Chapter Ten: Aftermath
Finn woke up before his alarm clock went over and rolled over in bed, expecting to find Rachel still asleep. Instead, he rolled over on top of a suitcase and a pile of clothes. "Rach?" he asked sleepily.
"Sorry. Did I wake you up?" she asked, turning around to look at him from where she was standing in front of her closet. "I thought I was being quiet."
"No, you're fine. I woke up on my own. What are you doing?"
"Well, I couldn't sleep so I made myself a cup of tea. And then I thought I should look over my speech for the conference Mercedes and I are going to and then that started stressing me out and I realized I hadn't even started packing and that started stressing me out so now I'm packing to avoid looking over my speech which is going to cause me stress."
Finn blinked a few times. "How long have you been up?"
"A few hours," Rachel said, pulling something out of the closet. "Do you think I should wear this for my speech?"
"Isn't Santana supposed to be the one to help you with this?"
"Well, she was but then she spent the night with Sam. Again, I might add. By the way, your phone was ringing earlier."
Finn rubbed his eyes again and reached out to grab his phone. He saw he had several unopened texts from his bookie and a missed call. His face lit up and he sat up in bed. "I gotta go," he said, walking over to where Rachel was standing. "I guess that's fine for the speech. Good luck at your conference. I'll see you when you get back," Finn said, kissing her cheek before he went downstairs to get his motorcycle helmet and shoes on to go get his bike back.
A few hours later, he rode up to the hospital on his bike and parked it next to Puck's car. "Oh no you didn't," Puck said, getting out of his car.
"Oh yes I did. I told you I'd buy it back," Finn replied, taking off his helmet.
"Rachel is not going to be happy."
"Rachel knows."
"Really? So she's cool with her baby daddy riding a donor-cycle?"
"No, I didn't say that. I said I told her I was gonna do it. Speaking of, does Quinn know that you're going to Dubai next month?"
"Not exactly. It hasn't come up."
"It hasn't come up because you haven't told her. Quinn is going to roast you."
"I'm just…waiting for the right time," Puck said, looking at Finn. "Oh, who am I kidding? I'm delaying because I know she's gonna be pissed. I don't blame her. But I have to go."
"Yeah, you do have to go. Ali saved your life. You owe him. You know it and so does Quinn."
"I'm just waiting for the right time to tell her."
"I don't know if there is a right time," Finn said, opening the door to the hospital.
When the two of them walked in, they heard a reporter on the TV talking about Kurt saving his colonel's life. "The assailant opened fire on military personnel and their families at a promotion ceremony. Eye witnesses report a local hero and active serviceman sprang into action and tackled the gunman to the floor. Doctor Kurt Hummel then courageously wrestled the gun out of his hands."
Sam turned his attention away from the TV and saw Kurt walking down the hallway. "Hey, San Antonio's own Superman!" he said as everyone started clapping.
"Not interested. Puck, what's coming in?"
"It's your call, Doctor Badass. Abdominal rupture, trauma one. Hemorrhoids, curtain three."
Finn reached for the abdominal rupture but Kurt grabbed it first. "So I get the hemorrhoids?"
"Not if you're careful," Puck said, handing Finn the clipboard. "Artie, there's a knee pain in the waiting room," Puck said, handing the clipboard to Artie who just showed up behind the nurses' station. He watched Artie walk off and turned to Finn. "Hey, Finn, do me a favor. With Rachel out at the conference, will you keep an eye on Artie tonight?"
"Yeah, of course," Finn said, walking off to help his patient.
Puck's phone started ringing and he reached into his scrubs pocket to pull it out. "Hey Simone. Wait, what's going on? Why?"
"Puck!" Santana called as she entered the ER with a patient. "32-year-old man with a deep laceration to the arm."
"Trauma two," he called back. "He just came in the door, I'll see you soon," he said over the phone. "Jesse, you're with me. Brent, what happened? How do you feel?"
"Stupid mostly."
"You know each other?" Santana asked.
"We live down the street from each other. What happened?"
"I was working at the diner and next thing I know I cut my arm."
"His pulse is 115, BP is 80 over 42. We started a saline bolus in the field."
"Simone's on her way," Puck said. "I guess you left her quite a message."
"Only that I was headed to the ER."
"So soothing," Puck said. "Heather, grab some O-neg from the bank. "We're gonna fix you right up, brother."
Artie walked into his patient's exam room. "I just checked with x-ray. Kaley is up next. Where is she?"
"She stepped out for a second," her mom said.
"I'm right here," Kaley said, hobbling into the room.
"I thought you said you needed to use the bathroom."
"I did. But…the vending machines was on the way."
"Kaley," her mother scolded. "I swear, I don't allow her to eat processed sugar."
"Sorry," Kaley said, getting into the hospital bed. "I'm just nervous. You know what getting into this play means to me."
"Don't be so hard on yourself."
"Well, how about we make sure you don't have to hobble onto the stage, okay?" Artie said. "I think it's because your tendonitis is flaring up. I'll give you a prescription for ibuprofen and we'll do the x-ray just to be safe."
Finn walked into the exam room and smiled. "Hi, I'm Doctor Hudson. Everything good here?"
