Wow! Thanks for all of the follows, favorites, and reviews. Like I told a couple of you…I will post a chapter once I have the chapter after it written. For example, I am posting chapter 2 so chapter 3 is written. I will post chapter 3 when I have finished chapter 4. The plan is to have an update once a week, at least.

I have not written in forever, at least a couple of years, so I want to give a shout out to my amazing Beta hayleynymphadora.

Anyway, on with the story…enjoy!

I make my way to my mother's room. She is lying on the bed hooked to all of the machines, and she looks so helpless. I feel my heart begin to ache for her. No! Rachel, she doesn't deserve your sympathy. I walk over to her side; her green eyes find my brown ones and a look of confusion and relief falls over her face.

"Rachel?" She asks, her voice raspy.

"It's me, Shelby." I respond, looking away from her.

"Thank you for coming baby." She reaches her hand out for my hand. I don't take it.

"Don't, Shelby, just don't. This changes nothing. I only came to see what needs to be done." She nods, tears pooling her eyes.

"I understand, Rachel."

I pull a chair up next to her and sit down; letting out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding. I have no idea what I am doing. The silence is killing me. Say something, Rachel. Anything. I think to myself.

"Why?" Oh good going. You mother is possibly dying and you are choosing now to bring up the past? Looking up, I see she is thinking about her answer.

"I was scared, Rachel. I was so scared. Like I said that day at Regionals, I wanted a family. I have a family now but there is still something missing. It took me forever to figure out that what I truly wanted was right in front of me the entire time and I was just too foolish to see it. I want, no, I need you, Rachel. I always have." She pauses. I finally make eye contact to see if there is any accuracy in what she is saying. She looks like she means it.

"Then why? Why didn't you ever tell me that? Hell, Shelby, it has been 6 years since Regionals. Why did it take you being in this shape to tell me how you feel? I needed my mom back then. You had missed out on so much, yet you are missing out on so much more." Tears began to fall, slowly, and then I can't hold back anymore, I begin to sob. Shelby doesn't say anything, she reaches for my hand one more time, and this time I don't pull away. I get up and carefully hug my mother for the first time in years; she hugs back with more strength than I thought she would have. A knock at the door brings us back to reality; I look up to see Dr. Stevens.

"Hello, Ms. Corcoran. Ms. Berry." We both nod at the same time, my hand never letting go of hers. "We have some good news. It appears that everything is going great. We have a few tests we need to run in the morning, but everything is looking fine. If all goes well, you should be out of here in a couple of days."

"Thank you so much, doctor." Shelby said, with a few tears slipping down her face. I reach over to wipe a few stray tears, before enveloping her into a tight embrace. "Baby, as much as I am enjoying this, I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

I nod, "anything."

"Can you call the sitter for me and ask her to bring Beth here so I can tell her good night and I can talk to the sitter about keeping her over night?" I am not going to lie, Shelby asking about Beth, stung a little. I mean I understand she is her 'daughter' but still. We were having such a good conversation. I don't want her coming in and ruining the progress we are making.

"Sure, what's the number?" I get the number from Shelby and make my way into the waiting room. I fill everyone in, and then turn to Quinn and Puck. "Shelby has asked me to call the sitter and have Beth brought up here. I am not sure how you feel about this but I wanted to let you know she will be here soon." Quinn's face turns ghost white and I notice her reach down for Noah's hand.

"Does Shelby mind if we see her?" Noah asked.

"I am not sure, but I should ask her, give me one minute." I begin to walk to Shelby's room when a hand stops me. I turn and am now face to face with Quinn.

"I think, maybe, we should ask her. I mean, can we go with you?" I nod. Once we reach the door, I ask them to wait one moment.

"Shelby, I have two people who need to ask you something. Can I bring them in to see you?"

"Sure."

Quinn and Noah walk in the room. Shelby immediately looks at me, and I give a small smile.

"Hey, Mrs. C." Noah states, breaking the silence. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, how about you?" She asks him as if we are not in a hospital room. He smirks and nods his head.

"Look, I know that Beth is on her way here and we were just wondering if it was okay if we stuck around to be there for Rachel and also see Beth." Quinn cut to the chase.

Shelby takes a moment to make her decision. "I don't see why that would be a problem. I mean Beth knows that she was adopted, but she doesn't know who her parents are. So I don't mind you sticking around as long as you don't mention it to her. I would like to be the one to tell her, please." I look to see Quinn shaking her head in an understanding way. Noah looks like he doesn't want to listen to Shelby's rule.

"Thank you, Mrs. Corcoran. I won't say anything to her, promise." Quinn states before leaving the room, dragging Noah with her.

"I will send Beth back here when she arrives. I am going to find some coffee."

"Thanks, Rachel." I close the door softly behind me, and head for the cafeteria. Standing in front of the coffee machine, trying to decide which flavor I want, my mind begins to drift to the events of the day. I come to town as a get together for my friends, then I find out not only is Shelby still in town, but I am her emergency contact, Shelby has been in a wreck and she is fine for now. We seem to have worked through everything but I am still not sure where we stand. I don't want to get my hopes up, just for her to walk out of my life again, after she's better. Then there's Beth. Is she going to be accepting of me? Will Shelby still want to fix things with me once Beth gets here? Ugh, why does all of this have to be so damn confusing? I'm startled by a hand rubbing my back, and I turn around to find Noah looking at me as if he heard the conversation going on inside my head. The look he is giving me is so soft, for such a badass he sure does know how to read people. I wrap my arms around his stomach and give a tight squeeze, he returns the gesture. When I pull away I notice that his shirt is wet, I have been crying. He leads me over to a table in the corner.

