Slow Fade

Chapter 4

Kurt always hated going to the doctors, it was a proven fact. Ever since he was a kid he would rather do anything than visit the doctor. As he grew up into a successful adult, he’d been happy to have his own doctor rather than have to make office visits. Kurt was always a healthy individual, so that doctors visits were always few and far in between. Having Blaine Anderson as his new doctor had thrown everything that Kurt assumed about physicians to the wayside.

He was still not a fan of needles or any of the other procedures that doctors did, but Dr. Anderson did things differently. The doctor had a way of easing any of Kurt’s fears easily and his bedside manner was excellent. Most doctors used jargon that went straight over his head, but Blaine always made it so that he knew exactly what was going on. Kurt found himself not dreading the visits quite so much as he normally would, and sometimes he even looked forward to them oddly enough.

Over the next few weeks Kurt’s symptoms didn’t grow worse or better much to his annoyance. He was definitely anemic, but Blaine was definitely working hard to try and narrow it down. The doctor had ordered a panel of various tests which mostly meant that Kurt had more shots. Blaine had also made him get a chest x-ray which meant that Kurt had to sneak into Blaine’s office at the crack of dawn in order to avoid being spotted by the paparazzi.

Kurt knew that Dr. Anderson was giving up a great deal of his time for him, and he felt guilty about that. Blaine was such a good physician from Kurt’s limited experience and it was obvious that the doctor loved helping people. As a celebrity, Kurt was used to special treatment from almost everyone including his own brother, but Blaine treated him like a normal person, a rare thing in Hollywood.

“Doctor Anderson is here to see you,” Finn said over the intercom startling Kurt from his thoughts. Out of habit Kurt looked at his appearance in the vanity. Even with his porcelain skin, he was still extremely pale, and he had bags under his eyes due to his poor sleep. It was a good thing that Kurt had an extremely good make-up artist on set that hid his fatigue so well that nobody noticed his illness at work.

“Send him in,” Kurt answered in the speaker.

A short minute later Kurt heard a knock on the door before the doctor entered the room. Kurt smiled at Blaine, and tried to ignore the way his heart always started to race the second he laid eyes on the doctor. He always put it down to nerves by being around a doctor, but he wasn’t completely sure.

“Doctor Anderson,” Kurt said standing up to shake Blaine’s hand.

“Good to see you Mr. Hummel,” Blaine answered with a perfect smile show his perfect teeth.

“Do you come with answers?” Kurt asked hopefully. “Or does your visit involve more needles.”

“Both actually,” Blaine replied honestly. “At this point I’m pretty sure that you have aplastic anemia. It is when your bone marrow doesn’t make blood cells the way it should.  The x-ray ruled out infection, and I’ve also ruled out vitamin deficiency and liver diseases. Your reticulocyte count showed a low number of young red blood cells. All of these point to aplastic anemia.”

“But you don’t know for sure,” Kurt said.          

“Like I said at this point it all points to aplastic anemia,” Blaine replied.                         

“You said more needles were involved,” Kurt pointed out.

Blaine sighed, “I just have one more test to confirm the diagnosis of aplastic anemia and that is a bone marrow aspiration to verify that your bone marrow is the problem.”

“That sounds painful,” Kurt complained.

Blaine winced, and gave Kurt a bashful smile. “It is a big needle, I’m sorry that it is necessary but I will numb the area so it is less painful. Unfortunately we also need to do this at a hospital since I need a sterile environment and we aren’t equipped for that at my practice.”

Kurt frowned, thinking of the challenges it would take to get in and out of a busy hospital unseen by the public.

“There is another thing to consider,” Blaine replied. “Aplastic anemia isn’t the whole answer it is likely just another symptom of a bigger problem. It wouldn’t answer why your bone marrow is malfunctioning in the first place.”

“So it is still not the solution,” Kurt replied, frowning.

“We will get to the bottom of this,” Blaine replied, putting a comforting hand on the actor’s shoulders. “But I also want to refer you to a hematologist, a doctor who specializes in blood disorders.”

“No,” Kurt said quickly, Blaine pulled back his arm surprised. Kurt looked up sheepishly. “I don’t want to see any other doctor.”

“I would still be overseeing your care, but I’m not a specialist,” Blaine told him.

“I only want to see you,” Kurt admitted. “I only trust you.”

Blaine gave his a questioning look, but smiled warmly. “I will do as you ask, but I would like your permission to consult a hematologist.”

“That will be fine,” Kurt said letting out a breath in a rush.

“Well I will figure out when we can get to a hospital for your test, I will be in contact with your people,” Blaine replied, standing up and going to the door and turning the knob.

He jumped, startled to see a figure standing right outside the door.

“Henry,” Kurt said in surprise to see his driver. “What are you doing?”

“I’m sorry Mr. Hummel,” Henry apologized. “My. Hudson sent me to fetch you since we are going to be late to the studio.”

Blaine turned to say goodbye quickly and then made his way from the room, and as Kurt watched him go he finally came to a realization. He hadn’t wanted to admit it before or even consider the prospect, but there it was Kurt had a crush on his doctor. A relationship would be inconceivable and all professionalism would be shot if by some miracle they got together, and besides Kurt didn’t even know if Blaine was gay. And going by his track record of having crushes on straight men, this could definitely not end well.