"Yeah, I was just letting Kaley know that I think her tendonitis is coming back. The excess weight is putting pressure on her joints."
"We're working on our diet and trying to work out," her mother said.
"Excuse me, we're ready for the x-rays," Heather said, bringing in a wheel chair. "That is a cute dress," she said to Kaley.
"Thank you."
In Brent's trauma room, Santana was showing them what happened. "Someone else must have done it but it's spot on," she said.
"This is an Army tactical tourniquet. Chuck Norris here travels to bases all around the country training our troops," Puck said.
"Looks like I'm gonna be out of commission for awhile."
"Puck will fix you right up. I gotta go, I'm out on another call," Santana said.
"I feel like an idiot for calling 911. I tried to dry it myself but the arm wouldn't cooperate."
"You did the right thing. Treatment plan, Jesse?"
"Irrigate the wound and test for nerve and vessel damage. Suture the multiple layers, check for tetanus and prophylaxis and start antibiotics."
"Yes, after morphine. We want to make sure he's comfortable first."
"Simone is going to kill me," Brent said.
"Oh, that's right. Your wedding's in a few weeks."
"And I look like I just walked out of one of those Saw movies."
Mercedes and Rachel were on the road headed to the conference. "So, when I started my residency, on any given night, you would have half a dozen shootings, stabbings, a steady flow of crack addicts, I mean it was great. For learning," Rachel said, correcting herself quickly.
"Of course. For learning," Mercedes said. "No wonder you're so calm under pressure."
"To be honest with you, if you want to know what makes me not so calm, it's this speech I have to deliver in front of like half of my mentors. It's freaking me out."
"You'll do great," Mercedes said with a smile on her face. "Thank you so much for inviting me to this conference. Outside of you, it's hard to find good female role models when you're working the night shift."
"Tell me about it," Rachel said. She watched a motorcycle speed past them and she shook her head. "You're gonna meet a lot of great people."
Mercedes gasped when she noticed the rider lose control of his bike as he veered off the road. "Oh my god," she said, starting to unbuckle her seatbelt as Rachel pulled off to the side.
"Call 911."
The two of them started down the embankment. "There's still no reception," Mercedes said.
"Keep trying," Rachel said as she looked for the crash victim. "I see him!" She went over to where he was and checked for a pulse. "His pulse is weak. We need to roll him over and check his airway and his c-spine."
"I'll get the head if you get the side," Mercedes said. "One, two, three." They rolled him over and did a brief check. "C-spine is intact."
Rachel started to unbutton his shirt and saw blood spilling out from his abdomen. "Damn, this is bad. We need to stop the bleeding now."
"He needs to get out of here," Mercedes said, looking around for the best way to get him to a hospital.
Back at San Antonio Memorial, Finn and Sam were talking. "So, I see you got your Harley back," Sam said. "I thought Rachel would never allow that."
"Sam, I'm not sure how you handled your relationships but with Rachel—"
He was cut off by the elevator doors opening. "Help! Help!" Kaley's mom said.
"What happened?" Finn asked, running towards the elevators.
"I don't know, she just started seizing," Artie said.
"Sam, grab a gurney."
Back in Brent's room, he was coughing and Jesse was taking his temperature. "Temp is 103. And persistent cough."
"I've been fighting the flu for a couple of weeks. That's probably why I got lightheaded with the saw in my hands."
"Is the light bothering your eyes?" Puck asked.
"I wouldn't say bothering but I notice it."
"Any headaches?"
"Nothing I can't handle."
"Brent, it's me. No time to be a tough guy. I need to know if you have a headache or not."
Brent sighed. "Yeah. For a few weeks now."
Jesse and Puck shared a look. "I'd like to do a spinal tap," Puck said.
"Why?"
"Because a fever, headache and light sensitivity may indicate something much more serious than the flu."
"Temp is spiking. 104 and climbing," Jesse said.
"We need to do this now," Puck said as Brent sighed.
Outside the room, Finn, Artie and Sam were rushing to get Kaley to a room to stop the seizure. "Kaley, we're gonna turn you to your side to keep your airway unobstructed. Artie, get her 10 of diazepam."
"Did I miss something?"
"Knee pain doesn't usually cause a seizure but—"
"Seizure?" Kaley's mom said. "I don't know what happened! She just was fine."
"She's gonna be okay," Finn said.
Back in Brent's room, Puck was giving him the spinal tap. "Just hold still, brother. I know it's uncomfortable but you're doing great."
"I came as soon as I could," someone said, coming into the trauma room.
"Hey, Simone," Puck said.
"What the hell? My god, Brent, you said you just cut yourself."
"I did and they stitched me up good. I'm fine."
"If you can, could you just hold the discussion for a few more moments?" Puck asked.
"Well, sorry Puck, but there's a gigantic needle in his spine. What's going on?"
"Babe, let him do his job."
Puck pulled the needle out and handed it to Heather. "Take this to lab, please?"
"Of course."
"Alright, here's where we're at," Puck said as Brent laid back down. "We expect the arm to heal nicely. There wasn't any nerve damage from the saw. But you have symptoms of meningitis. We'll know for sure once we get the spinal tap results."
"Oh my god, that's serious, right?"
