He was in Spanish when it happened. The fire alarms went off, and Mr. Shue started hustling everyone to the door. Blaine was used to fire drills; he had been doing them routinely since the first grade, but they became annoying when the temperature was below freezing outside, and no one was allowed to stop at their locker to grab their coats.
Blaine fell in line behind a rowdy sophomore boy who kept pushing people, and rolled his eyes at their immaturity. There was a reason Spanish was his least favorite class.
The hallways were overcrowded with the entire student body pushing their way to the doors. Freshman girls tried to run, and seniors were yelling and calling out to one another.
"Emily, over here!"
"Yeah, no class!"
"Back in line, Mr. Johnson!" a teacher yelled.
It wasn't until the crowd thinned out slightly that Blaine could smell the smoke. It was unmistakable, and other people were starting to take notice. His heart skipped a beat, and he could only hope things were okay.
It's just a minor thing, Blaine told himself. Perhaps a worker in the cafeteria burned something that set off the smoke alarms, or a teacher microwaved something for too long in the teacher's lounge. The possibilities were endless, but Blaine tried to remain optimistic. The chances of a real fire were slim.
The smoke smell continued to get stronger, however. Teachers hustled kids outside as fast as possible, and Blaine eventually went too, even though the cold wind was relentless and miserable without a coat.
He joined Mr. Shue and the rest of his class, and tried to look for Rachel and Kurt. They were both in their AP biology class, but Blaine didn't see them. He figured they would be divas about the cold, and probably snuck away from the group to grab their jackets.
Blaine almost forgot that it was real until he heard sirens. It wasn't like he could see smoke coming out of the school or anything, but there were three fire trucks, so it was obviously a big deal. When an ambulance followed, Blaine really began to worry. It meant someone was hurt. He just wanted to find Kurt and Rachel to know they were both okay.
He finally spotted the biology teacher talking with Principal Figgins, who was bundled up in an oversize parka with furry gloves on his hands. Blaine looked around again for his friends, and finally spotted Rachel. Mr. Shue was all done taking roll, so Blaine broke apart from his class and walked over to her, his legs nearly numb from the harsh wind.
"Blaine!" she cried, rushing up to him and wrapping her arms around his waist, shivering uncontrollably.
"What's wrong?" he asked her. "Where's Kurt? Did you see what happened?"
Rachel's teeth were chattering, and she started to cry into his shoulder. Blaine was beginning to suspect that something was very, very wrong.
"The ch-chemistry lab," she stammered, struggling to talk in the cold. Blaine took off his sweater and gave it to her, desperate to hear the rest of the story.
"The class next door set off a chemical fire, and it got out of hand and spread so fast, they barely had time to get out. We all hurried out, but Kurt was in the b-back. He was breathing in so much smoke, the teacher barely got him out. He could walk, but didn't make it outside with us. We don't know where he is now, and the whole science wing is destroyed."
Rachel collapsed into a fit of sobs. Blaine tried to make sense of what she had just told him, but he could hardly wrap his head around it. Out of every student in the whole school, Kurt had to be the one that didn't make it out okay. It was just their luck.
Blaine hugged Rachel as she continued to cry, but oddly Blaine didn't have many feelings. He supposed he wouldn't truly believe it until he saw Kurt with his own eyes.
The other students were beginning to talk, and word got around quickly. Mercedes, Puck, Finn, and Artie joined Rachel and Blaine, and waited anxiously for an update about Kurt, or for the paramedics to return from inside the school.
"He'll be okay," Mercedes tried to reassure them all, especially Rachel. "He always is. They'll have him out soon."
Blaine got tired of listening to her false hope, and broke away from the group. Most everyone was huddled together in small groups to stay warm, but Blaine went and sat alone on one of the benches. He knew he ought to be freezing, considering he was just in his polo shirt now that he had taken his sweater off, but oddly he felt fine. His mind was focused on other things, and he watched as the lights of the ambulance brought some contrasting color against the gray sky. The color of smoke, Blaine thought.
He let his mind wander, thinking of worst-case scenarios and then trying to think positive thoughts. It became so overwhelming, and Blaine just needed a break. He was about to go join his glee club friends again, when the doors to the school opened. The firefighters came to talk to Principal Figgins, and paramedics followed not long after. Blaine braced himself and prepared for the worst, but then two more came out with a stretcher.
Blaine stood up and stepped forward, trying to get a better look. Those certain red skinny jeans didn't belong to just anyone. Blaine had no clue what Kurt's condition was, but he ran off of the field when no teachers were looking, just to be able to see him.
"Whoa, kid, you can't be up here," one of them said, holding his hand out to try to stop Blaine.
