Jeff walked into his first class with his head low, trying to hide the fact that he hadn't slept more than a few hours in a long time. He didn't want to deal with anyone at all, so of course everyone stopped and asked how he was. He tried to be as polite as possible, but he really didn't have the patience or energy to have a conversation with people.

Saying goodbye to Nick was tough that morning. He had gotten up and ready before Nick was awake, but when he came out of the bathroom, Nick was trying to sit up, grimacing in pain. Jeff had spent the next twenty minutes making sure Nick had everything he needed, making sure Nick promised to call or text if anything happened, and touching him as often and as casually as he possibly could. Nick laughed quietly.

"Are you sure you won't forget to call or text?" Nick sighed at Jeff's tone.

"This is getting ridiculous. You're going to be late. No, I won't forget to call or text. Yes, I can reach everything I could possibly need for the next 10 hours. And if you touch my broken leg one more time, I swear to God I will kick you." Jeff slumped over and put his hands in his lap. Nick reached over and held one of his hands. "Hey." Jeff looked up and Nick saw the tears in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just worried that something will happen and I won't be able to get here fast enough."

"Nothing is going to happen. I would really love to accomplish using the bathroom on my own though. I promise to text if that happy event occurs." They both smiled at each other. Nick squeezed Jeff's hand in reassurance. "You really are going to be late. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll be here as soon as I possibly can." Jeff leaned over, kissing Nick carefully, noticing that even a small movement caused him to wince in pain. He pressed the call button before standing up and putting on his tie. The nurse walked in, checked everything, and increased his morphine drip. Nick thanked her and she left. Jeff grabbed his school bag that his mom had dropped off the night before and walked to the door. "I'll see you later. No more seizures, please."

"I'll try. See you soon." Jeff smiled one more time before leaving the room. He walked down the hall, waving to Dr. Avers on his way to Blaine's car waiting outside. Blaine had agreed to pick him up from the hospital the night before when he visited with Kurt. He opened the door and Katy Perry blared, almost hurting his ears after the dead silence of the hospital. He sat down and turned the music down, putting his head against the window and closing his eyes.

"Oh, I was unaware that they changed the rules. Last time I checked, driver plays their music at their volume." He laughed, hoping Jeff would crack a smile, but he didn't. Blaine got quiet and stayed quiet for the next few minutes. Finally, he spoke again. "How is he?"

Jeff looked over to Blaine and then back out of the window. "He's hoping to be able to pee by himself by the end of the day. You can look at that however you'd like."

Blaine laughed. "At least he has some goals."

"I suppose."

The rest of the ride was silent. It wasn't that awkward since it seemed that Jeff had fallen asleep. It only took a few more minutes to arrive at the school, where Kurt was waiting in the parking lot for them. He nudged Jeff gently and he jumped awake, checking his phone immediately.

"Whoa. Calm down. We're just at school."

"Sorry." Jeff opened the door and waved to Kurt, but continued walking into the school.

His classes passed uneventfully. When he got to lunch, he still hadn't heard from Nick, so he decided to call him from the bathroom. It rang four times before a strange voice answered.

"Hello? Jeff, is that you?"

"Yeah. Who's this?"

"This is Jamie. I'm Nick's nurse until three. Anything I can help you with?"

"I was just hoping to talk to him. How's he doing?"

"He was in a lot of pain earlier. We increased his morphine a little and it looks like he'll be sleeping for a while. Other than that, nothing's changed. Aren't you in school?"

"Yeah, but it's lunch."

"Go eat. He really will call if he needs to. I'll make sure of it."

"Okay. Thanks."

Jeff hung up, slightly disappointed that he couldn't talk to Nick, but relieved that he was getting some rest. He made his way to the table he usually sat at with all of the Warblers. They were discussing this afternoon's plans, which made Jeff smile despite missing Nick.

The rest of his classes went by slowly. He was extremely lonely without Nick sitting next to him. During his last class, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He jumped a little. He waited for the teacher to turn away and then reached into his pocket to read the text he received.

Just wanted to tell you I'm awake and fine. I love you. I can't wait to see you later.

Jeff smiled and replied quickly.

I love you too. See you with a surprise later. ;)

He put his phone away and smiled at the clock that was seemingly ticking faster.

Two hours later, Jeff met the Warblers in their hall and they all made their way to the bus that would take them to the hospital, where Nick was unaware of what was coming his way.

