When Finn got to Kurt's room, a doctor was just coming out.

"How is he?" Finn asked him, "Is he okay?"

"Are you family?" the doctor asked him, disregarding what Finn said.

"Yeah, I'm like his step-brother." Finn didn't see why this was important. Why couldn't this useless doctor tell him what was going on?

"Well, since you're family I have to tell you the facts. He's not good. There wasn't much we could do for his hands and his lungs were so torn up from debris his only hope is a lung transplant. We don't have a lung for him, and if we did we couldn't do the surgery with him in such a unstable condition." The doctor spoke in a fake sympathetic tone, as though he was trying his best to care about what happened. Finn swallowed.

"Will he be able to sing again?" The doctor sighed.

"If he even makes it out of here," He said slowly, "He will never sing again." To Finn the word that stood out to him most was "if". If Kurt got out. If Kurt lived. Finn knew enough about doctors to know that they would never tell you up front that the patient is going to die. They always made it sound as though there was a chance, but Finn knew. Finn knew Kurt was close enough to death for them to be using the word If.

"Can I see him?" Finn said trying to keep his voice steady. The doctor nodded and opened the door.

Rachel tried not to think about what she would find in Artie's room. The thought of nurses pulling a white sheet over him kept popping into her head.

No, she told herself sternly, Artie isn't dead. If he were the lady at the desk would have told me. She was at the door before she knew it. She pushed it open and gasped. Artie was in a crisp white hospital gown lying on a bed with crisp white sheets. This only made the burns on his arm stand out more. Artie's whole left arm was blackish red, and his nose was obviously broken, but there weren't any tubes sticking down his throat. Rachel saw this as a good sign. Still when he took a breath it made a sound that scared her. There was one thing in the room that comforted Rachel: the heart monitor. The steady beeping meant that Artie was still alive. Rachel walked toward him and sat down on a plastic chair beside his bed. She reached over and took his hand. It felt light and dry. Without his gloves on, she could feel scars and calluses on his palm.

"Artie?" She whispered, but Artie didn't respond. Rachel sighed and closed her eyes.

"I want to say that I'm sorry." She confessed to the unconscious boy, "We could never win without you amazing voice, or your guitar skills. I never learned to play. I've always envied that you could. If I learned maybe I could be the next Taylor Swift." Rachel laughed softly, "but what I really wanted to say is that I hope you get better really, really soon because if you don't then I'll probably… well, actually I don't know what I'd do if… you're my friend, Artie, and I want you to know that you have lots of friends that love you." Rachel felt a single tear fall.

"Ma'am," Rachel turned to see a doctor with long red hair pulled into a ponytail, "I'm Doctor Grumman. I need to treat the burn on Arthur's back."

Arthur? Rachel thought, Oh, Artie's real name.

"Oh, okay." Rachel said as she got up.

"You can stay if you want to." The doctor smiled, "Just step back a bit." Rachel did. Dr. Grumman rolled Artie onto his side. She opened the back of his gown to reveal a large burn on Artie's shoulder. Rachel saw the burn, but something else caught her eye. Big white scars crisscrossed Artie's back. They looked like they had already healed.

"The fire did all that?" Rachel asked, horrified.

"Oh no, no, no," said Dr. Grumman, "In fact, the fire was the least of his troubles. Those are old scars. Probably from the car crash he was in. No, the fire caused a few burns and some carbon monoxide poisoning but the big problem was the internal bleeding, and a few broken ribs."

"How would that have happened?"

"Trampled." Said the doctor sadly, "All those kids trying to get out. They either didn't see him, or they didn't care. You didn't even see it coming, did you sugar?" Rachel smiled sadly. Artie didn't deserve any more pain. She had no idea that he had been disabled in a car crash. Rachel always assumed that he had been born with the disability.

"Is he going to be okay?" Rachel's question was hardly audible. Dr. Grumman finished dressing the wound on Artie's back. Then she turned with a small smile.

"He's going to be fine. He might not remember much. It looks like he hit his head a few times. Be prepared to explain what happened." Dr. Grumman looked like she really cared. Then with a pat on Rachel's shoulder she left. Rachel resumed her place at Artie's side.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but you're going to be fine." Rachel took his hand and tried to smile. She was surprised when she could without difficulty. It looked like Artie wasn't going to answer so she amused her self by looking around the room. There wasn't much and most of it was white.

There really isn't any colour in this place. Rachel thought to herself, it must feel weird to wake up in sea of white. Then Rachel had an idea. It was cheesy, but she knew she would like it if it were she. Rachel practically ran down to the gift shop. After much deliberation, she chose a bouquet with sunny yellow daisies and a few red flowers Rachel didn't know the name of. She also bought a clear plastic vase and some gold star stickers. After paying, Rachel sat outside the gift shop. She was sticking the gold stars onto the vase. That way, if Artie didn't wake up when she was there he'd know it was she who had left the bouquet. Also, the gold stars would brighten up the plain vase. After she arranged the flowers in a spectacular display, she went back up the stairs to Artie's room. This time she didn't hesitate before going in. It was so quiet; all Rachel could hear was the steady beeping of the heart monitor. She placed the vase of flowers on Artie's bedside table. The flowers stood out like a daisy in a coal mine, but they did brighten it up a bit. Rachel sat back down in her seat she looked at Artie's sleeping face. She thought he would look at peace but, for some reason, he looked worried, scared. What was going on in that brilliant mind of his?

