Chapter 2 - Turning Tables
"Kurt?" Cooper's voice was sleepy. "It's the middle of the night. Is everything okay?"
"Oh thank God for picking up," Kurt said crying. "It has gotten worse, much worse. His fever is rising and he's confused. I'm not sure he even knows where he is and it's hard to make contact." The panic pressed down on Kurt's chest like an iron footprint as the words stumbled on their way out of his mouth.
"Kurt, take a deep breath. I'm not getting a word of what you're saying."
Kurt did his best to obey, but his body wouldn't cooperate. "Blaine is getting sick. You have to come over. I don't know what to do," he stuttered and blinked tears away as rapidly as they appeared.
"Of course we'll come," Cooper said. Kurt could hear muffled sounds in the background and Katie speaking. "We are up now," Cooper continued and we'll be there in 20 minutes. Did you call the hospital?"
"Yes, but they can't send an ambulance right away. They want me to take a cab, but he can hardly stand on his feet. I can't do this on my own, Coops. I'm so scared."
"Don't worry," Cooper said," we'll get there as fast as we can. But if it gets any worse promise me you'll call the hospital again, right?"
"I will. I will. Just hurry."
"Katie will take the phone now, Kurt, while I get dressed."
Kurt just nodded as if Copper could see him and began pacing the floor from the living room to the bedroom and back again. Blaine was moaning quietly, neither awake or asleep.
"Hi Kurt." Katie's voice was calm in his ear. "Could you please tell me exactly how Blaine is reacting and what you can see?"
"Yes, I'll try." Kurt closed his eyes to get his focus back. "Oh God, I don't know why I'm losing it, Katie."
"You love him Kurt and it's perfectly normal. I just need a few details that's all and you're doing great."
"Okay … okay, um, he's got a really high fever and it's like he talks in his sleep. He is shivering and he still doesn't want to drink anything. I'm just so scared he will go into a seizure. I wouldn't know the first thing to do if he did."
"We're in the car now," Katie explained as the sound of a door being shut was heard through the phone.
"The car is good," Kurt muttered and picked up the pace. "The car is good."
"Now I want you to do something for me," Katie continued. "Go into the living room and sit down for a minute."
"No, then I can't see him!"
"I know, but I need you to listen to me and you don't do that when all your attention is solely on Blaine."
Kurt snuffled and did what he was told, still catching tears on their way down his cheeks. With a deep breath he dropped down on the couch. "Okay, I'm listening."
"Great," Katie said. "Here's the thing. It's unlikely that Blaine will go into a febrile seizure, only small children do that. He needs to drink something but if you can't make him they will hydrate him at the hospital. Make sure he's not covered up in sheets and take some of his clothes off if he wears too much. That will prevent the fever from rising any more. Can you do that?"
"Yes, I can do that," Kurt said and registered how the top of his anxiety caved.
"And Kurt?"
"Yes."
"Blaine needs you to be strong right now and he'll be alright. I'm sure of it."
"I'm sorry I freaked out," Kurt said unhappily.
"Don't be. You're doing fine and we'll see you before you know it."
When Katie had hung up Kurt went back to the bedroom fighting to stay in a calmer state of mind. He stroked Blaine gently on the cheek. He was reduced to a shivering bundle of blankets barely responding to the touch. "Baby," Kurt begged. "We have to get you untangled here. I know it will be uncomfortable, but it's just for a little while."
He pulled the sheets and blankets away from the warm body before he opened the window and let the cool spring air breeze into the dimmed room.
"Too cold," Blaine moaned with rattling teeth and pulled his knees up to his chest. Kurt managed to stop the tears this time and got down in the bed next to Blaine instead. He put their heads together and placed his arm around his lover. Blaine's beautiful olive skin was burning like it was on fire and drops of sweat found their way through tangled chest hair.
"I'm so sorry baby, for not taking enough care of you and for not making you stop when I could see how exhausted you were," Kurt said quietly. "That was my job to do and I failed." Blaine still didn't respond to anything other than pressing his body closer to Kurt, constantly searching for cover. "I've got you now," Kurt whispered.
Cooper and Katie found them like that, holding on to each other. "Hey Kurt," Katie said softly. "I'm going to pack a bag for both of you while you and Cooper carry Blaine down to the car. Then you can stay at the hospital for the rest of the night."
"Thank you," Kurt said, beyond grateful that he was no longer by himself. He reluctantly let go of Blaine and rolled out of bed. It's was 3 in the morning and the lack of sleep had made him dizzy.
Cooper tried to get in touch with his brother, but Blaine was lost in his feverish world. "It wasn't nearly as bad when we left you guys last night," he said worriedly.
