Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.

Medical disclaimer: I am not, in any way, an expert when it comes to the medical condition, CIPA. I only know what my research has taught me.

Warnings: References to a car accident and medical procedures, as well as the tool of a Warbler.

Chapter four

"Medic 112, 114, respond code 3 on West Elm street, car versus truck, possible total of three victims, all individuals unconscious and unresponsive."

…

"...two teenagers, one boy, one girl – Ken, the one does not look good-"

"Dispatch, we're going to need to send for a helicopter-"

"Ken! I need your help here, we're losing-"

"...the helicopter is on its way."

"She's semi-responsive, GCS 12-"

"This one isn't responsive at all, Sarah. BP is down from 120 systolic to 90, pulse is tachy – how did this kid even get out of the car with these injuries?"

"The copter is here – okay, he needs to be in the bird, get him tagged and in that copter, you hear me?"

"Got it... Sarah, this kid isn't responding to any palpitations – not even unconsciously. Damn, that bruising on his stomach – I'm calling hot belly, Sarah. We need to get this kid out of here."

why is there yelling...

"What do we have? Who are we taking?"

"We've got a teenager involved in an MVA with a broken arm, dislocated shoulder and the abdomen is distended in the upper Left Quadrant. We've got a hot belly, possible ruptured spleen – gotta get him out now or he won't make it."

who is... who is hurt

"He's waking up – Hey! Kid! Can you hear me?"

why are you... why are you yelling at me

"Semi-responsive – pupils are-"

I can't see anything. I can't see anything.

It'll be okay, Kurt. Just remember to breathe.

Mom?

Breathe, Kurt. Just breathe.

{*}

Kurt wasn't responding to his text messages.

Frowning, Blaine pocketed his phone after checking to see if Kurt had responded. It had been three weeks. Three long weeks of any kind of contact. At first it was because he thought Kurt was just busy, but once the days had turned into weeks he was beginning to think that it was something else entirely. So, he had sat down and thought long and hard about their last conversation. He hadn't really said anything to make Kurt mad at him, so why was Kurt not talking to him?

"Blaine! We're ready to go!"

Glancing up from the ground, Blaine gave a nod at Thad, then let out another sigh. He couldn't really be worrying about Kurt at the moment. The Warblers had a gig at the hospital in Lima – maybe he could find a way to sneak over to McKinley?

No, Blaine. Focus on the performance. This weekend, you can go over to Kurt's house and see what's going on.

The Warblers had booked a mini bus for the trip, which meant sitting in pairs. Sadly, Blaine was the last one on the bus, and it seemed that the only available spot was next to Sebastian. Mentally wishing he had something hard and sharp to protect himself, Blaine made the horrible trip to the open seat. He sat down as far away from Sebastian as possible and crossed his legs.

"Hello, Blaine," Sebastian said, trying to make his tone of voice silky. He failed – but maybe that was because Blaine was just biased; he really didn't like that guy.

Blaine gave him a nod, then pulled out his phone, intent on getting very into an aggressive game of angry birds when he felt Sebastian hovering next to him. "What is it, Sebastian?"

"Just wondering what you're doing, is all."

Blaine really didn't like Sebastian, but he was a nice person, which meant he had to be nice to Sebastian. "I'm going to play a game. Why?"

Sebastian shrugged. "So, listen, what are you doing tomorrow night?"

Oh god... Sebastian was going to ask him out to the gay bar again, Blaine knew it. "Sebastian, listen-"

"Because the offer still stands on those fake I.D's and-"

"Sebastian, I've already said no four times. I highly doubt that my answer is going to change."

Sebastian frowned, but then gave Blaine a cocky grin and leaned back. "Whatever you say, Blaine."

The way Sebastian had said it made Blaine cringe. Normally, he wasn't one to block himself off from what was happening around him, but he really didn't want to have to deal with Sebastian at the moment, so he pulled out his ear buds and slipped them in, plugging the end up to his iphone as he pulled up his music. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jeff raise his eyebrows at him; Blaine gave a small jerk of his head towards Sebastian, one that had Jeff's eyes widening. I'm sorry, Jeff mouthed, and Blaine shook his head.

