"Step it up!" Cassandra July yelled at her intermediate-level dance 101 class. Kurt and Blaine both agreed that they hated her the most out of all the NYADA teachers. She work them until no one continue, and then some.
She was making them work on knee-drop jumps, something only she was good at. Everyone was too nervous to ask her for help, so they had to teach themselves.
"Anderson! Hummel! Stop goofing around and do it right!" she barked. Blaine had just been trying to help Kurt. They weren't 'goofing around' or whatever.
"Go. Show me what you have," she ordered. "Anderson first. Everyone watch how he keeps his knee too stiff. That's what you don't want to do. Hummel, you're next."
Kurt audibly gulped. He hated being put on the spot. Dance had never been his strong suit, and the jumps they were doing were especially hard.
"Miss July, I-" Kurt stammered. He was willing to do anything to get out of screwing up in front of the whole class.
"Go," she demanded. Kurt nodded, and saw Blaine give him a reassuring smile. He went for it, but messed up in the middle. Kurt came down hard on his right knee, and the rest of his body came crashing down after it.
He didn't feel much pain at first. He was more scared about the distinct pop noise he had heard. Kurt knew nothing was broken, though. It didn't hurt enough to be broken.
But he was more embarrassed than anything. Kurt felt his cheeks growing red, and his eyes watered for a second before he forced himself to blink back the tears. He was not going to cry in Cassandra July's class. He had decided that at the beginning of the year.
Surprisingly, no one had laughed at him. He sat up, clutching his knee carefully. Kurt just hoped everything was okay. With how busy he was, his bi-weekly dance classes were often the only exercise he could squeeze into his schedule.
"Here," Blaine said, bending down by him. He put a hand on Kurt's back and took his hand. "Are you okay?"
"I think so," Kurt sniffled. Blaine helped him to his feet, and Kurt found it surprisingly easy to stand. That reassured him, but his pride came tumbling down when he tried to walk. The second Kurt put pressure on his right leg, his knee collapsed, causing him to fall a second time.
That time, he did begin to cry. Blaine pulled him up again, and helped him over to the studio door.
"You should get that checked out," Miss July said coolly. "If you can't dance then you're excused."
"Come on," Blaine said to Kurt. "I got you." He bent down and grabbed both of their bags, and helped Kurt all the way out.
"Do you think it's okay?" Blaine asked. He had to help Kurt walk all the way down to the subway, and naturally there weren't any open seats left on their train back to their new apartment.
"It's fine," Kurt lied. He was afraid, especially since he heard it pop when he landed on the hard floor.
"We'll ice it when we get home, and you can take some Advil," Blaine told him. "You should be okay. If it's not better in a day or so then we'll go to the doctor."
Kurt nodded and exhaled deeply. He knew in his gut something wasn't right, but wanted to wait and see anyways.
Blaine took him home to rest, even though nothing helped as Kurt's knee began to swell and hurt even more. Blaine gave him medicine and kept ice on it for as long as Kurt could stand it, but it didn't help.
"I think we should go to the doctor in the morning," Blaine told him later that night when they were in bed together. "Something's wrong, especially if you can't walk without me helping you."
Kurt didn't argue with him, for once. He wanted it to heal as fast as possible so he could get back to dance class.
"Will you go with me?" Kurt asked. He wouldn't do it without Blaine. Doctors were too much for him.
"Of course," Blaine promised, kissing him on the forehead before turning off his lamp. "Just go to sleep and try not to worry about it. Maybe it'll be all better in the morning."
"Hopefully," Kurt mumbled. "I love you."
"I love you, too" Blaine said, his voice already low and sleepy. Kurt never understood how Blaine was able to fall asleep so fast.
Kurt finally fell asleep as well, and woke up feeling fine. He tried to swing his legs around to get up, but as soon as he stood up, his knee became unstable. Kurt immediately sat back down on the bed, and yelled for Blaine.
"What's wrong?" his fiancé asked frantically, rushing in from the kitchen.
"I tried to stand up," Kurt explained, catching his breath from the painful attempt. "It hurts worse than yesterday."
Blaine tried to calm Kurt down, and then looked at his knee. The swelling was the same, if not worse, and was obviously too weak to support any of Kurt's weight.
"Hey, don't worry," Blaine told him. "Listen. I'll make you some breakfast, and then we'll go to the doctor. You're gonna be okay, whatever it is. Does that sound good?"
Kurt nodded, and tried to relax and let Blaine take care of him. Kurt couldn't help but worry, though. Even though he and Blaine were both trying to downplay it, they both knew in the back of their minds that it was hurt badly.
Blaine helped Kurt move around while they got ready for the doctor, and helped him all the way down through the apartment lobby and outside. Kurt was thankful they had moved out of the loft- he the thought of taking the stairs back at the Bushwick apartment made him cringe.
They took a cab to the minor emergency room four blocks away, even though neither of them had ever had to go before. Kurt managed to walk a little on his own, even though his knee had little stability.
"I'm worried," Kurt confessed as they sat in the waiting room. "Will you go back there with me?"
"Yeah," Blaine promised, linking his fingers together with Kurt's. "Just try not to think about it. Whatever it is, we can fix it."
Kurt wanted to believe him, but couldn't help his growing nervousness. When the nurse called his name to go back to an exam room, he practically hid behind Blaine as his fiancé helped him down the hall.
Overall, the experience wasn't as grueling as Kurt expected. The doctor made him stand up and straighten his leg out, which were the most painful parts. Kurt held Blaine's hand the entire time, bracing himself for whatever the doctor concluded.
"It's an ACL tear," he explained. "It seems minor, but we won't be able to tell exactly how serious it is until we operate."
Time slowed to a stop in Kurt's mind. Operate. As in operation. As in surgery.
"S-surgery?" he asked out loud. It couldn't be true. He was hoping the doctor would put a brace on it and send him on his way.
"The ACL can't repair itself," he continued. "The only treatment is surgery and lots of physical therapy. Now, I can refer you to a surgery center…"
The doctor kept talking, but Kurt stopped listening. He squeezed Blaine's hand, and sat in a daze the rest of the time. The doctor finally put a heavy brace around Kurt's leg, making walking a bit easier. After ordering him to rest his leg and keep the brace on, the doctor left him and Blaine alone while he got Kurt's paperwork.
"Can I worry now?" Kurt asked once they were alone, trying to remain composed, even though internally he was majorly panicking.
"No," Blaine said, looking him in the eye. "It's going to be okay, honey. We'll talk with the surgeon and get everything figured out. They do this kind of thing all the time, I'm sure. Plus, if you have surgery and can't walk, you know I'm going to have to be your slave until you're feeling better."
Kurt smiled half-heartedly at Blaine's attempt to lighten the conversation. But then reality hit him hard again.
"What about the wedding?" he worried. "I can't get married with a brace on my leg, Blaine! What if it's not better in time? Our parents already bought plane tickets, and the place is all booked, and-"
Blaine pressed his finger over Kurt's mouth to shush his fiancé.
"We'll figure all of that out," he assured him. "The coordinator will understand. Let's just focus on getting your knee all better. It's all going to be okay. Everything will work out."
Blaine pulled Kurt close for a forced hug, even though Kurt didn't feel like it. He hid his face in the side of Blaine's neck, and tried to just let go and trust his fiancé with everything. What else could he do?
Author's Notes:
Well here you are this is part one! I have the other two chapters mostly finished, so if I finish part two tonight then it should be up tomorrow (I have to go back to school tomorrow.) But I hope you liked this!