And I know you're shining down on me from Heaven! As Rachel belted the chorus of One Sweet Day, her partner Isaac appeared to be struggling just to make himself audible. With the competition just hours away, Rachel seemed to have decided that it was best to take things up a notch. Her partner hadn't counted on the change.

Mr. Schue stood up, stopping the early morning run-through and shaking his head. "Rachel, we can't hear Isaac again," he pointed out, amidst muffled snickers from the audience. When Mr. Schue gave them all sharp looks, they slumped down in their chairs obediently and piped down. Onstage, Isaac caught a withering stare from Rachel. They tried it again. Mr. Schue went back to making phone calls.

Artie noticed none of it. Instead, he kept looking at his cell phone, willing it to ring. He'd called Olivia four times, and now, she was nearly fifteen minutes late. The "handicapable" bus was late as well, however, which was why they had time to do run-throughs in the auditorium. Mr. Schuester was distracted, trying to call the school's transportation department and corral the kids at the same time. No one else had noticed she was missing.

Finally, Mr. Schue got word that the bus was five minutes away. Satisfied, he ushered them all out of the auditorium, doing a quick head count as they filed out. "Hey... where's Olivia?"

"I've been trying to call her," Artie explained, holding up his cell. "She won't answer her cell phone."

"I'll try to get a hold of her mom," Mr. Schuester said, undaunted by the news. "She's probably already on her way. I know the number's in the office. I'll go make the call. You guys go ahead and get on the bus."

The glee clubbers lined the pavement, waiting for their bus. Tina and Artie were at either end of the line, and Mercedes quickly dissected the situation. She was closest to Artie so she leaned over and whispered, "Did something happen between you two?"

"We broke up."

Saying the words out loud didn't make it any more real to Artie. He was numb to the pain now, after dealing with his demons all night long and not getting even two hours of sleep. When he did sleep, he saw a confusing whirlwind of pictures in his mind, flashes as opposed to actual dreams. Tina's face. Olivia's face. Tina singing Stand by Me with him in Olivia's place. Olivia singing True Colors.

"Not possible..." Mercedes looked scandalized. She leaned over to survey Tina, standing on the opposite end of the pavement. Artie saw Tina look over and he dropped his head, avoiding her eyes. It wasn't as though they'd argued and yelled their way through it. Would it hurt as badly if he felt anger towards Tina, as opposed to bitter remorse?

The bus arrived and there wasn't much else to say. Mercedes gave him a pitiful glance before climbing on the bus, her partner Cole following behind her. Artie waited for the driver to lower the ramp after everyone else had gotten on first. Still no Olivia. Still no Mr. Schuester. Artie checked his watch again. They were twenty-minutes behind schedule now. Hopefully, they wouldn't arrive late for the competition.

And suddenly, Mr. Schuester came running up. Breathlessly, he announced the reason for the hold up. "Olivia's in the hospital," he said, causing Tina to freeze in the doorway of the bus, Yudai looking over her shoulder worriedly. Mr. Schuester looked down at Artie. "Some kind of complication with... a shunt? She went in last night and had an operation this morning. All I know is, she's fine now. But obviously, she's not coming."

Hadn't she just told Artie she was fine? He recalled how Olivia had acted when he asked about it, how quick she was to assure him that it was nothing. And now this? As Mr. Schuester went on to say that Tina and Yudai would have to perform in their place today, Artie barely heard him. All he could think about was the terror of waking up, finding yourself alone and scared in a hospital bed.

"Artie - " Mr. Schuester jolted him out of the trance he was in. Artie shook his head and looked up at his teacher. "Artie, you're still welcome to come with us to the competition."

"Thanks, but... " Artie's eyes wandered to Tina, who gave him an imperceptibly tiny nod. "I think, um, that Olivia could use a friend. Since I am her partner and since you don't need me at the competition, I think it should be me. I'm going to go see her at the hospital. Her mom did say she was okay now?"

Mr. Schuester responded by saying that this sounded like a good idea. He patted Artie on the shoulder before climbing on the bus with the others. Artie thought he saw Tina give him a very small smile before getting on the bus and taking her seat next to Yudai. Three rows back, Mercedes hung her head out the window, not smiling. She looked straight at Artie and shook her head sadly at him, as if to tell him that he was making a mistake.

