Kurt (Present, Winter, 2010)

            Kurt Hummel is an idiot. While others may disagree, he was pretty convinced seeing as he was sitting alone in the Lima Memorial Hospital Emergency Room, cradling his left arm close to his chest and trying to ignore the steady pain emanating from his swollen wrist. He knew better than this, he knew.

            His dad, Carole and Finn had left two days earlier to stay the weekend in Columbus with Carole’s parents. Kurt begged his dad to let him stay home as he was expected to attend the most anticipated Sixteenth birthday bash of Miss Santana Lopez. Santana’s birthday was close to New Year’s Eve and every year she promised to throw a bigger and better party to outshine the parties going on around the world just two days later. Plus, Santana’s parents always managed to shower their daughter and her guests with lavish gifts and party favours, as a favour to her for having her so late in the year. Being the youngest of her family and of her group of friends, Santana always managed to get whatever she wanted. Kurt didn’t even try to figure out how she managed to convince her parents that she deserved whatever popped into her mind because they conceived her at an inconvenient time.

            In the middle of the party, which really just ended up being highly exaggerated, Kurt noticed that it had started to snow lightly outside. Santana’s lavish Sweet Sixteen birthday party was really just a get together with all of the girls from New Directions, plus Kurt. All of the girls were planning to sleep over at Santana’s and giving each other manicures, pedicures and homemade facials. Kurt wished he could join in, but he promised his dad he wouldn’t be out of the house for too long, especially not overnight as a precautionary measure.* Kurt was sitting in the living room with all of the girls from Glee club watching Hairspray when Santana’s mom entered the room.

            “Kurt, cariño*, the roads are starting to look a little messy and the wind is picking up. I know you weren’t planning to sleep over tonight and the party hasn’t really even started, but I would feel better if you left now before the roads get even worse. There’s supposed to be freezing rain and hail tonight and I’m sure your Papi* wouldn’t want you to be driving in the middle of a blizzard.”

            Kurt sighed, he knew Señora* Lopez had her best intentions at heart and wanted him to be safe, but he was reluctant to leave the party before he got one of Mercedes’ famous manicures. Kurt looked outside the window and shuddered. Snow was beginning to fall rapidly and the sky looked a little grayer than it had before. Kurt decided that it was best that he left before the weather got any worse. He gave a goodbye hug and kiss on the cheek to all of the girls before he left, making sure to wish Santana, yet again, a very happy birthday. Kurt made his way to his Navigator, stepping carefully to ensure he didn’t slip on the slick driveway. After Kurt cleaned the snow off his windows with the brush he kept in his backseat, Kurt plugged his iPod in and slowly made his way home.

            The next morning, Kurt decided he wanted to make an omelette for breakfast and clean up the kitchen a little bit. He went up to his bedroom to look for his iPod,* knowing he always worked best when his Broadway playlist was piping through his speakers. However, his iPod was nowhere to be found. When he looked in all the places he normally kept it and couldn’t find a trace of it, he started to panic. Normally, Kurt’s iPod was practically surgically attached to his body, but he couldn’t seem to find it anywhere in the house. As Kurt glanced over every surface in his bedroom (for what felt like the tenth time) his eyes hit the bright pink gift bag that contained all the wonderful goodies Santana gave away as favours at her party. Suddenly it clicked in his mind that the last time he listened to his iPod was last night in the car on his way home from Santana’s.

            Kurt threw on his new Marc Jacobs peacoat (50% off, thanks to the post-holiday sales*) pulled on his boots and trekked out into the snow towards his Navigator in the driveway. The Navigator was covered in at least ten inches of snow and ice. Kurt unlocked the doors, carefully making his way to the driver’s side door. Kurt didn’t bother attempting to scrape off the solid mixture of ice and snow stuck to the door (and every surface of his car). With one strong tug of the handle, the door popped open. Kurt spotted his iPod in the space underneath the stereo and grabbed it, clutching his most prized possession to his chest and then slipping it into his coat pocket. Exiting the car and closing the car door, Kurt was trying to decide which ingredients he wanted to put in his omelette, when suddenly Kurt’s right foot was slipping on a hidden patch of ice. Before Kurt could even register that he was falling forward, he subconsciously held his arms out before he slammed into the pavement. The first thing Kurt noticed after hitting the ground was a shooting pain going up his left arm and the stinging of his palms and kneecaps. Kurt subconsciously lifted the pressure off his left arm and balanced his weight on his other limbs, effectively muting the pain.  Tears sprung to his eyes when Kurt realized that the pain in his arm was stemming from his rapidly swelling wrist and the pain wasn’t fading like the stinging from his palms and kneecaps. In fact, it seemed like the pain was getting worse.

