You never know
You never know when disaster will strike. It'll just rocket into your life out of nowhere and slap you right in the face, saying 'hey, idiot, there's not enough shit in your life already, so I'm here just to fuck it up a little more'.
The point is, disaster is a bitch, and nobody would know that better than Kurt Hummel. Which is why he couldn't bring himself to be that surprised when he woke up one morning, throat aching and unable to talk.
"What's wrong, son?" Burt asked as his son stumbled into the kitchen. Kurt patted his throat and made a face. "Sore throat?" Kurt nodded and sat down, grabbing a glass of orange juice. It stung as it went down, but he had a glass of orange juice every morning, and wasn't going to compromise his intake of vitamin C just because of a sore throat. He finished off the glass and headed for the door. On his way to school, Blaine called him. That was usually when they talked for a bit and wished each other a good day, but Kurt couldn't talk to him, so he let it go to voicemail.
At lunch, Kurt got a text.
Hey, not to seem clingy, but you didn't answer my call this morning, I'm kind of worried. –Blainexox
Kurt rolled his eyes and smiled as he typed a reply,
Don't worry, I'm fine, but I think I lost my voice -Kurt
Really? Are you okay? Is it strep or something?-Blaine
Not sure, but my throat is sore, thanks for worrying 3- Kurt
Anytime ;) – Blaine
Over the next few days, Kurt had formed a fever, and stayed home from school, all the while the ach in his throat getting worse. He'd told Blaine, who wanted to come over, but Kurt had threatened him and forbade him from coming for fear of infecting him.
"That's it." Burt said on the third day "I'm taking you to the doctors." Kurt frantically shook his head and tried to protest, but Burt and Carole won by practically dragging him to the car. It was horrible, absolutely horrible, they swabbed Kurt's throat, making him gag, poked and prodded him and felt every inch of his body before it was over.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Hummel, but your son is going to have to have his tonsils removed, I've scheduled the surgery for Thursday at 5, but I'd like to have you bring him in on Wednesday night." Burt sighed, because in retrospect, it could be worse.
"Thanks, I'll tell him." He said and hung up the phone. He headed up to Kurt's room and found his son reading in his bed.
"Kurt…" he said softly and watched as his son's eyes snapped up to focus on his face. "The doctor just called…you're going to have to have your tonsils removed." Kurt's eyes widened and he covered his mouth. Burt knew Kurt's aversion to hospitals and doctors hadn't just come up out of nowhere. "C'mon, Scooter, it could be worse." He said, going to sit beside Kurt and put an arm around his shoulder. Kurt hid his face in his father's shoulder and let a few stray tears fall down his cheeks. That night, Burt called Blaine.
"Hey, kid."
"Mr. Hummel?" the voice on the other line was filled with concern "Is Kurt alright?" Burt smiled to himself
"Uhh, he will be…after Thursday"
"I'm not following."
"Kurt needs to have his tonsils removed," Burt started and heard the gasp on the other end "I know how close you two are…I figured he'd want you there…moral support and stuff."
"O-okay…I'll be there." Blaine promised "Tell Kurt that I'm thinking of him, please, and that I'll absolutely be there on Thursday."
"Thanks, Kid…and call me Burt."
oOo
"Kurt, you're going to be fine." Blaine took Kurt's hand and held it in his own, careful not to disrupt the iv's and tubes connected to Kurt's forearm. Kurt lowered his eyes and grabbed for the pen and notepad on his nightstand. He removed his hand from Blaine's and scrawled furiously before handing the paper over to Blaine.
I told you my mom died when I was little. She had a tumor on her brain, she needed surgery, something went wrong…and she died. I've hated hospitals and going to the doctors ever since. And now I need surgery, Blaine, and I'm so scared, I'm terrified that I won't come back. That I'll leave my dad, and all my friends and you, like my mom left me.
Blaine bit his lip, he looked up at Kurt, a crease between his brows from the concerned look on his face. Kurt was biting back tears of his own.
