A/N: This fic is a fill for a prompt from the glee angst meme that asked for one of the gleeks to find Mr. Schue the way that Buffy found Joyce in the episode "The Body" and for the subsequent reactions of some or all of the gleeks. In addition to the general plot, a lot of the dialogue in this fic comes directly from that episode of Buffy, so a ton of credit goes to Joss Whedon. Also, for the record, much to my dismay, I do not own any of the Glee characters.
The Body - Part 1
Finn isn't exactly great at academic stuff, it's not like that's a big secret. He tries hard, well, when he's not being distracted by Puck or Mike or whoever else is in class with him, he tries hard, but trying hard doesn't always produce the desired results. He manages to get by in most of his classes but there's something about Spanish that always manages to trip him up. When Mr. Schue hands out assignments or tests he tends to just stare at the questions as if they're all in Spanish or something, which, okay, they actually are all in Spanish but that's what people say when they don't understand something, right? Luckily, as far as Finn is concerned, Mr. Schue is basically the most awesome teacher ever and so, when Finn fails his second test in a row, Mr. Schue doesn't tell him that he has no hope of passing the class he just offers to help him out after school.
Finn knows he should be bummed about having to stay late to work on school stuff, especially since he has to stay extra late because he has to go to football practice first, but he's not. Tonight will be his seventh study session with Mr. Schue and he's starting to think that he might actually have some hope of getting a half decent grade in the class, his mom is going to be so proud. Besides, Mr. Schue usually brings some kind of food and Finn's starving, football practice really builds up an appetite.
When Finn walks into the choir room he doesn't see Mr. Schue at first and he wonders if he's screwed up the day or time. The lights are on though and it's too early for the janitorial staff to be here yet so he walks further into the room. "Mr. Schue?" he calls out, not that there are really many places that the man could be hiding in the choir room.
He takes two more steps into the room and that's when he spots his teacher, laying on the ground partially obscured by the piano. "Mr. Schue?" There is no response.
He takes a few more steps forward until he can see the entirety of the man, his eyes are wide open and his skin is pale, almost bluish. Finn can feel his heart starting to beat faster as he involuntarily shivers. "Mr. Schue?" he tries again but there's still no response. Finn can't seem to move any further forward, it's as if he's frozen, he shivers again, "Mr. Schuester?"
He doesn't know how long he stands there unable to move, it feels like an eternity, but really it could be only a few seconds. Finally, he stumbles forward, dropping to his knees in front of Mr. Schue. He puts a hand on the man's arm first, shaking it gently, "Mr. Schue." When he still gets no response, his movements become more panicked, reaching with both hands he shakes the man's shoulders, "Mr. Schue, you got to wake up." He shakes harder, "Please wake up."
The shaking isn't working and Finn searches his panicked brain for some kind of answer about what he's supposed to do now. It hits him quickly, a pulse, he should check for a pulse. He fumbles, taking Mr. Schue's wrist in his hand and trying to find the pulse there. He can't find it and he panics again. Maybe he's doing it wrong? That's it, he's doing it wrong, he tries to calm himself. He leans his head down close to the man's chest, trying to see if he can hear his heart beating, but he can't. Maybe if his own heart wasn't beating so loudly in his ear, it would be easier to tell. After a minute, he's sure he can't hear anything and he sits up, the panic continuing to rise, "MR. SCHUE," he screams loudly, in desperation, hoping for some kind of response.
He sits there, his breaths coming in gasps for a moment before he gets up and moves quickly, albeit clumsily, to where he had dropped his bag earlier in his haste to get to the man. Fumbling through the bag he eventually finds his phone and flips it open. His hands are shaking so bad that it takes him three tries before he manages to actually dial 911.
The phone rings twice before there's a voice, "911, Emergency…"
"Hello?" Finn shouts into the phone a little too loudly, interrupting.
"Do you have…" the operator starts but gets interrupted again.
