Week 10 Day 5

Kurt walked his way slowly across the beach, his eyes fixed on Blaine as he sat at the lifeguard stand. There wasn't many people around, just a few families playing in the water or building sandcastles, the overcast making the day gloomy. Although Kurt didn't think the day could get any worse than it already had been.

Once he made it to the stand he knocked on the wood, getting Blaine's attention. "Hey," he said softly when Blaine looked over at him.

"Oh Kurt," Blaine said sympathetically as he jumped off. Did he really look as bad as he felt?

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt pulled him in tight. Kurt tried to pull away, "Blaine, there's people…"

"You're more important to me than what those people think, or what they decide to say about us." After hearing those words Kurt automatically hugged Blaine back, realizing how much he needed to be in Blaine's arms. "How is she?" Blaine asked.

Kurt didn't pull away, instead he just held Blaine tighter. He'd just gotten back from visiting Aunt Annie at the hospital, the stroke not killing her, but no leaving her any better than if she was. "She can't talk, and I don't even know if she knows who I am."

"I'm sorry. For all of this." Blaine pulled away and led Kurt to the base of the lifeguard stand to sit with him. Kurt held his arms around his knees and looked at the water, it was the closest he had been in weeks.

"I just don't know how much more of this I can take…" It was becoming so much harder for Kurt now to not spontaneously burst out into tears or lock himself away in his room so he could just forget about the world, and pretend he was going to have a happy ending. He looked around at all the families and how they were happy, how they were smiling even when the sun wasn't shining. Why couldn't he be like that? Why couldn't he just be happy? "I've been thinking about something lately…"

"What is it?" Blaine asked, scooting closer so they could hear each other over the sound of the waves.

"Have you ever thought about getting a kidney transplant?" Blaine was already shaking his head. "Just hear me out on this…but I was thinking, that if I was a match, I could give you my kidney…"

"Kurt, no…" He placed his hand on Kurt's knee. "I can't let you do that for me."

"Why not? I'm willing to do it and it could help you get better. We could go talk to Dr. Martin together, your grandmother doesn't even have to know."

Blaine shook his head. "You are helping me enough already, don't think that you have to do anything more than you already are. Besides, I haven't even seen Dr. Martin personally in months, a transplant might not even be an option."

"But what if I want to do it? I want to help you. Let me help you."

"I'm not letting you give me your kidney, okay?"

"Blaine—"

"I said no. Now I really don't want to talk about this anymore." Blaine moved a few inches away and totally checked himself out of the conversation. Kurt didn't understand what Blaine's problem was. Kurt wanted to do it.

Kurt stood up and started walking back to the house, somewhat upset that Blaine wouldn't even consider his offer. "Kurt, where are you going?" Blaine asked as he stood up as well and started following Kurt.

Kurt turned around and threw his arms in the air. "Why don't you want me to help you? This could be my last chance to save you, and you won't even think about it."

"You can't just think about me, you have to think about your future too."

"I am thinking about my future. And the future I want involves you."

"Why can't we just be happy together for the time we have left? I don't want the last weeks of my life to be watching you from a hospital bed. You need to go to college and live your life, and I need to stay here and try to survive mine."

"But this could save you. This could give you a future."

"You can't keep believing in a future that doesn't exist. It won't ever exist, Kurt."

"But why can't I try? After all we did yesterday…" Kurt noticed there were people staring at them, probably because their voices were starting to rise. He pulled Blaine behind the lifeguard stand and started to whisper. "You're just being so- ugh. You're being so…"

"What am I being Kurt?"

"You're just being so selfish!"

"I don't think I'm being the selfish one here…"

"How am I being selfish? I'm willing to give everything to you."

"But you aren't respecting my wishes…" He looked around for a moment and then came back to conversation. "How about we talk about this later, okay? I'll stop by on my way home."

"Don't bother, it was a stupid idea anyway," Kurt mumbled as he pushed past Blaine and started walking home again.