"It can be. But we've started him on antibiotics in case it's bacterial."
"In case?" Simone asked. "Are you guessing?"
"Simone, please," Brent said.
"Sorry if I'm concerned about the health of my soon-to-be-husband. Is that a crime?"
"No. But this can be any number of things. Let's get the labs first and we'll go from there," Puck said.
In the lobby, the reporter was still talking about Kurt on TV. "People say Kurt Hummel's heroics go further than the trauma room. In his personal life, Hummel cared for his boyfriend after a leg amputation."
Kurt grabbed the remote from the nurses' station desk and turned the TV off. "Don't they have any real news to report?"
"That was real news," Sam said. "You are a hero. People like knowing there's guys like you out there."
"Yeah, too many people. The last day and a half, I've had random guys cyber-hitting on me, women trying to convert me, some people trying to shame me out of the military."
"So now's probably not a good time to let you know that local TV channels are expressing interest in interviewing you."
"Tell them I'm not talking to anybody and I just want to be left alone," Kurt said, signing something one of the nurses handed him.
"I'm not trying to tell you as your secretary. I'm just telling you what they said."
Kurt shook his head and looked in the waiting room, seeing a picture of him and Blaine on the TV screen. He shook his head and called Blaine, going straight to voicemail. "Blaine, it's me. I don't know if you've seen the news but if you have, sorry you got dragged into this. I don't know how they got that picture of us, I don't know how they found out, but I hope you're well."
Finn walked over to where Kaley's mom was and started giving her an update. "So Kaley had what's called a grand mal seizure. But she's stable now."
"What could have caused that?"
"We won't know until we've run more tests," Finn said.
"Can I see her?"
"Yeah. Jocelyn? Can you join us?" Finn asked as they walked into Kaley's room, seeing her eating a large bowl of mac 'n' cheese.
"Honey, what are you doing?"
"I'm sorry, Mom. I can't stop. I'm starving."
"How can you still be hungry? You ate a full meal."
"Kaley, can I examine your stomach?" Finn asked.
"I don't know what to do," her mom said. "She just keeps eating, no matter what I do. What's going on?"
Outside of the waiting room, Kurt was sitting by himself, thinking about everything that had happened the last few days. He heard two kids start laughing. "Faggot," one of them said.
"Hey!" Kurt said, standing up as he walked into the waiting room.
"What did we do?" one of the kids asked.
"Watch your mouth." He glared at them as he walked and ran a hand through his hair.
Mercedes and Rachel folded down the backseats of her car and laid their crash victim on top of them. Mercedes jumped into the front seat and started driving as Rachel worked on him in the back. "Drive fast, Mercedes, he's bleeding like crazy," Rachel said. "Pupils are equal and reactive."
"That's a good sign."
"Hey, welcome back," Rachel said as the motorcyclist started to wake up.
"Where am I?"
"You were in an accident. Can you tell me your name?" Rachel asked as she tried feeling for any broken bones he might have.
"Joe. Joe Collins."
"Okay, Joe, I need you to stay with me. I'm Doctor Berry and that's Doctor Jones, driving us to the hospital. I'm gonna give you something for your pain."
"Good. Because it's killing me."
"Mercedes, look in my glove box, there should be Benadryl. Hand it to me and tell me why."
She reached into the glove box and handed her the box. "It's an antihistamine but it can be used as a local anesthetic. Do you need a syringe?"
"I've got one back here. If you inject it near the wound, it blocks the pain," Rachel said, doing that as she talked. "Joe, I'm sorry that's it's burning, but I need you to be strong so we can fix you. Can you do that for me?"
"There's still no reception and we're a good 40 miles away from the nearest hospital."
"Just keep flooring it," Rachel said.
In Kaley's room, Finn was typing something on the computer. "And you just feel like you can't stop eating? You're powerless?"
"Because I'm always starving."
"So you never feel full?"
"Not really. On a scale of one to ten, my hunger is a 20."
"I know what you're thinking," her mom said. "You see me overweight and think 'like mother, like daughter.' But I try to feed her fruits and vegetables."
Finn turned around and shook his head. "We're not thinking anything, ma'am."
"She started gaining weight when her dad and I spilt up. Her counselor at school thinks her overeating is a coping mechanism. We've tried everything: low-carb, no-carb, Zone…"
"Well, it sounds like you're doing everything right," Finn said. "We're only asking these questions so we can try and help Kaley."
"Any illnesses or surgeries?" Artie asked.
"No. She's always been a really healthy kid. Actually, she has her dad's body. He's thin. And then a few years ago, she started getting bigger."
"She's trying to say that's when I morphed into fatty pork chops."
"Please, Kay, don't talk about yourself that way."
"Yeah, you really shouldn't."
"Let's just stick to the task at hand, which is trying to figure out why Kaley had her seizures," Finn said. "We're gonna run some blood work and an MRI and we'll work it out.
"Where do I know you from?" one of the homeless patients asked Kurt as he was doing an exam on him.
"Well, you've been in here a dozen times over the past couple of years so I'd start with that," Kurt said.
"No, that's not it," he said, thinking for a moment. "Wait, you're that guy!"
"Yeah, I'm a guy. Open up."