"Would you like to talk?"

"I don't know what to say, Noah. I am just so confused. That's all."

"Start at the beginning, Rach. What happened in the room with you and Shelby?"

"She apologized for walking out on me. She told me that by adopting Beth, she was hoping to fill a hole in her heart, but it didn't. That what she needed all along was in front of her, and she was too stupid to notice it. She loves Beth, but needs me too."

"That's great, Rachel. I mean isn't this what you've wanted since junior year?"

"I guess, but I am just not sure if she means it this time or not, ya know? How can I trust her?"

"You can't. However, you can try to trust her. Just don't give her all of you. Make her work for this relationship."

"When did you get to be so smart, Noah Puckerman?" I smiled.

"I've always been smart, my Jew-princess." He pulls me in for another hug before we go back to the waiting room. I notice a small brunette girl at the nurse's desk.

"I am here for Shelby Corcoran. This is her daughter, Beth."

I make my way over to the pair. "Hello, I am Rachel Berry. You must be Beth's sitter."

"Hey, yes I am. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Shelby was in an accident but she is fine now. If you would like I can take you and Beth back to her room. She's waiting for you."

"That would be wonderful. Come on Beth. I am Marley, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Marley. You too, Beth." Beth smiles and hides behind Marley. Once we make it to Shelby's door, I turn to leave them to it. Beth catches my eye.

"I know who you are. You are Rachel Berry. You sing, right?"

"Yes, I am." My heart stops. Has Shelby mentioned me before?

"Momma has a picture of you on our piano. She says you are a fantastic singer. You are her favorite." And with that they head into the room. I smile to myself; maybe just maybe Shelby does mean it this time.

I make my way back to the waiting room to find everyone still there. I plop down on the hard chair and let out a sigh.

"I am so sorry, everyone. This has ruined the day. If you all would like to leave, you can. I understand." I say, tiredly.

"Are you kidding, Diva? We are not leaving you. So what if we are not eating, we are all still together." Mercedes spoke for the group; everyone was nodding their heads accordingly.

"Thanks." We sat there in silence for what seemed like forever. All of a sudden a blood curdling scream shakes me from my thoughts. Beth. I get up and make my way down the hallway to the noise. Everyone is right behind me. Marley meets the group with Beth in her arms, screaming. I look behind them seeing nurses and Dr. Stevens flooding into my mom's room.

"Take me back! Marley, she needs me. Mommy! Mommy! I WANT MY MOM!" Beth is fighting in Marley's arms. Noah reaches out to take the little girl. He begins to take her back to the waiting room, kicking and screaming the whole time.

"What happened in there?" Quinn asks protectively.

"Beth was sitting on the bed with Shelby talking, while I sat off to the side reading my book. I heard Beth scream and when I looked up Shelby was seizing. That's when I grabbed Beth and began to drag her out of the room. She is so scared. I need to go check on her." With that Marley walked off with Quinn in tow. I glanced at Santana and Brittany and motioned for them to follow her to make sure nothing was said.

Mercedes and Kurt grabbed a hand each and we made our way to the room. I took a deep breath and opened the door. Before I could see anything, a nurse came out. She pulled us over to the side.

"You can't go in there."

"She is my mother, how are you going to tell me I can't go see about her?" I ask angrily.

"I understand, Ms. Berry. I will fill you in on what is happening, but that's all I can do for you right now." She paused for a moment. "Ms. Corcoran had a seizure. Right now we are not sure what caused it. Dr. Stevens is about to take her down for a MRI and CAT scan. She believes there may be some bleeding they missed. You mother is unconscious right now. There is nothing you can do but go back to the waiting room and wait. I promise you Dr. Stevens or myself will be out to explain more as soon as we know what is going on, okay?"

I nod. It's all a daze. They had just told us everything was fine and now, two hours later, they aren't sure what is happening. Before I know it, I'm sitting on the couch in the room with a cup of coffee in hand. I glance around the room. Mercedes is sitting with Sam, praying. Brittany is holding onto Santana for dear life. Quinn is staring off into space. Beth has fallen asleep in Noah's arms with Marley holding her little hand. I notice then how much she looks like Quinn. Kurt is sitting to my right, watching my every move. I give him a little smile and he reaches over and pats my leg as I lay my head on his shoulder.

"Berry?" I see the nurse making her way towards us. I get up, meeting her half way. "Ms. Corcoran's brain is bleeding. Dr. Stevens didn't notice any bleeding the first time around, however, the MRI showed that there was an aneurism at the base of her brain, and it seems to have ruptured. We have clipped the aneurism and hopefully she will recover, however, there was a lot of blood. She is still unconscious for now, and for a better chance of recovery, she needs to stay that way."

"Oh god. But she will make it, right?"

"To be honest, only time will tell. She should be brought back up to her room within the hour. You can see her then, but we would like to keep it family only."

"Okay, thank you." I felt myself take a shaky breath to steady myself before announcing the news to everyone else. Just as I begin to turn around the nurse stops me.

"Ms. Berry? I know we don't know much right now but it probably would be best to say your goodbyes, just in case."