Kurt pressed his cheek against Blaine's shoulder as his fiancé filled out the hospital paperwork. He was tired, thirsty, and knew he was acting grumpy, even though Blaine didn't say anything. But most of all, Kurt was scared.
It had been two weeks since he had torn his ACL in Cassandra July's dance class. For two weeks he had to walk around in an uncomfortable brace, and for two weeks Kurt had to worry about his stupid surgery.
"Sit up for a minute," Blaine told him. "I need to go turn these in."
Kurt held his head up and rubbed his eyes. It was barely seven in the morning. His surgery was scheduled for eight-thirty.
Once Blaine returned, Kurt resumed using him as a pillow. Blaine wrapped his arm around Kurt's body and held him close.
"You don't need to be nervous," Blaine told him. "It'll be like my eye surgery. I was in and out of the hospital within a few hours. We can go home and I'll watch as much SVU with you as you want."
Kurt loved that Blaine was taking such good care of him, but none of that eased his anxiety. He hadn't had surgery since he was little, and even then Kurt didn't remember it.
A nurse called out his name after several minutes, and Kurt jumped. He had zoned out. Blaine helped him up and walked with him down the hall to a pre-op room, even though Kurt was hardly cooperating.
"Go ahead and take your brace off and change into the gown," she told him. "I'm just going over your medical history, then I'll check your vitals and start your IV."
Kurt knew he was in for an IV. He was fully aware how awful they were, but knew he had no choice. It was no use fighting it.
After Blaine helped him change, Kurt climbed onto the tiny little bed, thankful to be somewhat comfortable for the first time all morning. The nurse asked him a few questions before proceeding to check his temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and breathing.
"You look just fine," she told him, marking everything down on her clipboard. Kurt held onto Blaine's hand the entire time, needing the constant reassurance of his fiancé.
"I'm going to start your IV now," the nurse warned him. "Look away if it makes you uncomfortable, but it shouldn't take more than a minute or so."
She wrapped a band around his upper arm, and Kurt turned to face Blaine, trying not to pay any attention to the nurse.
"Blaine," Kurt panicked, feeling her poke around on his arm.
"It's okay," Blaine said. "Just squeeze my hand if it hurts. It'll be all over in just a minute."
Kurt bit down on his lower lip as the nurse pushed the needle into the back of his right hand. He squeezed his eyes shut, and clasped onto Blaine's hand the entire time.
"Take a breath," Blaine told him, squeezing back. "Kurt, breathe."
Kurt let out a breath he had been holding, and tried to pull his arm away from the nurse's grip.
"No, hold still," Blaine said, holding Kurt's shoulder. "It's almost over. Don't cry, Kurt."
Kurt managed not to break down the entire time, and breathed a sigh of relief once the nurse stepped back and told him she was all done.
"You did good," Blaine said quietly to him. Kurt smiled a little, thankful to have Blaine there. Kurt figured the nurse must have given him some kind of relaxant drug, because he immediately began feeling better than earlier. Sleepy, almost.
After a few more minutes, a tall, skinny man in a mask came in, and introduced himself as the anesthesiologist. He told Kurt all about the surgery he was having and reassured him that he wouldn't be able to feel anything at all the whole time. He promised Kurt that Blaine would be able to be with him as soon as it was over, too, even though Kurt wanted Blaine with him the entire time. But he knew that couldn't happen.
Once the anesthesiologist was done and the nurse finished everything up, her pager beeped.
"The surgeon is all ready for you in the operating room," she told him. "I'll be the one to take you down there. Are you all ready?"
"Can Blaine come?" Kurt asked, refusing to let go of his hand.
"Not into the operating room, I'm afraid," she said, sounding genuinely regretful. "But, he'll be able to be with you when you wake up. He can come in as soon as the surgery is over. You'll only be apart for a little bit."
Kurt looked up at Blaine, wishing they could bend the rules just one time for him.
"Hey, it's okay," Blaine assured him, taking Kurt's hand in both of his. "I'm gonna be down in the waiting room the whole time. They'll let me know how you're doing. And when you wake up, your knee will feel a lot better. You're going to do just fine, I know it. I love you."
Kurt pulled on Blaine's sweater to keep him close for what little time he had left with him.
"Love you too," he said back, trying not to cry. Kurt knew if he said anything more that he would break down, so he left it at that. He gave Blaine a kiss before the nurse took him away, leaving Blaine behind.
He only had vague memories of the actual operating room. Kurt remembered lying on the table, feeling ice cold. The anesthesiologist injected something into his IV that made his arm tingle, and soon he felt light and dizzy. He tried to stay awake, even though it became harder and harder by the second.
"Don't fight it," the anesthesiologist told him. "Just relax. Close your eyes."
Kurt didn't want to close his eyes, but he couldn't fight it any longer. He gave in, and the last thing he heard was the beeping of his heart monitor.
He heard before he could see. He heard an iPhone unlocking, the whir of a machine, and the air conditioner as it kicked on. He felt something tickling his nose, which he figured out was a tube, and also someone's hand holding his. Blaine.
Kurt forced his eyes open. His sight was blurry and he felt dizzy, but he could make out Blaine sitting next to his bed.
It took Kurt a minute to adjust to being awake. His eyes were finally able to focus, but he still felt groggy and sleepy.
"Hey," Blaine said softly. "It's about time you woke up. How are you feeling?"
"Huh?" Kurt asked. His throat felt weird, and his mouth was dry. "Tired."
