Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, nor do I completely own Nick and Jeff (although I'm pretty much creating their personalities myself since we haven't gotten to know them too well on the show).

A/n: So this isn't exactly a "drabble" – it's about 750 words, which I think is the longest of all of these I've written so far. And I had to leave out some of the details I normally would have included or it would have been a LOT longer. But anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Injury

Jeff wasn't a big fan of sitting in the cold at football games for hours on end. He preferred his football in warmer weather or on television. But Nick had gotten chosen as the school's quarterback, and Jeff was going to support his friend no matter what.

Dalton was winning, by a lot. And Jeff could tell that it was pissing the other team off; they were getting sloppy, making it obvious that they were going after Nick with the intention of knocking him out of the game. It was worrying, especially when Jeff saw two of the other team's largest players breaking free and rushing Nick from both sides, just out of his line of sight. The boy didn't get out of the way in time, and both players landed on top of him just after Nick threw the ball away. Jeff winced automatically, knowing that getting hit that way had to hurt. But when Nick didn't move after the whistle, after the other team's players had gotten off of him, Jeff got worried. It wasn't until the coaches and trainers started rushing out onto the field that Jeff got out of his seat.

It wasn't that difficult for Jeff to jump the fence, but he couldn't get through the group of football players that came to stop him from getting too close. "Jeff… let them take care of him…" Andrew, one of the other Warblers that played on the football team, warned him.

"Tell me what's wrong…"

"It looks like they broke his leg… they have to keep him still." Jeff started trying to push past the football players, but they proved too strong for him. "There's not anything you can do for him, Jeff…"

"His parents aren't here, and someone needs to be with him… he shouldn't be alone like this!" Jeff finally managed to push his way past the line of football players, running over to Nick's unmoving form. They had taken off his helmet, putting a brace around Nick's neck so that he couldn't move, and the paramedics were in the process of immobilizing Nicks' right leg. "Nicky!" Jeff dropped to his knees by the other boy's side, taking Nick's hand.

"It hurts, Jeff…"

"I know, Nick…"

"Stay with me?" Jeff looked up at the paramedics as they worked, wondering if he would be allowed to ride along.

"We can only take one…" the woman began.

"I'll meet you at the hospital… I need to get the number for Nick's parents and his medical form anyway," the assistant coach replied. Jeff smiled at the man, thankful that he was willing to let Nick have what he wanted. It seemed to take forever for them to get Nick stabilized and on a stretcher, but Jeff didn't leave his side.

Jeff did his best to comfort Nick on the way to the hospital, but the boy was in so much pain that there really wasn't anything Jeff could do but let Nick squeeze his hand when it got to be unbearable. Once they were actually at the hospital, however, Jeff wasn't allowed to stay with his friend while the doctors examined Nick. Jeff was thankful when a doctor finally came out to tell the assistant football coach what was going on; Nick had a fractured femur and his tibia was fractured in two places. Not only was he out for the season, he would have to have surgery first thing in the morning to pin the bones back together.

As soon as Nick was settled into a room for the night, Jeff was allowed to see him again. The boy looked pale and small in the hospital bed, especially with the large splint the doctors had created to keep his leg still until they could operate. Jeff walked over and gently pushed the boy's hair out of his face, smiling as Nick opened his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Jeff asked.

"Kind of numb and really tired… the pain meds they gave me are really good," Nick replied with a lopsided smile. "They told you what was going on?"

"Yeah… looks like you're going to be out of commission for a while."

"Think the council will kill me for breaking my leg right after Sectionals? I may not be up and walking in time for Regionals…"

"McKinley has a kid in a wheelchair… I think we can figure out how to make it work even if you can't dance for this competition." Jeff watched as Nick's eyes started to close on their own.

"Stay with me?"

"I wasn't planning on going anywhere."