"It wasn't stupid, Kurt." He started running after him. "Come on, don't go." He grabbed Kurt's arm and tried to turn him around. "I don't want us to leave each other angry."

"I'm not angry…" He looked at Blaine, his heart wrenching in his chest. How could he ever be angry at him? "I'm just tired of not being able to help you. And I know you say I am, but I feel like I could be doing so much more."

Blaine took his hand and squeezed it. "And you wonder why I say I don't deserve you," he mused.

They smiled at each other for a few moments. "You should be getting back to work Mr. Anderson," Kurt said smugly as he let go of Blaine's hand.

"I should, shouldn't I?" Blaine smiled and started running back to the stand. "Oh, I forgot to tell you to come over on Friday!" Blaine yelled. "My grandma has some church thing so I'm free."

Kurt gave him a thumbs up and ran back to his house, remembering why he knew if they could try, they would make it on their own.

Week 10 Day 7

"'When they finally saw him, why he hadn't done any of those things . . . Atticus, he was real nice. . . .'" Kurt read aloud as he sat in the hospital chair next to Aunt Annie's bed. Kurt looked up and saw that Aunt Annie was fast asleep, but yet he continued the story. "His hands were under my chin, pulling up the cover, tucking it around me. 'Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.'" Kurt finished the last sentence and closed the book. He had been coming to the hospital for the last two days to read to her. He'd been reading to her for four hours straight both days, but now visiting hours were over and Kurt had to leave, as much as he wished he could stay. The rest of the family had been in and out, and Kurt knew especially how hard all of this must have been on Carole, who saw her almost as her own mother.

Aunt Annie couldn't remember anything about her life before the stroke. It was like her mind was a clean slate. However, To Kill a Mockingbird had always been her favorite book, and he knew it still was somewhere deep down inside.

Kurt stood and gave Aunt Annie a kiss on the forehead and left the book at her bedside. There were flowers engulfing the room, some from the family, some from her friends around the city, and some even from Kurt's friends who had heard about the stroke.

He took the elevator down from the sixth floor, deciding that he would go straight to Blaine's. As the elevator descended, it only stopped on the fourth floor, the floor of cancer treatment, and let one person on, who hit the one button and stood next to him as the doors closed.

Once he realized who it was, she was already talking to him, "Good evening Kurt, different floor today I see," Dr. Martin said, smiling at him. Kurt remembered her as the woman who allowed him to see Blaine that one day, when he didn't know whether he was dead or alive. He owed her a lot.

Kurt nodded solemnly. "Yes, my Aunt Annie had a stroke, and I've been coming to read to her."

"Oh no, do you know what room she is in?" She asked, her voice growing a worried tone.

The doors opened and they both stepped out at the first floor. "Umm…yeah. She's in room 605, up on the sixth floor," he said as she took her notepad out and wrote the number down. "Do you know her?"

"She was going to be my mother-in-law at one time, but then…" Her face started to look distressed, and Kurt automatically realized. She was the girl who Johnny left behind. That's how she knew he and Blaine were together, that's why she helped them.

"Dr. Martin, may I speak with you about something?" Kurt asked. If Blaine didn't want to talk about a transplant with her, maybe Kurt could do it on his own.

"Well my office is back upstairs, if you wouldn't mind talking about it over dinner, that would be great. And of course by dinner I mean food court."

Kurt and Dr. Martin made their way to the food court, both grabbing sandwiches and sitting in a table in the corner. "So what would you like to talk to me about Kurt? Is it about Blaine?"

"Actually, it involves both of us…" He took a deep breath before asking. "Is there any way to give Blaine a kidney transplant…with me as the donor?"

The look on her face became confused. "Has Blaine mentioned to you anything about going back on chemotherapy?" She asked. Kurt had no idea what she was talking about, Blaine couldn't go back on chemo, he already told him that.

"What do you mean?"

