April 30, 2012, 11:34 a.m.
Half Alive: Chapter 9
E - Words: 1,935 - Last Updated: Apr 30, 2012 Story: Closed - Chapters: 15/? - Created: Feb 13, 2012 - Updated: Apr 30, 2012 683 0 0 0 0
"No, we'll come to you when Kurt's ready."
The thing was Kurt didn't talk. He had not said a word since waking up. When awake he lied on his side unmoving just letting the nurse who came to change his bandages move his limp limbs. On the second day they had made him get out of bed, they had too there was no medical reason for a catheter. Kurt followed the nurse to the bathroom not causing a fuss when she would not leave him there alone. He walked like an unseeing zombie. It had been painful to watch and even more painful when Kurt had got straight back into the bad and turned his back on him.
He had been sleeping fitfully but only because the nurse kept bringing him sleeping tablets. Burt would watch the movements he made during his sleep. He screwed his face up and twitched and sometimes cried. Burt didn't think about what Kurt was seeing in his sleep. At least those sleeping hours gave him the comfort o being able to touch his child. To run his hand soothingly over his hair and hold his hand and whisper to him just how sorry he was, sorry that he couldn't protect him and sorry that he had had to grow up and not been allowed to remain the happy child he had been years before.
Now after three nights Kurt was well enough to go home. He was no longer as pale and steadily beeping machines had been unhooked just leaving him with the drip that feed him glucose and plasma and occasionally pain killers. There was only one problem; the psychologist did not want him to go home she wanted to move him to the psych ward because he was in a dissociative state. The doctor said that they could let him go if he ate something and said that he would not try to take his life again. Of course, Kurt wasn't responding to anybody in anyway.
They all gathered around Kurt not speaking again, just letting him know that all his family loved him. Though all of them were secretly hoping to see some kind of improvement in Kurt, to hear his voice and get to take him home.
When the nurse came in with a tray of food and placed it on the swing table of Kurt.
"Eat Kurt." Burt said.
A couple of minutes went by without Kurt moving. Carole stepped away from But and he watched as she sat down by Kurt's bed and swung the little table away from him. She pushed against his shoulder lightly getting him to turn. He resisted slightly at first but then let himself be moved as if he didn't really care what happened to him. Carole slid her arms behind his back and lifted him till he was sat up and resting against the pillows. Then she reached for the tray and picked up the yogurt. She peeled back the lid and dipped the sppon in.
"Open up." She said sternly to Kurt. It surprised Burt to see the he did. He allowed Carole to feed him like a child. He wanted to sigh in relief but he saw the look in Blaine's eyes and knew how difficult it was for him to see his boyfriend like this. It might be easier for him at this time to remember the child that Kurt once was but all Blaine saw was that the boy he loved was loosing his independence.
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"Kurt." Blaine said reaching out to hold his hand. He felt warmer now and Blaine was used to the bandages. "Kurt I need you to talk."
Kurt did not move. His eyes continued to stare out straight past Blaine as if he was not there.
"Dude, your hair looks awful."Finn said. Blaine turned around to stare at him.
"What? He hates it when he's hairs messed up."
Blaine looked past Finn to where Burt and Carole stood holding each other and looking on nervously. Blaine took a deep breath.
"Baby, you want to go home don't you? You have to talk for them to let you go home. You just have to say to the doctors that you won't hurt yourself again." Blaine dropped his head to the hard mattress. He so wanted to scream right now. Three days and Kurt was not getting better. Every night when he tried to sleep all he saw was some nameless shapeless figure hurting Kurt. He knew something awful had happened but he still couldn't quite understand this... he couldn't understand how Kurt could have given up. He wiped the tears from his eyes and started muttering into the pillow words to comfort himself more than Kurt.
"When you get home we'll just chill out on your bed. We can eat Carole's home made soup and watch musicals. We can plan that weekend away you wanted. Just you and me, we can find a meadow in the middle of the forest and just look up the clouds forever. We.. we can still be together Kurt.. we can still be happy."
Blaine looked up, looked straight into the dull grey looking eyes of his boyfriend.
"Please Kurt. It's just a few words; will you please do it for me?"
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They stood separate from each other in the hallway. Each waiting nervously as the doctor saw Kurt. Each knowing what was going to be said. Blaine took a deep breath and sealed himself. He felt so much older than his years and yet so much a lost child all at once.
