Sorry for the late update! I've had a lot going on lately. But anyways, I hope you like this chapter! Please review :)

IV

Ring, ring.

Ring, ring.

The cell phone on Will's bedside nightstand shook violently as he lay on his back, staring up at the spongy ceiling, showing no sign that he could hear the shrilling ring tone. The room was pitch black, the only sign of life the neon square of light glowing from Will's angry cell phone. The curtains were drawn to deny the glaring sun beaming at the window in the bedroom.

Ring, ring.

The phone started to ring again; apparently the caller was not giving up. Will groaned and turned over on his side to look at the alarm clock on his bedside. 1:30 pm. Rubbing his eyes, Will picked up his phone and squinted, shielding his eyes from the bright light coming from the phone to read the caller ID.

Beiste, Shannon.

Will slid his finger across the bright screen to accept the call, then slowly put the phone to his ear.

"Hello" he croaked, his voice hoarse from not being used for hours.

"Will! Buddy! My god, I've been callin' ya fer hours!" Shannon's overly enthusiastic voice erupted out of the phone, making Will grimace and hold the phone away from his ear for a moment as Shannon talked his ear off.

"Where are ya, buddy? Why aren't you and Ems at work? I had to eat lunch alone… just me and my chicken! Anyways, I ran into Figgins and asked him where ya two lovebirds were, and he said he didn't get any messages from ya. He had to take over yer history class. Must've been hilarious! So are ya gonna tell me where y'all are?"

Silence. After a moment, Will let out a sigh. Shannon's voice sounded too happy. It didn't feel right. It didn't fit into his life right now.

"Shannon…" His voice was low, barely above a whisper.

"Will? I can barely hear ya. Is something wrong? Wait, Will, is everything okay?" Shannon's happy voice showed traces of worry and concern.

"No… I… it's not."

"Will, what happened? What's going on! Talk to me, buddy. Please."

"It's… I…"

"Come on Will, spit it out. You've got me really worried."

"Emma…"

"Emma? Is she okay? What's wrong? Please talk to me, Will!"

"No… she's not okay." Now his voice was down to a whisper.

"Will, what's wrong? What's wrong!"

There was no reply. All Shannon could hear coming from the other line was muffled sobs. The big woman gasped, realizing just how serious the situation was. She spoke quickly and in a low, serious voice.

"Hold tight, Will. I'm coming over." Then the line went dead.

Shannon stood on Will and Emma's doorstep, banging her strong fist on the door. After she had heard Will's dejected sobs, and his stuttered attempts at explanations, she knew two things. One, something had happened to Emma. Something very serious. And Shannon was trying her best to not think of possible scenarios in her head. Two, Will wasn't going to be able to explain anything over the phone, at least not then. Right after she had hung up the phone, she had rushed over to Figgins' office to inform him of her confusing conversation with Will, then straight to the parking lot and sped to Will and Emma's house.

The door remained shut, and the house remained quiet. Shannon rapped on the door again.

"Will! Hey buddy! It's me, come answer the door!"

No reply. Shannon sighed, then put her hand on the doorknob, turning it slowly. The door was unlocked. She swung the door open, stepping inside and shutting and locking the door behind her. The house was just as it always was, perfectly neat and clean. Everything was in order.

"Hey, Will?" she called out tentatively. "It's me, buddy. Where are ya?" No reply.

She slowly walked down the hall toward the bedroom, continuing to call Will's name as she passed each room. When she got to the bedroom, she pushed the door open and stuck her head inside. The bed was unmade and wrinkled, but it was very much empty. Will's iphone rested on the nightstand. Shannon furrowed her brow and went inside the dark room, flipping on the light switch as she entered.

She looked to her right. There was a dim yellow light coming from the bathroom. Shannon rushed over to the open door and looked inside. Will was sitting on the cold tile floor, his back against the wood cabinets, his legs sprawled out in front of him. His hair was messy and greasy, and he had stubble growing on his chin. His eyes were red and puffy, with big dark circles under them.