"Blaine doesn't need a kidney, eventually he would need bone marrow, but that would be if he decided to go back on chemo. I know he really doesn't want to but…"

"What are you saying?" Kurt was so confused. Blaine said he couldn't go back on chemo…

"The test we took at the beginning of the year was…there were many errors. We had thought we found cancer in his kidneys, irreversible by any type of treatment, but the last biopsy we took found no cancer whatsoever on his kidneys, and the original cancer had regressed farther than we thought possible. We said he could go back on treatment, but he didn't want to. I thought you might be able to help him change his mind."

"But…he's been so sick. The cancer is what made him really sick, he had to be in the hospital for a week," Kurt argued.

"The last biopsy we took left him with a horrible infection, that's what caused him to be in the hospital for so long, not the cancer. Has he not told you any of this?"

"He…he told me…"

Dr. Martin took his hand and looked him in the eyes sympathetically. "Sometimes people just don't want to be saved, and there is nothing you, or anyone can do about it. Blaine's been through a lot, and as much as any of us try, he's just lost the will to live."

Kurt stood up from the table, his mind clouded and unable to fully process what he'd just heard. "I have to go," he said taking his tray with him.

"Kurt…" She called after him, but he was already gone, walking as fast as his legs could carry him. Blaine could get better all this time? Why didn't he tell him? Is that why he was so against the thought of the kidney transplant? Because there couldn't be one in the first place?

But…the look in Blaine's eyes, that wasn't the look of someone trying to kill themselves, that was the look of someone scared of dying, someone who wanted to stay alive, someone who was fighting.

It must have been a lie. She must have been lying to him. All this time he had been preparing himself for Blaine's death, but he could have been better all along? Blaine wouldn't do that to him, no, he wasn't going to get angry, or upset, or act out irrationally until he heard it from Blaine.

Kurt knocked on Blaine's window, his grandmother's car gone and the air still hot.

Blaine was sitting on his bed, his arms wrapped around the many pillows that lay there, probably imagining that they were Kurt, trying to imagine that he was holding him. Blaine wouldn't have lied about this, he wouldn't have.

Blaine motioned for him to come in, that the window was unlocked. He opened the window and climbed into the bedroom, his whole body numb. Blaine could be…okay?

Kurt left the window open and stood against the wall, wanting to scream and cry and laugh all at the same time. Blaine could be okay, he could get better, but she said he could have known, that he didn't want to get better. What was happening?

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked when Kurt didn't move for at least a minute.

Kurt didn't answer him. There were plenty of things not right. Blaine said the cancer had traveled to both kidneys, but the doctor said there was none on his kidneys whatsoever. Who was the one lying?

Blaine walked up to him and put his hands on his shoulders, searching for his eyes. "What's wrong Kurt? Is Annie okay?"

Kurt looked back up at him, finding the same, sweet eyes as he'd always known. "Do you love me?" Kurt whispered, his eyes filling with tears but nothing falling.

"Of course I do. Why would you ask me something like that?"

"Why were you so against the idea of a transplant?" He asked, not even answering Blaine's question.

"What happened? Come on, we'll talk about it, it'll be okay." Blaine took his hand and tried to lead him to the bed, but Kurt wouldn't move.

"Your doctor told me…when I was at the hospital…that you were choosing not to be saved," Kurt's voice faltered, how could he not want to be saved?

"I was, at the beginning, but now it's too late, I've told you that."

"She said you were choosing not to start chemotherapy, that they had screwed up the tests or something, and they can start it again."

Blaine backed away and sat on the edge of his bed, his face almost more confused than Kurt's. "I…but she told me there was nothing they could do, that it was over."

"Who told you that?"

"My grandmother, she told me the doctors talked to her after my last surgery and it was getting worse." He looked up at Kurt, a pleading look in his eyes. "I haven't lied to you, I promised I wouldn't lie to you anymore, you have to believe me." He looked almost, scared, like Kurt was going to leave him again. "You don't realize how much something like this would change your life. Yes it's just a kidney but you would have to be careful all of your life. I couldn't leave you with something like that."

