Carole woke Blaine at 8am the next morning. It had been a good night; Blaine had only woken Kurt and Carole with his screaming twice. Carole and Blaine ate breakfast together before going to the hospital to meet Angela. Blaine was quiet and withdrawn, not saying much during breakfast or the car ride. Carole glanced at him during the morning, but let him be. She saw him smiled a little when he got a text from Kurt, she assumed, but otherwise he was lost in thoughts and memories.
They arrived at the hospital and Carole helped him out of the car and into the wheelchair. Angela was waiting for them just outside the doors. She smiled at them and gave Carole a hug. She knelt down next to Blaine and spoke to him.
"Hi Blaine! How are you?" She asked.
Blaine looked at Carole and then back at Angela.
"Ummh… I'm… I… I guess I'm… I'm sorry, but who are you?" He said with a blush.
"Oh! So sorry, I'm Angela, I'm the doctor who took care of you when you first came."
"Oh, god. I am so sorry! I should have recognized you! I'm sorry."
"No, it's fine. It was my fault. I shouldn't have assumed you remembered me; you were pretty lost when we met. Sorry."
"It's fine." Blaine insisted but looked down at his lap. Angela noticed that the boy was uncomfortable and stood up to talk to Carole instead while they made their way into the examine room.
"Are you okay, Carole?"
"Yeah, I'm okay. You?"
"Yeah, it's a bit slow today. So I thought I could take the opportunity to breathe some fresh air."
"Good for you."
They entered the examine room and Carole helped Blaine onto the stretcher. Angela smiled at him.
"So, Blaine. How are you?"
"I'm fine."
"Okay, care to elaborate?"
"Ummh… I don't know. I'm fine." Blaine squirmed under Angela's gaze.
"Look, Blaine. I understand that this feels weird for you. You have no memory of me and you might be wondering what you have told me and so forth. I am not here to judge you in any way. I just want to help you. I just want to see how your injuries have healed during this week. How about I ask you the questions I want an answer to?"
"Yeah, that sounds good." Blaine nodded.
"Can you promise me to be honest?" Angela looked in to Blaine's eyes.
"Yes, I promise."
"Good. First – are you in any pain?"
"Yes." Blaine took a deep breath and looked between Carole and Angela. Obviously this was someone Carole knew and trusted; she had hugged her when they arrived. So, he decided to stop being difficult and answer the questions for real.
"Yes. I'm in pain. My foot hurts really badly all the time, my head hurts when I concentrate too much or too long, my ribs hurt with every breath, and my stomach hurts when I move too much." Blaine looked down from Angela's eyes after telling her this. He didn't see Carole's eyes widen or hear her take a deep breath.
"Okay. If you compare to how much it hurt in the beginning of the week?"
"It's better now." He admitted.
"On Tuesday or Wednesday you even told me you didn't want the pain medicine right?" Carole told Blaine and Angela at the same time.
"Why didn't you want the pain medicine? Because it hurt less or because of something else?" Carole looked at Blaine. "Remember you promised me that you'd be honest."
Blaine sighed at looked at Carole.
"I'm sorry Carole. But, I didn't want the pain medicine because all I do is sleep and when I sleep I have nightmares and they're so bad and…"
Carole smiled a small smile. Somewhere she had knew he wasn't in less pain. But it wouldn't do anyone any good yelling at him now. Angela nodded and kept talking to him.
"Okay. Thanks for being honest. I'll change the medicine and I'll get you some medicine that doesn't make you so sleepy. But, just so you know, sleep is a way for the body to heal and for your mind to keep up with everything that happens in your life now. You also have an infection that will make you tired as well."
"Carole says that too."
"She's a good nurse." Angela smiled to Blaine. "So, today we will take some x-rays on your foot and your ribs, we will also do a CT of your brain and abdomen. But, I'll start by doing a neurological examination."
After the short examination which left Angela happy with the progression of the concussion, he was wheeled down to the other examinations. Carole stayed at the ER and went and talked to her bosses. While they later waited for the results to come, they went to the cafeteria to have some lunch.
Carole looked at Blaine and when he was done eating she decided to talk to him even if he would be uncomfortable because of it.
"Blaine. Next time I don't want you to lie about your pain anymore. I need you to tell me when you're in pain and when you hurt. And I get that it sucks to be this tired all the time, but, it will be for a short time honey. Soon, you'll be on both your feet, going to school, doing the dishes as anyone else in our house. But, for now, your only job is to get better. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, ma'am." Blaine paled and looked down at his hands in his lap.
"No, Blaine. No ma'am. I'm Carole. Okay? I love you, remember?"
Blaine nodded but didn't look up. Carole reached over the table and held her hand for him to take. He did after a hesitation.
"Blaine, I just want what is best for you. I want to help you get better. And you will get better. But, first, you need your body to start telling you what to do. When your body signal that it is tired, you need to start listen to it. That's the only way to recovery. It you keep trying doing more than your body can, this will take even longer. Okay?"
"Okay. I am sorry Carole. I just feel like such a burden for you. Both financially and otherwise."
"Blaine. We want you to live with us. No, we want you to be a part of our family. That means that we take care of you when you're sick. Just like we'll expect you to take care of any of us when we'll get sick, you are no burden at all and you need to remember that.
"I spoke to my boss when you were at the CT and x-rays. I've taken time off from work a month from now. You and I will get that time to start your healing and later on catch up with your school work. I want to do this with you. Not because I feel like I have to, but I want to spend time with you Blaine."
Blaine had silent tears on his face when he finally looked up at Carole.
"You took time off for me?"
"No, for us. It isn't just Kurt who wants go get to know you, we are a few more in this family who are starting to see the beautiful person that Kurt has fallen in love with."
"Oh." Blaine couldn't say anymore. He was overwhelmed of emotions. His upbringing was telling him to interject, to tell Carole that she should go back to work, that he could take care of himself. But, he knew that he couldn't take care of himself. And, he wanted her to be at home with him. He liked being with Carole. She made him feel safe, feel loved. She made him feel like he mattered.
He looked at her and she could see all the emotions flowing through him. She smiled at him.
"Come on sweetie, let's get back to the ER, we don't have to talk about this now."
They slowly made their way back to the ER and sat down at the waiting area. They had sat there for just five minutes when Angela came to get them. They entered the same examine room again, and Angela turned to them with a strict expression on her face.
"I'm so sorry, but I have bad news."