"No," Kurt confirmed, "I fell asleep next to him and he seemed fine, but after a couple of hours I woke up because he was burning up like this." Kurt bit his lip as yet another scary thought occured. "What if his body is shutting down caused by the stress he's been under? Is that possible?"
Katie entered the bedroom, carrying a bag. "I don't think his body is shutting down," she said and searched for a few necessities in their closet. "I think his body is trying to help him. It's preventing him from pushing it any further. It's clever that way." She zipped the bag and smiled reassuringly. Kurt admired her soothing way of dealing with the entire situation.
In the meantime Cooper had tucked a blanket around Blaine. "Kurt, if you carry him, Katie can open doors in front of you and I'll be behind you in case he gets too heavy."
Kurt nodded and came around to the bedside. Gently he put his arms underneath Blaine's back and knees and lifted him carefully onto his chest. Blaine immediately put his arms around Kurt's neck and held on tight, still trembling. "It's alright," Kurt whispered. "I've got you."
From that point everything felt like slow motion. The elevator moved too slowly, the car was too far away, the traffic was too heavy in spite of the late hour, and the lights didn't change fast enough. Kurt grew desperately impatient as he watched Blaine's restless face and in a split second he wondered if he could run faster with Blaine in his arms. The very moment Cooper drove up to the hospital entrance, Katie jumped out and disappeared into the big solid building to get hold of a wheelchair or a stretcher. A few minutes later she returned with a guy in hospital clothing who quickly opened the door to the back seat and checked up on Blaine's responses. Then he smiled at Kurt, who still held on desperately to Blaine. "My name is Joe," he said and shook Kurt's hand. He seemed strong and trustworthy enough. "If you can push Blaine a bit in my direction I'll get a real good hold on him, I promise." Kurt reluctantly let go and watched carefully as Joe lifted Blaine up on a stretcher before he got out himself. He immediately made sure Blaine was covered in the blanket and was lying okay.
"Come walk with me," Joe said and nodded towards the hospital doors as Katie and Cooper drove off to find a parking spot. "So, what's the story here? What happened?" Joe asked.
Kurt followed the fast pace, grateful that Blaine was finally in safe hands. "Um … he's been under a lot of stress lately and acted weird this morning. He's been sleeping all day, been confused and now he's got this high fever."
"Is he allergic to penicillin?"
"No"
"Taking any medication we should know of?"
"No."
They went through the electronic doors and stopped by the counter. Blaine's name got attached to a small board, added the small bit of information Kurt had been able to provide. "If you stay here and fill out the papers someone will come and talk to you when Blaine has been examined," Joe said and nodded a quick goodbye.
Kurt raised a hand to wave to Blaine but to no use and all he could do was watch Joe disappear with his loved one through another door. Suddenly the smell of hospital hit him like a heavy pillow. Unfamiliar, but still too recognizable. In spite of the years that had passed since his dad's heart attack, Kurt's body hadn't forgotten and reactions that weren't connected to this very moment, popped up like reminders. The lady at the counter called out his name and pushed the insurance papers his way just as Cooper and Katie joined him again. Together they filled out the mandatory forms and some, before the desk lady was satisfied and then were seated on reasonable chairs in the waiting area while Katie provided coffee for them all.
Little by little the adrenalin that had fueled Kurt's body disappeared and left him tired and sad. Fractions of everything that had happened since he woke up alone in bed this morning attacked his brain like electronic impulses and he kept going over the changes in Blaine's behavior throughout the day. He missed him. He missed being close to him and laughing about stupid silly things with him; things that no one else got.
"They will probably keep him for observation," Cooper said, being the first one to speak. "And once the fever is gone he'll be home in no time."
"I know," Kurt said quietly, "I'm just not sure what he will come home to. This could potentially ruin the record deal and even though I hate what that deal has done to him, he will still be devastated."
"Kurt, he's a fighter. He'll bounce back," Cooper tried.
"We should have gone to Italy, just as we had planned," Kurt stated, blank faced. "A vacation would have done him good. After everything that happened with Sam and Dub last year he was sort of emotionally drained."
"But it was his choice not to go, right?" Katie asked.
Kurt closed his eyes. "Yes, but I could have pushed him more. I knew he needed the break."
"And take away what looked like a lifetime opportunity for him?" Cooper asked. "Kurt, we all thought it would be a breakthrough for the band. It would have been wrong to stop him. Sometimes life just gives us the opposite of what we expect. The only thing Blaine truly needs right now is to be assured that we're there for him … and that we're strong when he can't be."
