One Thousand Paper Cranes ------Part 5





Logan stood outside Kurt's door ,hesitating momentarily before he knocked.

"Come in" came a small voice.

Logan walked in and looked around the room. Kurt was laying on his bed hugging one of the huge pillows.

"Hey Elf" Logan whispered sitting down on the bed. Kurt sniffled loudly,

"Logan,.....I ...don't vanna die"

"I know kid....I know. But the fact o' life is we all die sometime" Logan reached over and carefully put an arm under Kurt's chest pulling him up off the bed.

Kurt leaned his head up against Logan's shoulder and the canuck, somewhat awkwardly embraced him. "...it's not fair..."

"I know Elf and believe me the o'l canuckle head here has seen a lot of unfairness in his life. The world isn't fair.

"Did you come up here to comfort me ?" Kurt asked.

"Nope" Logan replied "I came up here to make sure some sense gets through that thick head o' yours. To keep you focused on the big picture.

"Vhat big picture, I'm going to die...." Kurt sobbed.

"But you ain't dead yet!!!! Logan pointed out bluntly " Kid there's no predetermined age set for any of us , you could live to bee a hundred or you could die tomorrow, hit by a bus......No it's not fair...it's life and it's your job to live it. Enjoy the time you got Elf , life is a very precious thing and you only get a little bit of it. If you don't live it to the fullest you'll have an eternity to regret it." Logan sat him back down on the bed. "Let me put it this way. Do you want to live ?"

"Yes!" Kurt said.

"Then start!!" Logan got up and made his way out of the room leaving Kurt alone to sort through his thoughts.



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"Pass the sausages " Scott said between a mouthful of food. Jean handed him the plate.

"Here"

"Thanks"

The breakfast table was painfully quiet with only the clinking of the silver ware reminding them that they were eating.

"...So..what do you think about the science fair down at the museum ?" Jean said attempting to be cheerful " .......maybe we should go"

"...un..yeah.." Evan mumbled .

"Sure....." Kitty sighed.

Scott chewed his food mechanically, saying nothing to them, he knew that if he tried to, he'd completely fall to pieces. "I never had many friends, and now my best friend is being taken away from me" he thought morbidly.

"BAMF"

"Hey dudes!" Kurt smiled sitting in his seat next to Evan.

"KURT!" They said in unison.

Scott was so surprised he missed his mouth and had a thick trail of ketsup from chin to jaw.

"Kurt are you sure you should be out of bed ?" Jean asked him.

"I don't know...now vhat vere you saying about the museum ?"

"Um...Kurt...are you sure....I ...mean ..." Scott started to argue .

"Nonsense , I believe a trip to the museum is a wonderful, idea" The Professor chime in.

"But Professor" Scott argued

"Hey dude, I'm not dead yet OK" Kurt turned and winked at Logan, who returned the gesture with a thumbs up.

Scott looked at the determination in Kurt's eyes, he wasn't going without a fight. "Ok' he said "when?"

"Kurt has an appointment today at noon. How about you go after school" Storm suggested.

"That's like great!" Kitty squealed .

"Yeah thanks Auntie O" Evan said . Scott's watch beeped .

"Come on guys," he grabbed his knapsack "we'll be late for school "

They piled into the car and drove down the drive , waving to Kurt, who watched them go from the window.



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"Vow , did is great!!!" Kurt cried , gawking up at the t-rex skeleton, looming in front of him.

Kitty pressed a button by the display and a voice came on describing various features of the t-rex.

Evan pushed a button for another display and the mechanical device lit up and began to move around.

"Hey watch this," Jean pulled a lever and an arc of high voltage made it's way up to parallel poles and sparked at the top.

"Hey , like what does this do?" Kitty asked hitting a button. The group was engulfed in a bright flash, "Sorry guys ....wow look!!" She pointed to the wall behind them where their shadows had been burned on.

"That's pretty neat huh Kurt? Scott said nudging the empty spot where Kurt had been standing.

"Kurt?..Kurt...." Scott swung around "He's gone !"

"Take it easy we'll find him" Jean said . "Everyone split up, we'll meet back here"



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In another part of the museum a gentle hand carefully stroked the soft yellow down of a newly hatched chick. Kurt giggled faintly, as he sat surrounded by the little yellow balls of fluff.

He'd gotten separate from the others, and so decided to stay put, right in the incubation room.

He watched as three more chicks began their lives, the tiny chicks had avoided him at first but gradually since Kurt sat so still they came to trust him and he soon became a comfortable perch for many a chick.

"Kurt....Kurt..." Scott's voice echoed down the hall " Kurt...Kur..." Scott stopped mid stride, upon seeing his friend in the dark room and covered in baby chicks.

"Kurt?"

"Ja Scott?"

".....um...why are you covered in chickens?"

"I told you chicks dig the fuzzy dude" Scott and Kurt both laughed at the joke , startling most of the chickens away.

"Come on Kurt ," Scott laughed "the chicks will have to see you later.........man you had me worried" he helped Kurt to his feet . "why'd you come in here?"

"I like it in here" Kurt replied quietly "so quiet...so peaceful"



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When they arrived back at the Mansion , the others ran inside to do up their homework .

Scott put the car in the garage , and started up the path to the front door , when he Kurt sitting in a nearby maple tree.

"Hey," Scott called trotting over to where Kurt hung , "what are you looking at?"

"Just the leaves, their very beautiful," Kurt answered, his head turning slowly taking it all in.

Scott looked around to it was autumn, almost Halloween, and the leaves were a majestic pallet of colours. He inhaled deeply and caught the pungent smell of a fire somewhere and the hint of frost dancing in the air .