Thankfully, Sebastian didn't bother Blaine again, and he managed to slip off of the bus quickly once they'd gotten to the hospital. Scheduled to sing to the children in the cancer ward, he walked in with Wes to check themselves in.

"Still thinking about Kurt?"

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, I don't know what I did wrong. I mean... our last conversation went great and-"

"Blaine," Wes said as he signed them in. "I think you're over thinking. You said yourself yesterday that he was a busy kid. Or maybe something happened to his phone? You never know, but seriously. Calm down about it. I'm sure that it's nothing big."

Blaine let out a sigh and nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right."

{*}

"Kurt, honey, you need to stop biting your lip."

"I'm biting it? Oh..."

A sigh, clothes shuffling -

"I know that it's rough, sweetie, but you'll get used to it."

"But... How can I get used to it if I don't know that I'm doing it?"

"It'll just have to become a habit. I know, honey, I know. Just don't try to worry about it so much, okay?"

"But, mom!"

"Let's make those cookies for your daddy, okay? The ones that he always talks about?"

"Okay!"

I miss you, Mom.

"We'll need to get out the chocolate chips, can you get those for me?"

"Sure!"

I miss you a lot.

"Okay, next is the eggs and the vanilla."

I love you, Mom...

"Kurt?"

I think Carole is great, but she's not you, Mom.

"Kurt, can... Can you keep squeezing my hand like that?"

...But I'm not squeezing your hand, Mom. I'm not even touching-

"He's moving more, so that's a good sign, right?"

Oh... That's right. I was in a car accident. I guess this is some sort of coma dream or something along those lines.

"Kurt, buddy. You waking up? You coming back to me?

I guess it's time for me to go, Mom. I'll miss you. I love you.

"Oh, honey. I love you, too. Now, hand me the chocolate chips...?"

…

He woke up to a bright light and his father standing over him. "Hi," he rasped out, reaching up with a hand to block the light from his eyes. His limbs felt like they weren't there, and from the look of his arm (and the cast around it), he could tell that it was broken. Possibly one of many. "Am I... Am I on any pain medication?"

His dad nodded, his hand busy running through Kurt's hair. "Yeah, you are. A lot, actually. They put you in a medical induced coma for a week."

Kurt let out a huff. "A week? How long has it been since the crash?"

He heard a shuffle and then another head appeared next to his father's. "It has been exactly a week and three days since your car crashed. Hello, I'm Dr. Hofferson."

Kurt gave him a tilt of his head. "Only that long, huh?" He puffed out some air, then tried to sit up, pressing both hands to the bed beneath him.

"Uh-uh," Burt said, pushing him back down. "No moving today. They've got some tests they need to run."

Kurt sighed, but allowed himself to be pushed back into the mattress. "So," he said, turning his head to look at Dr. Hofferson. "What happened to me? And don't leave out any details."

"Wow," Dr. Hofferson said, giving Kurt an approving nod. "You act like this has happened before."

"Twice, actually," Burt said, eyes firmly planted on his son. "Doesn't mean it got any easier, though."

"Been in the hospital a lot, then, Kurt?" Hofferson asked, moving to check the saline bag hanging next to Kurt's bed.

"That's what happens when you're clumsy and have CIPA," Kurt replied, not liking the way that his words were slurring. I hate this feeling.

"Right," Hofferson laughed, flipping over one page on his clipboard. "Our main problem was the spleen, or hot belly, as it's known by most people," he said. "Your spleen ruptured in the car accident, and you were bleeding internally – lost quite a bit of blood. We didn't have to give you any blood, though; it's the reason we put you in a medical coma, though, since you have CIPA-"

"My body didn't know that it needed to heal, so I kept moving around a lot," Kurt finished for him, having heard it all before. He'd been placed in a medical induced coma once before, when he had been in a car accident that had taken his mother, for the same reason – he had bled out too much and needed to recover, but since he couldn't feel the pain or understand the need to hold still, he moved too much and kept tearing at his stitches, which resulted in him losing more blood. They'd made him sleep so that he wouldn't move, which allowed his body to recover.

