Warning for this Chapter: This chapter contains a flashback and will discuss Blaine's injuries from that night. It's nothing too detailed but if you are triggered by such things please read with caution.
The Check-Up
Blaine let out a shaky breath as he and Kurt left their room, Kurt had dropped Pavarotti off in the room so they could go eat dinner. Blaine was trying to hide the fact that his knee was really bothering him but he was pretty sure Kurt had noticed. When they reached the bottom of the spiral stairs Blaine let out a sigh.
"What's wrong?" Kurt asked clutching Blaine's hand as they walked down the hall towards the dining hall. Blaine was being quiet ever since they had left the practice room.
Blaine glanced up at Kurt and gave him a smile. "My knee is bothering." He saw Kurt's expression turn from curious to worry. "I will be okay Kurt," Blaine said and then gripped Kurt's hand back.
Kurt didn't believe him, he could see the limp in Blaine's step now and he didn't like it. That one dance move they were working on was killing Blaine's knee and he was now suffering. Kurt let out a sigh of his own as he let Blaine go in through the door first. "Maybe we should go to the nurse's office and see what she has to say about it," Kurt suggested, not sure how Blaine would react to the suggestion.
"I don't like going to the nurse," Blaine told him glancing back over his shoulder as he stepped in line to get his food. "She…she's weird," Blaine mumbled.
"She's weird?" Kurt asked. He had not seen the nurse and hadn't heard any of the others say anything bad about her.
"Yeah, she…" Blaine didn't know how to say what he meant. "I just don't like going to see her." Blaine grabbed a tray and started putting food on it.
"Fine, I will make an appointment for you at a clinic tomorrow after school," Kurt said matter-of-factly. He wasn't going to let this go and if Blaine knew any better he would know that Kurt wasn't going to either.
Blaine let out a sigh. "Okay…my aunt will have to come because she will have to sign papers and what not right?" He watched Kurt who seemed to be thinking about it and then let out a sigh, nodding. "I will go but as long as you go with me." Blaine slowly made his way to their table and sat down beside Jeff. He knew Kurt was following right behind him.
"Wes needs to take that dance move out or change it," Kurt said to Nick and Jeff as he sat down.
Jeff tilted his head towards Blaine. "It's your knee right?"
Blaine nodded. He knew Jeff would know what the problem was. "Yeah either that or I just stop practicing that move so much. I know how to do it, but if I keep doing it we will have problems." Blaine watched Jeff for a few minutes and his friend nodded.
"I'll tell Wes to back off a little on the ones that know the moves already and just work with the ones that need the help and then maybe we can have a few run through before the show." Jeff gave Blaine a smile and then started eating again.
Nick let out a sigh. "It's like Wes thinks we don't know how to dance or something."
"No, he's just a drill sergeant," Kurt added with a frown. "I thought Rachel was bad, Wes might have her beat." Kurt took a drink of his water and looked up to see all three of his friends smiling at him. "What?"
Nick and Jeff just shook their heads. Blaine just kept smiling at him. "Don't let Rachel hear you say that." Blaine let out a chuckle and got a smile from Kurt.
Blaine let out a groan as he sat down on his bed, he could hear Pavarotti tweeting from the desk. Kurt sat down beside Blaine, placing a hand on his throbbing knee. "Sorry…" Blaine looked up from Kurt's warm hand to his face.
"What are you sorry about?" Kurt really wasn't sure what his adorable boyfriend was apologizing for now but he was sure that Blaine hadn't done anything to be sorry for.
Blaine lowered his gaze back to Kurt's warm hand and then placed his own hand on top of Kurt's. "What we talked about earlier, I hope this doesn't ruin anything?" He kept his gaze on the pale skin of Kurt's arm but did raise his head when Kurt started rubbing his knee.
Kurt wanted to tell Blaine again that he had nothing to be sorry about but he knew that Blaine wouldn't really believe him right now. He let out a breath and then watched Blaine's eyes, they were glassy. "You are in pain; the last thing on my mind is doing anything like that." He stood up and had to smile when Blaine gripped his hand tighter.
"Where are you going?" Blaine felt a tear slip from the corner of his eyes and roll down his cheek. His knee was throbbing, like a severe toothache, like someone was stabbing the inside of his knee repeatedly with no break and he just couldn't hold back the tears. Blaine closed his eyes trying to blink back the tears and let out a sigh, he was still holding onto Kurt's hand. He opened his eyes when he felt Kurt move to find him kneeling in front of him.