"It's my teacher, he's not…I don't think he's breathing," Finn rambles.
"Is he conscious?" The operator prompts.
Finn shakes his head before he realizes that the person on the other end can't see him. "No, he's not breathing, he's not…"
"Okay," the operator interrupts him this time. "I need you to give me your address."
"What?" Finn asks, his panic making it hard for him to process what's being asked of him.
"I'm going to send an ambulance over," the operator explains.
"Oh…it's the school, we're at the school," Finn pauses realizing that he still hasn't really said where they are. "William McKinley High School…it's a high school."
"I'm sending a unit right away," the operator explains calmly. "Are you alone at the school?"
Finn takes a shaky breath. "Yes."
"And did you see what happened? Did he fall?" The operator continues to prompt him.
"No…I just came…we were supposed to study and he just…" Finn tries to focus his thoughts but his brain is racing too fast for him to keep up with it. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Do you know how to administer CPR?" The operator asks him.
"I.." he thinks hard, they had that training at school, he's supposed to know this, right? "I don't remember."
"That's okay," the operator reassures him. "It's very simple. You want to tilt his head back. Cover his mouth with yours and breath into his mouth…"
Finn remembers then and he wants to hit himself. "I…I remember." How could he have forgotten about something as important as CPR? He should have started it right away. How could he not have done it right away? He drops the phone and quickly rushes towards Mr. Schue, kneeling in front of him again he quickly tilts the man's head back and blows twice. He then puts his hands to the man's chest and starts pumping. One, two, three, four, five, six, he counts to himself and then he hears a sickening crack. "Oh God," he says out loud. What has he done?
He scrambles, reaching for the phone that he dropped and pressing it firmly to his ear, his hands trembling only slightly. "Something cracked!" he shouts into the phone. "I did it too hard…" he trails off, pausing a second. "Are you there?"
"Hello?" The operator responds.
"Something broke!" He shouts into the phone again. He broke something, oh god, he broke something.
"Is he breathing?" The operator asks him.
"No!" Finn shouts again the panic continuing to bubble in his chest. Oh god, oh god, oh god, he chants in his head, almost missing what the operator says next.
"The paramedics should be there in a moment. You might have cracked a rib, it's not important…" the operator explains calmly before getting interrupted again.
"He's cold," Finn blurts out, not sure exactly why he says it. It's true though, as he'd tilted Mr. Schue's head back, he'd felt how cold his skin was. Maybe he needs a blanket.
The operator doesn't say anything for a moment. "The body is cold?"
The body? Finn's confused about what the operator means. "No, Mr. Schue, he's cold…should I make him warm?"
If Finn were thinking straight, he might notice the change in the tone of the operator's voice, the way the urgency leaves it, but he's not thinking straight at all and so he just nods to himself as the operator speaks. "No, if he's not responding to the CPR, best thing is to wait for the paramedics, okay?"
It's been so long already, it feels like an eternity has passed since he first walked into the choir room. Ambulances are supposed to be fast, right? "When are they going to be here?" He asks quietly, looking over at Mr. Schue's still form.
"They're nearby. Just hang on, it won't be long." The operator reassures him.
Finn's erratic panic is subsiding. His breathing is evening out and his heart beat is slowing. Before his thoughts were screaming at him but now they feel almost blank. He should probably call his mom, he's going to need a ride, Mr. Schue won't be able to drive him home like usual. Ya, he should call his mom. "I have to make a call," he says into the phone, hanging up before the operator can protest that he needs to stay on the line.
Finn dials his home number slowly, his fingers only trembling slightly. The phone rings once, twice, three times before someone picks up but it's not his mom on the other end. "I need my mom," he tells Burt in monotone.
"Finn?" Burt asks concerned about how unlike himself the boy sounds. "Your mom's out shopping with Kurt."
"But I need her to come…" Finn pauses a minute, thinking, before he asks, "Can you come?"