"You did so great!"

"Mom, we lost." A little boy with thick glasses and messed up hair said sadly, "and I suck."

"No you don't." his mother said, "And winning doesn't really matter." Clearly it mattered to this little boy, because he couldn't stop a few tears slipping out. "Artie what's wrong?"

"Everyone blames me for losing," He said, tears falling down his cheeks in waves, "Because I run so slow, and they say I'm a nerd just because I get A's, and they make fun of my glasses." Artie was now bawling. His mom swept him into a hug and carried him to the car.

"You know what? I think that you need a pick-me-up." She said wiping Artie's face with a tissue, "How about we go for Ice Cream?" Artie sniffed and nodded.

"I'd like that mommy." He said, and climbed into the front seat beside his mom. For the car ride Artie told him mom about the book he was reading. It was about a wizard school in Britain. There were three friends that went on adventures together.

"I wish I had a friend like Ron." He was jabbering. His mom wasn't really listening. It had started to rain and the road was slippery. She was coming up to an intersection. Suddenly she felt the car keel over as if hit by a huge sledgehammer. Then it all went black. Artie didn't even see the truck until it was skidding into him. He screamed as the car turned over. The door opened. He fell out. He was pinned under the car. The pain almost killed him. He screamed. He could feel a slow warmth on his back, but for some reason his legs were cold. No, they weren't. They, what did they feel like?

"HELP!" Artie screamed, squirming to get out. "HELP! MOM! MOM? HELP! PLEASE, SOMEBODY!" Then the world started to go black at the edges.

"Holy shit! What happened here? Oh damn…" the voice sounded so far away. The last thing Artie could remember was wondering what shit meant and if it was a good thing.

Where was he? Artie couldn't remember. His eyes opened a little. White. Hospital white. Now, why was he in the hospital? He remembered pulling Puck along the floor. Why? To get out of somewhere. Right, now all he had to do is figure out where he was trying to get out of. A car? Yeah, that sounded right. That was it. Yeah… Artie closed his eyes again.

"Artie? You awake?" Rachel said as softly as she could. Artie opened his eyes again. He couldn't tell who was talking to him. He looked up only to see a colourful blur.

"Who are you?" He said, squinting. Rachel did a double take.

"It's me, Rachel. You remember me right?" she said nervously.

"Yeah, I remember. I just can't see. Where are my glasses?"

"I think you lost them in the fire."

"Fire?" Rachel could have kicked herself. The doctor said he might not remember anything.

"Artie," Rachel said, choosing her words carefully, "What do you remember?"

"I… I remember dragging Puck away from… something. Was it a fire?" Artie suddenly panicked, "I remember now! The fire was chasing us. I fell. The fire it, it was at the school! Tina! Where is she? Did she get out?" Rachel could see tears in his eyes. She desperately wanted to lie. Tell him everything was okay.

"Rachel?" a hoarse voice called from the doorway. Rachel looked and saw Finn. It looked as though he had been crying. Rachel got up without a second thought. Artie let her.

"Finn what happened?" She said her voice full of real sympathy.

"Kurt died."

Finn walked in the room. He saw Kurt lying there; almost as pale as the sheets he lay on. Finn walked up to him. He took a deep breath and sat down next to the small soprano.

"Hey, Kurt." Finn whispered. Kurt turned his head and tried to smile.

"Finn," He rasped, "They won't tell me and I need to know. Am I dying?" Finn hadn't been expecting this. He thought about it for a bit. If he told the truth, Kurt might lose his will to live, but lying didn't seem right.

"They say, uh, they say you'll die if you don't get a new lung and…

"And they don't have lung for me." Kurt finished.

"They'll get one." Finn blurted out, "You're not going to die!" Finn felt his voice break. Kurt laughed a small mirthless laugh.

"Finn, I need you to know something." His voice was like an old scratched record, "All those times you saved me, all those times I never thanked you."

"Yeah well, there were all those times when I was the one throwing you into dumpsters." Finn was trying, and failing, to keep his voice level.

"Tell my dad that I love him and I wish I could have been a better son. Tell your mom that I wished that I could have had more time." Kurt was like a candle with almost all it's wick gone. Fading fast.

"Kurt…" But Finn couldn't finish his sentence. Kurt pulled a stack of envelopes out from under his pillow.

"There is one for each Glee member." Kurt said, "Make sure they get them."

"I will Kurt." Finn gave up trying to fight the tears, "And I promise I will never forget you. I always admired you. You were always so strong. No matter what happened you were always true to yourself." Kurt's eyes shone. Then they looked away.