"You're going to be okay, Kurt." Blaine said "I swear, you will be." He got up and hugged Kurt, kissing his cheek, his forehead, his neck. Everything after that was okay, Blaine held Kurt and assured him everything would be okay, that there was nothing to worry about. Then the doctor came in. They had to sedate Kurt before they even left the room. At any other time, a boy Kurt's age struggling with doctors would be kind of funny, but the pure terror and panic in Kurt's eyes was enough to drain every last bit of humor from the situation. Blaine had to bit his lip and draw his arms around himself as the doctors injected something into his IV, he watched Kurt relax and fall into a drug-induced sleep.
oOo
"Go home," Burt suggested
"I can't." Burt laughed
"Son, Kurt's gonna be just fine," there was something comforting in Burt's tone, and Blaine completely believed him. "I got my tonsils removed when I was a kid, I'm still here, aint I?" Blaine smiled
"Allright…wil you call me when he wakes up?"
"Will do, kid." Blaine smiled gratefully and made his way to his jeep in the parking lot. He really did need some sleep.
"Mom?" Blaine asked, sitting next to where his mother was on the couch.
"Hmm?" she set her magazine down, turning towards her son.
"You've removed people's tonsils before…right?"
"Of course, being a surgeon kind of includes that sort of thing" Donna replied, unsure of where her son was going with this
"And…has anything ever gone wrong?"
"Never, what's this about? Does your throat hurt? It's probably nothing-" Blaine shook his head
"Kurt's getting his tonsils removed right now…" he took a breath "he was terrified that something would happen." Donna smiled, just seeing how concerned her son was for this boy warmed her heart.
"He'll be fine, baby." She said and hugged him, running a hand through his curls.
oOo
"Blaine?"
"Burt?"
"Hey, Kurt's awake, if you wanted to come see him." Blaine instantly got changed and ran to his jeep.
"Kurt!" Blaine smiled as he entered the hospital room, Kurt smiled at him. "See? I told you you'd be okay." He kissed Kurt's forehead and sat on the edge of his bed.
"Are you gonna talk to me?" Kurt shook his head no, Blaine shrugged, he'd give Kurt time. Instead, he pulled out a single-serving of vanilla ice cream.
"I heard this helps," he winked and handed Kurt a spoon.
oOo
"And you can't get him to talk either?"
"No! He outright refused, well…he texted me saying he refused." Burt sighed
"He's afraid he won't be able to sing." Burt said "he's afraid that if he talks, his voice will sound different and he won't be able to sing anymore." Blaine sighed as Kurt walked back into the living room and smiled at them both before taking a seat next to Blaine.
"I'm positive that your voice is just as beautiful as it was before." Blaine coaxed, trying to get Kurt to speak. Kurt just shook his head "I didn't want to do this…" Blaine said seriously, frowning at Kurt "but you leave me no choice." He flipped quickly, pinning Kurt to the mattress. Kurt stared up at him with wide eyes. Blaine swung his leg around and straddled Kurt's hips. He took his hands away from where they were pinning Kurt's wrists, and promptly began to tickle the boy. Kurt kept his mouth shut, tears forming in the corners of his eyes as Blaine mercilessly tickled him, trying to get him to laugh, beg him to stop, anything. And suddenly, Kurt laughed, a musical sound…like bells. It was light and happy and just a smidge too high for a boy. It was one of Blaine's favorite noises in the world. He stopped ticking Kurt and looked down at him.
"Blaine…" Kurt said and smiled, he giggled again "I can talk!" Blaine lifted himself off Kurt and pulled him into a sitting position.
"Now sing." He commanded gently, Kurt took a deep breath
Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
He didn't sing more than that, one reason was that he sounded just as amazing as he did before, but the other was that he was cut off by Blaine's lips on his. Kurt could feel Blaine smiling and couldn't help but smile along. That moment with Blaine was enough for Kurt to realize, maybe not everything in his life was a disaster.
(AUTHORS NOTE: It's not that bad, right? I honestly don't know anything about hospitals or procedures or whatever, so don't hate. I'm not sure why someone would need their tonsils removed…so I tried not go get into anything specific with that. Can people even lose their singing voices from getting their tonsils removed? I don't even know. So…let's just pretend like everything in this is correct, kay? Drop a review let me know what you think!)