When Kurt came back, sandwiches for himself and Blaine in tow, another person was sitting at his boyfriend's bedside. She was smiling gently-stroking his hair and laughing with him. Kurt's blood boiled. Rachel Berry had just added insult to injury in the worst possible way. As Rachel strolled around Blaine's room, freshening his bouquet, and –how dare she? - flirtily feeding Blaine from that Edible Arrangement, Kurt stood frozen in the hallway.

Blaine didn't seem to be worried about Kurt at the moment, and he looked like he was having fun with that evil witch known as Rachel. Kurt went into auto-pilot as he marched into the room.

"Hello, Rachel. I just went to get lunch for Blaine and I…but since you're here, I'll just be going-" Kurt's voice had a cold, bitter, quality that seldom came out.

Rachel was, for once, at a loss for words. She blushed furiously, opening and closing her mouth like a fish. Kurt's face was equally red, but he didn't make any further attempt at speech. He merely stood, glaring.

Blaine broke the silence with a whimper. Both Kurt and Rachel turned to him. "Blaine?"

Their concern was confirmed when Blaine turned straight to Kurt, his face a mask of unadulterated fear. "Why are you back? Don't hurt me! Please! Help!" Kurt went pale, and began to back out of the room. Blaine, who was loosing control rapidly, turned to Rachel. "Get him out! OUT!"

"Blaine, it's me! Kurt!"

Rachel had fire in her eyes. "Get out, Kurt! You're terrifying him!" She pressed the call button to summon a doctor, still glaring at Kurt. "Out."

Kurt left, the two sandwiches crushed in his hand. He wandered the hall, vaguely aware of the nurse hurrying into Blaine's room. He stood by the window, blocking out the universe, until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Kurt, we need to talk."

Rachel. Kurt started to turn away when she grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Not now."

"Yes, now! This is important. You are being selfish, and it needs to stop!"

Kurt could not believe this. "Selfish?" he barked, in a fairly accurate imitation of Rachel. "He remembers me. We had something, something special, and he wants it back!"

"No, Kurt! You want it back! He remembers you as the person from the fight. You're too weak, too scared, to let him go. Maybe if you did, he'd get better!"

"Oh! And now you're a doctor? Just go! We all know what you want here! You've wanted it since that party!" Both Kurt and Rachel were yelling now, all the bonds they'd formed over the past year instantly severed.

"How dare you suggest that?"

Kurt kept his mouth shut hoping Rachel would go away. She didn't, although her voice quieted down slightly.

"Look, I know this is hard for you. You obviously have attachment issues due to Quinn's sudden departure, not to mention the void left by your mother's death-"

Kurt's face went from bright red to sheet white. His mother. God, he missed her right now. She would know what to do right now, what to do about this whole awful situation. And now Rachel had the nerve to bring her up. Kurt could only whisper, but the force behind his words was shocking. "Leave her out of this."

"Fine." Rachel didn't push it. "But, Kurt, listen. If you love Blaine, really, really love him, you'll let him go. He needs other people now. Not you."

No scream in the world could encompass all the pain. Although, Kurt decided later, the howl of terror Blaine let out just then had come close.

That night, Blaine's doctor called. Blaine was asking about Kurt, but he didn't think it would be a good idea for him to come back just now. Kurt, drained from his fight with Rachel, agreed.

"How long?"

"We really don't know. Maybe a week, maybe a year."

As soon as Kurt hung up, he made a beeline for his car. That night, a police officer returned a dazed, teary Kurt to his house at 2 am. When Burt asked the cop where his son had been, he learned that Kurt had fallen asleep at his mother's grave.

The next day, Kurt earned a visit to a shrink, and a prescription for a low-dose tranquilizer. His first pill left him in a mercifully dreamless sleep for the next 12 hours. It was the nicest 12 hours he'd had in a while.