"Finn, you know that I've loved you since you saved me from Puck. I just want," he swallowed and blushed, "I want to know what it's like to kiss a boy." Though he was blushing Kurt was full of pride. Finn knew he was waiting for a refusal, but Finn looked at the dying boy and knew that Kurt would have no other chance. Finn stood up and leaned over. Kurt was clearly surprised. Finn didn't know what to expect, but he knew this was the right thing to do. The kiss wasn't long, but the passion was there. In that brief second Kurt let all the longing he'd kept inside flow. Finn didn't think it was that bad. He was too busy thinking about the fact that his almost brother was about to die. After they broke away Finn sat back down. Kurt's cheeks were even more flushed than before.

"Thanks." He said simply. Then his eyes closed, "Finn."

"Yeah?"

"Could the glee club sing at my funeral?"

"Yeah," Finn said, wiping his eyes, "What song?" Kurt thought for a minute.

"I will remember you." He said at last. Finn nodded.

"I love you Finn…" the heart monitor began beeping faster. Finn didn't have time to react. Suddenly doctorswere running in with a crash cart. Kurt's gown was opened and they shocked him. Nothing. They tried again. Nothing. Finn began to cry. They tried again. Burt and Carole walked into the room. Nothing. Burt ran to his son. They kept trying. Nothing. Burt began calling out to his son's name. They tried. Nothing. Then nothing. Finn left. He couldn't look at Burt or his mom knowing the last words that Kurt said.

"W-what?" Rachel couldn't believe her ears. Finn looked so confuse and scared. He was like a little boy being told that his pet frog wasn't going to wake up.

"Kurt's dead." Finn said this without any emotion.

"What's going on?" Finn looked over Rachel's shoulder and saw Artie lying there looking confused and scared.

"Artie…" Finn began, but didn't have the heart to finish.

"Did something happen?" Artie's voice was frantic now, "Is it Tina? What happened?" Artie was trying to sit up, but fell back with a cry of pain. Rachel walked over and sat back down.

"It's not Tina." She said slowly.

"Well something happened and you're talking like my mom did when she told me that I would never walk again, so I'm guessing it's not a good something." Artie's words came out rushed. He wasn't even trying to fight the tears falling down his face. He just wanted to know what was going on and who was hurt.

"Kurt's dead." Finn said it. That was it. Simple facts. No sugar coating, no putting it off. Artie felt like there would be nothing right in the world again. He wished he could just leave this world forever. Kurt. Sweet, sarcastic, Kurt. The Kurt who had given Artie a hard time every time he wore sweater vests was now gone. The Kurt who was the one who found him crying in the choir room after his break up with Tina was also gone. The Kurt that sent shivers up Artie's spine every time he heard Kurt sing, gone. All of the times Kurt battled with Rachel, all the times they were slushied together, all of it, gone. Artie closed his eyes. When Rachel asked him if he was okay, Artie didn't respond. Artie just lay there with his eyes closed, as though he were sleeping, but Finn knew that Artie wouldn't sleep for a long time.

"You can't see her right now her parents asked to be alone." This nurse was getting on Mercedes' nerves.

"Well, can you tell me how she is?" Mercedes said, hoping to sound urgent, but she just ended up sounding scared.

"Well, you're not family, but I can tell you the basics. She's in a coma from the fumes. All we can do is hope she comes out of it." And with that the nurse left Mercedes standing there alone. For a while Mercedes just stared at the door. She wished that she could go in. She wished that she could just find all of her friends safe. Mercedes peeked into Tina's room. She saw a woman that looked like Tina's mother crying into the arms of what looked like Tina's dad. Tina herself was lying on a bed with tubes down her throat and in her arms. It looked as though a machine was keeping her alive. Suddenly Mercedes couldn't watch anymore. She ran to the bathroom and vomited into the toilet. She rested her head against the brim to catch her breath. Mercedes just wanted to wake up. She wanted this all to be a bad dream. A ringing from inside her pocket woke her from her trance. Her phone. Wiping her mouth, Mercedes answered it.

"Hello?" Mercedes usually answered the phone with "What up?" but she didn't think it fit the circumstances.

"Oh Mercedes," it was Rachel, and it sounded as though she had been crying, "I h-have to tell you s-s-something, but it's bad and n-not good."

"Slow down girl, just let me tell you something bad first."

"Well, yeah. Yeah I guess."

"Tina's in a coma."

"Oh, god." Rachel broke off into more sobs. "B-but now I-I gotta t-tell you something." Rachel took a deep breath, "it's Kurt." As soon as Rachel said that Mercedes' head shot up. Kurt, her Kurt, what had happened to her little boy?

"What happened to him?" Mercedes said, panicked.

"Kurt died." Two words broke her heart.

"What?" Tears fell down Mercedes face faster than she could wipe them away.

"H-he needed a n-new lung, but they c-could-dn't get one in t-t-time…" Rachel trailed off. Mercedes took a deep breath.

"I have to go." She whispered, "I'll call you if I find anything out."

"O-Okay." Mercedes hung up. She leaned back against the cold tiled wall of the bathroom. Nothing would ease the pain in her heart. She tried, for a minute, to believe that Rachel had made a mistake, but the pain only worsened when she brought her self back to reality. Kurt was gone. Her shopping partner, her fashion consultant, and most of all her friend was now gone. Nothing short of death its self could ease the pain in her heart. Pain everlasting.