Chapter Six

For the first time since he left home, Blaine slept without dreaming.

Blaine opened his eyes to a completely unknown, alien place. All around him there were strange noises, beeping and constant lowered voices. It was too bright, everything was too bright, and everything hurt. He could hardly see, there were shapes around him – blue shapes, they were making the noises, but he didn't know what they were. Suddenly the noise magnified. It felt like someone had split his head open; he groaned and shut his eyes again, trying to cut out the painful sounds.

'Honey? You need to open your eyes. Just relax, you're okay.' An unfamiliar, soft voice was speaking to him, quieter than the rest of the noises but so much easier to hear. Blaine forced his eyes open again, blinking as his vision started to focus.

A hospital. That was where he was. Memories flashed back; him running away from his father after a particularly bad night, him getting into a car full of drunks, his beautiful angel – 'K-Kurt. I need Kurt.' Even his voice hurt.

'We need to run a few tests first. Can you tell me how many fingers I'm holding up?'

'Four but I'm fine, I need to find him. Where are we? Where is this? I need to get to Lima.' The nurses were trying to quiet him but he needed to know if Kurt was okay, they didn't understand, they didn't know what he meant to him. Not even Kurt knew what he meant to him.

'Sweetheart, you're in Lima. You've been incredibly lucky; apart from bruising and a mild concussion you seem to be perfectly fine. We'll keep you in hospital for the rest of the day, just to make sure there isn't a problem we haven't noticed, but soon you'll be free to go home! Now, we don't have you registered in this hospital, can you please tell us the phone number of your guardian or emergency contact so we can notify them?'

Lima. He was in Lima.

There was no way he could tell them his father's number. For a start, he would never come to Lima to pick Blaine up, and Blaine, of course, didn't want to go back to getting beaten half to death each night; he needed to stay in Lima and he needed to find Kurt. Kurt was his only chance of a happy life. And he didn't even know if Kurt existed. He couldn't explain to them that he had no guardian, not anymore. He was a minor. They would send him to foster care.

'Kurt. Do you know a Kurt? He lives in Lima. He goes to McKinley High. He looks like an angel and he talks like an angel and he sings like an angel, he is an angel and I need to find him. He – he's my emergency contact. Guardian. Guardian angel, whatever but he's all I have.' The nurse with the soft voice looked at him, strangely.

'You know Kurt? Kurt Hummel?'

'I don't know! I just know that he's Kurt. I met him about a week ago. His eyes are like an exploding star? He has an amazing fashion sense-'

'Yes, that's… that's Kurt.'

He was real. Kurt was real. Blaine felt light, lighter than a feather, lighter than a bubble. He finally had something solid to hold onto. Kurt wasn't just a dream. He had no idea how this had happened, how he had met someone while he was sleeping but he had, and that the important bit. He had met Kurt.

'Please, can you tell me where he is? I need to find him.'

The nurse was still frowning at him, confused. 'See, that's the funny thing. Kurt hasn't been awake for about a week and a half. How did you meet him while he was in a coma?'

A coma. That was why Kurt never left the dream world. Until that one night… which would have been when he woke up. But what if he hadn't left because he woke up? What if he had died?

'Honey…? Calm down, it's okay.' Blaine hadn't even been aware that tears were streaming down his face, he didn't even care; what if this was the end of all his hope, what if there was no Kurt anymore? 'Sweetheart, it's okay! He woke up last night; he's okay. You can see him in hospital if you want.'

He's okay. Kurt was okay.

'I need to see him. Now.'

It felt like the elevator took forever to go up a few floors, after Blaine had finally convinced them to let him see Kurt. He stumbled across to the door that he knew had Kurt through it.

He was going to see his angel at last. Frantic thoughts flooded his mind – would Kurt remember him? What if Kurt didn't even want to know Blaine, now that he had his friends and family back? What if he was just trying to pass the time?

Blaine walked into the room, finally looking at the person he loved in the real world.

'Wh- Blaine!' A gorgeous smile broke out on Kurt's face, making him ten times more beautiful than he was already.

Finally Blaine let himself believe. He had found him.

'Oh. There you are. I've been looking for you forever.'