"He's my boyfriend," Blaine explained hastily, brushing past him to get to Kurt. His boyfriend was in bad shape. His eyes were shut, and he had a huge tube down his throat, breathing for him. There was a nasty burn on his right calf, and his left ankle was bent funny. Blaine grabbed his limp hand, still in shock that this was actually happening. "I-is he gonna be okay?"
"We need to get him to the hospital right away," the second paramedic explained. "He could have lung damage from the smoke inhalation, and we need to get his burns treated and stabilize his blood pressure. We can't just let you come with us, but once your principal gives an all clear to go home, you can come up to Lima Memorial if you want."
Blaine nodded, not wanting to waste time by arguing with them. He looked down at Kurt's body, and hated having to leave him. If he regained consciousness and discovered he was all alone, he would be terrified. But Blaine had to do what was best for him.
After giving Kurt a kiss on the forehead, he went back down to the football field, where Rachel and the others were staring up at the paramedics as they got Kurt inside the ambulance.
"Is he okay?" Rachel demanded, rushing up to Blaine. Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them back.
"He's got some pretty bad burns," Blaine said. "And he was unconscious, and they were breathing for him. They said they were going to see if he had any lung damage from the smoke."
"Let's go to the hospital," Finn suggested, speaking up for the first time. "They've already taken roll of us, so they won't miss us. Even if they do notice, it won't take them long to figure out where we've gone."
Blaine was hesitant to just leave at first, but if it meant getting to Kurt, he was all for it. He went with Rachel and Finn, and the car ride was completely silent, save for Rachel's sniffles as she tried to pull herself together.
"Our parents are gonna meet us here," Finn explained, pulling into the hospital parking lot. "Figgins was too busy freaking out to let them know, so I had to do it."
Blaine pictured Kurt's dad finding out that his son had been involved in a fire, and the image wasn't pretty. He wanted to see Kurt again already, when he wasn't unconscious and depending on someone else to breathe.
Inside the emergency room, a nurse led them to where they were treating Kurt. She said technically only family was allowed to be back with him, but she made an exception for Rachel and Blaine since no one else had showed up for him yet.
Kurt was out of his smoky clothes, and was instead dressed in a hospital gown. He sat up slightly in the bed, and had a mask over his face. This time, his eyes were open. He was extremely weak and could hardly move, but was conscious nonetheless.
"Blaine," Kurt croaked, his voice hoarse. He didn't sound like himself at all. Blaine sat next to him and took his hand, which was hooked up to an IV.
"Hey," Blaine said back, linking their fingers together. "Don't talk, honey. Just rest. You're gonna be okay."
Blaine looked down at Kurt's leg where the majority of his burns were. There were white bandages covering the worst of it, and his left ankle was also wrapped up. Blaine figured he tripped as he was trying to get out of the school.
"Your dad's on his way here," Finn said, spinning around on the stool intended for the doctor. "So is my mom. She was at home. But yeah. We'll stay here, too."
Kurt closed his eyes and turned his head a little to face Blaine.
"How are you feeling?" Blaine asked him. "Does anything hurt?"
"My chest," Kurt said quietly. He took in a deep breath and started to cough violently. Rachel grimaced at the sound, but Blaine tried to help Kurt. He gave him a sip of water from the cup that was on the table next to the bed, and rubbed his back until the coughing stopped. Blaine kept telling him that he would be just fine, even though he truly sounded horrible. What would happen to his singing? Kurt would be wrecked if he could never sing the same again.
Blaine decided not to think about that for too long. There were more important things to be concerned about. Kurt drifted off to sleep for a little bit, and a nurse came in to check on him every so often, making sure he was breathing okay in his sleep.
Kurt's dad and Finn's moms showed up a little bit later, and Kurt woke up from the noise of everyone talking. Finn's mom fussed over him and tried to feed him, but Kurt got overwhelmed and upset. Blaine figured it was time for him to go home; he had been at the hospital for over two hours, after all. They had admitted Kurt for the night, and were likely to keep him for at least a couple of days.
"Hey, I'm gonna go home," Blaine said to him, taking his hand. Kurt was worn out and struggling to hold his eyes open. "I'll come by tomorrow though, okay? There's not really any way for us to have school."
Kurt nodded, and gave Blaine a one-armed hug. Blaine kissed the top of his head and left to go home. His mom had sent him multiple frantic text messages asking if he was okay after hearing about the fire on the news, and Blaine wanted to assure her that he was fine.
He went home and tried to stay positive about the whole Kurt situation. He knew in the back of his mind that his boyfriend would eventually be okay, but that it would just take some time. But he was alive and breathing and still his, and that was honestly all Blaine cared about.
Author's Notes:
Yes finally here is an update! It's been snowing all weekend so I've had nothing better to do than write and watch Netflix. I should have more to post the next day or two, depending on whether school is open or not. Has anyone else been snowed in?