Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.
A/N: This was meant to be a chapter for 'Shots Of Love,' and then it suddenly was more.
Unexpected
Blaine has been running a fever for quite a while now. Days.
He also has not told anyone.
So right now, Kurt is freaking out.
They have hardly seen each other all week, and he has no idea why Blaine is not meeting him today, Friday, after their last period, as they do every day that they don't share the last class of the day.
Blaine isn't answering his phone either.
And Kurt tries hard to be rational about it, but he can feel the panic creeping up on him. Already lying in waiting to take completely over.
Blaine can call Burt or Carole, even Finn, when he worries about Kurt in any way. But who is there that Kurt could call?
He can't think of anyone. Not anymore. It used to be Wes and David, Nick, Jeff, any of the Warblers really. And then I made him transfer, Kurt thinks, feeling guilt suddenly gnawing at him like a wild animal.
What if something happened to him because I had to ask him to come here?
He stands numbly, simply holding his phone, frozen.
Then he does the one thing he can think of. He goes and sees the school nurse about Blaine.
He knows she will still be on duty today for another half-hour, until football practice is over, because, well, injuries happen. And with those guys they happen a lot. Finn really is clumsy. How is he the quarterback again? Kurt wonders walking down the hall, trying hard to get his mind to not go into overdrive when the door to her office comes into sight and his overactive brain begins to supply him with useless, fear driven images of in what state he might find Blaine in there.
As he walks into her office, about to ask if Blaine has been in today at some point, maybe still is, she smiles at him, as if he had been waiting, for me?
She might just be friendly. They know each other after all.
When the bullying had first begun to lead to cuts and severe bruises she had one day stopped him in the corridors on one of these late afternoons of hers, having run into him several times before around that time of day, when he had had to get something out his locker, knowing the jocks would not be there to taunt him then at least.
She had handed him a small bag of supplies. Bandages, band-aids that could be cut from big sheets into pieces perfectly covering the cuts, often in a weird shape, depended on how he was pushed. And there had been too a little jar of ointment she had brought especially for him, to help along the healing of the bruises.
She had even offered him to show him how to most effectively use all these, and at first, as a freshman, tenderly taking the bag, staring at the floor and mumbling a shy thank you he had not taken her up on that offer.
Only towards the end of his freshman year, when he had suffered from an especially horrible cut, falling on a shard of glass during a dumpster toss, he had come to see her about it. She had never pushed him to talk, just tried to be there, for him.
Standing here now, looking at the woman, he wishes he could have trusted her more easily.
She had continued to supply Kurt with essentials to take care of himself. Then, in the middle of his sophomore year she had taken a terrible fall, no one knew how exactly it had happened. And just like that she had been gone. Kurt had send her flowers to the hospital several times. She is old, was then already, and the recovery took a very long time.
She had ended up gone that whole year in which things had escalated for Kurt. Kurt once again completely alone.
It had been a pleasant surprise to find her back in her office, when he had returned from Dalton.
"Hello Kurt," she says in a friendly voice.
"Hello. I was wondering if Blaine Anderson has been in today."
She smiles softly at him, "I've been meaning to call you, but I don't have your number on file, since there never were any official visits of yours to me. And I did not want to leave him alone to get it from the principal's office."
"He is here?"
She nods, "First of all, he is fine." When Kurt's eyes begin to dart around the room, searching for a sign of Blaine, she adds, "Second bed on the left. He has a fever, and is very groggy. He must have been carrying it around with him all week. He collapsed in an empty hallway about two hours ago. Dehydration more than anything, and a lack of sleep by the looks of him."
"Can I take him home?"
"Sure you can Kurt. You just need to sign this paper saying that you did, and you two can be on your way."
Kurt's eyes keep darting nervously to the curtains, obscuring the bed and Blaine from his view while they are still talking.
"Kurt, one more thing," the nurse says after he has signed, putting his details down on the paper as well, should there be a next time, "Do you know how to get hold of your boyfriend's parents."
