Blaine was startled from his private thoughts by the sound of Kurt suddenly gasping as his body jerked into the fetal position. Kurt's eyes fluttered open and he let out a strangled cry as he gripped his left side tightly and tears began to pour down his cheeks unabated. Before Blaine could respond to this shock, several alarms on Kurt's monitors starting beeping in near unison, causing Blaine's heart to feel as if it dropped from his chest to the floor.

"Kurt? Kurt! Jesus, what is it?" Blaine called out as Kurt continued to let out horrible sounding cries of pain. His hands were all over Kurt at once, pressing his squirming body firmly against the pillow with one hand while the other frantically pushed the nurse call button. He dropped the call button to the ground, causing it to swing tethered to the side of Kurt's bed and cupped his other hand around Kurt's cheek, stroking it gently as he tried to get Kurt to look at him.

"Kurt...baby, look at me. Breathe, Kurt. You've got to breathe. What happened? I just called the nurse, okay? Hang on...oh shit, Kurt, just hang on," Blaine babbled incoherently, his eyes watering with unshed tears at the look of fear, pain, and utter panic on Kurt's face.

"B-B-Bla-ine, oh...oh g-god, h-hurts. Make it...stop. P-please. C-can't breathe. H-hurts," Kurt managed between gasps of pain.

"Okay...shh, Kurt. I know...I know it hurts. Just try to..." Blaine's thought was interrupted by Bridget storming into the room at lightning speed, followed closely by Doctor Baron.

"What happened?" asked Bridget as she walked over to Kurt's monitor, frowning at the read out before pressing several buttons, causing the alarms to blessedly stop going off, leaving behind only a slight ringing sound in Blaine's ears.

"I..I..really don't know. He was asleep and just jerked up all of the sudden and started screaming and saying it hurt and he couldn't breathe. Please...oh god, please just help him," Blaine shot off in a rush.

Bridget nodded grimly at Blaine before turning to the doctor. "His BP's bottoming out at 75/50 and O2 sats are down to 88% on 3 liters O2 by nasal cannula. Radiology is backed up so they haven't gotten his CT scan yet. What do you want me to do?"

Doctor Baron nodded to himself, seemingly thinking through his options silently before reaching down to palpitate his patient's abdomen again, more gently this time since he could see the enormous amount of pain his patient was currently in.

Kurt cried out loudly as soon as the doctor's hands touched him and continued to crush Blaine's hand and cry throughout the exam. Blaine had never felt more helpless in his life as he continued to squeeze Kurt's hand and stroke his hair, murmuring soft, but ultimately meaningless reassurances under his breath throughout the ordeal.

"Bridget, it looks like there is more guarding in his abdomen and it feels rigid. He needs surgery now. Can you grab the portable ultrasound so I can take a look? I'm wondering if he's developing peritonitis. And ask the charge nurse to page surgery stat, please. Thanks."

Bridget was back within seconds and they quickly hooked up the ultrasound, confirming that Kurt's abdomen was starting to fill with fluid as a result of his appendix rupturing. After that, things started to happen rather quickly. People were paged, more blood was drawn, medications were hung and injected. Through it all, Blaine's eyes never left Kurt as he continued to do what he could to calm and reassure him.

Blaine was relieved to find after about five minutes one of the many injections Kurt had been given started to kick in, helping Kurt to stop crying and relax his death grip on Blaine's hand slightly. Blaine watched over Kurt protectively as his cries finally subsided leaving Kurt weak, shaky, and sweaty.

"Hey Kurt?" Blaine called tentatively, while simultaneously lacing Kurt's fingers through his. "How are you doing? Is the pain any better?"

Kurt nodded solemnly, his eyes half-closed and his face still tense. "Blaine? Did you...my dad...did you talk to him?" Kurt asked worriedly. "I want...I need him here," he finished, his voice wobbly.

"Yeah honey, he's on his way. He should be here in about an hour, okay? He said to tell you he loves you and that he'll be here as soon as he can. He wanted to talk to you earlier but you were sleeping. Do you want to call and talk to him?" Blaine asked gently.

Before Kurt could respond, Bridget re-entered the room with a clipboard carrying several forms. "Kurt, how old are you? Are you under 18? We need someone to sign for you before we start the surgery and they want to get you up there in the next 20 minutes or so."

The poor timing wasn't lost on Blaine who immediately spoke up. "His dad is on the way, but he's driving in from Lima. I don't think he'll be here for another hour or so. Kurt's 16. Could I maybe sign it for now?"

Bridget let out a sigh. "I guess so. Let's get both of you to sign it now, because we can't wait that long to start the surgery. Here, sign on the three X's, please," Bridget directed, handing the form first to Blaine and then to Kurt for their signatures. "Could you give me a phone number to call his parents? I'd at least like to get verbal consent."

"Of course," Blaine replied, handing over the scrap of paper with Burt's cell number on it, having long since memorized the number while waiting for Kurt to wake up. "They were hoping for an update anyway."

"Great," said Bridget. "I'm going to call them and get the last of your test results together, Kurt, so that we can move you up to the OR for surgery, okay? I'll see you both in about 15 minutes."