But that wasn't what made Shannon gasp with fear.

It was the open bottle of sleeping pills that was set on the ground in front of Will, as his head lolled around and his eyes barely remained open.

"No!" Shannon cried out. She fell onto her knees in front of Will and gently slapped his cheeks with her hands.

"Ow… Shannon, stop…"

"Will… please don't tell me you took those pills. Please." The tough woman's voice shook as she looked into Will's sad eyes.

Will's brow furrowed and he shook his head. "Not yet…"

"Oh, god. Oh god. Thank god. Thank god." Shannon snatched up the dangerous bottle, screwed the lid back on, and slipped it into her pocket so that Will couldn't get it. Will let his head fall back onto the hard face of the cabinet, closing his eyes in dejection.

"Punkin… you can't do that to me," Shannon said, her voice cracking as she slid down to sit next to Will on the floor. "Will… just please talk to me. Tell me what's going on. Where the hell is Emma?"

Will took a deep, ragged breath. "Shannon, she's… she's at the hospital. She's in a coma." Shannon's stomach dropped and she put her hand over her mouth.

"We were going out to dinner. I was driving. We were singing… I was so distracted by her beautiful voice… I… I ran a red light… a big car hit us… it rammed right into Emma… they said she won't be waking up for awhile…" Will's fragmented sentences turned into sobs and he buried his face in his hands.

"It's all my fault" he whispered. "I caused all of this. If I lose her…" his voice broke off and he shook his head vigorously, the tears dropping from his face onto the perfectly polished bathroom floor.

Shannon was still somewhat in shock. Her eyes glazed over and tears threatened to spill from her big eyes. She couldn't believe this was happening.

"Oh my god…" she murmured softly. "Will… please. Don't blame yourself. I know it's hard but… it's not your fault. Accidents happen."

She put her arm around her best friend and rubbed his shoulder reassuringly. His head rested on her broad shoulder and he cried into her soft polo shirt. Identical tears ran down Shannon's cheeks as the two comforted each other.

"You know what? It's gonna be okay. It'll be okay, buddy, I promise. Em'll get better. We both know her. She's a fighter, she is. She's not gonna give up, I jus' know it. You can't give up hope, Will."

Will nodded, knowing Shannon was right. He wiped his eyes and leaned in to embrace his friend. He was so grateful to have her.

A few hours later, Will decided to take Shannon to see Emma, per her request. He couldn't deny that he wanted to see her as well. Upon arrival, he checked in with the nurse, who greeted him with a smile and informed him that there were no updates, and then hurried over to Emma's room, eager to see her face again. He had showered, shaved, and put on a new, clean outfit with Emma's favorite tie of his. All for Emma. Shannon followed his footsteps, then waited outside as Will went in the room.

He tenderly pushed the heavy door open and stepped into the quiet room, letting the door swing shut behind him. The only sound to be heard were occasional beeps coming from a machine next to the bed.

Will smiled at the sight of his beautiful angel and sat down in his chair next to the bed, kissing Emma's nose and stroking her hair. She looked the same as when he last saw her, very pale and unmoving.

"Hi," he said softly. "I missed you last night. The bed was so lonely without you. I couldn't sleep."

Silence. Emma's unresponsiveness made Will want to break down and cry, but he willed himself not to, staring at his love, making himself stay positive.

"I uh… I didn't think to tell Figgins about what happened, so apparently there was a little confusion at school today. Sorry about that, sweetheart. Shannon told me Figgins had to take over my history class." He chuckled at the thought. "Um, anyways, speaking of Shannon, she's here. She came with me, and she wants to see you. I hope that's okay."

