A/N: The amazing Lauren have done her magic with this chapter, but I couldn't stop myself from some last minute changes. but every mistake is mine!
Blaine woke up in the middle of the night. It was dark, but he could tell he was in bed with Kurt. He had a foggy memory of being helped down to their house by Martin. It was so cold, Blaine's teeth clattered when he stood up. He was dizzy and his body hurt. He had to have some water though. He stumbled towards the stairs but stopped and paused before he went down. He couldn't really focus, and his muscles were screaming in protest. But he was so thirsty. He took one step but stumbled and flew down the stairs. He held out his hands to catch himself and landed with his entire weight on his right wrist, which was bent. It made a strange cracking noise. If he had more energy he would have noticed the pain shooting up from his wrist. But his thirst combined with his dizziness and ache all over his body made him strangely numb to all other things. He groaned as he tried to push himself off the floor. It was too hard; he decided to just to lie still there for a while.
Kurt had woken with a jolt by the crashing sound of his fiancé making his way down the stairs. He flipped on the light. He searched the room for Blaine. He ran to the bathroom to look for him before rushing down the stairs. There, in a pile, was his Blaine. Kurt kneeled next to him. Without touching him he could feel the heat radiating from Blaine. When he placed a hand on Blaine's arm, he felt the shivers and the goosebumps telling him that the fever was still on the rising.
"Blainey? What are you doing here?"
"Water." Blaine mumbled.
"Come on, let's get you on the couch and I'll get you some water."
"Nonono. Water, no couch." Blaine mumbled.
Kurt frowned, he wasn't up to fight with Blaine in the middle of the night. He got up and got a glass of water before kneeling next to Blaine again.
"Sweety? I've have water here."
"Water." Blaine mumbled but didn't move.
"Yes, I have water, but you need to sit up."
"I want water too." Blaine said.
"I have water for you." Kurt stated. "Come on, sit up and you can have it."
Kurt helped Blaine to sit up. Blaine slumped against Kurt and Kurt was forced to take his entire weight. Kurt reached for the glass and handed it to Blaine who uncharacteristically took it with his left hand and gulped down the water.
"Isood." He mumbled and closed his eyes. He became even heavier for Kurt to hold up.
"What?"
"Good." Blaine stated.
"Come on, sweets, let's get you to bed." Kurt said and made a motion for them to get up.
Blaine didn't move, and Kurt sighed. If this had been during the summer he had easily been able to scoop Blaine up and carried him to the couch. But Blaine's running and healthy eating had made wonders for his weight. Unfortunately for him now, when Kurt couldn't move him alone. He felt Blaine shiver in his sleep. Kurt placed his hand on Blaine's forehead. He was even warmer now. Kurt slowly eased Blaine down on the floor. He got a pillow and blanket from the couch for Blaine before he went upstairs and got his phone. He looked at the time, it was 3 am. He was at a loss what to do. He sat down on the last step and looked down on Blaine. He called Carole's number. She answered after the second ring.
"Blaine? Finn? Kurt?" She asked.
"It's Kurt. Sorry to wake you."
"What's wrong?" Carole was completely awake immediately.
"Blaine has a really high fever. He went to get some water and fell down the stairs. Now I can't get him to move from the floor."
"How high is the fever?" Carole's nursing skills also became awake.
"Don't know, we don't have a thermometer. He had a high fever earlier, but now it's even higher I think."
"Did he hurt anything when he fell?"
"Maybe his wrist, he used his left one to drink water, he has his right one pressed close to his body even now in his sleep."
"Okay, I think you have to go to the hospital. Kristen's there now, right?"
"Yes."
"Good, I'll call her; she can help you get him to the hospital. I'll drive as fast as I can and meet you at the hospital."
"Oh, Martin can help me with Blaine. You don't need to come, Carole."
"Martin? Like in Martin Hummel?"
"Ummh... Forget that I said that. It's the middle of the night. You must be dreaming."
"Okay... Of course I want to be there, Kurt, one of my sons is hurting."
"Okay, see you later."
Kurt hung up and went upstairs. He packed Blaine's backpack with some clothes, his phone, headphones, a book and his medicine. He quickly changed into Blaine's beloved one-piece when he heard the door open downstairs. He went down to see Martin bent over Blaine.
"Sorry, Mart, I kinda told Carole about you being here." Kurt said.
"No problem. It was me who answered the phone, Kristen sleeps like she's dead right now. She's starting the car now."
"Okay." Kurt nodded.
"Come on, bud, let's get you up off the floor." Martin said and easily lifted the sleeping Blaine from the floor. He whined at the movement but went still against Martin's body once he was off the floor.
"Man, he's even hotter now. Didn't he take Tylenol right before he went to bed?" Martin asked.
"Yeah..." Kurt said.
"Take the blanket, he'll be cold in the car."
