"He left? What do you mean he left?"

"Oh honey, don't cry," the nurse soothed, and Kurt hadn't even noticed that tears were spilling over. "He just... When you were about to go into surgery, he couldn't take it and he just... left." She was rubbing his shoulder now but Kurt couldn't even begin to care.

"No, no... We... We were going to get married. In March. We already have the venue booked and... and the rings and..." Kurt was gasping openly and the nurse looked worried.

"Honey, you need to calm down or your medication—" but he couldn't hear her. He was hyperventilating openly now. Suddenly he felt a flood of peace before losing consciousness.

...

When Kurt woke up a few hours later, he couldn't speak. All he could think was "He left. He's gone. Aidan's gone. Aidan left. My Aidan. He's gone." More nurses came in to check on him but he couldn't even look up.

By midnight, Kurt couldn't sleep and his mind began to wander, though the steady stream of chanting continued in his mind. A young nurse with red hair and big glasses came in, and Kurt blurted out, "Where is my family?" The nurse looked completely taken by surprise that he had spoken and her eyes went wide.

"Oh, um. Your f-family? They, um..," she glanced at his chart. "They're stuck in Ohio. There's, um, a blizzard there and, um, no flights are leaving. So. They'll get here in a few days, maybe?"

Immediately, Kurt assumed she was an intern. It was probably her first time giving bad news to a patient. He would have felt bad for her if he could have processed emotion at the moment.

"Oh. Okay."

The nurse hurried out and Kurt stared at the tacky wallpaper until he fell asleep somewhere around 4.

He was woken up at some point the next morning by the Carole-esque nurse who smiled down sadly at him. "Hi, honey. How's your heart?"

"Broken."

The woman gasped ever so slightly before Kurt realized what she had actually meant. "Oh, um, it's fine. A little sore but not... Not too bad."

The corners of her mouth turned up ever so slightly, but her eyes still looked sad. "You know, Kurt, maybe it's for the best."

"...what?"

She cleared her throat. "Maybe it's... Maybe it's for the best that he's gone." Kurt could hardly even hear what she was saying. "After all, do you really want to marry someone who can't follow through on the whole 'in sickness and in health' thing?"

Kurt just looked at her. No, she was wrong. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

She smiled at him before brushing some hair off his forehead and starting off towards the door. "Remember dear, when one door closes..."

That left Kurt alone with his thoughts. There was no way that she was right. That woman had no idea about their love. She didn't know about the late night snacks, or the movie dates, or the walks through Central Park. This was love. Aidan was his first love, and he was sure he was going to be his last.

There was no way he could just leave.

...

At noon, Kurt still hadn't moved. His thoughts were consumed with Aidan. Surely there was some misunderstanding. Maybe he was needed at work. He was an intern on Wall Street, after all. They got pretty busy. Kurt knew this for a fact, because there had been a handful of nights where Aidan had worked through the night and hadn't come home at all. Maybe when he said he was leaving, he just meant he was going to the office and the nurses had thought the worst. That had to be it.

That didn't explain why he hadn't come back to see Kurt, but there had to be a reason.

The motherly nurse came in with a tray of food and a smile on her face. "Good news!" she chimed.

Kurt perked up immediately. "Is Aidan here?"

Her smile fell. "Oh, um, no honey." Kurt slumped back onto the bed, not even wanting to hear what she had to say. "But the good news is, your father just called." He looked up and she smiled tentatively. "He said the storms cleared out and they should be on the plane now. They should be here this evening."

Kurt gave a small smile. "That's... That's great." The nurse started off towards the door before he remembered something. "Hey," he called, effectively catching the nurse's attention, "what's your name?"

She smiled. "Paula."

"Thank you, Paula."

"You're welcome, Kurt."

When she left, Kurt slumped further down into the bed and sighed. Could Aidan really have left?

...

Two hours later, Kurt was flipping through channels, positively gagging at what passed for entertainment these days. He settled for some day time talk show and rolled his eyes at what the guest was wearing. Honestly, lady, this is your fifteen minutes of fame, you couldn't pick out something from this century to wear?

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone buzzing. Confused, he checked the caller ID and almost smiled. He answered, opening his mouth to start with a witty remark, but didn't get the opportunity.