Mistake or not, Olivia needed somebody and it looked like that somebody would be Artie.

"I thought you hated hospitals, son," Artie's dad remarked, as the van lowered Artie onto the pavement in front of the Cooley Neurosurgical Clinic, where Olivia had apparently gone under the knife hours earlier. It was kind of remarkable that she was already up and talking, but that was the report he'd gotten from her mother on the phone. Artie had called to make sure it was okay for him to come.

"I do hate them, Dad," said Artie, unlocking his wheels and rolling out on to the sidewalk. "But that was when it was me. I can stand to make a visit for a friend."

He set out on his own, parting ways with his father at the curb. Hospitals were the most handicap accessible places on earth. Artie found everything about navigating his way through the halls of St. Rita Medical Center completely effortless. He took the elevator up to the fourth floor and found Mrs. Ortiz sitting in the waiting room with the three younger kids. They looked relatively calm, not panicked as Artie had imagined, as if this were no big deal.

"What happened?" Artie said, as soon as Olivia's mother noticed him, a hint of hysteria in his voice. One day she had been fine, the next day she was in the hospital, recovering from brain surgery. It was a lot to handle at once, and Artie didn't realize quite how much it upset him until now.

"She's fine," Mrs. Ortiz soothed him, her tone reassuring. Artie acknowledged, however, that she had the additional responsibility of keeping three young children calm. Naturally, she would be saying that. "Olivia had a bad headache last night, and she came to me, saying she thought it was one of those headaches. She can usually identify her own symptoms. Sure enough, she was nearly passed out cold in a matter of minutes, and we called an ambulance. Her shunt malfunctioned again, and she needed replacement. Dr. Cooley got here quickly and took good care of her. So, yes, she's fine. And she's thankful that you came, Artie. You can go see her. Room 403."

It took seeing Olivia for Artie to finally calm himself. When he entered her room, she didn't look terrible, given the circumstances. Her eyes looked a little blurry and unfocused, but she'd brushed her hair back into a ponytail and was sitting up in bed, wearing her own pajamas instead of a hospital gown. A large bandage peeked out from behind her right ear. Her breakfast sat nearby, still untouched.

"So, I guess Yudai and Tina are Kung Fu Fighting right now," was the first thing she said, with a yawn and a lazy grin. She seemed determined to talk about anything other than her current situation."Oh, well, I really thought they deserved to go."

Artie rolled right up to her bedside. "Liv," he said, softly. "I was really freaked out."

The smile she had forced upon her face was fading now. "This doesn't help my case much, does it?" When Artie looked confused, she clarified. "I can see it in your eyes, you think I'm breakable now."

He did not answer right away. All Artie knew was that Olivia looked small and scared in her hospital bed, despite her mother's assurances that nothing was wrong and her own desperate attempts at acting casual about the situation. She told him she'd been in the hospital "a few" times before, but Artie could see that no matter now many times it happened, this was not the type of thing one adjusted to.

Artie attempted to change the subject, keeping the conversation light. "So," he began, glancing at her breakfast. "What was wrong with the food? Did you want sunny-side up instead of scrambled? I know you're used to getting better at your house."

There it was. A real smile. "Actually, I have a hard time looking at food right now," she admitted. "Last night, when I was dealing with my shunt malfunction, I couldn't keep anything down. That was how we knew it was happening again. Bad headache, dizziness, nausea... it was all there."

Artie nodded, wincing slightly as he imagined her being so sick. "Well, it sounds like you're pretty good at noticing your own symptoms," he commented. "I'm glad you got to the hospital so quickly." He didn't add that it sounded like something bad could've happened if she hadn't.

"I just feel bad for Mom," sighed Olivia. "Dad's out of town right now so she had to deal with all of the little kids, plus getting me here. My aunt's going to come here later and help her out though. And at least she has Dad now. Not like the first time..."

"The first time?" Artie noticed a distant look in her eyes as she spoke.