"No, that guy that kicked that other dude's ass when he was shooting at people. Right? Am I right? I know I'm right."
"Sir, you're right," Kurt said. "Just stick out your tongue so we can finish the exam."
"Actually, can I have another doctor?"
"Why do you want another doctor?" Kurt asked, taking a step back.
"I don't feel comfortable having a gay dude touch me. Nothing personal. It gives me the heebie-jeebies."
"Let me get this straight. You, a homeless drug addict, has a problem with me touching you."
"Yeah. I don't want you near my junk."
"You have a sore throat. I'm not going anywhere near your junk."
"I want a new doctor."
"Fine. I'll put you back in the queue," Kurt said taking off his gloves.
He walked into a locker room and shut the door. He took a deep breath and turned around, pulling a shelf down to let out his anger.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Sam asked, coming into the locker room. "Kurt, what's going on, man?"
"No good deed goes unpunished. You try to do something good and the media – they just grab it and spoil it."
"What are you talking about?"
"I just got kicked out of an exam room by a homeless guy. Because he didn't want a gay doctor touching him. I treated that guy thousands of times and didn't have a problem with it. But now that he knows…"
"He's just one deluded junkie," Sam said, putting the shelf back up.
"It's not gonna be just one guy. There's gonna be more. You know it. I'm just a gay doctor to everyone."
"So?"
"How'd you like to be the male nurse?"
"I am a male nurse. And?"
Kurt sighed and sat down on one of the benches. "I just want my privacy back. I want my life back and I don't want any part of this."
"Look, Kurt, I know you're a private guy, but I'm sorry. That ship has sailed. Ever since you came out last year, it's like you got one foot still in the closet."
"What are you some kind of expert now?"
"I am when it comes to one of my best friends. You gotta stop hiding behind this privacy thing and step up and use this opportunity to let people know who you are."
"That's not who I am!"
"This is who you are! That is who you are. You served your country. You took care of troops in battle. You're a doctor. You, my friend, are a caregiver, from the very bottom of that thing beating inside your chest. And you have a responsibility to be counted. A responsibility to fight this bigotry head on. Not just for yourself, but more importantly, for those who can't." Sam got up from where he was sitting, gave Kurt a pat on the back and walked out of the locker room.
Back on the road, things weren't looking well for Mercedes or Rachel. "We're losing his pulse. The bleeder must be in the retroperitoneal. I think his aorta is leaking," Rachel said.
"I'm driving as fast as I can," Mercedes said.
"I need something to simulate an aortic-abdominal tourniquet," Rachel said, looking around the back of her car for something to use. I could use the seatbelt. I need to apply pressure into the wound."
"You need something inflatable, right? If you look in the plastic bag on the floor, I bought toys for my niece. There's a water balloon launcher."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah."
"This balloon better work," Rachel muttered. "Stay with me, Joe. This is gonna hurt a little, but it's gonna help. This should hold him for now but I really need to open him up ASAP."
"You can't open him up in the back!"
"Well, we're going to have to do it somewhere or he's going to die."
Back at the hospital, Puck went into Brent's room to see how he was doing. "Hey, the prelim spinal tap results do look like bacterial meningitis but we're still waiting for the cultures. You're already getting antibiotics but you should start to feel better soon."
"His temp's going up. It's 106," Heather said.
"Going up? Is he getting the right dose of the meds?"
"My legs are going numb," Brent said to Puck as he started checking the IV."
"Puck, is that normal?" Simone asked.
"It's not bacterial. He's not responding to antibiotics."
"What's wrong with him?"
"That's what we're going to find out. Let's give him steroids and add an anti-viral."
"Could it be something he picked up in a foreign country?" Simone asked, causing Brent to glare at her.
"Is there something you should be telling me?" Puck asked.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves."
"No. I'm not being quiet here. You came home and started feeling sick so just tell him where you were."
"I know you were at Fort Bragg recently. Did you also leave the country?" Puck asked.
"Brent, just tell him where you really were," Simone said. She looked over at Puck. "He was overseas."
"Simone!"
"He's Special Ops, he's not a roving instructor. He won't tell me anything – he can't tell me anything. It's his job and I get it but this started when he came back. And now he's sick. I'm sorry we kept this a secret."
"Right now, anything you say could help," Puck said. "You know me. Nothing you say leaves this room."
Brent sighed and looked at Puck. "My best buddy Troy and I…we were just hanging out. Talking about how terrible everything was. It all sucks. Our humvee got hit by an IED. It killed everyone."
"Oh Brent…"
"This is why I don't tell you things. I mean, I know I can't. I walked away with minor damage. I had shrapnel in my upper chest and neck. They got the metal out in the center there."
"How long ago was that?" Puck asked.
"Six weeks."
"Does that help?" Simone asked.
"Yeah. I think it might. We're gonna get you an MRI and more x-rays," Puck said as he left the trauma room.
On the road, Mercedes saw an animal hospital and pulled up to it. Rachel got out of the car and ran inside. "I need your biggest gurney and an OR. Now!" she said to the guy at the reception desk.
Back at the hospital, Kurt was on the phone with someone. "How did you get my number? No, I'm not doing any interviews. Stop calling me and don't call the ER because we're trying to get some work done here." He angrily hung up his phone and went over to look at some paperwork at the nurses' station. He signed something as his phone started vibrating again. He slammed his pen down on the desk and glared at his phone.