Once they arrived, they had to move quickly. Jeff had gotten permission from the hospital to do this, but they only had 30 minutes to finish putting it together. They all walked up the stairs to the floor where Nick was. Jeff stopped them when they were a few doors down from his room.

"I'm assuming you all practiced your parts yesterday, so it shouldn't be difficult to just join in with me once I start. Nick has no idea this is happening, he just knows he's got a surprise coming. Let's try not to shock him into cardiac arrest, okay?" The Warblers laughed, not realizing that Jeff was 100% serious. At this point, anything could happen and he didn't really like risking Nick's health for a romantic surprise, but he really needed to do it. They all got in the formation that was best and Jeff knocked on his door. He opened it when Nick answered and someone started the music.

Elevator buttons and morning air

Stranger's silence makes me wanna take the stairs

If you were here we'd laugh about their vacant stares

But right now, my time is theirs

Nick smiled widely at Jeff, and then started to feel tears in his eyes when all of the Warblers filed into the room. He had heard Jeff sing plenty of times, but never like this. He let the tears fall when Jeff reached the chorus.

So don't you worry your pretty little mind

People throw rocks at things that shine

And life makes love look hard

The stakes are high, the water's rough, but this love is ours

Nick could feel himself blushing as Jeff came to hold his hand.

And it's not theirs to speculate if it's wrong and

Your hands are tough but they are where mine belong in

I'll fight their doubt and give you strength with this song for you

They finished the song and Jeff wiped the tears falling from Nick's eyes.

"I love you, Nicky. I hope you don't mind that I brought Warbler practice to you today." Jeff was smiling and blushing because, wow, he had never done anything like that for anyone and he now remembered why. He had an okay voice, he just wasn't what most would call a performer. Once he saw Nick smiling though, he realized all embarrassment was worth it.

"Of course I don't mind." He stopped to cough. "Thank you guys. Especially, you." He looked back at Jeff. "I love you." Jeff leaned down and kissed him. The Warblers said "awwww" in unison. Jeff turned to glare at them, which made Kurt announce something to the whole room.

"Everyone out! We've done our job! Let's go back to school to finish practice!" Jeff sent him a stare that could only be described as thankful and Kurt nodded, smiling broadly. The Warblers all waved and left, but not before Jeff noticed David flirting with a nurse.

"David, go!" David jumped at his name being called, excused himself, and ran to catch up with the rest of Warblers. The nurse walked over to Nick.

"Looks like you've had an eventful day! Have you told Jeff your good news?" She started to check his vitals and Nick smiled, looking over to Jeff.

"I'm a big kid now! I can use the potty all by myself!" They both laughed at that and Jeff leaned over to hug him gently.

"Good for you! That's one step closer to getting the hell out of here!" Nick looked down and Jeff frowned. Something wasn't right. "What?"

The nurse noticed how quiet it got so she walked out of the room, saying she would finish in a little while.

"The doctor came to talk to me today about what will happen when I leave. Apparently, Dalton does not allow anyone back into the dorms until 48 hours after they are released from a hospital unless a parent stays with me, which means I have to go back to my house for at least two days." He sighed. "I talked with my mom on the phone and she said you weren't allowed to visit me there." He fought back tears as Jeff rubbed his arm gently, trying to calm him down.

"Two days won't be so bad, baby. That'll give me enough time to clean the room. I haven't cleaned it since everything happened, but I have made a mess." He tried to make Nick smile, but it didn't work. "Why are you so upset?"

"I can't go home. They'll just leave me there with the maid and I'll be lucky to even hear from them at all. I'd be better off at Dalton." He sniffled and tried to continue, but failed.

"If they aren't going to be there, I'll come stay with you. You only live twenty miles from the school. I'll just leave early and not go to Warbler practice."

"Wes would never allow that."

"He'll have to."

"Or?"

"Or I'll quit."

"No, you won't."

"I will. You are the single most important thing in my life. Everything else can be put on hold if it means taking care of you. I don't think you realize how much I truly love you."

Nick blushed. "How long have you felt this way?" He knew how long he had felt this way, but he didn't know how long Jeff had been keeping this to himself.

"Since that night you held me while I cried. Something just clicked. I realized a lot of stuff."

"Like what?"

"Like how I felt so amazing when I was with you. Like how I could talk to you about anything and you would listen. Like how adorable you were when you slept." Jeff looked at his lap. "Like how you looked at me with this look that just gave me hope that someday I could have you."

Nick smiled and touched Nick's cheek. "You know I realized my feelings for you about a week after you moved in. I really was confused, but you somehow made everything clearer."