"You could sign him out against medical orders." He said as clearly and directly as possible.
Burt looked up at him for a long minute as if he was unsure as to what he heard.
"He won't.. he won't try again. He was just in a bad place, this is Kurt were talking about here. He's tough."
Blaine looked over at Finn, shocked that the older boy had spoken. He had been practically silent whenever they had been in the hospital.
Burt sighed.
"Finn, I can't.. I don't know what's going on in his head at the moment. I can't risk it. He'd need to be watched twenty four seven at least till he starts speaking and we know what's going on."
"We know what's going on." Blaine felt the familiar feelings of anger rise up in his chest again. "He was raped. He needs us, he needs to be home. We can watch him twenty four seven."
Carole walked over to him and placed her hand on his arm almost as if reminding him to stay calm. Kurt was only a few meters away and despite the closed doors he would hear Blaine if he started shouting. He needed to argue this calmly, they might listen to him if he argued it calmly. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes to try again.
"We could work it out, couldn't we? The four of us."
"Blaine, this is too much for you you're too young. I appreciate your dedication to my son.."
"Love. I love your son."
"I agree." Finn said. "He hates hospitals, they make him think of his mom and when you had that heart attack."
Burt sighed he looked across at Carole with an almost pleading look.
"We could try." She said. "I could take time off work and look after him. One of us was going to have to at some point whatever happened."
"Carole.."
"When I get back from school I'll sit with him. And I can put my old camp bed in his room and sleep there to." Finn said stepping forwards now and becoming more of the confident football captain than he had been in days.
"We can take alternate nights so that we both get plenty of sleep." Blaine said with a small smile to thank him for the support.
Burt sighed, his whole body heaving. He reached his hand out for Carole and she took it smoothing her thumb gently over the skin of his knuckles. Blaine's own parents never seemed to touch each other like that, never seemed to share small gestures of support. It always struck him that this patchwork family that had only known each other for three years was much closer than his own natural nuclear one.
"Yeah alright." Burt said gruffly. "I can check in on him at lunch times so Carole can have a break and take some nights too. I'll go sign the papers."
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Kurt looked frail and weak as he walked down the garden path, the blanket Carole had given him wrapped around his shoulders. Finn was walking by his side as if ready to catch him if he stumbled. Blaine waited by the door nervously, he didn't know why but he was suddenly worried that bring Kurt back here where he had tried to take his own life might not have been the best idea.
Already they had decided that Kurt would stay in the guest room. Burt and Blaine had driven back ahead of Carole Kurt and Finn to get it ready. Not just laying out a camp ed but also making sure to move Kurt's favorate things in there. As Burt had made the bed with an old quilt Kurt's grandmother had made and made sure the T.V. and D.V.D. set up were working Blaine collected up Kurt's skin creams and night clothes and photos and moved them into the other room. The second trip had brought D.V.D's, issues of Vogue and a wicked poster. As he went to fetch Kurt's Ipod from the bedside table he clumsily knocked over the lamp and sent things splaying over the floor. Cursing silently he had reached under the bed and pulled out Kurt's cell phone. As he heard the car coming up the drive he had thrown it onto Kurt's bed and rushed downstairs to open the door up for them.
As Kurt walked in his tired eyes looked around as if he didn't recognize where he was. Blaine plastered the biggest smile he could manage onto his face.
"Welcome home Kurt, must feel good to get out of that hospital."
Kurt continued to look around as if he wasn't quite sure what to do.
"Kurt, hunny. You're in the guest bedroom for now okay." Carole said as she came in and placed the small bag of Kurt' s belongings down. Kurt seemed to take this as an instruction and obediently started t climb the stairs. Looking at each other Blaine and Carole followed knowing they couldn't leave him alone but not having worked out the details of who would watch him first.
"Kurt."
Blaine heard Burt say happily when Kurt had disappeared around the corner at the top of the stairs.
"I'm so glad to have you home. I think you're all set up in there but tell me if you need anything."
Blaine and Carole got to the top just in time to see Kurt walk into the guest room and peer around slightly before sitting on the bed.
"Don't you want to sit up for a while, project runways on soon." Carole said.
Kurt turned and laid down with his back to them once more.
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