Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 78th cycle. Now cycle 79!

"With Heavy Eyes"
In Gen2!world: G1!Kurt... in Gen1!world: G1!Kurt, G1!Burt, G1!Rachel
Berry-St series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

Kurt didn't know that he'd call himself a morning person, but even by his standards, when he'd woken up that day, he'd felt as though he could have slept another night or two. It took everything he had to get himself dressed, have breakfast, take his things, and head to school. His father had already been gone, off to work, which had left Kurt with the very tempting option to stay home, even if it wasn't really his home but that of his counterpart. But staying here always made him think about what that Kurt had been living through, and he never stayed more than he had to. So with a handful of classes he'd have to use herculean efforts to stay awake through, he went to school.

He got through exactly one and a quarter periods before he came within two inches of face planting into his binder, rings first. He excused himself, hoping that walking around, maybe splashing water in his face, would boost him back into life. So he headed to the boys' room.

Letting the water get colder, Kurt stared at himself in the mirror. He could barely see himself, with how his eyes kept trying to shut, or possibly he was dizzy?

"Oh… oh no…" his voice slurred. He was feeling like he was going to pass out, and he only had time to think what would happen if he hit his head on the way down, no time to anchor his drop, before the floor was calling him, and it was lights out…

X

"Kurt? Kurt! Hey, buddy, wake up!"

He woke up to the tapping of his father's hand on his cheek, less and less gentle as the seconds passed.

"Ow! Ow! Let go, stop!" he put his hands up to find his arm and push it away.

"What the hell happened, one second you were sitting up there and the next I see you on the ground and you're not waking up. I called an ambulance, they're on their way."

"No, I'm fine, I…" he tried to get up, but Burt pushed him back down.

"You stay there, they said not to move you." They heard the sirens, getting nearer. "Look, they're here."

He had no choice after that but to let the paramedics examine him. Before he knew it, he was being carted off to the hospital to get some tests run.

In all the events that had snowballed into each other, it wasn't until he was lying there, on the gurney, waiting to be taken in for these tests his father had mentioned, that he was able to stop and think about what had happened. He had been in the bathroom, exhausted like he'd never been before, not until he'd been taken out of his own world, so then this would explain why he'd found himself in his father's shop all of a sudden. He'd traveled again. Was he home? What if he'd been thrown into a whole other world, neither his own or the second?

"Hey, nurse?" he called, trying to get someone to come into his line of sight. They'd put a neck brace on him and he couldn't move. "Nurse?"

"You alright? Are you going to be sick?" the man asked.

"No, I'm fine. I need you to call someone. Her name is Rachel B…"

"Your girlfriend?" the nurse man frowned.

"Ha, no," Kurt frowned back. "But it's really important that I talk to her."

"It can wait, you're up next," he reached for the gurney.

"No… but… Look, just tell my dad to call her and get her here, please?" He got no response. "I'll give you twenty bucks?" he tried.

"Fine, I'll see what I can do. No charge," the nurse chuckled.

He did his best to relax and let them do what they had to do, but he could barely hold himself together. He'd been exhausted to the point of passing out earlier, but now he felt like he'd done a one-eighty and had a gallon of coffee coursing through his veins. When he was finally wheeled off to a room, he was relieved to find his father wasn't alone.

"Rachel!" he called to her, and she hurried up.

"What…" she started to ask, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, looked her in the eye. He didn't even have to say anything. She blinked. "You're back?" she whispered, and he nodded. She let out a breath. "Got it. I gotta go and check some things, but I'll be back, alright?"

"Okay," he told her, and just like that, she was gone, hurrying back down the hall.

"What did you tell her?" Burt asked, confused. "You're not on drugs, are you? Is that what it's about?" he was sounding angry now, and Kurt was quick to put him at ease.

"No, no, it's nothing like that, I swear. Make them run a test if you have to, blood, pee, anything. It's not like I haven't been put through the ringer already," he sighed, lying back against his pillow.

They were going to keep him overnight, and as much as he didn't care for the whole experience, the one thing he had going for him was that he was back in his own world, that this whole nightmare was done.

Rachel came again, as promised. He didn't even know she was there until his father went off to use the bathroom. Once Kurt was alone, Rachel had slipped into the room.

"Hey, Kurt, long time no see," she teased.

"The commute could have been better," he touched his head. "So, the others…"

"No," Rachel shook her head. "You're the only one, everyone else is still as stranded as they were." That had not been what he'd wanted to hear. If they were still not all back where they belonged, then it meant that this wasn't over. But you're home, remember that. "How's it going over there?" He looked back at her. "The Glee Club, that's what it is, isn't it? Are you getting it back together?"

"We are," he blinked, not having expected her to know so easily.

"Good, good," she breathed out. "Then the others might get to come home soon, too. Hope their guy got enough of this place to be able to help them and… Oh, I should go. Listen, I'll keep in touch."

"Rachel… Rachel!" he tried to call to her and keep his voice down at the same time, but there was no use. She was going, and he was stuck in his hospital bed, with his father coming back.

"Grabbed you some pudding on the way," Burt held up the two cups. "Got chocolate and vanilla." Kurt sighed, lying back.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!