Blaine.
Blaine.
Blaine...
"Huh, what….Is there a code?" Blaine asked frantically as he woke up suddenly. "I'll get the cart!"
A warm hand pressed on his shoulder. "No, Blaine. You dozed off in the middle of your charting. I brought you a coffee though, see?"
Tired blue eyes and a wide smile broke Blaine out of his doze induced haze. Dr. Kurt Hummel, cardio-thoracic surgeon, was smiling at him and holding out a steaming cup of black coffee.
"Oh! Thank you Dr. Hummel. I didn't mean to fall asleep. I was watching the snow fall out the window and I guess it was so relaxing I dozed off."
"Blaine, call me Kurt. Please. I don't know how many times I have to tell you."
"Sorry, Kurt," he said shyly.
"I can see how the snow would be relaxing," Kurt mused, looking out the window. "However the 14 telemetry monitors constantly dinging, the radio playing Christmas carols in the background and the occasional call bell going off isn't the most conductive to sleeping."
Blaine smiled and took a sip of coffee. He groaned appreciatively as soon as the liquid hit his taste buds. If it were possible to have a coffee IV, he would have it.
"You forgot to mention the fact that it's almost 4 o'clock in the morning. I would think that's pretty conductive to sleeping."
"Hmm…yeah, that too. I almost forgot," said Kurt, chucking a little. "I lost track of time."
"Good surgery?" Blaine asked.
"It was good. Everything went really well. However I was trying to ignore the fact that I had to pee really badly for about 5 of the 6 hours I was in the OR."
Blaine burst out in laughter. Kurt just shrugged. "I'm just being honest."
"I like that you're honest," said Blaine, blushing a little.
"So how about you? Are you having a good shift so far?" asked Kurt, slumping down into the chair next to Blaine.
"It was crazy busy up until one o'clock. Thankfully there's only a couple of hours before we start getting all of our 6am meds poured and given and start charting off and recording report. It's busy enough in the early morning to keep us awake for a little while longer."
"So this is the calm before the storm, then?" asked Kurt, smiling knowingly.
"You bet," said Blaine, laughing a little. "It's not that bad, though. The closer we get to that, the closer we get to ours beds at home. To be honest, I think the day shift is a lot worse. A lot of the patients are upset and worked up because it's so close to the holidays. A lot of them think they'll be home for Christmas, but unfortunately most of them will be stuck here. I don't think I've seen so many family members on the floor at once. It's nice that the patients have visitors, but it's kind of awful at the same time. Every time you turn around you see a spouse or a daughter or a son and they are hounding you, asking when their loved one can come home, if they'll be home for Christmas. It's pretty upsetting. I rarely have any answers for them but it doesn't stop them from asking me ten times a day."
"That must be tough. I can't imagine doing what you do. You all work so hard," said Kurt quietly.
"You're not giving yourself enough credit. I think you might have the hardest job of all," Blaine added, nudging Kurt's foot with his own.
Kurt hummed in response, choosing to shift his attention to the decorated Christmas tree in the corner.
"Do you have plans for Christmas?" asked Kurt.
"You're looking at them," said Blaine a little sadly.
"You're working on Christmas? That sucks!" said Kurt, sympathetically.
"I don't mind too much," said Blaine. "I was just planning on sitting alone in my apartment eating Chinese food and watching Christmas movies all day. Kathy asked me if I could switch with her and I said yes. She has three young kids and a big family to spend time with. My parents are on a cruise and my brother is out in Los Angeles doing god knows what. I'd rather she get the time off to be with her family. Plus, now she owes me one."
"Blaine, that is so sweet of you. You know you should…" before Kurt could finish what he was saying, his pager went off. Kurt checked it and stood up quickly.
"I have to run! My patient is coding! Merry Christmas, Blaine!" he called, as he ran down the hall.
"You too, Kurt," Blaine mumbled. He sighed and turned back to his charting.
It was 7am on Christmas morning. The mood was somber in the locker room. Most of the staff was upset that they were working on Christmas, Blaine understood that. He yawned and shuffled over to his locker, where a festively bright envelope was stuck to the front. His name was written across the front in fairly familiar handwriting. He opened it up and took out a card with adorable cartoon penguins on it. He opened it up and read:
Dear Blaine,
Please accept this silly holiday card as a formal invitation to Christmas dinner with me and my family at my parents' house. Feel free to come after your shift; we'll save you plenty of food. (And wine, I promise.)
I've written my personal cell number at the bottom of the card. Text me if you plan on coming and I'll send you the address.
I really hope you do, Blaine.
And if you can't decide, there is a gift in your locker that may or may not be from me.
Merry Christmas,
Kurt.
Inside of Blaine's locker was a sparkly red gift bag with a bag of Starbucks Holiday Blend coffee beans and a travel mug that Blaine's been dying to get, but hasn't had a chance to. (Seriously, it keeps coffee hot for HOURS.)
To Kurt Hummel: I'll be there. Thank you so much :)
To Blaine Anderson: You're so welcome. Can't wait :)
Author's Note
Well hello! It's been quite a while, hasn't it? This is probably the first thing (except for two tiny drabbles) that I've written since May! I really haven't had much inspiration to write lately, but last night I was talking to two of my tumblr friends and we were discussing Blaine being a nurse and I got really excited about it. I'm a third year nursing student, if you didn't know that about me, and it was definitely up my alley, so I came up with this little fic idea. Also, Blaine's a cardiology nurse because I just finished having my 6 week placement on the cardiology floor and it's quite fresh in my mind. I hope you like it! And by all means please feel free to come visit me on tumblr (rnstudentandagleek dot tumblr dot com) because I'm always on there. Thanks for reading!