"Daddy." Kurt felt a hand on his cheek. He opened his eyes, and even though the bedroom was dark, he could make out his daughter's curly hair. Madeline was good about sleeping through the night, and only woke him or Blaine up if she had a bad dream or wasn't feeling well. Kurt turned on his lamp and sat up.
"What's the matter, baby?" he asked. "Did you have a nightmare?" the three year old shook her head. Her hair fell down in her face, and Kurt brushed it away as he picked her up. She'd definitely inherited Blaine's curls.
"My tummy hurts," she pouted. Kurt frowned as Madeline leaned her head onto his shoulder. Normally Blaine would deal with them if they were sick, but there was a bad subway crash and he had to pick up the night shift at the hospital due to all the injuries.
"Are you going to throw up?" Kurt asked her. She shook her head and clutched her favorite stuffed elephant closer to her. Kurt felt her forehead, and she was pretty hot.
"Where's Papa?" she asked.
"Papa had to go to work. Some people got hurt so the hospital needed him to work tonight," he explained. Madeline wrapped her arm around Kurt's neck and whined.
"How about some medicine?" he asked her. Children's Tylenol always did the trick. Madeline nodded and stuck her thumb in her mouth. Kurt carried her into the kitchen and set her down on the counter. The medicine bottle was nearly empty, but Kurt managed to get a dose out of it. It was supposed to be grape flavored, but both Madeline and Micah gagged at the taste of it. Kurt poured her some milk into a cup so she could get the taste out of her mouth.
"No, it's yucky!" she panicked, pressing her hand over her mouth. Kurt handed her the milk and counted to three before he made her swallow it. Madeline shrieked and cried, but managed to swallow it without spitting it out like she did the last time she had to take it.
"There you go. All done," he told her, giving her a kiss on the forehead. He picked her up and carried her back to the bedroom. She could sleep in Blaine's spot, just for one night. "Your tummy should stop hurting soon. You can sleep in here."
Kurt rolled over to go back to sleep, but just a few minutes later his daughter began to cry. She rarely cried, and it was Kurt's sign that something was really wrong.
"What is it, baby?" he asked. He turned over to see what she was doing. She was sitting up, hunched over her elephant.
"Tummy hurts," she moaned. She started to cough and choke, and Kurt knew what was coming. He picked her up and carried her into the bathroom just in time for her to throw up into the toilet.
"It's okay," Kurt soothed. "Daddy's right here. Try to breathe, baby." Madeline didn't throw up a lot the first time, but it escalated into them spending half an hour on the bathroom floor. Kurt held her hair back and cleaned her up each time. She couldn't go more than five minutes without getting sick again. She began to cry uncontrollably. Kurt figured there couldn't be anything left in her little stomach to throw up, so he took her back into the bedroom.
"Sit right here," he told her. "I'll be right back." Kurt went into the kitchen and poured her some orange juice into a cup. She had to be dehydrated. He got the digital thermometer and returned to the bedroom. "Here you go. Let me take your temperature. Keep it under your tongue."
Madeline held it in her mouth obediently, and Kurt used the light from his cell phone to see the reading. 103.1. That was too high for a toddler. What if it got higher before Blaine got back?
"Does your tummy still hurt?" he asked. Madeline nodded.
"I'm cold, Daddy," she peeped. Kurt knew she felt awful. He kissed her forehead and then left again. He snuck into the bedroom she shared with Micah and grabbed her pink blanket and a couple more of her stuffed animals. Those always helped.
Kurt tucked her in with her blanket and placed her animals around her. "I'm gonna call Papa," he told her. "Would you like to talk to him?" Madeline nodded and stuck her thumb in her mouth. Kurt and Blaine had been trying to break her from that habit, but he didn't say anything. Kurt picked up his phone and called Blaine. With any luck he'd have his cell phone on him, but if now he could call reception at the hospital. Blaine would know if it was bad enough to bring her in to the emergency room.
"Hello?" Blaine answered sleepily.
"Hey," Kurt said. "I'm sorry. Were you resting?" Madeline held her arms up, and Kurt put her on his lap. He heard Blaine yawn.
"Just taking a break," he mumbled. "It's been nonstop here, but I can leave at six. I'm sleeping all day. Why're you up so late? It's 3:30 in the morning."
"Madeline's sick. She's been throwing up all night and has a 103 degree fever. I gave her some juice after she threw up so many times, but she's really hot," he worried. "Is there a pediatrician there this late?" Blaine coughed, and Kurt heard him sigh.
"Yeah, there are a lot of people here. I don't think you need to come in. She just has a bug or the flu or something. Just make her comfortable. Make her drink a lot and try to get her to sleep. When I get home I'll see how she is." Madeline laid limp in Kurt's arms, still sucking her thumb.
"Okay," Kurt said. "See you in a little bit. I love you." Blaine hung up and Kurt tossed is phone down. Madeline had dozed off, thankfully. Kurt sat up and held his daughter in his lap, holding her as she slept.
Madeline woke him up a few other times in the night. She was still feverish and uncomfortable, and Kurt let her watch TV. They didn't let her and Micah didn't watch too much television, but with any luck it would make her fall asleep again. She whined when Kurt tried to set her down, so he held her on his lap.
Kurt woke up again when Blaine got home. The TV was still on, but Madeline was dead to the world.
"Hey," Blaine said as he came in. "How is she?"
"She didn't throw up anymore," Kurt told her. "I let her watch some TV so she'd go to sleep." Blaine kicked off his shoes and changed into pajamas. Kurt knew he was exhausted. Blaine crawled into bed next to him and took Madeline. She opened her eyes and looked up at Blaine, and smiled for the first time all night.
"Hi, baby," he said. "How's your tummy?"
"My tummy hurts," she repeated, leaning into him. Blaine laid down with her and kissed her forehead. Kurt smiled and got up. He needed to get ready to go to Vogue and take Micah to school.
"I'm gonna get in the shower," Kurt said to his husband. "I love you. Come get me if either of you need anything." Blaine nodded, and Kurt gave both of them a kiss before leaving.
Author's Notes:
Klaine are such good fathers. I love them.