Kurt pulled Blaine to him minding his knee and started rubbing his back. "I am going to go get you some ice or heat from the nurse's office and then I am going to come back and we are going to get ready for bed and then you are going to ice your knee while we watch a movie or Gilmore Girl's whichever you would like to watch. Does that sound okay?" He pulled back so he could look at Blaine again and then reached up and ran his thumb across his cheek wiping away the fallen tears. He didn't like to see Blaine cry but he could understand why he was.
Blaine nodded at him and finally let go of his hand.
Kurt stood up and made his way towards the door. "I will be right back."
Blaine gripped Kurt's hand tightly as they sat in the waiting room of the clinic, they were waiting for his aunt to get here so that she could sign any papers that needed to be signed for Blaine, she was his godmother after all and he was more than willing to put up with her questions about Kurt if it meant that he didn't have to deal with his dad. Blaine knew that he still hadn't called his dad back and was sure he would regret it somehow but he didn't want to talk to the man.
The waiting room was cold and Blaine felt the goosebumps form on his arm and he tried to suppress the shudder that ran through him. It was just like last year when Blaine's aunt had taken him to a clinic, only this time he felt safer. He smiled up at Kurt when he felt him squeeze his hand. Blaine heard the door open and close and then shoes pattering across the floor towards him and Kurt.
"Little Bee, I'm here, are you okay?" Aunt Lillian sat down in the chair next to Blaine and gave him a small smile, her eyes quickly going to Kurt and then to their joined hands.
Blaine felt himself blush at her nickname for him but smiled at her anyways. "Aunt Lil, this is Kurt, my boyfriend." He said quietly, hoping not to draw too much attention to them.
"It's nice to meet you, Kurt, I just wish it was under different circumstances."
Kurt nodded. "Me too."
Blaine smiled at Kurt when he felt him squeeze his fingers again. "It's my knee, it really hurts again. Almost as bad as when it first happened." He turned his gaze to his aunt.
She nodded. "Well, it's good to get it checked out then. What aggravated it?"
Blaine shrugged his shoulder slightly, "I think it is partly this weather and the fact that I was doing repetitive dance moves, that my knee just didn't like." He glanced towards the window, it was still raining out, and he hated it.
"Do you want me to go in with you, or did I just need to be here to sign stuff?" She smiled at Blaine now that her nerves had calmed down slightly.
Blaine let out a chuckle. "I would like Kurt to go in with us if that is okay?"
Aunt Lillian nodded, just as the door swung open and the nurse called Blaine's name. The three of them made their way back to the room following the nurse and Blaine let out a sigh. He hadn't been to the doctors for a long time and he was not looking forward to this.
The nurse left after giving Blaine a sheet and telling him to remove his pants and sit on the table so the doctor could look at his knee. He had to smile at Kurt who was holding the sheet up between Blaine and Kurt and his aunt so that neither of them could see Blaine take his pants off. He knew Kurt knew he was wearing underwear but the thought it was sweet. When he was done he climbed onto the table and reached out for the sheet, to which Kurt lowered it and then wrapped it around Blaine, leaving his knees exposed. Blaine smiled up at Kurt, who remained standing beside the table. "You know the last time I was in a place like this was when…" He trailed off, shaking his head.
*Flashback*
Blaine walked with his head lowered as he followed the nurse, he could hear his aunt behind him as they walked back to the exam room. He wasn't sure he could do this but he knew he wasn't leaving until it was done. He glanced up at the nurse's colorful shirt long enough to see her arm move and motion for him to come into the room she had stopped at. Blaine finally picked his head up and looked around the room, the walls and floors were white but on the walls were colorful designs that he supposed were to make the kids feel a little better about being at the doctors. He hesitated in step when he saw the exam table, the blue plastic with white paper covering it looked cold and uncomfortable and Blaine fidgeted in the spot.
"B, you need to go have a seat." Aunt Lillian said to Blaine and placed and gentle hand on his shoulder, to which, not surprisingly, he cringed away from.
Blaine tried not to react to her putting her hand on his shoulder but he knew he couldn't control it right now. He turned his eyes to the nurse as he came to a stop beside the table.
She smiled at him sweetly before turned her attention back to the computer and then she finally spoke. "I see here that you need to be seen today because of you…" She hesitated and looked up at Blaine again, her smile wavering.
Aunt Lillian cut in. "He had something bad happen to him and I want him checked out. His father…well, his father didn't want him to come but I need him checked out." She finished clutching at her purse straps.
The nurse gave a quick nod and turned her eyes back to the computer screen. "Can you tell me the injuries?"
Blaine looked at the nurse and then to his aunt, he felt his eyes start to water and he shook his head.
