Kurt closed the kitchen door behind him and joined his father in the living room. Burt had turned on the television, but Kurt could tell he wasn’t paying attention to the muted ice hockey game.  He dropped down on the couch next to his dad and let his head fall on the older man’s shoulder. 

“How’s it going in there?” Burt asked quietly, draping his arm around Kurt’s shoulder.

“I don’t know. She sent me out. I’m guessing it’s probably to examine him in … to examine his…” Kurt felt himself blush from embarrassment “his private areas.” He continued quickly. “There are bruises and whip marks everywhere and he’s so thin, dad, he looks like he’s about to collapse any minute.”

“Is that why you got him?” Burt frowned at his son. Kurt shook his head.

“Someone gave him syphilis, they were gonna kill him right there. They had him on the ground and” Kurt paused, taking a deep breath, he felt sick “and one of them was going to stick a needle in him. I had to get him, dad.” His voice broke, the image was too fresh and too vivid in his mind. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

Burt’s arm tightened around Kurt pulling him in closer.

“You did good, son.” He whispered, pressing a kiss on the top of Kurt’s head. “We’ll keep him here for now, set up the guest room for him.”

Kurt sighed in relief. He hadn’t doubted that his father would allow him to keep Blaine, but he had been worried that his father would insist on sending Blaine to the garage, where the other slaves who were currently in the Hudson-Hummel’s possession lived. Burt had converted the second story of the building into a huge apartment that the slaves shared. Most of them had their own rooms and they all shared a big bathroom and a small kitchen. Carole and Burt brought groceries and other things by twice a week so they could look after themselves and be at peace there.

While Kurt liked the other slaves and trusted them, he felt personally responsible for Blaine and wanted to keep him close. He wanted to be the one to take care of Blaine, to make sure that he would get better.

“Kurt, would you mind coming back in for a bit?” Doctor Holland called from the kitchen 5 minutes later. He was up in a flash, leaving his dad on the couch. 

Blaine had drawn his knees up to his chest (Kurt wondered if he position was hurting him) and had his face buried in the palms of his hand. “What’s going on?” He asked the doctor urgently.

She sighed, looking over at Blaine with a pained expression on her face. “I’m afraid Blaine isn’t very fond of needles. I have to draw some blood to test for sexually transmitted infections again.” She added at Kurt’s confused look “Maybe you could try to calm him down a bit, I don’t want to have to sedate him.”

Kurt nodded gravely, pulling up a chair in front of Blaine once more and sat down.

“Blaine?” his voice was soft enough not to startle the other boy. “Look at me, please?” Blaine’s hands dropped immediately, revealing his pale face and tear streaked cheeks.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t… I’m…”

“You have nothing to be sorry for”, Kurt assured him. “Did Dr. Holland explain what the needle is for?” He asked. Blaine nodded, his eyes darting towards the doctor uncertainly.

“I promise this is not a trick or something, this is just so you can get better. We need to see how long you’ve been infected with this STD, so the doctor can treat you properly. The needle is going to sting, but it’ll be over fast and then you can put your clothes back on and we can get you something to eat. Does that sound okay?” Blaine’s eyes fixed on him intently as he nodded.

“You’ve done very well so far.” Kurt praised, he extended his hand to Blaine “How about you take my hand and look at me while Doctor Holland draws some blood from your…arm?” He asked looking at the doctor who nodded in response.

Blaine looked uncertain, but he tentatively inched his hand towards Kurt’s until their palms were touching, just barely. Kurt wrapped his fingers around Blaine’s hand slowly, giving the other boy plenty of time to pull away. 

“You know, when I had to get shots when I was little my dad always used to tell me about…”

Blaine yelped and tore his hand from Kurt’s with so much force that it almost sent him flying off the other end of the exam table when Doctor Holland swabbed his arm with disinfectant.

“Please! No! Oh god, please don’t!” Fresh tears were spilling down his cheeks. He curled up into a fetal position on the table as if to shield himself from blows that wouldn’t come. Kurt’s heart broke for him and he exchanged a helpless glance with Doctor Holland.

An idea shot through his mind and on a whim Kurt rolled up his sleeve, hoping with all his heart that this would work.

“Doctor Holland? Would you mind drawing a vial of my blood as well?” Kurt asked. Doctor Holland frowned for a moment before catching on.

“Of course, no problem at all.” She said. “How about you sit down on the table?”

Kurt did as she told him, sitting in a way that gave Blaine a clear few at his outstretched arm. The boy met his glance, his eyes wide. “Would you like to watch?” Kurt asked conversationally “It’s not that bad, I swear. I’ve had blood drawn before, it’s a little unpleasant, but I promise it won’t be too bad.”

“The sling is used to make the vein bulge so the doctor can see where to put the needle.” He explained. He wasn’t sure whether that was really the reason, but he decided  that it would probably be best to give Blaine a running commentary of what was happening, so he could see that they weren’t going to harm him.

“The swab is to disinfect the area where the needle’s going to go in.” Kurt said, his eyes fixed on Blaine while Blaine’s where fixed on Kurt’s arm.

Kurt didn’t as much feel the needle going in as he could see it on Blaine’s face. The boy’s eyes were wide in horror.  That is, until he looked up at Kurt’s calm face. Kurt smiled at him reassuringly “It doesn’t really hurt, I promise. “ The look on Blaine’s face was unreadable. He averted his gaze back to Kurt’s arm and uncurled from his position slightly to get a better look, watching the vial fill with Kurt’s blood. When it was full enough the doctor removed the needle and immediately pressed a piece of gauze to the place it had been in. Kurt took a hold of it and pressed down hard. “This is so the wound doesn’t keep bleeding. It’ll stop in a minute.” Kurt explained.

“Si-Kurt… I think I can do … that.” Blaine whispered.

“Really?” Kurt asked smiling brightly when Blaine nodded carefully.

And he did. After the doctor had replaced Kurt’s gauze with a band aid a few minutes later Blaine was sitting on the edge of the exam table once more, holding his arm out bravely.

He didn’t watch the doctor draw his blood though, his eyes were fixed on Kurt who told him about how his dad used to distract him when he had to get shots as a little boy. Kurt wasn’t sure whether or not Blaine was actually listening to his story, but it didn’t matter because the boy was holding onto his hand and looking at him as though Kurt had hung the moon in the sky for him.