A few minutes later Kurt guided Blaine into the kitchen, where Burt and Dr. Holland were waiting for them at the table. Kurt had met Dr. Holland on multiple occasions, mainly whenever Burt had brought a new slave home. She was a nice lady in her early 40’s, her blonde hair was always pulled into a loose bun and she was always friendly. Not just to Kurt and his family, but to the slaves as well in just the same way. Although she had never explicitly expressed her opinion on slavery to Kurt, he was certain she shared his belief. Burt Hummel would never let someone who didn’t and was therefore a potential danger near his slaves.

The doctor had set up a portable examination table next to the kitchen table. When she noticed them she got up to greet them.

“Hello Kurt, good to see you again”, she shook his hand before turning to the boy who was almost hiding behind Kurt.

“And you must be Blaine, hi, it’s good to meet you. I’m Dr. Holland.” Her smile was warm. “Now Burt here tells me that you’ve been hurt, so if you would like me to, I’d like to have a look at you. Would that be alright with you?” She asked Blaine, Kurt noticed that the other boy didn’t seem nearly as frightened of her as he had been when Kurt had first mentioned a doctor. Kurt had always thought she had a talent of putting people at ease.

Blaine nodded in answer of her question. “Would you sit down on my table for me?” She offered her hand to help him, but he didn’t take it, choosing instead to crawl onto the exam table on his own.

“Very good! Thank you, Blaine.” The doctor praised. “Would you like to do this examination alone or would you like Kurt and Burt to stay?” She asked. Blaine bit his lip. Kurt could tell he was uncertain whether he actually had a choice here. He looked towards Burt and then at Kurt pleadingly. Kurt wasn’t sure how to interpret this, but apparently Burt did.

“I’ll just wait in the living room” the older Hummel man said, he gently placed a hand on Kurt’s shoulder as he passed him and left the kitchen.

“Now, I’m going to examine you, if that’s alright with you Blaine, but I’d like to take care of anything that’s causing you immediate pain first. I can see you have a black eye, but that’s already healing. Not much we can do about that right now, but I will write you a prescription for a salve that’ll help the bruising heal faster. Your lip doesn’t need to be stitched, we’ll disinfect it and put some ointment on it later and then cover it with a little Vaseline, so you can eat without worrying about getting it infected. Can you tell me if anything else is hurting you?” Blaine looked from her to Kurt in distress, his eyes finally settling on Kurt again. “Or maybe Kurt can help us out a little?” She asked.

“Oh erm… yeah, sure”, Kurt said, startled to be addressed. He thought for a moment, not sure where to start. “There are whip marks on his back, those must be really painful.” He began. The doctor nodded and turned back to Blaine. “Would it be okay if I looked at those?” She asked.

“Of course, Madam”, Blaine seemed to have found his voice again and unbuttoned his pajama top immediately.

“Please lay down on your stomach for me.” The doctor instructed him when he was done, Blaine obeyed.

Dr. Holland examined the welts and cuts for a while before telling the boys that none of them are infected yet. “I’ll have to clean the cuts before I can apply ointment and bandages, it will probably sting and hurt. Would you like Kurt to hold your hand, Blaine?” She asked.

Blaine didn’t react. Kurt couldn’t see his face from where he was still standing near the door, but he could see the boy tense. Making up his own mind Kurt pulled up a chair next to the exam table so he was seated at the level of Blaine’s head. He hoped it was the right decision, but Blaine hadn’t even asked him for toothpaste, Kurt suspected he would probably not ask for this even if he wanted it.

Kurt held out his hand for Blaine, the other boy looked at it in disbelief at first, but when Dr. Holland started dabbing Blaine’s first cut with antiseptic he latched onto it, biting his lip as he waited for Kurt’s reaction. Kurt just smiled at him encouragingly and brought his other hand up to caress the back of Blaine’s hand.

Blaine relaxed a little, Kurt could tell that the antiseptic was hurting him, but the slave boy looked almost at ease now. Kurt continued to run his thumb softly over Blaine’s hand as the other boy closed his eyes, letting the doctor work.

When she was done she asked Blaine to sit up so she could have a look at the rest of his torso. She listened to his lungs and his heart and wrote up another ointment for the bruises on his torso in her prescription pad. She patted down his ribcage and his arms, feeling for cracked and broken bones.

“Have you had your ribs broken before?” She asked Blaine. The boy nodded.

“Kurt, would you mind bringing Blaine by my office sometime this week? I’d like to take an x-ray of his chest and one of his left upper arm to see if they’ve healed well enough on their own.” Kurt agreed as the doctor asked Blaine if he was wearing underwear and Kurt was glad he had given him a pair of his own boxers earlier.

Blaine removed his pajama pants when Dr. Holland asked him to and sat back down, his legs dangling from the examination table. He bit his lip when a whimper escaped them.

“What’s wrong, dear?” Dr. Holland asked in concern, looking up from where she was exchanging the surgical gloves that had been stained slightly by the cuts on Blaine’s back for new ones.

“I’m sorry, Madam,” Blaine apologized, “Please, what’s wrong with my legs?” Kurt could see the boy shaking slightly.

Dr Holland put on her second glove and sat down on a second chair next to Kurt’s, right in front of Blaine’s dangling legs. She carefully prodded the swollen knee and then gently laid her hand on Blaine’s lower leg.

“It’s called prepatellar bursitis, but it’s more commonly known as slave’s knee. It’s caused by kneeling for extended periods of time. It doesn’t seem infected, so for now I just want you to stay off your knees. If the swelling hasn’t gone down in a week I’ll have a look at it again and we’ll discuss it further, but you’ll be alright, I promise.”

Blaine visibly relaxed at her words and even gave her a smile.

“Dr. Holland, the traders said that Blaine had been diagnosed with syphilis”, Kurt had almost forgotten the reason Blaine had been in the situation he found him in, because his visible injuries overshadowed everything in Kurt’s mind. Blaine’s face had gone pale.

The doctor frowned and nodded. “Would you step outside for the rest of this examination, Kurt?” She asked. “I’ll give you an update afterwards, I promise.” Kurt nodded and stepped outside, but not before giving Blaine a reassuring smile.

Author’s note: The condition is actually better known as “Housemaid’s knee”, but I figured in this particular alternate universe housemaids don’t really exist, people have slaves for that.