The more Kurt thought about it, the more he sensed something was wrong.

Kurt took a few steps forward towards Blaine and froze, the realization hitting him, the question he always should have asked: How did $50,000 dollars mean there was no money coming in?

"Blaine?" He said slowly, the wheels in his head turning. "Where is your grandmother tonight?"

"Some benefit at the church, she has them twice a week."

"Do you know what it's for?"

Blaine thought about it for a few moments and then shook his head. "Some charity?"

"Do you think it could be for you?"

"For me?" He looked so confused that Kurt automatically knew.

"So you don't know the church has been raising thousands of dollars for your cancer treatment?"

Blaine looked at him, the words probably not registering in his brain. "What? No, she can't, we're broke, how—"

Kurt covered his hand over his mouth. "Oh my god. Blaine…" He gasped.

"What? Kurt, please tell me what's going on."

The money, that was a way of controlling him when she had absolutely nothing she could control him with, she knew she didn't have anything. That was the way of making him feel guilty, so he would do what she said and feel like he needed to depend on her.

"She's been exploiting your illness for money." Kurt ran his fingers through his hair. How did he not see the signs?

Blaine was silent for a while, his face slowly losing the confused look it had before. "You mean, she's been taking money for the church, and pretending to use it on me?"

"Pretending? Has she not been using it on you?"

"Before I turned eighteen the hospital was paying for a lot of my chemo, which cost a fortune. I only went to the hospital twice this summer, which cost an extremely small amount compared to what I was doing before. How much is she… I still just…what?"

All of this was news to Blaine. How could it be news to the person who the charity was for? Jessica had said he was shy about taking charity, which must have been his grandmother's code for 'didn't know he was getting charity at all'.

"Just this month alone they've raised $50,000 for you. So it's probably tripled that just this summer. What do they think it's been paying for?"

"The medicine costs a lot because we don't have insurance, and the blood transfusions did too, because they cause me to have a hospital stay. But then she stopped them…" Blaine's eyes became wide, like he was finally realizing. "My dad, he told me something over the phone, but I didn't believe him."

"What did he tell you?"

"He said he was sending money to my grandmother to pay for my treatments, because he didn't want her to run out because of me. But I told him he was lying. I thought he was lying…"

"Oh my god." She's been getting enough money to pay for five people to get cancer treatment.

"Kurt…Is my grandmother trying to…"

"I think your grandmother is trying to kill you," Kurt finished. His grandmother had made him stop all those things for a reason, and then she wasn't telling him he could start chemo again. She must have known he could get better. But then all the money would go to where it was supposed to, and not her bank account.

Kurt started pacing the room. She'd been making money off of his illness, and the only way to keep making money off of his illness was to keep him sick. If he could get better, then she would have to spend all the money she had on chemo, and then the donations would stop after he got better.

As Kurt paced the room he looked at Blaine, who had his face buried in his hands. He realized quickly that he was crying and went to sit by his side. "Blaine, it's going to be okay. We're going to get you out of here. She's not going to hurt you anymore."

Blaine looked at Kurt with his tear filled eyes. And then he started…laughing? Why was Blaine laughing? "Why are you laughing?"

"Because, I'm going to get better. I can get better for you now." Blaine took Kurt's face in his hands as Kurt realized what exactly all of this meant.

Kurt closed his eyes and he felt tears fall down his cheeks. "Am I dreaming?" He asked softly.

"No," Blaine said, wiping the tears away with his thumbs. "You're perfectly awake."

No matter how horrible the circumstances were, Kurt felt something he hadn't felt since before he found out Blaine was sick. Hope. Pure hope.

Kurt opened his eyes and looked at Blaine, who was smiling at him. "I can see a future," Blaine told him. "I can really see it."

Kurt threw his arms around him and felt his heart beating faster than he ever thought possible. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"I'm sorry I didn't leave with you when I had the chance."

"I'm sorry I didn't figure this out sooner."

"I'm sorry that I fell for all of this."