"Well, there's really not much to go over, other than telling you that-"

"I need to stay here for a while longer because there are tests that you have to run now that I'm awake."

Dr. Hofferson blinked, then nodded. "You really know your stuff, Kurt."

Kurt shrugged his shoulders. "I've been in the hospital a lot, and with every accident, whether it be minor or major, I have to do those tests. I've just remembered everything that the previous doctors have told me from my other visits to the hospital."

His dad took his hand. "We've just... We've been through this a lot. Um... How long will these tests take? I'd really like to take him back home."

Dr. Hofferson gave them a sympathetic smile. "You should be able to take him home at the end of the week, I believe. The tests and their results shouldn't take too long."

Kurt nodded and was about to ask another question when he yawned. "I think I'm gonna fall back asleep, Dad," he slurred out, his eyes already closing.

"Go to sleep, Kurt. I'll be here when you wake up."

He was about ready to just let everything vanish as he fell asleep, but he wondered, suddenly, about his friends and if they knew if he was okay; if Blaine knew that he was okay. "Dad – my friends-"

"I've talked with them, don't worry, Kurt."

"'Mmkay. Good night."

And he fell asleep.

{*}

"Are you gunna sing anot'er song?"

The speaker was a little girl, whose head was shaved because of the chemotherapy she was currently undergoing. Smiling down at her, Blaine nodded. "Yeah, we are," he told her softly, bending down so that they were eye to eye. "We're just going down to the cafeteria so that we can eat lunch. We're all so hungry, you know?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, I know! I get hungry lots!" She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before she wandered off to continue playing with the other children in the ward.

"Oh no," he heard Wes say behind him.

"What?" he asked, standing up and turning. "What did I do?"

"You had that look on your face," Wes said, grinning.

"What look?"

"The one that usually comes with the 'Kids like that are the reason I'm going into medicine' sentence that comes out of your mouth when you're in hospitals. Isn't that why you were thinking of studying about cancer in college?"

Blaine shrugged. That had been his original plan, but then he'd met Kurt and realized how much more there was about medicine and sickness and diseases that he could learn. "I think that I'm going to just study medicine and see which area I like the best after that. I mean, there's so much out there," he said as the group of Warblers left the cancer ward and headed through the recovery ward and towards the stairs.

"There is a lot out there," David agreed, sidling up beside them both. "That girl looked like she had a crush on you, Blaine. How come you always get the hot chicks wanting you?"

Blaine laughed, glad to have a reason to for the first time in a while. With Kurt ignoring him, he hadn't been in the best of moods. He was about to reply to David, to tell him that it was just his natural charm, when a boy with brown hair walked in front of their group, heading down the other hall. Normally, Blaine wouldn't have really cared about the boy with the brown hair, but this one looked different than the other boys with brown hair.

Blaine did know quite a lot of tall, brown haired boys, so normally he would have been confused as to why this boy drew his attention, but this one looked so much like...

Kurt?

His eyes narrowing, Blaine started walking towards the corner the boy had turned. He'd only taken a few steps, however, when David stepped in front of him. "Blaine, we need to head down to the cafeteria."

"I'll be down there in a moment," he said, trying to sidestep David so that he wouldn't lose sight of the boy.

"No, Blaine. Now."

"I just need to run to the bathroom," Blaine said, his eyes darting left and right, looking for the boy who had looked so much like Kurt. It seemed to Blaine that the he had gone towards the elevators. "I'll be back in a minute, okay?"

He took off before David could say anything else, then booked it towards the elevators. "Hold the door!" He called out as the elevator doors started to close. He dashed inside, then held a hand out against the wall as he breathed in and out quickly to catch his breath. Once he was sure that he could breathe again, he stood up straight, fixed his blazer, and then turned to face the boy that he now knew was Kurt.

Kurt, who's eyes were wide and looking at the ground, who looked like he was going to start biting his lip at any second. Kurt, who was wearing a hospital gown and had the medical check in wrist band, and bruises over his body and face and-

"Kurt..." he breathed out, wanting to take those few steps forward and wrap Kurt in his arms. "What... What happened?"

Kurt let out a small sigh. "I was in a car accident."

