Chapter 12

As April evolved into May, spring was on the way to "becoming the summer". Days were warmer and growing longer, spring flowers were fading away to make way for summer blooms, and it seemed as though everybody wanted to be outside after their winter hibernation.

Blaine had been hired as "Fiyero", and he and Rachel were having a grand time working together again. They had great onstage chemistry because of their long-standing friendship, and (unbeknownst to Rachel) Noah could breathe a small sigh of relief knowing that his girlfriend's leading man was gay.

Rachel's and Noah's feelings grew with each passing day. Sure, there were disagreements; no relationship is without road bumps. For instance, one afternoon they attended a baseball game where several of the women present were apparently former "booty calls" (of Noah's); although he politely declined, two of them not-so-subtly slipped their phone numbers to him while looking disdainfully at Rachel. Discarding the offending information immediately did little to appease Rachel, who felt slighted that he accepted their offerings rather than deferring to her as his girlfriend and politely but firmly rejecting them upfront. Then, there was the time that Rachel all but ignored him when a group of fans spotted them in a restaurant and she did little to dissuade their attention, playing the "star card" and considering their feelings ahead of his.

Still and all, most of their issues were short-lived and successfully resolved. Both of them were happy in the relationship and, although it hadn't been discussed, both were looking toward the future, weighing out next steps, considering theirs to be a long-term partnership.

It was a lovely May evening; the theater was full and the audience enthusiastic. Rachel had completed "Defying Gravity" and was currently resting offstage between acts, sipping lemon water and readying herself for the costume change prior to her next entrance. The stage manager approached her with a note: "Rachel, this guy asked for you and said you should call…said it was kinda important." She glanced at the piece of paper, which read "Sam Evans 555 678-3123". Rachel gasped and her heart began racing; Sam had never called before, so it must…oh no, it can't be… Rachel asked for a telephone and the man lent her his cell phone. Hands shaking, Rachel placed the call.

"Hello?" Sam answered.

"Sam, it's Rachel Berry. Is everything OK?" she asked, trying hard to remain composed.

"Rachel, there's been an accident…" Rachel audibly gasped, and, although her instinct was to break out sobbing, she remained relatively composed, if for no other reason than to keep her makeup intact. She took a deep breath. "Sam," she pleaded, "please tell me what happened."

"There was a big warehouse fire in Queens," Sam began. "They called in additional trucks for backup; ours was one of them."

"Go on," Rachel encouraged.

"They thought somebody was trapped on the second floor, and Puck was on his way up when the steps gave way," Sam described the accident.

"Oh my G-d," she quietly interjected. "What happened? Is he OK?"

"They just came back with the X-ray results; he's very lucky," Sam confided. "His left arm's broken pretty bad, he cracked a couple 'a ribs, and his left leg's broken, too. There was some smoke inhalation and they think he may have a concussion. We're still waiting on a CAT scan for his head."

Rachel thought briefly before asking, "Will he need surgery?"

"For his arm, yeah," Sam admitted, "the leg will need to be immobilized until it heals. He's in the ER right now. He's pretty drugged-up, so he's kinda out of it; I'm here, and Artie's with him."

"I'll be there as soon as the show is over," Rachel confirmed.

"OK, we're at New York Hospital Queens. Ask for Artie Abrams; he'll take care of you."

"Thanks, Sam," she replied somberly, "I'll see you soon."

"Thanks, Ben," Rachel said, handing the phone back to the stage manager, who was looking concernedly at her. "I assume you heard?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Anything I can do?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you," she replied. "I would appreciate it if you would arrange to have a taxi waiting for me when the show is over…and please make sure it's away from the stage door."

"I'll take care of it, Rachel," he confirmed.

"And…please let Summer know that she'll be performing tomorrow night," she added as an afterthought.

"Sure, Rachel; I'll tell her," he promised.

Rachel sat dumbfounded in the chair. What if it was worse than Sam had let on? What if the head injury was more severe than they anticipated? Was he in a lot of pain? Her head was spinning as these thoughts swirled in her brain. All she wanted to do was to run out now, but she knew that it would be unfair to the audience; after all, "the show must go on".

"Rach," Blaine tapped her on the shoulder, "don't you need to get changed?"

She looked at him distractedly, answering, "Yeah, Blaine, you're right." As she stood up, he noticed her hand trembling.

"Rachel, honey, what's wrong?" he concernedly asked.

"Oh, Blaine, she moaned, trying again not to cry, "Noah's been in an accident."

"Is he OK, Rachel?" he queried.

"Sam said he needs to have surgery. Oh, Blaine," she moaned, holding back her tears, "I want to be there, now, but I can't leave until the show's over."

"I'm sure he's in excellent hands, Rachel," Blaine reassured her, "and you know I'm here for you."

"Thank you, Blaine," she replied, giving him a careful hug (so as not to muss their costumes or makeup).

"Any time, Rach," he avowed. With a heavy heart, Rachel hastily entered her dressing room, where her dresser assisted her in the costume change.

Rachel went through the rest of the performance on auto-pilot. For the sake of the audience, she tried to stay "in the moment", but her mind kept sliding back to the man she loved, lying in pain in a hospital bed. Blaine would give her hand a gentle squeeze when he could, as if to assure her that everything was going to be alright. Rachel breathed a sigh of relief as the last scene ended and the cast took their curtain calls. Performance complete, Rachel made a beeline for her dressing room, quickly stripping off her costume and wig and donning her street clothes. Removing her makeup could wait; her main concern was to get to the hospital without being detained by fans. She picked up her tote bag (purse inside), shut off the light, and sought out the stage manager, who would guide her to where the cab was waiting.

Rachel gave the directions to the cab driver; if he was taken aback by his green passenger, he gave no indication. She called Larry (the dog walker), explaining the situation, and asking if he would walk the dog that evening and stop by in the morning to do the same thing. As she was going to call Sam, her phone "pinged", indicating she had received a text message. Apparently, Santana had learned what happened from Kurt (who had been filled in by Blaine), and she volunteered to spend the night so Maisie would not be alone. Rachel gratefully accepted her help, told her she would text when there was any news, and was finally able to call Sam, informing him she would be at the hospital in 20 minutes.