"Aren't you gonna answer that?" someone asked from behind him.
Kurt froze and turned around to see Blaine standing in the hospital. "Blaine?"
"So you recognize me. That's a good start."
"Yeah," Kurt said. "Let me find someone to cover for me and we can talk."
The elevators opened and Santana stepped out with Sam. "But do you eat anything besides grits?"
"Why would I? We're talking about cheese, bacon, green onions, smoked sausage…I can eat that morning, noon and night."
Santana started laughing. "Okay. But next time, I'm picking the restaurant."
"As long as they've got grits, that's all I care about," Sam said, answering the phone at the nurses' station. "Emergency med...whoa, slow down. Who are you?" Sam listened for a few seconds. "Where's this? Got it."
"What's going on?"
"Rachel and Mercedes brought in a MVA to an animal clinic out on 281. I need a medevac, stat."
Santana sighed. "Alright. I'm heading out. Call me with the address."
In radiology, Kaley was getting her scans done. "Just keep breathing, Kaley," Finn said over the microphone. "It's only gonna be for a little bit longer." He stepped away from the microphone and looked at Artie. "There's your lesson for the night. Never let your bias show in the exam room."
"All I saw was a girl with knee problems because she was overweight."
"Yeah, as did I. Her mother was right. I judged her and her mother. I just saw an obese girl eating candy and never considered there could be something else. I could've asked a hundred questions and I didn't."
"You think it could be the seizures?" Artie asked.
Finn shrugged. "You never know. But I know we won't make the same mistake again."
"She's such a cool kid."
"Son of a bitch," Finn said, looking at her scans as they came up. "Look at that," he said, pointing at something on the screen.
"Oh man."
At the animal hospital, Mercedes rolled a cart next to Rachel as she kept working on the motorcyclist. "I called my owner. He said I can't let you guys in here."
"I just gave him 10 of morphine. Any propofel?" Mercedes asked.
"Yeah, it's for the big dogs. It's over here," the worker said, sighing. He was going to be in big trouble for this.
"Give it me. 80 milligrams?" Mercedes asked Rachel.
"Hey, don't go anywhere. We're gonna need your help," Rachel said, stopping him from leaving.
"I can't. I just do animals. If it's an emergency, I call the vet."
Rachel sighed. "What's your name?"
"Carl."
"Propofel in," Mercedes said.
"Okay, Carl, you're freaking out. And I don't blame you. But we need to help this kid pull through or I'm going to have to call his mother and tell her he died. Now tell me, would you want your mother to get that kind of phone call about you?"
"No way. She'd go nuts."
"That's what I thought," Rachel said as she went back to working on Joe. "So, you're going to have to take a deep breath, get a hold of yourself because you are going to help us save this kid."
"Okay, I'm in. Just don't make me touch anything."
"Mercedes, you just finished your surgical rotation. Are you ready to do this?"
"Hand me a 10-blade," she said calmly. "Take the incision down to the rectus bone. Deep breath, Carl," she said, looking over at him.
Back at the hospital, Artie and Finn were talking to Kaley's mom. "So, you see this white area here?" Finn asked, pointing to a spot on the iPad screen. "It's a tumor on her pituitary gland, pushing on her hypothalamus."
"A tumor? Oh my god, Kaley has brain cancer."
"No, don't think of it that way. The mass is probably benign, but it has grown and it's probably what caused the seizure which is why we need to have it removed as soon as possible."
"The good news is we believe the tumor is the cause of her insatiable appetite," Artie said. "It's called hypothalamic obesity."
"That's good news?"
"The tumor's in the part of the brain that tell us when we're hungry and when we're not. I believe that's why she's always starving."
"So when it's removed, her appetite will return to normal," Finn said.
"But brain surgery…"
"I know it sounds scary. But they go right through the nose and take it out," Finn said, trying to reassure her. "It's relatively simple and can fix what's wrong. It takes about an hour."
In the break room, Kurt and Blaine were talking. "I saw the news coverage on you. The past couple of days are so…on us."
"I meant what I said in the voicemail. I didn't give them the picture of us."
"Kurt—"
"I didn't talk to them about us."
"Kurt, I don't care about the damn picture. I can only imagine the hell the past couple of days have been for you."
"It's beyond my worst nightmare," Kurt said, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Which is why I hopped on the last red eye. That's why I didn't return your calls. I was flying."
"So you flew here to be with me?"
"No, I came back for the great hospital food," Blaine said sarcastically. "What do you think? Look, when I left, I had to get my life together. I had to think some things through."
"Well, you've been through a lot."
"Yeah. I had to rethink and redefine who I am. I had to set things right with my parents. My mom, she kinda always knew. Dad, uh, he's getting there."
"That's great. I mean, I know how heavily that weighed on you."
"You know what else weighed heavily on me?" Blaine asked. "Us. I realized how much I need you in my life. I want us to be together again."
"So do I."
"But it can't be like it was before. I'm out. My platoon, they don't care. I bled with them, I almost died with them, they're my brothers."
"So what do not like it was before?"