            Kurt turns and sits on the wet ground, cradling his arm to his chest.

            Shit, shit, what did I do? What did I do? I can’t believe that just happened. I’m an idiot, what did I just do? Kurt could barely think straight and his eyes were blurry with unshed tears. Kurt blinked rapidly and willed himself to calm down just a little because it seemed like his heart was trying to beat right out of his chest. The slushy mess on the driveway was starting to seep into the bum of Kurt’s jeans and he realized that maybe he should get up before he’s stuck with wet underwear.

            I’ll call Dad and Carole, they’ll know what to do, they always know what to do.

            Kurt took a deep breath and gripped onto the side of his car with his right hand, trying to help himself up without slipping again. Thankfully, he managed to get himself up on two feet and cautiously make his way to the front door and into the house. Kurt does everything he can to ignore the searing pain in his wrist as he enters the house and reaches for the phone that Carole kept in the foyer. Kurt dialled his father’s cell phone number, memorized by heart and hoped he would pick up.

             “Scooter? Is everything okay?” filled Kurt’s ear. Just the sound of his dad’s voice made Kurt break down into tears.

            “D-daddy?” Kurt tried to stay calm so he could talk to his dad, but it seems like all of the emotions he should have felt as soon as he realized he was injured were rushing to the surface and he was practically sobbing into the phone.

            “Kurt, you need to calm down and tell me what happened right now,” Burt said, his voice filled with worry.

            Kurt took several deep breaths, attempting to calm himself down.

            “I don’t know what I did dad. I went outside to get something from my car and I slipped and fell on the ice. Now my wrist is red and swollen and I don’t know if it’s broken but it hurts even if I move it a millimetre. It hurts so much, Daddy, I don’t know what to do.” Kurt let out a sob, squeezing his eyes shut.

            “Hey, buddy, it’s okay. I’m going to go get Carole, okay?” his dad said soothingly in his ear. Kurt could hear rustling on the other end of the phone and his dad’s muffled voice talking to Carole.

            “Kurt, honey, what happened?” said Carole, concerned as she came onto the phone.

            “I slipped and fell on some ice when I went out to get something from my car. We had a huge storm last night and I was distracted and I wasn’t watching myself. I slipped and I broke my fall with my hands. I think I broke my wrist Carole, but I’ve never broken a bone before. Do you think maybe it’s just a really bad sprain?”

            “Well, tell me what kind of symptoms you have.”

            Kurt repeated to Carole what he has told his Dad. Carole clucked her tongue in his ear.

            “Sounds like a break honey. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. It doesn’t sound too bad. You’ll have to go to the hospital to get it checked out though”.

            “How am I supposed to do that? I don’t think I can drive with one hand, especially not with the roads this bad. I’m pretty sure none of my friends would be allowed to come get me either!” said Kurt, frantically. He really had no idea how he was going to get to the hospital and he didn’t want his family to be driving home in this kind of weather.

            “You’ll have to call for the paramedics, Kurt,” said Carole, softly.

            “Well how do I do that? Do they have a special number or something?” Carole laughed.

            “Honey, you’re going to have to call 911.”

            “Carole, ARE YOU INSANE? This isn’t even an emergency! I’m going to get in trouble for calling when I don’t actually have an emergency!”

            “Kurt, calm down for a second and think about it. You are injured and you have no other way to get to the hospital. And before you even say anything, yes, you do need to go get it taken care of before the swelling gets worse. Just explain to the operator, calmly, the situation and she’ll send over the paramedics. I know it’s just a broken wrist honey, but the paramedic will know what to do and they’ll take you to the hospital safely. Your dad, Finn and I will try to get to the hospital as soon as we can, but it looks like it’s going to be awhile if the roads are as bad as you say”.

Kurt sighed in resignation. “Look Carole, as much as I don’t want to go through this alone, I’d feel a lot worse if I knew you and Dad and Finn were all risking your lives driving in massive amounts of snow to get back to Lima. Just wait until they clear the roads, all the roads. It’s not a life or death situation here, I’ll just have to deal on my own for now.”

“Okay honey. Listen, we’ll have our phones on the whole time. I know the hospital doesn’t let you use your cell phones, but just ask someone when you get there if it’s okay to call us. We’ll call the hospital when we’re on our way, alright?”

Kurt sniffed.

“Alright.” Before Kurt could hang up, he heard his dad’s muffled voice in the background and suddenly his voice was in Kurt’s ear.