"Kurt, thank God!" she exclaimed. "I've been so worried about you! I called like four times but you've been asleep every single time. My God, you sleep a lot. I'm so sorry I haven't seen you yet but the rehearsal schedule has been absolutely unforgiving. And then last night and the night before I had to go to some fundraisers to rub shoulders with reviewers and publicists and, actually, one of them took a real interest in me. He hinted that he might do a whole spread on me in the New York Times, can you believe it? I mean, nothing is set in stone at the moment so don't get your hopes up, it's just exciting to think that—"

"Yes Rachel, I'm fine, no need to be so concerned about me."

There was a pause. "Oh Kurt, I'm so sorry! I've been trying to get better about that, really, I have, but I just get sidetracked and then I get excited about everything that's happening and I just—"

"Yes, I know." Kurt let a fond smile grace his lips, but Rachel would never have to know that. "I am happy for you. Are you guys about ready to open?"

There was a sigh on the other line and Kurt could hear a subway station in the background. Of course, it was New York, so she could have been anywhere, really. "We're getting there. Matt Doyle had to leave the show due to some contract thing, but his replacement is just as cute but not quite as strong of a singer, so there's no chance of him overpowering me in our duets." Kurt chuckled. Leave it to Rachel to find the silver lining in one of the most popular Broadway actors of the decade leaving her show. She sighed. "But how are you? Are you feeling okay?"

Kurt shifted uncomfortably on the bed and wondered if Rachel knew about Aidan. She had never liked him much and always called him stiff and awkward, but people tended to get that way around Rachel. She's a bit of an acquired taste. "I'm okay. I'm still pretty sore from the surgery and they don't let me get up except to go to the bathroom, but I'm... I'm okay." He didn't want to bring up Aidan's absence, as if saying it out loud would make it true.

"Well I'm sure you must be positively dying without your magazines and DVD collection."

Kurt laughed. It hurt a little bit. "You know me too well."

Rachel scoffed. "We've only been best friends for, what, six years? Seven?"

He chuckled. "Something like that."

"Well I'll be there in ten."

This stopped Kurt in his tracks. "What?"

"What?"

"You're coming to the hospital?"

"Kurt Hummel!" she chastised, and Kurt could tell he was in trouble. "Are you trying to tell me that you didn't expect me to come to your side in your hour of need?"

"I...um..."

He could hear Rachel sigh on the other line. "I may be busy with everything right now, but you are my best friend. I tried to come the very first day, but you were still on the table when I had to leave for the gala."

"Wait, you were-"

"And so," she continued without pause, "I am making up for that now by bringing you your collection of Golden Girls, Friends, and Meg Ryan movies. Oh, and I can stop by somewhere to grab you something to eat. Do you have any food restrictions? Because I'm sure you're already sick of hospital food and it's so close to that little smoothie bar we discovered during Funny Girl. We haven't been there in a while and I know you're going to want to eat even healthier after this fiasco, if that's even possible, I mean, you eat healthier than me and I'm a vegan for goodness sake, so I was thinking that would be a good choice. Sound good?"

"Sure Rachel, anything you want."

"Great! I'll be there in just a couple minutes!" The line went dead and Kurt shook his head. He had learned years ago that it was easier just to let Rachel do her thing than try to convince her to keep it simple.

Kurt knew he should feel better. Well, happier anyway. His best friend would be here any minute with little comforts and probably every ounce of Broadway gossip he'd missed out on in the past few days. Honestly, you'd be surprised how much BroadwayWorld doesn't catch. Burt and Carole would be here tonight, and it was always good to see them, even if it was under less than ideal circumstances. The nurses had nothing but good reports, and he was growing rather fond of his nurse Paula.

He should have been happy, but he wasn't.

Because Aidan wasn't there.

Kurt was lost in his own melancholy thoughts when he was jarred into awareness by a boisterous laugh down the hall. It seemed so out of place to hear such a joyous sound when he was so miserable.

A few moments later, a man in a white coat walked in, chuckling at something from before he walked in. The first thing Kurt noticed was how attractive this man was. He had dark hair that seemed like it would have been curly if it wasn't plastered down with so much hair gel, and his skin had a very natural tan. But what really caught Kurt's eye was his smile.

Wow.

The man, obviously a doctor, looked up at Kurt and the smile didn't leave his eyes. "Good afternoon, Mr. Hummel. I'm Dr. Anderson."