Kurt's eyes shot open and he took in a quick breath and winced. It was still painful to breathe deeply, but the doctor told him that was what he had to do to help his lung heal. He'd been in the hospital for five days after being shot by a gunman who entered McKinley, and he wanted nothing more than to go home. His dad, Carole, Finn, and Blaine came to see him everyday, but he was sick of being stuck in a hospital room.
He realized instantly that he'd been having a bad dream. He'd had nightmares almost every night in the hospital, and sometimes they were so real and terrifying he couldn't go back to sleep.
His dad was awake and by his side in an instant. "Hey, it's okay. It was only a nightmare. It's not real." Kurt was aware, and he was just glad it wasn't a bad one like the one from the night before.
"I'm okay. I'm tired," he mumbled. He was tired all the time. No matter how much he tried to sleep at night or napped during the day, there was a lingering exhaustion in him. He hated it.
"Can you go back to sleep?" his dad asked. Kurt felt like he could fall asleep in seconds, but he knew he wasn't going to be able to. He felt cold, and the hospital blankets were so thin and didn't help warm him up at all.
"Don't leave," he told him. His dad lowered the railing on his side of the bed and held his hand.
"I'm not going anywhere," he promised, smoothing back his hair out of his face for him. Kurt saw him frown. "You feel warm, buddy. Are you feeling okay?" other than being cold and exhausted, he felt normal. Well, as normal as he was going to get.
"'m okay," he repeated. He just wanted to sleep.
"Not yet. I'm gonna get the nurse. You've got a fever or something." His dad pulled the bed railing back up before he left quietly. Kurt hated being alone in his room. He hated everything about the hospital, really. It was only somewhat enjoyable when Blaine came.
His boyfriend visited him every day, and would always bring him something. Sometimes it was flowers or a movie to watch or some food so he didn't have to eat from the nasty cafeteria. He could only stay for a couple of hours after school, but he spent the whole weekend with him, and it gave Kurt a break from his parents.
His dad returned with the night nurse behind him. He was getting used to them coming in at odd hours to check on him or make him do a breathing test.
"Your dad says you've got a fever," the woman said. She was overweight and had long braided hair down her back, but she was nice to him, so that was what mattered.
"I feel okay," he said. He was a little uncomfortable, but that was normal. She stuck her thermometer in his ear, and it beeped loudly after several seconds.
"He's running a low fever. It's 101.3. We really can't be too careful with him still recovering from his surgery. We'll start him on an IV of antibiotics, just to be on the safe side and catch any infection early." Kurt looked over at his dad. He didn't want another IV. He couldn't count how many they'd made him get since he'd been there.
"Dad, I don't want to," he pleaded. "I'm tired." His dad took his hand and rubbed is thumb over his knuckles.
"I know, buddy. We don't want you getting sick, though. Once you get the IV you can go back to sleep," he told him. Kurt closed his eyes as the nurse cleaned off his arm. There was hardly any room left to stick him. The rest was either bandaged from tubes they had taken out or still holding an IV. He felt like a pincushion. The nurse stuck the tube in his wrist and he squeezed his dad's arm. No matter how many times they did it he still couldn't get used to the sudden stick of pain. "It's okay, Kurt," his dad soothed. "It's over." The nurse finished up and his dad got him settled again.
"We'll check on him again in a couple of hours. For now he should rest," the nurse said before writing something down on his chart and leaving them alone.
"Are you tired?" his dad asked. Kurt nodded slowly, burying himself under the thin layers of blankets. "Close your eyes. I'm gonna stay here with you." It was hard to relax when he wasn't in his own bed. His dad pulled the blankets up to his shoulders and smoothed his hair back again. He was going to go crazy if he didn't get to go home soon.
Author's Notes:
So I know Blaine isn't in this chapter, but I wanted to write something from Kurt's point of view. I have another part written for this from Blaine's viewpoint about him coming home from the hospital, so if you guys want I can post it in a few days. Let me know what you think and leave any requests or suggestions you have for the story!