Blaine, 2007

            Blaine was 13 years old when his mother first brought him to work. A well-known paediatric surgeon, she was consistently on call, which was horribly inconvenient, especially when her beeper went off right in the middle of driving Blaine to his much awaited guitar lesson in Westerville. Unfortunately, the hospital managed to page his mother before they had even reached the city lines.

            “I’m sorry Blaine, but it looks like I won’t be able to bring you to your guitar lesson today. You’re going to have to come to the hospital with me right now. I don’t have time to drop you off at home, it’s an emergency.”

Blaine’s heart sank. He had been looking forward to this guitar lesson ever since he self-taught himself the chords to The Beatles’ “Let it Be”. He knew his teacher Nick would be super proud of him for learning a song on his own. Now he wouldn’t even be able to show him, at least for a couple more weeks. Blaine’s dad had been in the Philippines for the last two weeks to develop a new business venture and he wasn’t planning to come home until the deal is finalized. Knowing his father’s business, it could be several weeks until he was home, and as his mother’s hectic work schedule prevented her from planning lessons, Blaine knew it would be several more weeks before he would see Nick again. And while Blaine was fine with staying home alone, he wasn’t fine with being brought to the hospital. What was he expected to do at the hospital while his mother was operating?

Blaine angled his body toward the car window as an act of silent sulking. He knew it was dangerous to actually say anything to his mother, especially when she was practically speeding down the highway, already plotting her upcoming surgery in her head. Blaine didn’t trust his emotions either. He figured staying silent was a lot better than discussing the issue with his mother. Blaine cried easily when he was angry or frustrated and he knew his mother wasn’t willing to deal with her brooding teenage son. Blaine sighed; his mother just didn’t understand how happy these guitar lessons made him. He didn’t really have as many friends at school anymore as he did before he joined the school play and most of the boys in his class started picking on him because they thought he was gay. Well…Blaine is gay, but he has only come out to his parents. His guitar lessons and his books are really the only things that keep him going lately.

Blaine’s mother pulled into the special Doctors Only parking lot and bolts out of the car. Before Blaine can catch up with her, he grabbed his guitar from the back seat. There was no way Blaine would leave his precious instrument in the car, where anyone could break in and steal it. Not that it was very common, but he wasn’t willing to take any chances. He entered the hospital lobby, with a woosh of the sliding doors. His mother waited impatiently for him, frowning when he appeared no less than 30 seconds behind her.

“Blaine, there’s no time to waste here, okay? Come on, let’s go.” She swivelled on her heels, flashing her ID card to the security guard at the front desk.

“This is my son. I didn’t have time to drop him off at home because I was paged for emergency surgery. Can you whip him up a visitor’s badge and then send him up to Paediatrics? I can’t wait any longer,” said his mother to the security guard. He nodded in response.

“Blaine, honey, I need to go. I’ll call the nursing station on the floor and tell them you’re coming up. They’ll give you something to do, I’m sure. I’ll see you later okay? Hopefully this won’t take too long.” Blaine’s mother kissed him swiftly on the forehead and was gone before Blaine even registered the scent of Chanel No. 5 and the fast-paced click of her Jimmy Choo’s on the linoleum, as she made her way to the OR.

“Here, kid.” The security guard held up a bright green lanyard, with the words Lima Memorial Hospital proclaimed in big black letters. A card that said “Visitor” hung from it.

“Now, sign here and make sure you return your badge before you leave”. Blaine scribbled his name on the clipboard that the guard held out.

“So, your mom wants you to go to the Paediatrics floor. Go down this hallway and you’ll see a set of elevators on your left. Take the elevator up to Floor 5; the Nurse’s Station is right off the elevator. Go talk to one of the nurses, I’m sure they’ll figure out something to do with you.”

“Thanks,” Blaine said quietly. He turned to walk away, his converse sneakers squeaking on the linoleum.

“Wait, kid!” Blaine stopped and turned towards the guard.

“Make sure to use some of the hand sanitizer before you go up to the floor, or even as soon as you get off the elevator. The hospital is real strict about using that stuff, trying to prevent the spread of germs and stuff, especially around the little kids.”

