Pulling into the parking lot, Blaine quickly scanned for a parking spot. Finding one, he quickly pulled in, not particularly caring how well he'd parked. He jogged towards the building, speed-reading the signs for clues of where to go.

He'd been asleep when he'd got the call. It had taken him a minute or so to wake himself from his slumber, but the unmistakable sound of sobbing proved pretty sobering. 'Kurt... slow down. What happened? What's wrong?" In between heaving sobs, Kurt replied "It's my Dad... he's in the hospital... he collapsed".

Blaine didn't need Kurt to ask him to come, he quickly replied that he was on the way, grabbed the nearest clothes he could find, and his keys, left a hurried note for his parents and left.

Now as he entered the hospital, he could only think of getting to Kurt.

ICU was on the third floor. Stepping out of the elevator, it only took him a couple of seconds to spot Finn sitting on a row of seats, head in hands.

"Finn?"

The older boy looked up, taking in Blaine's uncharacteristically dishevelled appearance. He gave a small smile.

"What happened, where's Kurt?" The whole time Blaine was looking around trying to answer the question himself.

"Relax dude, he's fine. Well relatively fine. He's in with Burt and the Doctor now. Mom's with him. They should be out in a minute."

Blaine let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He plonked himself down next to Finn.

"What happened Finn?" Blaine could see the boy shaking. He placed his hand on a hunched Finn's back. "It was awful. I was in bed and I just heard this scream. I ran downstairs and Burt was on the floor in the kitchen and Kurt was crouched over him. He was trying to dial 911, but his hands were shaking too much and he was sobbing." A shaky breath followed. "It seemed like ages before the paramedics arrived and my Mom... she was crying and telling him not to die...it was horrible." A visible shake took over Finn's body and he seemed to snap out of his memories a little. This time he looked at Blaine. "They think he had another heart attack. He's alive and they think he'll be okay, but he's unconscious."

"Are you ok? It sounds awful." Blaine was struggling to concentrate on anything else but Kurt, but he could see how shaken Finn was.

"I'm okay. But Kurt... he really needs you right now." Blaine just nodded.

A door creaked opened in the distance and both Blaine and Finn's head shot up to see who was emerging from the room. Carole stepped out of the room with a man in hospital scrubs. Both teenagers got up and rushed towards them. "How is he? Where's Kurt", they both blurted out at the same time. Carole raised a hand to shush them.

"Burt's doing okay. He's resting, but stable". She turned towards Blaine. "Kurt's in there. He's pretty shaken, but fine. He'll be glad to have you here though." She paused. "Blaine, he needs to go home and rest. It's going to be a long haul. Running himself into the ground like last time is not going to help." She smiled warmly at him. "Somehow I think you'll have a better chance of convincing him of that than me."

Blaine returned the smile nervously and moved towards the door. He paused when he caught the first glimpse of his boyfriend through the glass. Kurt was sat next to the bed, hand clamped firmly around Burt's, visibly trying to hold back tears. Blaine's heart ached. The intensity of the feeling of wanting to take the pain away, just confirmed how much he was in love with this boy.

Tentatively he stepped in the room. Kurt's eyes rose to meet him and the two just looked at each other; both searching each other's eyes for reassurance. Silent tears ran down Kurt's face and Blaine walked around the bed. He stood in front of where Kurt sat and held his arms open. Kurt buried his face in Blaine's chest and the silent tears turned to sobs. Blaine held the back of his head tight and with the other hand rubbed Kurt's back. Resting his chin on the top of Kurt's head, he whispered "Shh... I'm here now. I've got you." It didn't seem enough of a gesture to Blaine, when he so badly wanted to take the pain away, but he could feel Kurt's breathing slow against him.

They stayed like that for around 10 minutes, until eventually Kurt pulled away. Blaine pulled up a chair next to him, clutching Kurt's hand tight and rubbing circles with his thumb on the back of Kurt's hand.

"How is he?" Blaine queried. Kurt looked back towards his father in the bed. He looked pale and frail, not like the strong man, Blaine knew and secretly wished could be his own father.

Kurt squeezed his hand and sighed. "He had another heart attack. They say he'll be fine. That he's better than he was last time, but he's not woken up yet." Kurt deliberately kept his head facing his Dad as he said "I was so scared Blaine. I woke up in the night and I went downstairs for milk and he was just lying there. He kept drifting off and he told me that he loved me and he was proud of me and... and I was trying to reassure him he was fine and I was trying to phone an ambulance, but I was shaking and..." his breaths were coming in short gasps now and he stopped trying to speak.

Blaine gently stroked the back of Kurt's hair. "You must have been terrified. I'm glad you called me."

Kurt gave a small but shy smile. "I'm glad that you came." At the same time he nervously searched Blaine's eyes for any evidence that Blaine didn't want to be there.

Blaine's hand settled on Kurt's cheek. "I wanted to be here Kurt. If you hurt, I hurt. That's how it works now. I'm not going anywhere." A small part of the fear that Kurt felt eased with that last statement and resting his head on Blaine's shoulder they settled into a long silence, the only noise in the room was the beeping of the heart monitor.

Eventually Blaine broke the silence. "Kurt, Carole mentioned going home to get some rest. I think she might be right. You look exhausted."

Kurt shook his head vigorously, his lips pursed and he tightened the hold on Burt's hand. "No, I'm not leaving him. I'm staying until he's awake and he's better." He shot a quick look at Blaine. "If you need to go, go, but my Dad needs me."

"Hey. I'll stay for as long as you stay. I'm just saying that you've had a horrible night, you're exhausted and your Dad is sleeping. When he wakes up he's going to need you, but in the meantime, you should get some rest. You're going to need it, if we're going to be camping out here for the next few days." Kurt's eyes rose to meet Blaine's eyes at the use of the word 'we'.

"I... I just don't want to leave him. What if something happens and I'm not here?" His eyes were watery by now.

"The doctor said he is stable and Carole and Finn will be here. You can take over from them in the morning. They'll call if there is any change, I promise."

Kurt sighed, caught between wanting to stay but knowing Blaine was essentially right. "I guess."

Blaine squeezed his hand again. "Come on, I'll take you home."

"You'll stay with me?"

"For as long as you'll have me." Blaine smiled. "I'll wait outside, so that you can say goodnight."

He rose, giving Kurt's shoulder a gentle squeeze and left the room, looking back at Kurt again through the glass.

"How is he doing sweetie?"

Blaine answered Carole, without taking his eyes off of Kurt. "I'm honestly not sure. I know he's terrified, but he's not saying much". Turning to look at Carole he continued. "I'm going to take him home for a bit. Will you be OK here? Do you want us to bring you anything back?"

Carole smiled at him and once again he felt a pang of longing that his own parents were not like Burt and Carole.

"No. We'll be fine. I'll head back to the house and freshen up in the morning. Take care of him for me Blaine."

"I will."

tbc