"Finn, buddy, what's going on?" Burt's concern is rising, when there's no answer from the other end he tries again. "I'm coming to get you okay? Are you still at the school?"
Finn isn't really concentrating on what Burt is saying, he can hear the sirens approaching, he needs to go outside and get them. "Ya the school. I got to go." He answers absentmindedly before hanging up.
Finn hurries outside just as the ambulance pulls into the parking lot. As the paramedics climb out of the vehicle, he waves at them, not sure what else to do. As they approach, he blurts out, "he's in the choir room," before turning and heading back into the school, leading the way, without another word.
Finn watches in silence as the paramedics rush over to Mr. Schue and start to work on him. He answers the questions they ask him in autopilot. He's my teacher. Yes he was like this when I found him. No I don't know if he has a medical condition. It doesn't feel real, it feels like he's watching a movie or something.
"He's cold man…" he hears one of the paramedics tell the other.
They continue to work on Mr. Schue for a bit but finally one of the paramedics says, "Call it." Before getting up and walking towards Finn.
"I'm sorry," he starts, addressing the boy.
"What else? What now? What do we..." Finn asks questions in quick succession.
"I'm sorry," the paramedic starts again, "but there's nothing we can do."
Finn scrunches up his brow, "but…I…"
The paramedic puts his arm on the boy trying to comfort him. "It looks like he did die a good while before you found him, there's nothing you could have done."
"What…" Finn tries to process what is being said but his brain really isn't working. Die. How could Mr. Schue just die, it makes no sense. The paramedic is still talking and he tries to concentrate.
"I'm gonna call it in, the coroner's office will come by to take him in and they'll determine the cause of death conclusively." He explains, stopping when his partner approaches with the equipment packed up.
"We got another call, we have to go," the other paramedic says, taking a second to look at the boy standing there. They really shouldn't leave him alone but they've got another emergency to get to. "Can we call someone for you?" He asks the teen.
Finn just stares a minute and then he remembers. Burt, Burt's coming. "Someone's coming," he tells them.
"Okay," the first paramedic tells him. "I'm gonna call right away, but the coroner's office could take a little while. The police may come too, for a report. In the meanwhile, you should sit, have some water... Try not to disturb the body…" he trails off, reminding himself that even though this boy is taller than him, he's really just a kid. "You're sure someone's coming?"
Finn nods, he's sure, Burt said he's coming, he's coming.
"We've got to go then," the second paramedic says and his partner follows him out.
Just like that Finn's alone, just him and…he looks over at Mr. Schue's still form and gulps. Suddenly he can feel the bile rising, he doesn't have time to find a toilet or a garbage can, he doesn't even have time to move, before he's doubling over and retching violently all over the floor. When the heaving finally stops, Finn straightens up, staring mystified at the mess he's made.
He's still staring vacantly at the floor when Burt finds him. The older man, who's clearly been running, stops dead in his tracks. "Finn? Buddy? Are you alright?" He asks quietly, worriedly.
Finn looks up and as his eyes meet Burt's, Burt can't help but notice how lost he looks.
"I…" Finn starts but he's not sure what to say.
Burt takes a couple of steps towards Finn and that's when he notices Mr. Schue. "Oh shit," he can't stop the profanity that leaves his mouth as he starts to move towards the prone form of the other man.
"No don't," Finn stops him. "They already tried," the volume of his voice rises, taken on an edge of hysteria. "They said you're not supposed to touch the body," he gasps as the word leaves his mouth. The body, it's so…so final. Like Mr. Schue isn't really Mr. Schue, like it doesn't matter about all of the awesome things he does…all of the awesome things he did…because now he's none of that, he's just a body. Finn begins to sob then, his shoulder hunching forward and his entire body shaking.
Burt quickly closes the gap between them, wrapping his arms around the boy and pulling him close with all of his strength. "It's okay. You're okay. It's going to be okay now." He repeats over and over and over again.
Finn just continues to sob. It certainly doesn't feel like anything is going to be okay.