Blaine made his way to the elevators, adjusting the strap of his guitar case on his shoulder. He squeezes some of the hand sanitizer into his hands as he passes the dispenser and rubs it into his hands for at least 15 seconds, just like his mother taught him. Blaine presses the “Up” button with his elbow and waits for the doors to open. The doors on the right open with a DING and Blaine enters, pressing the button numbered 5. Blaine closes his eyes; he’s never been incredibly fond of elevators. When the doors open, Blaine is shocked from the brightness of the floor. Handmade paper crafts and coloured streamers are hanging from every surface. The walls were coloured a lovely light blue and fluffy painted white clouds trailed along the hallways.

Blaine approaches the Nurse’s Station, smack dab in the center of the floor. Before he could say anything, a curly haired nurse lifts her head up from writing in a binder, “You must be Blaine!”

Blaine jumps, startled from the outburst.

“I am Blaine…how did you know that?” Blaine tilts his head in confusion.

“Your mom just called up from the Operating Room. We don’t get many teenage boys visitors, toting around guitars either. Plus, you have your mom’s hair.”

Blaine subconsciously rubs a hand through the mop of long brown curls on his head.

“We’re pretty quiet right now, a lot of the kids are either having a nap or they have visitors, so I’m afraid there’s not much for you to do. However, feel free to take a seat in the lounge. There are a lot of books and magazines lying around. If you’re lucky, the TV might be free!”

“Thanks,” Blaine mumbles, shuffling his feet towards the room. He is still feeling pretty down about missing his lessons. He wonders if maybe he could practice a little without disturbing anyone. Blaine removes his guitar from his shoulder and unzips the case. The room is empty, so Blaine hopes that as long as he plays quietly, he won’t disturb any of the patients or the nurses.

Blaine begins to pick out random chords, warming up. He has his practice booklet in his case, so he figured he might start on learning a new song to show Nick when he manages to schedule another lesson. As Blaine quietly begins to play, a loud cry coming from the hallway interrupts him.

“NO, MOMMY, NO! I don’t want you to leave, please don’t leave!” A little boy no more than 4 years old is tugging a tiny IV pole behind him, stumbling after his mother. Blaine approves of the Spiderman underwear that peeks out of the little gap in his gown. The boy’s mother stopped and crouched down to look her little boy in his tear-filled eyes.

“Hayden, honey, I’m sorry but you know I have to go to work. I wish I could stay with you all day, but I promise you only have to be here for a few more days. Mommy needs to work so she can make sure the doctors fix you right up. Daddy is going to be here in a couple of hours, as soon as he finishes work. Maybe if you ask nicely, one of the nurses can read you a story or something, okay?” Hayden’s mother gives him a gentle hug, presses a kiss to his forehead and stands to leave. The little boy stands still, realizing he can’t actually follow his mommy. When his mother steps into the open doors of the elevator and blows him a quick kiss before the doors close, Hayden plops down on the floor. He’s not facing Blaine, but Blaine can see his tiny shoulders shaking and he can hear the soft noises of the boy’s crying.

Blaine looks out at the Nurse’s Station and he can’t see anybody. Blaine doesn’t know what to do. He feels this need to comfort the little boy; he reminds him of himself a little. After a few minutes of waiting for a nurse to appear, he puts his guitar down and approaches Hayden.

“Hey, little man. Are you okay?” Blaine crouches down to the boy.

The boy looks up. “Who are you?”

“I’m Blaine, who are you?”

“Hayden. I’M FOUR!” He holds up four fingers to show Blaine.

“That’s awesome little man! Hey, why don’t you stop crying and come sit with me for a little while. I can even play you a special song if you want!” Blaine says cheerily, trying to make Hayden smile.

“A special song, just for me?” says Hayden, softly.

“Of course! Come on!” Blaine stands up and holds his hand out to the little boy, offering to help him up. He leads him over to the lounge and sits down on the couch, leaving space for the little boy next to him. Blaine hands Hayden the practice book.

“Okay, your job is to pick a song in this book and I’ll try to play it for you, okay?”

Hayden nods excitedly and quickly begins flipping through the pages.