And suddenly, everything seemed to make sense – why Kurt never answered his text messages, and why his phone calls kept going straight to Kurt's voice-mail. "Your phone was broken, huh?"

Kurt nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry that I couldn't contact you, but first my dad said that he'd contacted all of my friends, but then I learned that he'd forgotten about you, and then I learned that my phone was completely ruined and I don't have your number memorized and there's quite a few Anderson's in the phone book... I'm sorry."

Blaine then decided to take those few steps forward. He placed a tentative hand on Kurt's shoulder, then leaned in close. "There's no need to apologize. I'm just glad that you're okay."

Kurt nodded, then let out a relieved sigh. "I'm only here longer because there's a lot of tests that they have to run with me. My friend, Rachel – she was in the car with me – she was discharged four days after the accident. I'm just glad that she only had a broken ankle and a concussion."

Blaine glanced down at the cast on Kurt's right arm. "You broke your arm, then?"

Kurt shook his arm. "Yeah, I did," he said bluntly. Then he looked up and caught Blaine's gaze. Blaine was surprised by how beautiful he thought Kurt's eyes were. "What are you doing all the way down here?"

Grinning, Blaine informed Kurt about how the Warblers were singing to the cancer ward, mostly to the younger children. "We're probably going to end up staying longer than planned, though. Those kids are adorable and always manage to drag Thad, Wes, and David into playing games with them and coloring."

Kurt laughed, then gave Blaine a gentle nudge. "You just don't want to admit that they pull you in more than the other three, huh?"

Blaine flushed. "Possibly."

They fell into a nice silence, one that stayed when the elevator door opened. Kurt stepped out first, then turned back to Blaine. "My room is on this floor, or do you have to go...?"

Blaine shook his head and followed Kurt down the hallway, knowing that he did have to go back eventually. But right now, he was just glad to learn that Kurt was okay. "When do you get released from the hospital? I know you've told me many times that you don't like them."

Kurt sighed as he heaved himself onto his hospital bed, shifting a little bit before lying down. "This Friday. But, my dad has a busy weekend, so it's going to be just me at the house. Which means – movie marathon, seeing as I can't do much for a while."

"All alone, though?" Blaine pouted, not exactly sure why he was asking, but it earned a laugh out of Kurt, so he had to figure that it counted for something.

"Sadly, yes."

Blaine really didn't know why he mentioned it, but it came shooting out of his mouth before his brain really had time to process his thought process. "Well, why don't you come over to my house? I'm alone this weekend, too. Little siblings are gone as well. We can be lonely together...?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow at him, then shifted on his bed. "Are you trying to convince me to come over, or yourself that it's a good idea?"

Blaine shrugged, a grin spreading on his face. "You to come over. I don't know why it came out as a question."

Kurt shuffled around on his bed a bit more, looking flustered. "I don't get asked to come over to other people's houses that often, sorry," he muttered before locking gazes with Blaine. "I'll have to ask my dad, see if it's okay for me to make that drive – but if he says I can't go over to your house, would you like to come over to mine?"

Blaine hummed, then sat down in the empty chair next to Kurt's bed. "How about I just come over to your house then? Would you be okay with that?"

The way that Kurt's eyes and face lit up made Blaine's hear jump. Kurt just looked so beautiful.

Oh god... This is actually happening, isn't it? I find Kurt Hummel ridiculously attractive and -

He cut his thoughts off as Kurt nodded happily. "Yeah, yeah I'd absolutely love that, Blaine."

Blaine grinned, then took Kurt's hand (the one without the I.V) in his own two hands. "Great. Just let me know what time and I'll-"

"Blaine?"

Both boys turned to the door to see Sebastian leaning against the door frame in what he probably thought was an inviting manor. Blaine stood up from his seat, but kept Kurt's hand in his; Kurt sat up straighter and pulled the hospital blanket up closer to his chest. "Sebastian? What are you doing here?"

Sebastian moved his arm from the door frame and sauntered into the room, smirk on his face; Kurt glared at him the entire time. "I was sent to come find you. You've been gone quite a while."

Blaine frowned. "How did you find me?"

