Quinn blew her nose. The cold medicine had worn off and she was feeling terrible.
"Sweetie do you want some tea?" her mom asked, poking her head through the door. Quinn nodded and turned on the T.V. Flipping to through the channels, one caught her eye.
"Breaking news! Fire At William McKinley High School!"
Quinn gasped, and turned up the volume.
"At 2:30 pm today a raging fire broke out at our very own WMHS. The fire destroyed the school's entire left wing. Four students declared dead, and 20 are missing. I am here with a survivor, Mercedes Jones. Mercedes, how does it feel to have escaped certain death?"
Quinn felt tears burn when she saw her friend come on the screen.
"It feels good to know that lots of kids got out, but there are so many that didn't and, and I still haven't h-heard from s-s-some of my friends, an-and that's sc-scary!" Mercedes broke down. Quinn cried silently.
"Quinnie? What's wrong?" Her mom said as she walked in with the tea. When she saw the T.V., the mug slipped out of her hands and went crashing to the floor.
What Quinn didn't know was that she wasn't the only one watching the news.
"Do you want a drink, sweetie?" Carole said
"Nah, I'm good." Burt said, turning on the T.V. He flipped to the news, just to check the weather. He was going on a fishing trip with Finn and he wanted to make sure that it wouldn't rain.
"Breaking news! Fire At William McKinley High School!"
Burt sat up.
"CAROLE!" Burt called into the kitchen.
"Yeah. What happened?"
"There was a fire… at the," he swallowed, "At the sc-school."
"Oh My God! Is Finn okay?"
"I don't know. They haven't said anything."
"Four dead, oh god! What if…"
"I don't have time for what if's right now. I need to know if my son is alive." Burt ran to the door. It was just like last time. Only that time it was Kurt asking if Mommy was okay, not Carole asking where her son was. Carole ran over and put on her jacket. They ran to Burt's car. Burt started the car and drove. He threw his phone into Carole's lap.
"Here," he said, "Dial Kurt's number, then try Finn's."
Carole fumbled with the phone for a bit then held it up to her ear.
"He-He's not, um, answering." Carole bit her lip. Burt was gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white.
"Try Finn's." he said simply. The last time he was asking Kurt to call mommy over and over. The words were always the same, She's not answering.
"Finn! Oh my gosh, are you okay." Carole's face was taught with worry.
"Sorry Mrs. Hudson. It's not Finn. I'm his friend Mercedes." Carole knew Mercedes. Kurt had brought her over to hang out one afternoon. She was a nice girl, but if she had Finn's cell, did that mean…
"Where is my son?" Carole said, trying to keep her voice level.
"Umm… Well he got out, b-b-but,"
"But What?" Carole could hear Mercedes crying through the phone.
"H-H-He um, When he h-heard th-th-that A-A-Artie and Puck w-were still inside, h-h-he r-r-ran back." Mercedes stopped talking only to give herself time to cry, "I'm so s-sorry!"
"Has he come back out yet? Can you see him?" Carole felt hot tears fall down her face. Burt held her hand.
"No, but I'll call you as soon as I do."
"Okay," Carole said, wiping her tears, "Okay, um… have you seen Kurt? He's usually with you."
"Yeah, we were walking t-to c-class together when the uh, when it happened. He and I ran for it but…" here Mercedes broke off. Carole could hear her sobbing. "The-the ceiling came d-down on us. Kurt, Kurt held it up so I could get out. His hands were burnt up pretty bad, and he can't breathe so good, but he's alive. They t-took him to the h-hospital." Mercedes said, said as she was trying to calm herself down.
"Okay honey calm down e-everything i-is going to be okay, now tell me c-can you s-see Finn now?" Carole said, trying not to cry again.
"No, but I promise, I will call you." Mercedes didn't stutter this time. She was serious.
"Okay, thank you." Carole hung up, "Kurt's in the hospital, Finn's still in the school." Burt pulled over and did an illegal U turn, and headed for the school.
"We'll go and see if they need our help at the school. Then we find Kurt."
Carole nodded; secretly glad they were going to her son first. Halfway there, Carole's phone rang. She grabbed at it frantically.
"Hello?" She said, praying that the voice would be her son.
"Mom?"
"FINN! Are you okay sweetie?" Carole felt tears burn again, but this time she welcomed them. Her son was safe.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I'm in Mercedes' car. We're going to the hospital. I have to know if Rachel is okay."
"Sweetie, if you're allowed, go in and find Kurt first. Tell him we're coming."
"I love you, mom. Bye."
"I love you too." Carole hung up, "We go to the hospital." She said to Burt. Burt usually followed the speed limit, but under these circumstances, he thought it would be okay to speed.
When Finn and Mercedes got to the hospital, Rachel and Mike were sitting in the waiting room.
"Rach!" Finn swept her into a kiss. Rachel held him there for a while. Mercedes ran to Mike.
"Are you okay?" She asked him.
"Yeah, I just fainted from all the excitement, and the fumes." He added as an afterthought.
"And you're okay Rachel?" Mercedes walked to her.
"Yes I'm fine. Clean bill of health. Good thing too, sectionals are coming up. I hope everyone will be okay to perform." Rachel said, letting go of Finn.
"Rachel, they might be dead." Rachel turned, it was Mike, "Rachel, Kurt, Tina, Artie, and Puck are in critical condition they might die." He said, tears streaming down his face, "You just wanted to make sure your boyfriend was okay. Isn't that why we're sitting here instead of at their side? Isn't that why you only asked if Finn was admitted?" Mike was shouting now. Rachel and Mercedes were crying. Finn thought he should defend his girlfriend, but Mike seemed to have a point.
"I have to find Kurt." Finn said simply, "He's going to be my brother. I'm supposed to look after him." Finn walked to the front desk, got Kurt's room number and walked down the hall.
"I think I'll visit Artie." Rachel said, "I'll stay with him until his parents get here. I feel bad about what I said to him." Then she too walked to the front desk and down the hall.
"I'm going to go with Tina. Her parents aren't here yet and I know I would want somebody looking out for me." Mercedes added.
"I'll go and check on Puck." Mike said quietly. He was embarrassed for blowing up at Rachel. Of course if the person he loved was caught in a fire he would have only thought about her. "See ya." Mike said glumly and walked off to find Puck's room.