They closed the door and made their way to the car. Kurt buckled himself in the backseat and held out his arms for Blaine. Martin sat him down next to Kurt and buckled the seatbelt. Kristen sat on the other side of Blaine. She reached over the sleeping boy in the middle and took Kurt's hand. She squeezed lightly.
"It will be fine." She said as Martin started driving towards the hospital.
They had to stop twice during the short ride for Kristen to throw up. After the second time, Martin helped her into the front seat, which seemed to help her.
"If I wasn't tired and worried, I'd find this a bit funny... Here we have a feverish Blaine who doesn't wake up for anything and then we have a puking Kristen... Poor child... He or she will be born into a strange family..." Kurt said.
Martin giggled at it and soon after Kristen joined him. When they arrived at the ER, the three of them were laughing to the point that they all had tears running down their cheeks. At the ER, they all became serious as Martin took Blaine in his arms and carried him inside with Kurt and Kristen following behind.
They were shown into an examination room immediately when the triage nurse took Blaine's temperature. Martin placed Blaine down on the gurney before he went out to park the car. A male doctor in his fifties entered the room.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Kolasa. What do we have here?" He turned to the nurse who arrived with him, a small female in her late twenties.
"Ummmh..." She stuttered. She seemed terrified as she read the papers about Blaine.
"This is Blaine Hummel." Kurt said. "He's running a high fever and he fell down the stairs."
Dr. Kolasa turned to face Kurt, he looked at him up and down.
"And you are?"
"I'm Kurt Hummel."
"So, you're his brother?"
Kurt opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. He caught the eye of the nurse who had been reading the papers about Blaine. She shook her head very lightly.
"You could say that." Kurt said, not liking the idea of lying.
The doctor opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Martin who entered the room.
"Oh, a doctor! Good! Hi, I'm Martin Hummel!"
"So, you're the father then?" The doctor asked before he turned to Blaine on the gurney.
"Uh, no, I'm his uncle." Martin explained.
"Okay, are you his mother?" The doctor asked Kristen who chose that time to, in panic, look around to find somewhere to throw up in.
She rushed to a garbage bin. When she was done, she looked up.
"No, I'm his aunt, his mom is on her way from Lima."
"Are you sick or is it him I should be examining?"
"I'm just pregnant, focus on Blaine." Kristen said and blushed.
"Right."
The doctor removed the blanket that covered Blaine. He held out his hand to the nurse.
"What do you want?" She asked in a soft tone.
"A thermometer, obviously." He snapped at her, making Kurt flinch.
"Oh." She said and handed it to him.
He shook his head while he took Blaine's temperature.
"105.4" He said and the nurse wrote it down.
"Hey, kid, I need to examine you. Are you awake?" The doctor shook Blaine roughly which made Kurt rise from his chair to protect Blaine. Kristen held him back.
"Blaine?"
He shook him even harder which triggered some memory in Blaine's foggy mind.
"Noooo! Don't touch me!" Blaine screamed and opened his eyes wide and he started to backing away from what his mind thought was his father.
As he backed on the narrow gurney, he soon came to its end and fell down. Martin was fast and caught him before he hit the floor. Kurt got up and this time Kristen didn't stop him as he headed to the screaming boy in Martin's arms.
"What's wrong with him?" The doctor asked.
"Okay, we need to have a female doctor. He can't stand to be touched or examined by a male doctor. I thought it would work, but obviously it doesn't." Kristen said, getting up on her feet and staring at the doctor.
"You can't ask for that, this is an emergency room, you have to take what you get." The doctor said.
"Then we have to go to another hospital." Martin said and they started making their way out off the room.
"Wait, I'll get our female doctor." The nurse said.
She flinched as she looked up at the doctor but didn't change her mind. The doctor left the room without another word. The nurse turned to them.
"I'm so, so sorry. I'm AnnaMaria. I'm a nurse here." She said.
"It's not your fault." Kristen said to her with a smile.
"But still... I'll get Dr. Smith for you."
She left the room. Martin put Blaine down on the gurney again. Together with Kurt they had managed to stop his panic. He was back in the land of unconsciousness. Kurt tucked the blanket around him and sat down on the chair next to Blaine. He took his hand and stroked his hair. Martin sat down next to Kristen and placed his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. The nurse returned.
"She's busy right now, but I'm gonna take some vital signs and hook him up on an IV."
Kurt nodded. He didn't let go of Blaine's hand while she took his blood pressure, checked his pulse and measured the oxygen level in his blood. She put in an IV line and took some blood tests before she hung fluid up for him. She turned on the oxygen in the wall and put a tube under his nose.
"He's running a really high fever, so I've put some fluids on. The oxygen level in his blood is a bit low, so I gave him some extra oxygen. His blood pressure is low, the fluids will help with that as well. His heart is working really hard at the moment, but that's as expected. You said he fell down some stairs?"
"Yes, he went to get water in the middle of the night. I didn't wake up until he hit the floor. He didn't want to use his right hand afterwards."