Sebastian's smirk grew. "All I had to do was ask the nurses if they'd seen a sexy, short, dark haired boy in a blazer walk by. Pretty simple. One said they'd seen you coming in here with a patient so I-" Sebastian drew off, seeming to finally recognize Kurt from the day that Kurt had gone to Dalton to get his wallet back. "Oh," he said. "It's you."

"It's me," Kurt said, his glare on a full power. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave my room. It's a private one, and you entered without permission."

Sebastian's smirk seemed to fall. "But what about Blaine?"

"Blaine is in here because I like him. You, however, will never have that luxury, so I'm going to ask you again. Please leave."

"Blaine? We need to get back to the group," Sebastian said, dropping the flirty demeanor that he'd had when he'd entered the room.

Blaine sighed. "Look, Sebastian. I appreciate you coming to... find me but, I'm going to spend a few more minutes talking to Kurt. I haven't seen him in a while, so I'd like to catch up with him. I'd appreciate it if you informed the council of this, though," he said, turning his body back to face Kurt, completely ignoring the icy glare that Sebastian shot Kurt. "I'll be down there in time for the second performance, though."

Then an idea popped into his head. "Kurt?"

Kurt pulled his eyes away from Sebastian's retreating figure and looked back at Blaine. "Yeah?"

"Do you think that it would be okay for you and your body to come to the cancer ward to see the performance? I'd like you to be there."

Kurt blinked rapidly at him for a moment. "R-really? You'd like for me to see your performance?"

Blaine nodded. "Yeah! I mean, I was going to have you come to one of them anyway, but we're both here so it's more convenient?"

Kurt let out a giggle, one that made Blaine's already quickly beating heart beat faster. "Sure, I'd love to see a performance. I'll probably have to go in a wheel-chair, though, otherwise I might get in trouble. Getting in trouble could make it so that I have to stay a few extra days for more tests, so..." He leaned over and pressed a red button next to his bed. "I'm going to have my nurse push me down there," he said as he swung his legs over the side of his bed.

A red haired nurse walked in about a minute later. "Yes, Mr. Hummel?"

Kurt, who was already sitting in his wheel-chair, grinned at her. "I know that you're going on break, but I was wondering if you would be willing to wheel me down to the cancer ward? I can do it myself if you need to-"

She shook her head. "Nope, no can do, especially with your arm." She glanced at Blaine, then at Kurt. "Oh, you want to see the performance. This is awesome," she said as she took the wheel-chair in hand and began to push him out of the room. "I was trying to find a way to sneak down to the earlier performance, but I couldn't," she told Blaine as they walked to the elevators. "Everyone here loves it when people come and perform. Makes the day seem ten times better; you get the sick to smile."

Blaine shrugged, a blush growing heavily on his face. "We do what we can, miss."

"Oh, you're precious," she said.

Kurt twisted around in his seat and gave Blaine a wide grin. "He is, isn't' he?"

Well, if Kurt thought he was precious, then who was Blaine to argue the matter?

The majority of the Warblers were already in the cancer wing, chatting with each other or some of the patients when Blaine and Kurt joined them.

"I'm going to stay near the door," Kurt said to him, pulling Blaine down closer so that he didn't have to talk long; Kurt smelled really good, Blaine noticed. Really good. "If an MRI room opens up early, I'm going to have to leave so..."

Blaine nodded. "I completely understand."

Kurt waved him off, then turned to start chatting with the nurse; Blaine looked back over his shoulder and couldn't help but smile at the look of happiness on Kurt's face.

"What is he doing here?"

Blaine smile vanishing from his face, he turned to face Sebastian, who wasn't even looking at him; he was looking at Kurt, a rather large frown on his face. "He's here because I wanted him to be here. He's my friend," he said firmly, like that would settle what 'problem' that Sebastian had. He wasn't sure why Sebastian didn't like Kurt – Sebastian had to know that Blaine wasn't interested in a relationship with the other Warbler. Blaine had told him so in many ways.

Sebastian's frowned deepened. "Isn't he competition, though? Don't you think that it's unwise to have him here?"