Aunt Lillian spoke up again. "Well, he has extensive bruising on his…" She hesitated slightly. "Butt, thighs, wrist, ankles and face, plus he has a bite mark on his hip, and he was bleeding from the backside…" Her voice caught and she fell silent.
Blaine closed his eyes as he heard the nurse's fingers hitting the keyboard keys, typing in all the information that his aunt had just told her. He opened them again when he heard the nurse move the chair.
"Alright Blaine, I will need you to get out of your clothes and put this gown on so the Doctor can examine you, okay?" She sat the gown down on the table beside Blaine, who had yet to sit down, she didn't blame him. "There is a partition right there that you can change behind." She pointed to the screen at the back of the room. "The Doctor will be in shortly to see you."
Blaine sat on the examination table in the blue and white gown. This was not what he wanted to happen. He did not want more people touching him. But he knew that he had to his aunt wouldn't let him leave here unless he was checked out. Blaine glanced down at his feet he was allowed to keep his socks on but it did little to help with the coldness that seemed to surround him as he waited for the doctor. He could see the dark patches of bruising sticking out from the top of his socks. They were clearly hand prints, hand prints he was sure were a different size from the ones that were on his face and wrist. He closed his eyes and tried hard to ignore the pain that coursed through his bruised body.
The door opening made Blaine open his eyes again. The woman that came in was short with dark brown hair and kind eyes, and even a kinder smile. He was expecting a male doctor so he was surprised that it was a female that stood in front of him.
"Hi Blaine, I am Doctor Kris Rodda, I hear that you are pretty banged up and need to be checked out." Doctor Rodda's voice was just as kind as her eyes and smile. She turned her gaze from Blaine to the woman sitting in the chair against the wall. "You must be…"
"I'm Blaine's Aunt, Lillian Anderson. I just need to know if he is going to be okay." Aunt Lillian said in a rush.
"Well Aunt Lillian, that is what we are going to find out." Doctor Rodda put on a pair of purple gloves and then slid the screen from the back of the room across between the chair Blaine's aunt sat in and them. "To give Blaine some privacy." She explained and then smiled at both of them in turn. "Okay, Blaine can you tell me where you are in the post pain from?"
Blaine cleared his throat a few times before he tried to speak, his voice still felt raw. "My thighs, my throat, my hip…and…" He hesitated. "…my butt…" He felt the tears slip out of the corner of his eyes and he raised a hand wiping at them ferociously.
"Okay, Blaine let's start by looking at your throat." Doctor Rodda grabbed her instrument and instructed Blaine to open his mouth. "Good, can you lay down for me?" Doctor Rodda waited and when he nodded she helped him lay down. His throat looked a little raw but she wasn't sure the cause of it and it looked pretty minor compared to his other injuries. "Which hip?" She asked watching Blaine closely.
Blaine slid his hand down to his left hip and let out a wince.
Doctor Rodda moved the gown enough to look at his hip and wasn't surprised when she saw all the bruising. "This is a human bite mark!" It wasn't a question it was a statement. "We will need to get that cleaned and dressed so that it doesn't become infected."
Blaine just nodded at her, feeling the tears fall harder, knowing what part was coming next. He braced himself mentally the best he could and squeezed his eyes shut tighter.
While Blaine was getting back into his clothes she could hear his aunt and the doctor talking quietly outside the cracked open door. He was pretty sure he heard something about needing to report the rape, to which his aunt replied that Blaine didn't know who did it so his father didn't see the sense in it after that Blaine stopped trying to listen. After he got his clothes back on he started wiping at his eyes with the back of his hands, the tears didn't seem to want to stop and he felt foolish. He let out a growl and kicked the metal trashcan.
*End of Flashback*
Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand, trying to pull his boyfriend back from whatever thoughts he had slipped away too. He didn't like it when Blaine's eyes got distant like that. "Hey Baby, I am sure that this time will be a lot easier than the last time you were at a clinic." He smiled when Blaine looked up at him and intertwined their fingers. Kurt was trying to reassure him that it would be okay, but he wondered if this was the same clinic that Blaine had come to back last year. "This isn't the same clinic is it?" He really hoped it wasn't.
Blaine shook his head. "It's not the same clinic and I'm sure this check-up will go a lot better than the last check-up."
Kurt let out a sigh of relief and started rubbing Blaine's knee. He didn't need Blaine to have any more flashbacks than he had probably already had. "It will be okay." He leaned in and kissed Blaine's forehead, and then glanced back over at Blaine's aunt, she was smiling at them. Kurt took this as a good sign.
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