"Don't go to back to sleep just yet," Blaine told him. "The nurse said she wanted to check on you when you woke up."
Kurt blinked several times, slowly. He turned his head to the side and looked down at his leg. It was elevated on several pillows, but Kurt couldn't see anything else due to the blanket covering him.
"The nurse is coming," Blaine said. "You can go back to sleep once she looks at you. The surgeon said it went really well. We can go home in a few hours, if you're feeling okay."
Kurt nodded, just wanting Blaine to stop talking already. His head felt foggy, like he had been asleep for a week, rather than a few hours.
Kurt expected the same nurse as earlier to come in, but it was someone new. She talked to Blaine, mostly, and took the oxygen nubs out of Kurt's nose. She pulled back the blanket to look at his leg, so Kurt got another look at it, too. She didn't say much else, which Kurt was grateful for. When she finally left, Kurt closed his eyes, ready to get some real rest.
"Don't leave," he mumbled to Blaine, peeking open one eye.
"I'm not. Don't worry," Blaine reassured him, brushing back a lock of his hair. "Go to sleep. I'll be here the whole time."
For the first time in two weeks, Kurt had no trouble falling asleep.
He opened his eyes again, but this time it felt different. He was in another room. It was bigger, and there was a window to his right.
"Blaine," Kurt mumbled. His fiancé was sitting next to him, watching him like a TV program.
"Did you sleep good?" Blaine asked, meticulously smoothing Kurt's blanket and fluffing the pillow.
"Yeah," Kurt sighed. "Can I sit up? I'm tired of lying down."
Blaine raised the bed up for him, and Kurt leaned his head back on his pillow, trying to wake up fully.
"You slept for a few hours," Blaine told him. "I think they should let you go home pretty soon. The nurse said your knee looked good."
Kurt was more than ready to leave the hospital. It felt like it had been a week since they signed in that morning.
"If you're hungry they said you could eat something," Blaine went on. "But they also said it might make your stomach hurt, so I decided to wait until you woke up to see if you were hungry."
"I don't want anything," Kurt murmured. He just wanted to leave as soon as possible. Besides, hospital food was notoriously gross.
"I'll make you something when we get home," Blaine promised, taking hold of his hand. "I think you'll start to feel a lot better once you're in your own bed."
Kurt certainly agreed with that. The hospital made him feel filthy all over, like he couldn't take a shower long enough to scrub all the germs off him.
Blaine sat around with him and did most of the talking, and Kurt took another short nap before the doctor checked him out and decided he was clear to go home.
Getting up and walking around was the challenge, though. He had to use crutches, something Kurt didn't like the idea of at all. But, once he got the hang of them, the nurse let him stay in a wheelchair while Blaine signed him out.
Getting home was the hardest part, but once they were actually back in the apartment, they could both finally relax.
"Here, I'll help you put on some pajamas," Blaine offered, helping Kurt sit down on the bed. "Does your knee hurt at all?"
Kurt shook his head, still in a daze from the anesthesia, but mostly exhausted.
"I can't feel anything," he said, trying not to doze off as Blaine helped him into his favorite pair of pajamas.
"Well at least it doesn't hurt," Blaine replied with a quick kiss on Kurt's cheek. "I'll help you get in bed, then I'll make you something to eat."
Kurt held onto Blaine to steady himself while Blaine got him situated with a mountain of pillows under his knee, then disappeared into the kitchen.
Kurt found himself dozing off by the time Blaine returned with a bowl of chicken soup and a hot mug of tea. He still didn't feel like eating much, but he knew Blaine wouldn't give him a choice.
"Hey, wake up," Blaine said gently, nudging Kurt with his elbow. "Come on, you haven't eaten anything all day."
Kurt felt too weak to even open his eyes, but he refused to let Blaine feed him. So, he sat up and did it himself.
"I'm glad they didn't have to keep you overnight," Blaine said, sitting on the bed next to him and holding his tea for him while he ate. "I figured you would hate having to spend the night there."
"I'm glad you didn't make me eat hospital food," Kurt replied, getting a laugh out of Blaine. He would have rather starved than eaten any of it. But, he was also still glad that the hospital let him go home.
And even though he didn't want to, Kurt finished his soup under Blaine's orders. His fiancé sat with him while he dozed off and on, and even left the channel on a Honey Boo Boo marathon, Blaine's least favorite show.
Eventually Blaine had to wake him up to take some pain medicine, but Kurt was still out of it. He could tell it was dark, and Kurt could tell Blaine had fallen asleep, too.
"What time is it?" Kurt asked.
"It's almost one," Blaine told him. "Go back to sleep. I'm right here. Does it hurt?"
"No," Kurt mumbled, leaning his head over to rest on Blaine's shoulder as he yawned. "'s fine."
"Good," Blaine whispered. "Wake me up if you need anything. You should feel more like yourself in the morning."
Kurt hoped he was right. He hated feeling groggy and sleepy, and he tried to fight it even as Blaine fell back asleep. But there came a point when Kurt couldn't fight it anymore, and he leaned into Blaine as he dozed off once more, needing nothing more than Blaine to get him feeling all better again.
Author's Notes:
HI SORRY THIS IS WAY LATE. This last week has just been totally crazy, but I'll save you all the details. Anyway, here is part two of this, even though it's a little rough. (It was written at 4 am). Let me know your thoughts! I love getting comments from y'all.