"I mean when we're together around other people."
"All my friends, they know about you."
"I'm not talking about here. In your safe cocoon, surrounded by your safe friends. I'm talking about in the world. I'm talking about us…standing ten feet apart when we get a hotel room on vacation or not sitting beside each other at the movie theater…or holding each other's hand."
"I'm a private person."
"That's what I used to tell myself too. God, life is too short and feels so good to just live and not worry about what other people think. I wanna be with you. I want to stop worrying about what the rest of the world thinks. I can't live like that anymore. I just can't."
The door to the break room opened and Sam stepped in. "Sorry gents. Kurt, I got a toe laceration for you in curtain four."
"Alright, I'll be right there."
Sam nodded. "Good seeing you, Blaine."
"You too, Sam." Blaine turned back to face Kurt. "Anyway, um, I said what I came to say. So, let me know," he said, cupping Kurt's face. He gave him one last look and left the break room.
"Puck!" Jesse called. "I just got off the phone with the American consulate in Dubai. They are processing on your visa, but they're still working on Ali's."
"Thanks for taking care of that," Puck said.
"No problem."
"Any word on Rachel and Mercedes?"
"No, not since the guy from the animal hospital called freaking out. Santana just headed out, but that's all I know. Oh, trauma scans for Brent just came in," Jesse said, beckoning him over to the computers. He showed Puck the various x-rays and Puck stopped him on the neck x-ray.
"Look at that. There is it," Puck said, pointing to a spot on the screen. "That's a foreign body. Brent was in an explosion."
"That's shrapnel? It looks like bone."
"Good eye. It is."
"You said it was a foreign body?"
"I did. It's not his," Puck said as he started walking towards Brent's trauma room. He typed something on the computer keyboard and showed it to Brent and Simone. "There's Troy."
"Oh my god. From the explosion, right?" Simone asked.
"I've seen a lot of things embedded in soldier's bodies but never this," Brent said.
"It's called bioshrapnel. It's probably the source of your infection. We need to get you to surgery as soon as possible to extract it and send it to the lab."
"So, he's going to be okay now?" Simone asked.
"He's not out of the woods yet. We need to do a blood transfusion. The infection caused your body to start breaking down," Puck explained.
"We're going to need excess blood on hand in case there's bleeding during the procedure," Jesse said.
"Take mine. I mean, I don't know if I'm the same blood type as he is but—"
"Honey," Brent said. "You don't have to."
"No, I want to. I want to feel like I'm doing something to help you. It's okay, right, Puck?"
"It speeds up the process. Let's get her set up," he said to Jesse.
Back at the animal hospital, Rachel and Mercedes were working on Joe. "Suction," Rachel said.
"Man," Carl said. "If you two hadn't been there, he'd be out there dying in the desert."
"I know," Mercedes said. "If we left five minutes later, five minutes earlier, hit traffic or stopped for dinner we never would have seen him."
"Okay, I found the bleeder," Rachel said. "Get me a sponge stick so I can put pressure on."
"You clamp and I'll suture," Mercedes said.
"Whoa!" Santana said, coming in. "Someone call for a medevac?"
"You are a sight for sore eyes," Rachel said.
"OR is standing by. We should be there in about 20 minutes."
"Good. Let's get him out of here," Rachel said as Mercedes finished up. "Carl, you did great. Thank you."
"So…you guys have boyfriends or…"
"Yeah. We do," Rachel said as she started laughing.
Outside of Kaley's room, Finn was talking to her mother. "Unfortunately, even though the tumor removal was successful, the underlying tissue was damaged."
"So, what does that mean?"
"Because of the damage, she'll continue to gain weight which will lead to more severe complications."
"How much more severe?"
"Well, she won't be able to control her eating and if left untreated," Finn said, pausing. "She will basically eat herself to death.
"Oh my god. What do we do?"
"She needs gastric bypass surgery. It's a lap-band, which constricts the stomach and limits food intake. It makes the patient feel full."
"Well, let's do it."
"The only problem is that there's a two month waiting list here."
"Two months? But you just said she's eating herself to death."
"I know," Finn said, sighed.
"Can't you do it?"
"It's a surgical procedure I'm not trained in."
"So, you're saying I just have to watch her die?"
Out in the lobby, Santana was bringing in Joe with Rachel and Mercedes following behind. "Let's go. We need to get him to the OR."
Finn walked out and saw them coming in. "Rachel? Rough night?" he asked, noticing the blood on her shirt.
"Yeah. I've had better."
"You should have seen your girl in action," Mercedes said. "Total bad ass."
"Not so bad yourself," Rachel said, smiling at her. "Listen, I need to get to the OR and don't think I didn't see your bike sitting out there."
"I told you I was gonna buy it back."
"No, you said we'd discuss it."
"We can discuss it but I already bought it."
Rachel stopped walking and turned around to face him. "We will talk about this." She poked him in the chest and started walking again.
Finn sighed and walked towards the nurses' station. "Doctor Klein," he said, finding who he was looking for. "I spoke to your assistant who said your schedule for lap-band surgery is booked up for the next two months."
"Life is good."
"Yeah, see, I have a patient that requires surgery right away. She's got morbid obesity, causing heart strain, could lead to failure and it'd be a big favor if you could bump her up."
