have to be on bed rest for a week or more. You can't be the sole person responsible for him."

"I can and I will if that's what I have to do. Nothing is more important than him." Nick felt Jeff sit on the edge of his bed and squeeze his uninjured leg.

"Fine. Remember that when you're fighting for a passing grade in a few weeks' time." He heard a door slam and Jeff sniffled louder than the last time. He felt Jeff get up and the cot next to his bed creaked. Nick opened his eyes and yawned.

"Jeffy, what's wrong?" Jeff looked up, crying, and then looked back down, trying to wipe away his tears. "Come here." Jeff got up, looking at his feet. He sat on the very edge of Nick's bed. Nick pulled his close to him gently. Jeff tried to fight him, but he refused to let go. "Tell me what's wrong please."

"I'm just worried and stressed." He sniffled and then let out a silent sob. Nick rubbed his back and kissed the top of his head.

"About what?"

"Everything. You, mostly. School. Warblers. My summer job that's starting in a couple weeks."

"You shouldn't worry, especially about me. I'm going to be completely fine. Why are you so worried?"

"You had a seizure Nick! We were talking and suddenly you weren't! Do you know how scared I was?" He took a deep breath. "I have never been that scared in my life."

"I'm sorry I put you through that."

"Don't apologize for things you can't control."

"Fine. I just don't want you to worry anymore. I will be fine. I'll go home soon."

"Have you put any thought into where home is, Nick? The doctor seems to think it's with your parents. I don't want you with them. They won't help you. They'll end up leaving you alone with a maid if you're lucky."

"I was going to go back to Dalton."

"And do what?"

"I don't know. Stay in bed?"

Jeff laughed. "You do realize I wouldn't be able to go to class knowing you need help doing just about everything right?"

"I'm sure when they let me out I'll be able to do what I need to."

"Nick, you can't even pee by yourself."

They both laughed at this.

"True. I'm hoping that's just a short inconvenience." He smiled at Jeff, who was looking up at him, finally smiling. "I really don't want you to worry. In fact, you should go to school tomorrow." Jeff tried to interrupt but Nick shushed him. "I'll text you if I need you, I promise. You can't miss this much school for me. You can come back here after Warblers practice."

"I don't want to go to Warblers practice."

"Yes you do."

Jeff didn't know what to say. He really did want to. He knew singing would help him feel better about everything, but he really wanted to be able to be there with Nick, which was impossible.

"I want to be with you more, though."

"You can be after practice. The boys probably miss you a lot."

"They miss you too. They text me all day long." Nick smiled. Jeff's face suddenly lit up and he jumped out of the bed. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Stay right here."

"I don't really have an option, baby."

Jeff blushed and leaned down to kiss Nick's cheek. "I've got an idea. Be back soon."

He was out the door before Nick could get any details about his idea, which quite honestly scared him a little.