Kurt chuckled softly. "We shouldn't be sorry."

"I know." Blaine kissed him on the cheek and pulled away. "What are we going to do now?"

What were they going to do? Obviously Blaine's grandmother had some serious mental issues that needed to be brought to light. "Well, first of all we are getting you out of this house." Kurt said, pulling Blaine off the bed.

Blaine nodded. "Should I pack, or something?"

"Maybe we can come back tomorrow," Kurt told him. "I feel like this will all be over soon."

"And I'll be okay?"

"You'll be okay," Kurt repeated. It was something he never thought he would ever say.

Kurt and Blaine walked into the hospital together that night, thinking it would be best to bring the news to Dr. Martin herself, to see if all of this was really true. Kurt didn't tell his father what was happening, thinking it might make everything much more confusing and chaotic than it already was. And besides, Kurt and Blaine still didn't truly know what was going on.

As they walked into the lobby Kurt noticed the same receptionist from when he tried to visit Blaine. And as before, she still had the worst fashion sense of anyone he had ever seen.

"Excuse me?" Kurt asked when they made it to the front desk. As before the woman didn't take her eyes off the computer. "Hello?" He said, the annoyance already showing through.

She looked over at him and rolled her eyes. "And what do you want?"

"Yes, we would like to talk to Dr. Martin, if that is all possible."

The woman shrugged her shoulders. "She's probably busy." She popped her gum and turned back to her computer.

"Well could you check?" Kurt asked. "It's actually really important."

"And you think what I'm doing isn't important?" Actually he didn't think it was important, not as important as Blaine's life.

"Kurt, I'll deal with this," Blaine said and Kurt stepped to the side. "Hi, my name is Blaine Anderson." The woman looked up him, probably realizing that he was the person Kurt was looking for the first time they met. "Yes, my boyfriend and I needed to see Dr. Martin like yesterday, and it's really life or death…So it would be great if you could just you know, pick up your little phone right there and call her. The faster you dial the better because I just learned not even an hour ago that my grandmother is trying to kill me." The woman's mouth dropped open and the gum fell out of her mouth. "Yes, it's very shocking. Even though the more I think about it the less shocking it becomes."

Kurt was shocked at Blaine's blatancy as well. "You just called me…"

"Well, you are my boyfriend, and I don't think we need to hide it anymore. Actually…" Blaine looked around and spotted someone in the waiting room. "I think she goes to my church." Blaine threaded his fingers through Kurt's and kissed his cheek. It felt really weird showing affection in public, and he hoped they would be doing it a lot more often.

The woman handed them a pass and told them Dr. Martin would be out of a meeting within ten minutes. Although they didn't bother thanking her.

"But how is this possible?" Dr. Martin asked as Kurt and Blaine sat in front of her in the office.

"Well I haven't spoken to you personally in months. Why is that?" Blaine asked right back at her.

"I sent nurses to go tell you. They told me they told you and that you wouldn't even listen to them…" She held up her finger and dialed her phone, calling a nurse. After she finished she told Kurt and Blaine that they were going through Blaine's grandmother for all medical purposes, that she had convinced them Blaine was going to kill himself if any of the doctors ever tried to make him go back on chemo again.

"Well obviously that was a lie," Kurt interjected. "Is there a way we can just arrest his grandmother in front of the whole church or something?"

Blaine took Kurt's hand and continued. "She's been lying to all of us. But all I want to know right now are my chances if I start back on chemotherapy."

Dr. Martin smiled. "They are good. But we have to start as soon as possible."

From having no chances to good chances. Kurt thought he was in a dream. One of the greatest dreams he had ever had. But it was real, it was all real.

Both boys still looked shocked from it all. Both still weren't believing it. Blaine was going to be okay…

Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand and looked at him, tears in his eyes, but they were tears of happiness. Blaine had tears in his eyes too, "You've saved me, Kurt."

And that was all Kurt had ever wanted, and that was what he finally was going to get: To save Blaine's life.