"Stop right there, Hudson. I'm not a fan of your cowboy antics. And my surgery department doesn't work that way. Get in line like everybody else," Klein said as he walked off.
Finn frowned as Puck walked up. "I figured that's a no-go, getting Kaley to cut in line for the lap-band?"
"I'll figure it out," Finn said, drinking his coffee.
"I put calls into some clinics but that may take a few days," Puck said as they started walking. "You know, it's too bad you can't bribe him or blackmail him because I hear he's a bit of a dick."
"Thanks, man," Finn said, going into the break room.
"Puck," Jesse said. "You need to see this. It's Brent's blood results." He handed Puck the iPad and Puck sighed.
He walked into the exam room where Simone was drinking some orange juice after the blood draw. "Hey," she said, smiling when she saw him come in. "Brent still in surgery?"
"We just moved him to recovery so you can go see him when he wakes up."
"Good. Thank you. Thank you so much."
"Simone, there's something else we need to talk about," Puck said, sitting down on one of the chairs. "We know the meningitis is fungal and fungal meningitis happens to patients with suppressed immune systems. I'm sorry, there's no easy way to say this, but Brent has HIV."
"What?"
"And your blood was screened when you donated. Simone, you have it too. This is an unexpected bombshell, I know, but it's important to understand that HIV is no longer a death sentence."
"I don't understand. If we both have it, why am I not sick?"
"You may never be. Look at Magic Johnson. It's really just a sad luck of the draw."
"Is it possible that he got it from the bioshrapel – from the bone?"
"We checked military autopsy records and Brent's buddy was HIV negative so he didn't get it from Troy. It's none of my business and he could have contracted it any number of ways, but I know what it's like to be overseas and it's tough."
"Brent didn't cheat."
"He's a good man, I know. I'm just saying that being so far from home for so long and under pressure."
"Brent didn't cheat. I did," Simone said. "I know, I'm a horrible person."
"I'm not here to judge you. But I'm here to help you."
"He's just gone for months and months at a time. I never know when he's leaving or when he's going or when he's coming back. We had to lie to our family, to our friends, to you and Quinn. It's just…it's just so much pressure. He can't even talk about what he's done."
"I know this is difficult and I know it's delicate, but you will have to tell him what you've done. And tell everyone you've been with."
"It was one guy. It was one time, I swear. Just a couple of months ago on New Year's Eve. I was so lonely. Oh god, what did I do?" Simone asked as Puck gave her a hug.
In Kaley's room, she was starting to get sick as Finn and Sam walked into the room. "What's happening?" Finn asked.
"She's been vomiting for five minutes. I'm thinking gastroparesis," Artie said.
"What's that mean?"
"It means she can't hold anything down," Finn said. "Sam, get her something to stop the vomiting."
"They still won't move her up after this?" her mom asked.
"I'll figure it out. I promise," Finn said.
Outside of Joe's hospital room, Rachel and Mercedes were on the phone with his mom. "Well, he definitely dodged a bullet and he's resting comfortably now," Rachel said. "Yeah, of course we'll let her know too." She hung up the phone and looked at Mercedes. "Those are definitely the better phone calls to make."
"Definitely."
Finn walked out of Kaley's room and ran a hand over his face. "Hey, Jocelyn. Look, I know you're pretty plugged in to all the gossip around here."
"It's a fun hobby," she said.
"I bet. Got anything on Doctor Klein? The lap-band surgeon? He's being a real dick to my patient and I need anything you can give me."
Her face lit up. "Oh, I've got something. I've got something good."
Outside of Brent's room, Puck and Jesse were watching as Simone told him everything that happened. "Those two have a long road ahead of them," Jesse said.
"Nice couple. It just goes to show you don't know what's going on in other people's lives. Hope they can work through it."
"I don't know if I could."
"It's not your typical cheating situation. It's hard for the wives, girlfriends and partners over here. They stay home and they pay a price too. Sometimes we forget that. I know I did."
"Really?" Jesse asked. "You cheat?"
"No. I was lucky to find Quinn. I'm not blowing that. I'm just saying sometimes not appreciating your wife the way you should…we're a team," Puck said.
Finn knocked on the wall outside of the scrub room to get Doctor Klein's attention. "Hudson. My assistant and I already told you it's a two month waiting list."
"Right," Finn said, coming into the scrub room. "Your assistant. She's cute. I hear you pay her to do little dances for you after hours. Rumor has it the nurses call you Doctor Lap Dance."
"What?"
"You don't have to admit anything to me but it's your wife I'm worried about. How much does divorce cost these days?"
"You son of a bitch. You wouldn't have the balls."
Finn ripped a paper towel out of the dispenser. "I would. See, my patient needs surgery today. Not in two months. So if you do the surgery today, I'll forget everything I know. If not, I'm gonna have to call your wife right now."
"Get her prepped. I'll get to her when I can."
"Actually, she's already prepped. Because I figured you would say yes. Jocelyn, Artie," Finn said, gesturing to outside the scrub room where they were taking her into an OR.
"You kept your promise," she said.
"Damn right. And I will be there for your next play, okay?" Artie said.
"You better keep your mouth shut, Hudson."