"Yeah beautiful..." Scott agreed , he climbed up into the tree and sat on a limb next to Kurt's

"Autumn's my favorite time of year " Kurt said

"Because of the colours?" Scott asked

"No"

"The smells ? "

"No"

"Thanksgiving ?"

"No"

"Halloween?"

"No"

"Well what then? Scott asked .

Kurt smiled "..This..." He hopped down from the tree and crouched low to the ground, peering intently at something . Scott climbed down and crouched beside him.

"What?" Scott strained to see.

"THIS!!!" Kurt grabbed a pile of leaves and dumped them onto Scott's head before taking off down the lane laughing .

Scott shook the leaves off "hardy har har yuk it up fuzz ball !!!" He ran after his friend , following him into the orchard. "Kurt...Kurt ...I know your in here...Kur.." (THUNK!!) "OW"

"HA HA HA!!!"

Scott rubbed his head, as he picked up the offending object "An apple ?"

"JA " Kurt hopped down from a tree "Zere good "

Scott bit in to one , they were good but oh they were so sour, Scott's lips puckered. He sat down next to Kurt and they both had a large helping of extremely sour apples.



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"Hey , has anyone seen Scott or Kurt?" Jean asked later that evening.

"Nope, I thought they were just hanging out " Evan said

"Yeah , like they are best friends " Kitty stated "they probably just want to spent some time together."

"What's the problem Jean?" The Professor asked coming in behind Storm.

"There's no problem Professor, I was just wondering were Scott and Kurt had gotten to"

"Don't worry yerself Red , they can't get into much trouble on the grounds " Logan said flipping through the channels on the TV. Baa damn harvest festival commercials " he snarled turning the Tv off and leaving the room.

"Like ok Wolverine has really gotta switch to decafe" Kitty said.

"It's hard to believe that it's almost harvest time again" Jean smiled .

"YA!! Hey I wonder if the apples in the orchard are ready yet?" Evan cried.

"Goodness no!!!!" Storm laughed, "there still unripe, and terribly sour you'd be sick if you ate them.

"Oh" Evan said "don't worry Auntie O only a fool would eat unripe apples"



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"Ohhhhhh" Scott moaned , why had he just eaten a dozen unripe apples. Kurt was in a similar state, moaning next to him.

"Scott , I don't feel so good" Kurt was sure that if he wasn't blue he would have been green by now.

"Tell me about it" Scott groaned " come on , we gotta get rid of this "

"How?"

Scott grabbed some leaves from a nearby tree, and shoved them into his mouth, chewing them quickly as Kurt watched. He grimaced as the disgusting concoction went down his throat.

"Ok that's done it " he bent over a large bush as his stomach expelled everything it contained.

"Are you ok? Kurt asked him.

"Ohhh......they taste even worst coming back up" Scott said managing a weak smile.

Kurt swallowed his leaves, wincing at the bitter taste, and was soon heaving into the bushes as well. He flopped down on the ground , when he was done .

Scott sighed and sat down next to him. "well at least we feel better"

"Ja....Scott?"

"Hmmm?"

"That was really stupid..." Kurt looked to Scott and Scott looked at Kurt . They both burst out laughing .



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For the rest of the week and into the next, things went well. Kurt's chemotherapy treatments continued , he was tiered easily but that didn't stop him from hanging out with the others for a little while each day after school.

Scott looked forward to these times, when they all could just be together it didn't matter what they did bowling, pool, baseball or even tennis.

He and Kurt had a special time in the evening , when the others had left , that they enjoyed solely in each others company. Together the two of them had been had been, biking , or jogging , walking of just conversing with each other about school , girls, life, and death.

Scott didn't care to speak on the last subject , but Kurt was insistent .

The red sports car turned down the familiar road, Scott sighed he knew Kurt was on borrowed time, but he just wished that Kurt would get better. Or that they could go on living like they were.

The treatments were horrible on Kurt , but he got to enjoy life a little still...right?

Scott pulled up the Mansion drive, school had been rough today. The Professor and Kurt had come to collect Kurt's things , and inform his teachers he was not returning for the rest of the year.

By lunch, most of the school knew. People were whispering whenever they saw Scott or one of the others. Scott had been sitting by himself trying to eat his meal when the local jocks decided to take a swing at him.

" Hey Scott what's with your weird friend, why's he doodling on himself ?" The obnoxious voice of Duncan Mathews cut through the room. " maybe they should send him back to kindergarten!"

The cafeteria had been a roar with laughter.

Scott got up sadly, "You can't even begin to understand " he'd told a surprised Duncan before walking from the hurtful jeering of schoolmates.

Kurt did have pen marks on his face and neck, but not from doodling on himself. The marks were to line up the radiation machine for the chemo he was forced to take.

Parking the car in the garage , Scott went inside "Professor ....Guys..I'm home ..!!!" He called walking up the stairs. "Guys....you ready to go out..." he walked into Kurt's room. It was empty.

"Hmmm" Scott tried the other rooms before coming back downstairs. "Professor !....Jean..." He walked back into the main room..

"They ain't here Cyke" Logan said coming up behind him.

"Where did they go?"

Logan, lowered his gaze and flicked a piece of paper to him.

The note was scribbled quickly on the page as if someone had been in a great hurry writing it.

Pieces of it were illegible, but Scott got the main points.

"No!" Scott cried , he fled to the garage and leapt into the car. He was out and gone before the gates could completely open.

The letter lay on the lounge floor. It read :

Scott, khshsff ,

taken Kurt to hospital

oungbxn the

cycnfufj emergency we'll

be there bnfhsj hurry



Storm



To be continued.......