Everything happened so fast.

One minute they were talking and joking around with each other, and then the very next thing they heard was the gunshot. They were all frozen in terror, waiting to see what would happen. Blaine's mind jumped to Kurt. He was out in the hall; he had gone to use the bathroom before they got started rehearsing. His heart dropped into his stomach and he couldn't help but think of the worst possible situation. He had to get down on the ground and stay quiet, but as two more shots fired he couldn't help but cry silently. He didn't know what he would do if something were to happen to him.

He was trying to tell himself that it would be okay, that he was locked in a bathroom stall waiting it out just like he was, but he had a terrible gut feeling. He realized Kurt had his phone with him, so he texted him asking him where he was. As the minutes ticked by and he received no response, he went into full panic mode. He had to get to where he was, but Mr. Shue wouldn't let him go anywhere. Tina sat by him, keeping her hand on his knee.

After a few minutes of complete silence, there were more gunshots, and they were close to the choir room. Tina clung to him, but he only cared about if Kurt was okay. Several minutes passed and the shots stopped, and they all heard loud sirens coming from outside. Students were given the all clear to leave, and Blaine knew he had to find him. They had to go straight outside, so he found Finn. He was on the phone, but hung up just as he got over to him.

"That was my mom on the phone. Kurt's hurt. She told me to come to the hospital, do you want a ride?" he asked. Blaine nodded numbly, not ready to think about what Finn just told him.

"How bad is it?" he managed to ask him in the car.

"They don't know yet. He's awake though, so I guess that's good." Blaine didn't want to cry again. No. He had to be strong for Kurt. He was injured and going to be really shaken up, and he just couldn't let him see him cry.

The rest of the car ride was silent, and Blaine was already getting out of the car before Finn even parked. He rushed inside and followed the signs until he found the trauma center. Finn hurried to catch up to him, but he didn't even see him. He wasn't going to stop until he saw that Kurt was okay.

"Hi," he said to the receptionist. "Do you know where Kurt Hummel is?" she sorted through her multiple stacks of paperwork until she came across one and stopped.

"Kurt Hummel. He's down that hallway in the first room on the right," she informed them, pointing at a corridor. Blaine thanked her and rushed into the room. There were at least four doctors buzzing around endlessly, and he finally saw him for the first time. He was paper white, nearly translucent, and he had countless tubes and wires and monitors hooked up to him. He felt Finn put his hand on his shoulder. The doctors ignored them as they hooked him up to more machines and struggled to control his bleeding chest.

When Blaine saw his chest and stomach covered in blood, he lost it. He leaned into Finn, crying into his shirt. He didn't care. He got shot. In the chest. Suddenly one of the monitors went from beeping regularly to a straight whine. He knew what that meant. A nurse said something to Finn, and he was dragged out of the room. Finn just stood there with him outside the door, and they simply just hugged each other.

He couldn't imagine what Kurt's dad would be like when he found out. He sank to the ground, overwhelmed by the events of the last hour.

"Hey, hear that?" Finn said, pulling him to his feet.

"What?" he asked, irritated. Finn put his finger to his lips, and Blaine listened, still confused. He then heard the beeping again, which meant his heart was going. He smiled and leaned against the door, trying to get a better listen. He was definitely alive.

"He's in critical condition, but we need to get him to surgery now that he's stable."

"He needs a blood transfusion. He's going to bleed out during surgery if we don't start one right away."

"Let's get him into the OR and then get him going with some new blood." He stepped away from the door, and watched as they wheeled him down the hall. He got a good look at him, but he had to look away. He couldn't stand to see him like that. Carole told Finn that he was awake, but he must have gone downhill quickly. They walked back to the waiting room and found his parents. They all hugged and Finn explained everything that happened, up through his heart stopping. Blaine sat there, still too in shock to add anything. He wasn't even sure what he was supposed to be thinking.

"Did you see Kurt when he was awake?" he finally asked Carole.

"Just for a minute. He was talking, but he was really out of it. They made us leave when he threw up," she explained. Blaine sat back and leaned his head against the wall behind him. He just wanted to talk to him, to tell him it would be okay. He could feel how fast his heart was beating, but he couldn't do anything to calm down.

If he was in emergency surgery, it would no doubt take hours. But Blaine wasn't going to leave. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something happened and he wasn't there. He was content to wait, but he at least wanted an update on his condition. The hospital chairs were horribly uncomfortable, but he wasn't going to leave. He talked to his parents on the phone several times and they agreed he could stay as late as he wanted.

The sun was setting and there was still no word on Kurt. His dad went to the cafeteria and got food for them all, but Blaine didn't want to eat. He stared blankly at the tile floor, forcing himself to not watch the clock.

How could someone do that to him? How could someone just go up to him and shoot him? Blaine didn't understand. Kurt didn't deserve that. Blaine just wanted to take his place. He would rather be the one who was out in the hall when the shooter came in. He was willing to do anything to switch roles with him.

After four and a half hours of sitting in the waiting room, a man in scrubs came over to them and introduced himself as the head trauma surgeon.

"How's Kurt?" his dad asked desperately.

"He's doing as best as he possibly could. The bullet entered right below his heart and collapsed his left lung. Earlier he was able to talk because he was in severe shock and didn't feel anything. We did a full body MRI and found where we needed to operate. He was losing blood quickly and he slipped unconscious. His heart stopped for a moment, but we got him stabilized and into surgery quickly. He's lost a lot of blood, but we're getting him transfusions. He's still out from the anesthesia, and we're going to keep him sedated throughout the night. In the morning if his condition is improving we'll slowly bring him back to consciousness."

"So will he be okay?" Blaine asked, just wanting a straight answer.

"He's not out of the woods yet," he told him. "But he should slowly start to improve little by little. He's in the ICU right now, but we'll move him once he wakes up. You can come see him, but you'll have to go in one at a time." Kurt's dad pulled Blaine aside.

"Blaine, you go in and see him first. It's been a long day for us all. You can go see him for however long you want, but go home and rest. You can come back first thing in the morning," he promised. He nodded solemnly. He understood he needed to give them some time of privacy, but he didn't want to leave him at all.

They all followed the surgeon down a hallway and Blaine went with him into a small room. Half of the lights were on, and he saw Kurt lying on the bed. He couldn't even begin to count the number of IVs and tubes and machines he was connected to. He was wearing a thin hospital gown and was covered by a thin blanket. The surgeon left, and it was just the two of him. He listened to the machine that was breathing for him. He had a little bit of color returned to his skin. He smoothed down his silky hair and kissed his forehead. He had horrible dark circles under his eyes. Blaine took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I love you," he whispered. "I love you so much. It's gonna be okay. You're gonna get through this. I'm right here."

He simply sat there for however many minutes, watching him closely for any signs of distress. He knew he needed to get home, but he hated to leave him. What if something happened during the night? His heart had stopped. Blaine still couldn't completely wrap his mind around that. He came so close to losing Kurt, but he was back, and he would get better.

He had to.

Author's Notes:

Well this is a little on the short side, but I will gladly post a part 2 if you all like it enough!