Jeff leaned in to kiss Nick and was surprised when Nick pulled him close to him, kissing him passionately. He smirked and kissed him back as softly as he could, trying to avoid hurting him.

"I'm not going to break if you actually throw a little want in there." Nick winked at Jeff. "Just sayin'." Jeff kissed him on the forehead and moved to where his bag was.

"You're pretty fragile right now whether you realize it or not. I'm going to go change."

"You could change out here." Nick winked again and Jeff laughed.

"What kind of drugs are they giving you?"

"The good kind."

"Obviously."

Jeff walked into the bathroom, changed, brushed his teeth, and walked back into the room. Nick was sound asleep, snoring loudly. Jeff sat in the chair and started to read a book his mom had brought. The nurse came in, finished checking Nick's vitals, and then told Jeff that the doctor would be in soon for a final visit for the day.

He got so lost in reading that he didn't even notice when the doctor walked in hours later. Nick was still sleeping, but he was clearly in more pain. His face was wrinkled up and his hands were clenched into fists. The doctor immediately went to the morphine drip and increased it. He turned to Jeff.

"I really need to discuss something with you that's quite honestly going to suck for everyone here." Jeff gulped, putting his book down on the table. "Tomorrow, we have to start decreasing pain medication in preparation for Nick to go home. His morphine drip will be cut in half, which means he won't be doing much without being in pain. This is my least favorite part of the job." He patted Jeff's hand. "I know you'll be in school, but we're going to gradually start decreasing it around nine. By the time you get back, he'll almost be at halfway, and he won't be happy. We're going to discuss this with him in the morning of course. I just thought you should get fair warning." Jeff nodded. "I caught some of your performance earlier, by the way. You did a great job."

"Thanks. I was nervous."

"You looked like a natural. Don't give up on that. It could be a future for you."

Jeff blushed and thanked him before the doctor said goodbye. He picked up his book and tried to continue reading, but his thoughts were on the boy sleeping in the bed. Tomorrow would be one of the roughest days Nick's had yet and Jeff couldn't even be here for it. He put the book away and went to lay down on his cot, pulling the blanket over him while turning to face Nick. He closed his eyes and pretended this was all a nightmare and he would wake up to Nick in their dorm at Dalton.

Jeff woke to a gasp and he sat up quickly, immediately looking at Nick. His eyes were squeezed shut and his hands were in fists. Jeff looked at the clock: 10:07. That meant it had been an hour since the doctor would have started to cut back on the morphine. Nick heard the cot squeak and looked over at Jeff quietly. Jeff grabbed his hand.

"I guess I'm not going to school today."

"The doctor decided not to wake you up." He moaned a little in pain. "He figured you needed sleep."

Jeff sighed and peeled Nick's hands out of their fists. He held them both. "Anything I can do?"

"Just stay right here. It's only going to get worse." He coughed and then moaned in more pain. Jeff hated this, but he was sure Nick needed him more now than ever. He had to be strong.

Jeff tried singing to him, reading to him, massaging the places that weren't seriously injured. He even tried occupying his mind with card games, but nothing worked. By lunch time, the pain was so intense, Nick was crying and wincing at every small movement he made. Jeff just sat by his bed, hoping Nick might be able to tolerate this much easier soon. The doctor came in every hour to decrease the morphine, receiving glares from Nick and sending an apologetic look to Jeff. By three, Nick had finally passed out from exhaustion. He was sweating profusely and hadn't actually spoken in a couple of hours, too busy moaning in pain to speak. Jeff just sat there, trying to be strong. The doctor came in and looked at the morphine drip, decreasing it one more time.

"That is halfway. I have to say, he's done very well considering. I've had patients actually lash out at me or a nurse over this. This will be a rough night, but hopefully his body will be more used to all of the pain in the morning. I hope he can sleep this part off." The doctor sighed. "You've been so strong. I wouldn't blame you at all if you wanted to go in the bathroom right now and just relax or cry or something. He'll be fine for the next hour or so." Jeff nodded and the doctor left.

Jeff got up, went into the bathroom, and cried. He didn't know how long he was in there before he heard a yell in pain and he ran out to see if Nick was okay.

"I'm…fine…" Nick panted. Jeff held his hand and Nick winced. Jeff let go, but Nick pulled his hand close to him again. "No…I need…you."

"Okay. I'm right here." Jeff brushed the sweaty hair out of Nick's face. "I love you."

Nick squeezed his hand and didn't stop. "I love you."