"I was a year old when my shunt malfunctioned and had to be replaced the first time," Olivia explained. "And mom had already been through so much with me by then. They did surgery while she was still pregnant, then another shortly after I was born. And through all of that, she was by herself. My biological father left her when he found out about me. Couldn't handle it, I guess."

"So, Mr. Ortiz is...?"

"My stepfather, technically," she explained, her eyes shining. "Which makes my siblings my half-siblings, technically. But he's the only father I've ever known. And he's never complained about all the doctor's visits, costly shunt replacements, and so on. He's a pretty amazing guy."

"Wow," was all Artie could say.

They sat quietly in the hospital for awhile and Olivia closed her eyes at some point, drifting off to sleep again. But not before instructing Artie to eat her breakfast before it got cold. Artie didn't really feel right about that. He sat, looking out the window for awhile, wondering if he should call his dad. After about ten minutes, he noticed that Olivia had her eyes open again, and she was staring at him.

"Does Tina know you're here?" Olivia asked. She shifted uncomfortably in her bed, adding, "I mean, if I were dating someone and they went to the hospital to see another girl... I just... I don't know..."

"We're not."

"Not what?"

"D-dating," Artie stammered, looking at his feet. "Anymore."

Olivia said nothing, but a low whistle escaped her lips at the news. Artie could feel her eyes on him as she continued to stare. After a moment, she cleared her throat and asked, "Did... it have anything to do with me?"

Artie looked up in amazement. Wow, she knows how to be blunt, doesn't she? He wondered how to answer that. The truth was that it had everything to do with Olivia, but Artie never intended to tell her that. He was still getting to know her and, frankly, he wasn't even close to being over Tina. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since their split. There was no way he and Olivia were having this conversation now.

"Because if it does," Olivia went on, not giving him a chance to speak. (He wouldn't even know what to say if she did.) "If it does, I'm stopping you right there. Artie, I think you're a sweet guy and everything, but I cannot see us dating, not in a million years."

Artie reacted as though he'd been bitten. "Uh, gee, thanks," he said, sourly, scowling at her. "I don't recall asking you out or even confirming that my split with Tina had anything to do with you."

Olivia bit her lip. "No, that's true," she backpedaled. "I'm sorry, Artie, I guess I just got the wrong idea, what with you being the first person to come here and visit me and all. If I said too much, just... just forget it."

"But I'm curious now," Artie said, wheeling himself forward slightly. "Why not?"

"Because you're in a wheelchair," was her blunt, direct answer. Artie knew Olivia could be blunt, but really? He gaped at her in disbelief, not sure what to say. If she hadn't been saying this to him while sitting in a hospital bed, connected to an IV and surrounded by a bunch of intimidating equipment, he surely would have started yelling at her.

"Because I'm in a wheelchair," Artie repeated, wondering if he could have heard her correctly. When she nodded, Artie continued to gape in silence. After a few moments, it looked like Olivia might be on the verge of crying. Oh, geez, crying wasn't good for a person trying to recover from brain surgery, was it?

"Don't you see?" she finally said, her eyes pleading with him. "Isn't it... isn't it enough to deal with one person being like this? I mean, I look at my younger siblings and I'm so thankful that nothing's wrong with any of them. They're all healthy, able-bodied kids. Artie, it's hard enough to deal with being me. I couldn't... couldn't deal with someone like you."

"You can stop letting me down gently now." Though he should have been getting angry over that blunt remark, he managed a smile instead as something dawned on him.

"I just told you I'd never date you because you're in a wheelchair," she replied, swiping at her eyes when a lone tear traced down her cheek. "And you can sit there, smiling at me like that? What gives, Artie?"

Artie didn't answer right away. Instead, he rolled forward and picked up the hand in her lap that wasn't currently all taped up with a needle in its vein. Wordlessly, he gave her hand a kiss. It wasn't meant to be romantic, just tender, and Artie could see that Olivia understood the gesture.

"You just made me realize something important," he said, backing himself away from the hospital bed. With that, he smiled and Olivia returned the smile curiously, still puzzled by Artie's reaction but pleased nonetheless. She was about to ask him to explain, but this time, he cut her off.

"I better be going now, you look like you still need to rest," he said. "Feel better soon, okay?"