Blaine sighed. "No, I don't think it's unwise, because the songs that we sing here aren't ones that we'd sing in competition anyway. You're way too tense, Sebastian. You need to calm down."

And then Sebastian's frown was gone, and the smirk that he normally had on when around Blaine was back. "Why don't you help me calm down, then? I was thinking that, this weekend, you and I could-"

Blaine shook his head. "My weekend is booked, actually."

The frown was back. "Let me guess – Kurt."

"Yup," Blaine stated, turning away from the Warbler to find Jeff.

"Wonderful," he heard Sebastian say behind him, but he decided to ignore it. He glanced back over towards the door, at Kurt, to see the boy with a little girl (around the age of nine, he assumed), in his lap; the two were talking, smiles on their faces, and Blaine couldn't tear his gaze away.

"Blaine," he heard Wes call out a few minutes later. "Are you ready to perform?"

Nodding, Blaine grabbed Wes' sleeve. "I'd like to put Teenage Dream on the list – the first song, if that's okay."

Wes blinked. "Sure," he said. "But... why?"

Blaine shrugged. "We have older patients now, lots of them are thirteen and older in here, so I thought they'd like to hear something they listen to everyday." Without thinking, he glanced over his shoulder and back at Kurt. Beside him, Wes let out a snicker. "What?"

"Sure, older patients. But yeah, we can do Teenage Dream. I'll spread the word that it's first."

"Thanks, Wes," Blaine said, before he started psyching himself up for the performance. He really wanted it to be one Kurt would remember.

{*}

"Hello everyone!" Blaine suddenly called out, pulling Kurt from his talk with the little girl in his lap.

"Is it startin'?" The girl asked, and Kurt nodded, nudging her to get off of his lap.

"Yes, it is. Why don't you go up closer so you can see better?"

She grinned, then hopped off of his lap and skipped up to the nearest table, Kurt watching her happily as she went.

"My name is Blaine Anderson," Blaine continued to say, that one grin on his face (the one that made Kurt's heart speed up). "And we are the Dalton Academy Warblers. We've got about six songs to sing for you guys. I hope that you enjoy!"

He stepped away from the center of the stage, then nodded at the guys behind him to begin.

Kurt had never really listened to A Capella groups before, preferring to listen to Broadway performances, pop music, and sometimes rock and roll. But, he thought to himself as the Warblers began to perform. This is really, really neat.

It was Teenage Dream, one of Kurt's favorite songs and-

He blinked and jerked back slightly when he realized that Blaine was staring at him. He glanced around to see if there was anyone beside him, but no – it was just him and his nurse standing by the door and Blaine still hadn't taken his eyes off of him.

Oh god, if I could blush I bet I'd be looking like a tomato right now, he thought to himself when he realized that Blaine probably wasn't going to be looking at anyone else during that song. Blaaaaaaaine, he whined to himself. Stop this, because you're making me fall for you and that relationship will probably not happen.

But then, when the song was over and everyone was clapping, Blaine winked at him, and Kurt found himself thanking his inability to blush for what would probably not be the last time in his life.

I'm falling for you, he told the Blaine in his mind. I'm falling for you so hard.Every time we spend together I'm going to keep falling for you, huh? That's how it's going to work for us, right?

Blaine took to the back of the group and allowed a brown haired boy to take center stage. He caught Kurt's gaze, then held up a thumb, his face questioning. Kurt nodded, holding up two thumbs; Blaine's grin was contagious and Kurt found his eyes closing as he smiled so hard he was able to make himself think that it was hurting him because he was so fucking happy.

If this is how it's going to be with us, I think that I'll be okay with that.

Author's notes:...

This chapter just wouldn't let me write it. Probably because there isn't a lot of plot in there, except the boys are becoming even more smitten and have a semi-Maybe it's a date, maybe we're just going to hang out, but even if it's not a date I'm still sitting next to a fucking hot boy- kind of thing going on. So yay for progress, you guys! yay for progress.

I hope that you enjoyed; please let me know if you liked it!

A huge thanks needs to go out to me beta, the lovely Kendall. (she deserves an entire planet for dealing with me, seriously)

Lots of love, and I'll see you in the next chapter-

UO