Here's chapter 3! Sorry it took awhile. I hope you like it!
III
It was a busy day at the Lima Memorial Hospital. Nurses and doctors hurried back and forth between rooms, and worried friends and family rushed throughout the corridors. Up in the intensive care ward, Emma Pillsbury remained unconscious, her faithful fiancé sound asleep right next to her, as close as humanly possible, still holding dearly to her hand. Voices could be heard coming from the small room.
A woman's high, worried voice. "Doctor, is she going to be okay? When is she going to wake up?"
Then a deeper, gruff male voice. "Yes, please just tell us we'll be able to speak to her again. Please."
Both voices were tearful and pleading. Then the doctor's familiar nasal tone, explaining Emma's condition to her concerned parents. Will stirred, shifting in the uncomfortable chair. The soft voices woke him from his slumber, and he opened his eyes, groggily rubbing them to see the not-too-lovely sight of Emma's parents standing at the foot of the bed talking to Dr. Carter. He stood up, running his fingers through his matted curls.
He wanted to yell at the two for being so unsupportive and condescending towards their daughter. He wanted to rub their engagement and their happiness in their faces. He wanted to tell them off for being such horrible parents and being part of the reason for Emma's illness. But he looked at the couple, Rusty and Rose, and all he could see were two vulnerable, scared parents worried to death about their daughter's fate.
And he couldn't do any of what he had planned in his mind. He just couldn't. All he could do was drop down to his knees in front of them, and apologize over and over again for causing Emma to be in this condition. He didn't cry. He was out of tears. But Rusty and Rose Pillsbury could easily see the dejection and sorrow written all over the contours of his apologetic face. They looked down at Will sympathetically, and Rusty reached his hand down to bring Will back up to a standing position.
"It's not your fault, son," he said gravely.
"Yes, dear, we don't blame you. You have to know that. And you shouldn't blame yourself," Mrs. Pillsbury said quietly.
Will swallowed and nodded, not really believing any of her words. The Pillsburys shared a quick glance, and then looked back at Will, their faces unreadable. Rusty took a deep breath and cleared his throat.
"Uh... you... we..." Will could see the big, tough-looking man was having trouble getting the words out.
Rusty cleared his throat and tried again. "Will, we... we haven't exactly been the best parents to Emma." A small cry escaped his throat. "I just... I guess we weren't really thinking of her as much as we were thinking of ourselves..." To Will's amazement, a lone tear slid down Rusty's cheek and the big redhead looked at his wife, who nodded in agreement, also sniffling. She picked up where her husband left off, stuttering as well.
"I... I guess it just all comes down to... our selfishness and... us being stupid... But we just want our daughter to be happy. That's... that's all we want... And if she never gets the chance to know that... I... I just..." her voice broke off and she started to sob quietly into her husband's shoulder.
"So many regrets..." she whispered through her tears. Will looked sadly at the hugging couple before him and another tear escaped his eye. Why did they have to come to their senses now? When Emma was lying motionless on a hospital bed? He wiped the tear away, pushing his thoughts away as well. What mattered was that Emma's parents were finally realizing what was right, and their compassion made Will's heart ache. So that was where Emma got it. He moved toward the Pillsburys and put his hands on their shoulders.
"She'll get through this," he whispered. "We'll help her. Together." With that, Emma's father pulled Will in for a hug and the three of them held each other, letting their tears fall, but reassured because they knew they would all get through this difficult time, because they had each other.
That day, Will obtained a second set of parents.
Hours passed. Various doctors came by to run different tests on Emma. Will insisted on staying with her and holding her limp hand through every one of them. Before long, it was dark out again. Will was sitting in the chair that had become his own, still as close to the bed as possible, making one-way conversation with his unconscious fiancée.
"Remember that time when you caught me working as a night janitor at school? And I was so embarrassed. And then I put that chalk on your nose, remember? Ten seconds." He looked out the window, overtaken by the memory. His voice softened "That was the first time I realized I had feelings for you. Like, real, deep feelings, not just a crush. And I was so confused and it felt so wrong, because I thought I loved Terri, but I knew I loved you... I just knew it." He tucked back a strand of her soft ginger hair.
"And then remember that other time when you came into my room wearing that ridiculous wedding dress? You wanted me to give you dancing lessons. I sang you the thong song and then I ended up tripping on your dress and we totally fell on top of each other!" Will smiled at the sweet memory. It was the first time he had smiled in a long while. He was so caught up in his wonderful memories that he didn't even notice Dr. Carter walk back into the room, followed by Emma's parents.