"I just love him so much," Kurt whispered and let Katie take his hand.
Waiting was a bitch. Thoughts spiraled out of control and chased away reason. Different outcomes waved back and forth in Kurt's mind from worse case scenario to Blaine coming home with him right away, falling asleep in his arm's - just like he was supposed to. After a solid hour a doctor finally approached. She looked small in appearance with blondish hair tucked away behind her ears and white solid rubber shoes. Her kind eyes made Kurt like her.
"Are you the relatives of Blaine Anderson?" she asked.
"Yes," Cooper answered jumpy. "I'm his brother, this is my wife, Katie, and Kurt is Blaine's boyfriend."
The doctor's eyes lingered on Kurt. "I am Denise and I'm the one who examined Blaine," she said and smiled. "First I want to tell you all that Blaine is doing fine and there's no need to worry." Kurt's knees weakened from relief. "We've run a few tests on him and his infection number is normal despite the high fever, which indicates that it's not an infection causing the fever."
Cooper frowned. "If there's no infection then why the fever?"
"We don't know yet," Denise answered. "Sometimes infections are too small to be detected at first. But we will test him again in a few days if his temperature doesn't fall. Another option could be an allergic reaction to something he ate, but if he hasn't changed his diet lately that wouldn't be my first concern." She looked at her chart. "He is dehydrated, quite a lot, and that alone can actually make people confused and disillusioned."
"Could that be all?" Kurt asked hopeful. "That he is just dehydrated, I mean?"
"No, it's more complicated than that," Denise emphasized. "He seems … fatigued overall; stressed out and compared with the information you have given us, Kurt, I think he is having a nervous breakdown. The fever and the confusion could very well be a "timeout" ordered by his body. And whenever a reaction is as heavy as this one, he will be forced to listen or else he could get really sick." She looked at Kurt again. "Hear me right. I'm not alarmed by any of his symptoms so far, but he has to take the time he needs to recover. And that's usually a lot longer than most people like."
"How long?" Kurt asked
"Start out with 3 - 6 months, and if his symptoms aren't gone by then, even longer than that."
Kurt exhaled slowly through pursed lips. How was he ever going to pull that off with Blaine. The guy could hardly sit down for two minutes. Denise seemed to read his mind. "I know it's a tough call and Blaine will need all the help he can get, but it's really important."
"It might be necessary to sit on him," Kurt admitted, which made Cooper huff out a laugh.
"We'll take turns, Kurt," he said, smiling.
Kurt smiled back. "He is going to be in so much trouble if he doesn't behave." It felt freeing to know how to help. "Is he alright now? Kurt then asked Denise. "Can we see him?"
"Sure," she answered and led them along. "He's on medication because we needed to lower the fever and it's making him sleepy, so don't expect too much of him until tomorrow at some point. Oh, and if you have any questions you can always ask. This week I'm on night shifts but Doctor Joseph will be here during the day, so he will be your main contact." She made a stop when they were almost at the end of the hallway. "He will probably be removed from ER tomorrow, but for the rest of the night he'll stay in this room." She pushed the door open for them and let them be alone.
The first thing Kurt saw was damp curls framing a face at peace; his Blaine, sound asleep with a nice even breath. He smiled through tears as he stepped closer and gently caressed the sleeping man. He put his lips down to Blaine's temples and inhaled the smell of light sweat and left over hair familiarity rushed to the core of him. Everything would be alright and that was all he needed to know at this very moment.
Cooper stepped closer and put a soothing hand on Kurt's back as he squeezed his brother's hand, resting on the cover. "Silly boy," he said and smiled relieved. "Don't ever scare us like that again."
Kurt side eyed Cooper. "Thanks for being cool, when I lost it," he said humbled.
"I was not cool," Cooper stated.
"Yeah, you were."
"Not in the car on our way over to you. Go ahead and ask Katie."
"He was not cool at all!" Katie giggled from behind them. "He was a rambling mess."
"I wasn't that bad," Cooper objected weakly.
"Yes you were!"
Cooper shrugged and nudged Kurt. "There you go."
Kurt chuckled. "Who's going to look after Blaine if you and I can't keep our shit together?"
Katie crossed her arms. "I'll get business done, don't worry about it, you two whiney heads." The two men objected vigorously as they willingly let her drag them into a group hug.
Reassured that Blaine was not the least disturbed by them, Cooper and Katie stayed for another hour before they had to go home. Kurt hadn't been sitting in the armchair next to Blaine for more two minutes before he drifted off; knees to his chest and his head resting on a pillow Katie had brought together with a blanket. Soon he was as fast asleep as was the love of his life.