"Professional courtesy," Finn said as he left the scrub room. "Thanks Jocelyn."
"No problem. He's a pig," she said, giving him a smile.
As the shift came to a close, Sam ran up to Santana. "So, I was thinking."
"That could be dangerous."
"Oh, this is very dangerous. My sister is coming into town next weekend and I was thinking about introducing you."
"Ah, the sister test. What happens if I fail, does that mean you have to get a new girlfriend?"
"So you're officially my girlfriend now?" Sam asked.
"It's a figure of speech. I meant friend who happens to be a girl," Santana said.
"No, it's cool. That's how I'll introduce you. This is Santana, my friend who happens to be a girl," Sam said, putting an arm around her shoulders.
"Thank you so much," Kaley's mom said, giving Finn a hug.
"You're welcome. She's a great kid. She deserves a better life and now hopefully she'll have it. You can check on her later. She should be in recovery soon."
Blaine walked into a bar after Kurt's shift ended and walked over to where he was sitting. "Hey," Blaine said with a small smile.
"Thanks for coming," Kurt said.
"Thanks for asking. You sure you want to do this?"
"Yeah. I'm sure," Kurt said, leading him over to a part of the bar where the reporter had a video camera set up to record the interview. "Hi. I'm Captain Kurt Hummel."
"It's nice to meet you," she said with a smile on her face, shaking his hand before turning to Blaine to shake his. "I appreciate you doing this. Please, have a seat."
Once Kurt and Blaine got situated, she started the interview. "I'm here with Doctor Kurt Hummel, the hero who risked his own life to stop the shooting from happening just a few days ago," she said into the camera. She turned to face the two of them. "Can you tell us about it, doctor?"
"I just did what any other soldier would do. It just happened to be me. But I firmly believe the men and women I served with would have done the same thing," Kurt said, turning towards Blaine. "My partner, Blaine, would have done the same thing as well," Kurt said, reaching out to take his hand. "I was just trying to do what was right."
"And this man sitting next to you, your partner, Army Captain Blaine Anderson. Please, tell me what went through your head when you heard the news?"
"Well, honestly, my first thought was that stupid idiot," Blaine said as everyone started to laugh. "But, of course, he behaved exactly like I knew he would. Just like the way we train for these things," Blaine said, looking at Kurt with a smile on his face.
At the end of the shift, Puck and Finn were walking out of the hospital and talking like always. "So, what are your big plans today, Doctor?" Finn asked.
"Well, I got my mom to watch the kids so Quinn and I are headed out for a picnic. I figure it's time to tell her about my trip to Dubai."
"That's my boy. Just rip the Band-Aid right off."
"Oh no. You gotta remove it gently. That way it doesn't cause more pain," Puck said, looking over at Finn's motorcycle and saw Rachel leaning on it. "Looks like your Band-Aid's still on."
"She is not happy."
"Gotta say, I'm on her side," Puck said. He started walking towards his car and laid a reassuring hand on Rachel's shoulder.
She gave Puck a small smile before turning her attention to Finn with a pinched look on her face.
Finn gave her a sheepish look as he set his backpack on the ground. "Hey."
"So my motorcycle guy pulled through," Rachel said.
"Yeah, thanks to you," Finn said.
"But I'm more worried about this motorcycle guy," Rachel said, pointing at him. "I am not trying to change you. I just don't want anything bad to happen to you."
"Nothing's going to happen to me."
"You don't know that," Rachel said as tears started to form in her eyes. "People say those kinds of things and then bam! You can't control the other guy."
"I love this bike. I love how this bike makes me feel when I ride it. I love working on this bike. But I love you too. How about a compromise? I'll only ride it on the weekends," Finn said, resting his hands on her cheeks.
"Babe, this is not about the bike," Rachel said, pushing his hands away as she started crying.
"I thought this was about the bike?"
"No," she said, standing up. "This is about responsibility, okay? I have a child – our child – growing inside of me and it is changing me. I am changing. And I thought it was just going to be physical but I'm finding out that it is way, way bigger than that."
"Yeah, I can see that," Finn said, scratching his forehead.
"I have all these hormones. And they're just raging and flying all over the place. And I don't know I was out there tonight and I just felt this momma lion—" Rachel said, pausing to take a deep breath to try and breathe.
"Momma lion?"
"Don't you dare make fun of me!" she said, poking him. "I saw this kid. And I saw his boyish face and I thought about his mother. And then I thought about the fact that I am going to be a mother and it all kicked in. And I hate this bike. And I don't want you to get rid of it if you don't want to get rid of it but I want you to want to get rid of it, not because I asked you to get rid of it."
Finn let out the air he was holding in. "So you want me to give up the bike?"
"No! Are you even listening to me?" Rachel said as she started crying even harder.
"Yeah, it's a good idea."
"I just want to go home."
"Okay, let's go home," Finn said.
Rachel started crying harder. "I left my car at the animal hospital."
"Well, we can just take my bike," Finn said, wrapping his arms around her.
"You're not funny."
"I called a cab," he whispered.
"You did? Really?"
"Yeah. Yeah I did," Finn said, kissing her forehead.
"You really did? Thank you," Rachel said. "I love you so much."