"How ya doing, Will?" Dr. Carter asked, snapping Will out of his daydreams.
"Um... good."
"That's great. Okay, so we've got the test results back for Emma. We didn't get much information out of it, but we were able to find out that the canal connecting her brain to her ears are virtually asleep with the rest of her body so she, um... she can't hear you."
Will took a small breath and looked over at Emma. He thought about all of the long conversations he'd been having with her. He shook his head and forced a smile. "It's okay," he said. "I didn't tell her anything she didn't already know."
The doctor nodded. "And the only other thing these tests have shown is that she's not going to be waking up anytime soon. I'm sorry, Will. We don't know much else. We'll know more later, once we run some more tests."
Mrs. Pillsbury approached Will and put a hand on his shoulder. "Will, honey, you should go home and get some sleep. We'll take you back to your place."
Will started to protest, but Mrs. Pillsbury didn't give up. "You can come back later. It's important for you to get some sleep, and food, and a shower and whatnot."
Emma's parents practically had to drag Will from his chair, but finally he gave in with the knowledge that his love wasn't going to wake up while he was gone. He kissed Emma on the forehead and whispered, "I'll be back tomorrow, sweetheart."
Sitting in the backseat of the Pillsburys' silver Volvo, Will was quiet. He sat there, his head resting on the cool glass window, and stared out at the familiar landmarks of Lima. As they passed the park, Will's eyes landed on a small pink cherry blossom tree that was gently swaying in the wind. His eyes went hazy and a memory came swirling back to him.
"Skip! Hey-Skip! Stop! He-heel! Hey, wait, where are you going?" Will ran after the big dog, which had torn away from its owner and was bounding across the park. Will sprinted in the dog's footsteps, his long unbuttoned coat flapping in the wind as he flew across the supple grass. Finally, he caught up to the energized creature. Skip had stopped right next to a lovely cherry blossom tree, sniffing and licking a small woman who looked like she was taking a nice morning walk. Will bent down and grabbed the leash, out of breath from running.
"Sorry… the dog… it's crazy…" Will panted, then looked up at the woman. His features immediately rearranged to show concern. "Are you okay?" he asked, worriedly. The petite redhead was breathing quickly, her cheeks tinted pink from the cold, and she seemed unable to speak. Her eyes, though, were what told Will something was wrong. The big brown eyes were wide and worried, and told a story of fear and embarrassment all rolled up into one.
"I… yeah, I just… the dog, it… it's tongue sort of… it… I…" she pointed to a small spot on her leg that was covered in dog saliva. The poor woman's finger was shaking, and Will quickly reassured her.
"Hey, it's okay. The dog's clean, he just had a bath and a tooth-brushing," he smiled warmly and took a handkerchief out of his coat pocket. Kneeling down, he rubbed the woman's leg with the handkerchief until it was spotless. "There. Better?" he asked, the warm smile never leaving his face. No judgment, just support. The woman nodded, shyly returning the smile as Will got up.
"I'm Emma," she held out her hand.
"I'm Will," he took her hand and shook it as he got a closer look at her face. "Hey wait a minute… aren't you the new guidance counselor at McKinley High?" Those beautiful doe eyes, button nose, and gorgeous ginger locks were unmistakable. "I'm Will Schuester, I teach Spanish there! I saw you on Monday, you were setting up your office, remember?"
Of course Emma remembered. She hadn't been able to shake those adorable dimples and brown curls from her mind all week. And her mind's constant obsession of the attractive Spanish teacher left Emma dumbfounded. She wasn't the kind of girl who pointed out guys and called them "hot" or "sexy." But she knew if she were to name all the features of her dream man, they would be identical to Will's. She stared at his clear blue eyes for a moment, sparkling in the crisp Saturday air, and her mouth opened slightly, no sound coming out.
My god, Emma, he must think you can't even talk!
"Um… that's a… that's a nice dog you have. Is it… is it yours?" She gestured toward the happy pup, which was lifting its leg to relieve itself on the pink-leaved tree. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and she looked away quickly.
Will chuckled. "Nah, Skip here belongs to a buddy of mine. He's on vacation with his family, so I get dog-sitting responsibilities for a week!" He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. He was about to mention something about Terri being allergic to all animals, but for some reason he refrained. He didn't know why. But looking at the guidance counselor, dressed down for a walk in the park in a white sweater, fitted jeans, and a beret, he felt something odd, something he hadn't felt in a long time. Maybe ever. It was a little spark, maybe the lighting of a flame, but he couldn't explain it even if he tried.