He stood up and opened the door, motioning for Shannon to come inside. She gave a small smile and walked into the room. "Hey, Punkin!" She pulled the balloon she had brought through the door and tied it to the post of the bed. Will smiled at the sight. They spent the next hour talking. It was depressing for Will to see his fiancée like that, but somehow having Shannon there made it a lot better. When it was time to go, Will resisted, once again stating that he wanted to sleep there with Emma, but Shannon shook her head.

"Come on Punkin, we're going home. You can come back tomorrow."

The next day, Will stayed home from school again. He couldn't step into those halls. Memories with Emma were written all over those walls, and seeing her empty office would just be too much for Will, he knew it. He spent the day lying in bed, occasionally getting up to use the bathroom or eat.

The doorbell rang.

Figuring it was Shannon stopping by after school to see how he was doing, Will pulled on a pair of sweats and went to answer the door. He unlocked the door and swung it open, revealing Rachel and Finn standing at his doorstep. Will's mouth opened in surprise.

"Uh… hey, guys. What are you doing here?"

"We heard about Miss Pillsbury. We're really sorry, and um, we just want to let you know that the whole Glee club is praying that she gets better," Rachel said, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, we were all devastated when Figgins told us. We're all really worried about her, and about you too. I… I hope it's okay that me and Rachel came here. Coach Beiste gave us your address."

"Yeah, we just wanted to give you some stuff that we and the rest of the Glee Club has for Miss Pillsbury. They all wanted to come see you too, but I thought it would be best not to overwhelm you, and I figured as co-captains, Finn and I would do a good job of representing the team."

Will invited them inside and Finn and Rachel showed him all of the lovely cards, flowers, balloons, and get-well packages that they were carrying. Will cried, seeing all the love he and Emma had in their lives, and brought both Rachel and Finn in for an embrace.

"Give everyone a hug for me, and tell them how grateful I am. We both are," Will said tearfully.

Rachel and Finn both nodded, smiling, happy to have made their teacher feel just a little better.

"We will, Mr. Schue," Finn said with a smile.

"Okay, we should probably go. We don't want to take up any more of your time." Rachel stood up and put on her coat, and Finn followed.

"You both are in our thoughts and prayers," Finn said, putting a hand on Will's shoulder. "You've always been there for me, Mr. Schue, and I want to return the favor."

Will smiled. "Thanks, Finn. I really appreciate it, both of you."

Less than an hour later, Will was back at the Lima Hospital, faithfully at Emma's bedside. The colorful cards and lovely flowers were spread out around the room, lighting up the entire room. The balloons were tied to Emma's bed along with Shannon's.

"Do you like it, Em?" Will couldn't hide his smile. "The Glee club did it all for you. They're so worried about you."

He took one of the cards off of the shelf and began to read it to Emma. "This one's from Tina. Look how sweet it is, honey. Oh, and this one is from Mercedes! 'You better wake up soon Miss P or you're gonna miss me winning my first Emmy!'" Will smiled as he read the sweet cards from his students.

"Oh Em, you're gonna feel so loved when you wake up," he squeezed her hand. Then, his smile gradually disappeared and he stared at Emma's emotionless face. He looked down at the floor.

"Emma… can I ask you something?" He took her silence as approval.

"What if… what if you… don't wake up?" The last part deepened into a whisper. "I just… I don't know what I would do without you, Emma. You are my life. I'm so in love with you, I can't even…" his voice caught in his throat.

"Emma." Will took both of her hands in his. "Please don't leave me. Please. Try to fight. Fight as hard as you can. We have so much ahead of us, Emma. What about… a baby? You can't… you can't just bail on me on all of our plans." A tear slid down Will's cheek and onto Emma's hand.

The doctor's voice echoed inside Will's head. She can't hear you, Will. He shook his head vigorously, in denial of everything.

Why is this happening?

He would never figure it out.

All of a sudden, the relaxed beeping coming from the machine next to Emma began to speed up rapidly. The squiggly red lines moved wildly up and down and the beeps got exponentially louder. Will stood up at once.

"Emma!"

Eeeek sorry for the cliffhanger please don't kill me XD