She does not miss the look of shock on Kurt's face.
"I tried the number Blaine put in his file when he transferred, it's a dead end. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I have a granddaughter who is gay. Her parents give her nothing but grief, so she always talks to me if something is up. I assume it must be a similar situation for Blaine?"
Kurt nods, looking so sad, that she reaches out and takes his left hand, squeezing it lightly.
When he looks up at her again, she says, "How about I replace that fake number with your contact details, your cell phone number and your home number? At least in my files."
"That would be brilliant," Kurt says, eyes wide and a real smile on his lips this time. "Thank you so much," he adds as he gently squeezes her hand back, before they both let go.
"Go on then. I think he might be awake now."
As Kurt draws back the curtains Blaine is still lying on the bed, clearly drowsy, but awake. Attempting a smile when he finds Kurt's concerned eyes with his.
The next second he is cringing and holding his head in both hands, sitting up for a moment before instantly lying down again, whispering "Hurts."
"You are coming home with me, and then we can spend all weekend in bed. I know this was not part of the plan when we first talked about staying in bed for two days, but as long as I can hold you, I am fine."
Kurt moves to help Blaine up who heavily leans on him, clearly unsteady on his feet.
"Do you need anything else," Miss Winter asks as they slowly make their way back towards Miss Winter.
"I think we are alright, thank you," Kurt says, helping Blaine to sit down again for a moment to pull the jumper back on he must have been burning up under before and so taken off.
"Wait one moment," Miss Winter says as Kurt slings both their book bags over his shoulder.
When she comes back into the room a moment later she is holding two small jars in her hands which she offers to Kurt with a smile, "The one with the purple cap is the same ointment I used to give you for bruises and sore muscles. I know right now the bullying is not as bad as it used to be, but, I want you to know you can still come to me and ask for help, maybe even talk this time around. If you ever want or need to."
Kurt places the bags to the floor once more, and moves to hug her. "Thank you so much. I feel like I never thanked you properly before."
"The flowers to the hospital were enough, really."
"How did you know they were from me?" Kurt asks as they both break the hug.
"They were so beautiful, no one in my family or among my friends has an eye for color like that."
Kurt is smiling, "I'm so glad you like them."
Miss Winter is smiling too as she hands him both jars, "The one with the white cap is an ointment laced with menthol. You can apply it to Blaine's back or chest, depending how he prefers to sleep, and it should make breathing easier. He seems to have developed a slight cough too."
"You are so wonderful, thank you so much," Kurt says again, as he stores the jars away in his bag and slings Blaine's and his own bag, again, over his shoulder.
When he helps Blaine back onto his feet and they walk out of the office, Kurt sends a grateful wave Miss Winter's way and Blaine manages a quiet "Thank you."
A heartfelt, "Get well soon," is the last thing they hear as the office door slowly closes behind them.
xxxx
Blaine is lying on the backseat under a blanket, which Kurt keeps in his car at all times. Too drowsy to sit up for the whole ride to Kurt's, without his head starting to spin again.
With Kurt concentrating on driving especially careful and Blaine so groggy through and through, they both stay quiet until they make it to the house.
Kurt glances at the backseat, and sees that Blaine is asleep again.
So he takes the bags and carries them into the living room, placing them next to the couch.
Leaving the door wide open he steps back out to the car, wraps Blaine and the blanket in his arms and, kicking the door shut with his right foot and with one click on his car lock, starts walking back in.
Even in his sleep Blaine is snuggling deeper into Kurt's arms.
He sets Blaine down on the couch. Still fast asleep.
After closing the front door and changing into a comfy shirt and some PJ bottoms, he places a kiss to Blaine's forehead, unwraps the blanket form him and replaces his boyfriends clothes, wet with sweat form the fever that still won't subside it seems, with a shirt and slightly too long PJ bottoms too.
He gets a bigger more comfortable blanket, to fit both of them, and then lies down with him under it, spooning Blaine, and running a hand through his loose curls from time to time till he drifts of to sleep himself.