He quickly shook it off, smiling once again at Emma.
"So how was your first week at McKinley?" They talked about the high school, about teaching, about Emma's past, about what brought her to Lima, about the town, about everything. They found each other surprisingly easy to talk to. It was a refreshing splash for Will; the inviting brown eyes were such a nice change from the demanding, sharp blue ones that he was used to.
All of a sudden, Will's pocket buzzed angrily, and he sheepishly retrieved his cell phone to read a text from Terri. Where are you? What's taking so long? He sighed, rolling his eyes, but caught a glimpse of the time and gasped. They had spent 3 hours talking. He dropped his phone back into his pocket and gave a little chuckle.
"Time flies when you're having fun," he admitted with a grin. Emma agreed with a relaxed smile. She didn't seem to have anywhere to be. Why am I so relaxed? Emma wondered to herself. Usually she would be freaking out about messing up her schedule, or stuttering nervous apologies for keeping Will for so long. But she felt extremely stress-free in Will's easygoing presence. It was a wonderful change for Emma. The two new found friends exchanged numbers, Will offering his services to Emma if she needed any help at all with anything, even non-school-related, adding on that he knew how hard it was to be in a new, unfamiliar town, and Emma thanked him shyly, unused to such kindness and generosity.
Finally, Will tugged on the leash and Skip barked his farewell to the smiling redhead. "Well… see you Monday!" Will said. "If you come to the teacher's lounge maybe we can eat lunch together!" Emma nodded with a grin. "That would be lovely," she replied gratefully. "Bye!" She waved to the handsome teacher and the playful dog as they walked away.
Will's mind swirled again and a memory of him and Emma a couple years older sitting next to the same cherry-blossom tree floated to the front of his mind. A red and white picnic blanket was spread out on the abundant green grass and the tree's pink leaves provided shade for the couple from the shining sun. Superman lunchboxes lay open on the blanket, perfectly wrapped packages of food peeking out. Will was feeding Emma spotless green grapes, his arm around her as she leaned against his strong body.
"Let's see if you can catch one in your mouth!" he said suddenly and Emma clapped her hands excitedly, moving to the other edge of the picnic blanket. Smiling broadly, Will wound up his arm and threw three grapes at Emma's cute little face. They bounced off her face and back onto the ground. Emma wagged her finger at her laughing boyfriend and began to giggle madly, pouncing on him, planting a sweet, grape-filled kiss to his smiling mouth.
Will lay stiffly in his cold bed, eyes wide open. Emma's side of the bed was horribly empty, and Will couldn't stand it. He pushed the covers off of his legs and walked into the living room, grabbing a cold beer from the fridge on his way. He popped the cap open and sat down on the couch, turning the TV on and taking a long swig of the refreshing liquid. The channel was on the local news, and Will couldn't help but imagine Emma's face whenever they watched the local news together, his arm around her small frame. Her intense fascination with the local news always amazed Will, and he could stare at her concerned, deeply absorbed face all day.
He set the beer down, burying his unshaven, unwashed face in his hands. Every little thing about the house reminded him of Emma. He groaned in frustration, rubbing his eyes, and flipped the channel to a mindless sitcom. He glued his eyes to the fuzzy figures on the television screen, not really seeing or hearing any of the show. Staring at the moving pictures on the screen, he blinked methodically, his eyes dried out from crying so much. He didn't move his eyes from the TV, afraid that seeing any little thing around the house would bring back a memory of Emma. As it was, every silly show on every channel somehow reminded him of his comatose fiancée. He let out a pained cry and shut the TV off, resorting to staring at the black screen.
Finally, at three in the morning, he went back into the bedroom and walked into Emma's huge closet. He ran his fingers along the different fabrics and materials, breathing in the essence of Emma. He took her favorite blue sweater off of the hanger and hugged it to his chest, another tear dropping from his eye. Every time he thought he had no more tears left, another one always came out of nowhere.
He exited the closet and climbed into the bed, holding Emma's soft sweater tightly in his hands. He brought it up to his face and let it sit on the pillow, squeezing his eyes shut. He breathed in the wonderful, familiar scent of Emma Pillsbury and imagined her small body breathing slowly next to him in the bed. Slowly, gradually, he dropped off to sleep, the worry lines on his forehead never disappearing.
Reviews are greatly appreciated! :)