“Scooter, before you go I just want to tell you that I think you’re being really brave right now and I’m proud of you and that I love you, okay?”

Kurt’s eyes welled up again. “Okay Dad, I love you. I’ll call you later.”

“Bye, bud”.

Once Kurt hung up the phone, he knew he really didn’t have any other choice except to call for the paramedics. He had a horrible nervous feeling in his stomach and his heart was starting to pound again. He took a deep breath and dialled 911 before he could talk himself out of it.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” The operator almost sounded like a computerized voice.

“Yes, um, this isn’t exactly an emergency, but I need to go to the hospital and I don’t have a way to get there,” said Kurt, quickly.

“What exactly do you mean?”

“I slipped and fell outside about 10 minutes ago and I think I may have broken my wrist. My parents are out of town and I don’t think I can drive. My step-mom’s a nurse and she thinks for sure my wrist might be broken and that I need to go to the hospital so she said to call. I’m sorry to bother you really, I know it’s not much of a big deal compared to an actual emergency but I promised her I would go”.

“That’s perfectly alright. Can you tell me your name, phone number and address?”

Kurt rattled off his name and address.

“Okay, Kurt, the paramedics are on their way. They aren’t sure how long it’s going to take because the roads are so bad, but just sit tight. I would suggest putting some ice on your wrist to help decrease the swelling though, alright?”

“Okay, thank you.”

Kurt hung up the phone and walked over to the kitchen, grimacing when he noticed the uncomfortable wetness of his jeans from sitting in the snow. Kurt knew there was no way he’d be able to change; considering that it took almost two people to put on his skinny jeans, trying to take them off with one hand would be a disaster. Kurt opened the freezer door and located one of the many ice packs kept in the freezer for when Finn injured himself during football season and for the many times he managed to trip over his own feet in rehearsal for Glee.

Kurt left the kitchen and sank into his Dad’s favourite armchair and reached for the remote. He hoped there might have been a Top Model or Project Runway marathon on TV to help distract him from the loop of thoughts running through his head. He gingerly placed the icepack over his wrist, wincing at even the slightest pressure.

I’m going to the hospital. Paramedics are coming to my house and are bringing me to the hospital. Paramedics are going to see me and think I’m an idiot because I called 911 for a stupid broken wrist. I’m going to have to deal with sitting in a packed emergency room with sick people and screaming babies for hours before they can even see me. I’m going to have to get an ugly cast because there’s no way in hell I can walk into McKinley with a decent colour without being pushed into the lockers or getting a slushy facial. Why was I so stupid?

The doorbell rings, shocking Kurt out of his thoughts. Kurt gets up on shaking legs and opens the door. A smiley brunette wearing a paramedic uniform and toting a large bag stands there. As Kurt says hello to her, she smiles even wider, which calms him down a little.

“Hi there! I’m Marie. You must be Kurt. Can I come in?” she says, cheerily.

Kurt is taken aback a little; he didn’t really expect the paramedic to be this happy, especially since she had to endure the weather to bring a teenage boy, who was fine other than a broken wrist, to the hospital.

“Let’s sit down for a second,” she says. “Let me take a look at your wrist.”

Kurt gingerly removes the icepack, wincing again from the slight movement. He held out his arm for the paramedic to assess.

“Is it okay if I just lightly touch your wrist, Kurt? I want to assess how swollen it is.”*

Marie asked him to hold both of his arms out to compare each wrist and then she felt the injured area lightly with her fingers. Even though Marie seemed to be applying feather light touches, the lightest pressure shot pain up his arm, which induced more tears. Marie felt him tense up and stopped immediately.

“Everything looks okay here for the time being, are you ready to go?”

Kurt nodded and quickly wiped the tears from his eyes. Marie looked at him fondly.

“I promise as soon as we get you in the ER, I’ll get one of the doctors to prescribe you something for the pain.” Marie smiled and winked.

Once they get outside, Kurt’s shocked to see an SUV type vehicle instead of the boxy ambulances that he usually sees, sirens blaring and speeding toward emergencies.*  “We didn’t feel the need to use one of the actual ambulances to come get you, plus these things have four wheel drive, which we definitely need in this weather. That’s my partner Dennis driving.” Kurt looks into the vehicle and sees a burly man with a moustache behind the wheel. Dennis nods at Kurt. “He looks mean, but he’s a teddy bear on the inside, he’s also smart as a whip and fantastic with his hands. If you’re dying, you want Dennis to be the one to save your life, because in most cases, he will. Come on; let’s get you into the car. I’ll sit in the back with you.”