"I'm guessing you're not really brothers?" She said with a smile while she removed the blanket to be able to examine him.
Kurt looked at her at a moment before answering.
"No, not really. But, it's kinda complicated, we have the same last name and my parents are his guardians."
"Okay, I won't ask any more." She said and smiled at him. She turned to Blaine. "Blaine, I'm gonna touch your arms and hands now."
She took his left arm and squeezed lightly from his shoulder down to this hand. He didn't react to this. She put it down and slowly stretched his right arm which he had pressed close to his body. He whined immediately when she started moving it, and she let it be. She put it back against his body and pulled the blanket over him.
"We have to take some x-rays of his arm. I'm gonna talk to the doctor. I'll be back soon. Press the red button if you need anything." She said and pointed to said button.
She left the room and Kurt returned to the chair at Blaine's side.
Sometime later the door opened again. Carole stepped in with a face laced with worry. She took in the room; Blaine fast asleep under a blanket with an empty IV bag hooked to him. Next to his face was Kurt's head, he was asleep. At the wall was her sister, leaning on Burt's brother. They too were asleep. She went up to Blaine and took his chart and read his vitals. She frowned when she read how high his fever was and when she saw his blood pressure and oxygen level. She went to the head of the bed and placed a hand on his forehead. He was still burning up. She pressed the red button she knew was to alert personal. Before long a nurse entered the room.
"Hi, you're new. I'm AnnaMaria, I'm a nurse here."
"Hi, I'm Carole. I'm his mom."
"Oh, you must have set some kind of record driving down here from Lima, huh?"
"Well, my kid is sick, that goes before traffic laws."
AnnaMaria chuckled.
"So, we are waiting for an x-ray and for a doctor. I'm gonna change the bag of fluid."
"Has he gotten any antipyretic?" Carole asked.
"In the business I guess?" AnnaMaria smiled at her. "No, not before he has seen a doctor."
"Yeah, I'm a nurse as well. When do you think the doctor will be here?"
"Not long now. You're the next on her list."
"Oh, good."
AnnaMaria changed the fluid while Carole kneeled before Kristen. She shook her lightly, but she didn't react, instead Martin woke and looked at her.
"Hi." She said.
"Carole!" He said and turned to Kristen. "Honey? Carole's here!" He shook her and she slowly opened her eyes.
"Honey?" Carole asked Martin who blushed.
They both turned to Kristen who moaned and started getting towards the garbage can again. AnnaMaria was prepared this time and handed her a bag designed to puke in. Kristen smiled to her before she dry heaved. The sound woke Kurt who sat up and looked at Blaine. When she was done she threw away the bag.
"Thanks." She said to AnnaMaria.
"No problem, when my wife was pregnant, she threw up from day one until our two sons were born." She turned to Kurt and gave him a smile, letting him know she wasn't thinking anything about him and Blaine.
"Pregnant?" Carole's voice went up a couple of octaves.
Kristen blushed and AnnaMaria opened her mouth to apologize.
"Blaine Hummel?" A female doctor entered the room.
"Yes!" Kurt said and straightened up.
"High fever, not able to hold his oxygen level at an okay level by himself and a wrist he won't let us touch?" She said and turned to AnnaMaria who nodded.
"And a pregnant woman, a confused sister and a fiancé who is extremely worried." Martin added.
"Okay, the last parts aren't really something I think I'm able to fix, but I think I can help Blaine. We'll start with x-rays and take it from there."
Carole nodded and the doctor left the room.
"I'm so sorry." AnnaMaria said.
"No problem, really, you couldn't know!" Kristen smiled to her. "How about this, I stay here with Carole, and Martin and Kurt go and find us some breakfast while Blaine is being x-rayed?"
They all nodded, Kurt pressed a kiss on Blaine's hot forehead.
"Right; pneumonia, a broken rib and a broken wrist." Dr. Smith stated some hours later. "He needs to be hospitalized to get some IV antibiotics. And his wrist needs some surgery to be set straight."
"Poor Blainey." Kurt said and stroked Blaine's hair.
"I just wanted to check with you if you're aware that almost every rib has been broken before? We could clearly see healed fractured on everyone except one or two."
"We're well aware." Carole said and stroked Blaine's hair. "He hasn't been in our family that long. In May we were at the ER in Lima with broken ribs and a broken foot. After that we got custody over him."
"Okay, good he's in good hands now. I guess the healed ribs are the reason a rib broke now. If we had the same fall, we would have bruised our ribs, but not necessarily broken them."
"Oh, I see." Carole nodded.
"Okay, I'll go and get a bed for him."
"Thank you!" Carole said when she turned to leave the room.
She paused in the doorway and turned back to Kristen.
"I heard my darling wife opened her mouth about your pregnancy, I'm so sorry about that, she didn't mean to do it. She's been kicking herself all night because of it. I'm really sorry." She said and left the room.