Blaine nodded, looking down at Kurt as the nurse exited the room. He was not surprised to see that Kurt was crying silently, his shoulders shaking slightly from the force of his sobs.

"Kurt...," Blaine started tentatively.

"He's not going to get here in time, Blaine. I want...I need my dad. I'm...I'm really scared," Kurt whimpered quietly, avoiding eye contact with Blaine out of embarrassment.

"Oh Kurt..." Blaine sighed. "I know you are, sweetheart. I'm scared too. But I'll be here the whole time okay? And your dad and Carol will be here before you wake up from surgery, I promise. Look, why don't we call him so that you can at least talk to him. Sound okay?" Blaine asked gently while simultaneously sliding his free hand under Kurt's chin and tilting it up until Kurt was looking directly into Blaine's eyes.

Blaine watched in amazement as Kurt slowly drew in a shuddering breath and pulled himself together in preparation for talking to his father. It was so like Kurt to want to protect everyone else from feeling worry or fear even when he was sick and in pain and terrified of what was to come. Blaine waited while Kurt slowly got his tears under control and attempted to normalize his breathing as much as was possible given his current state.

After a moment, Kurt spoke up. "Okay Blaine, you can call him. Will you...can you just tell him what's going on before you give him the phone. I-I don't know if I c-can handle all of it on my own." Blaine nodded and began to dial Burt Hummel's number from memory, his stomach knotting in anticipation of having to explain what was happening to Kurt to his dad.

Burt answered on the second ring. "Hello?" he said loudly, almost eagerly. "Blaine? Is that you?"

"Hey...yeah Mr. Hummel, it's me. Look, the nurse is supposed to call you in a few minutes with an update on Kurt, but basically, he's started getting worse, and they want to bring him up for emergency surgery in about 15 minutes. He's awake now and...he's a little...he just wants to talk to you before...the surgery since we didn't think you'd be able to make it here before they started."

Burt let out a string on muttered curse words in response to Blaine's update. Emergency surgery. That wasn't good. And even worse, he hated the thought of his only son undergoing surgery while he was driving along a deserted stretch of highway. He wanted to be there now for Kurt.

"Jesus...okay. I don't really like the sound of that. We're still about 40 miles out too. I guess just let me talk to him?" Burt said frustratedly.

"Okay, let me get him," Blaine said. "Kurt? Hey, your dad's on the phone, honey. Here. Want me to hold it for you?" he asked, sensing Kurt's unwillingness to stop clutching his right side or let go of Blaine's hand. He brought the iPhone to Kurt's ear.

"H-hello?" Kurt started haltingly.

"Kurt? Hey kid, how are you feeling? Blaine said you've had a pretty rough night so far. You hanging in there?" Burt asked gently.

"Dad?" Kurt croaked, the tears flowing again almost immediately. "Dad, it hurts really bad and you know how much I...h-hate the hospital...since mom. I-I don't wanna have surgery."

Burt sighed, swallowing the lump that was forming in his throat at hearing Kurt sound so weak and vulnerable. "I know, kid. I know. It sucks. I-I wish I could be there right now, but Carol and I are on our way and should be there in about 45 minutes, okay? It sounds like you need the surgery now so that you can start feeling better. Look Kurt, you've got Blaine and he's not going to leave you, okay buddy? And I promise that I'll be there when you wake up, alright? You're gonna be just fine."

Kurt sniffed loudly. "I-I know, Dad. I'm...just scared. What if..."

"Hey, hey Kurt. Don't even think like that. You are in good hands, okay? You're going to be just fine, buddy. People get appendicitis all the time. I just want you to try to relax and let Blaine distract you, okay? Look Kurt, I think the nurse in beeping in on the other line, so I need to go, but I love you and I'll see you soon, okay. Everything's going to be just fine, Kurt. I'll be there when you wake up, I promise."

"Okay..." Kurt managed, now sobbing in earnest. "I- I love you too, Dad. I'll see you soon." He closed his eyes momentarily, allowing the tears to flow before looking up at Blaine. "You c-can hang up now. The...nurse beeped in...so he had to go."

Blaine wordlessly removed the phone from Kurt's ear and hung it up, sliding it into his pocket. He leaned towards Kurt, dropping his forehead to Kurt's as he gently wiped the tears from his cheeks with his thumb. He allowed Kurt to cry silently for several more minutes while he continued to wipe away his tears, trying to soothe Kurt in any way that he could.

"Shh, Kurt. It's okay. It's gonna be okay. You'll see your dad and Carol soon. I'm right here, honey. I'm not going to leave you," Blaine continued to reassure.

Blaine was interrupted by a knock on the door. Bridget filed into the room tailed by two young looking doctors or nurses decked out in full surgical scrubs gear. Kurt's grip tightened around Blaine's as he watched the new people enter the room, clearly fearful of the surgery to come.

"Hi guys, this is Doctor Jameson, the anesthesiologist, and Rebecca, your surgical nurse. Kurt, they've just got a few questions for you and then they are going to take you up for your surgery, okay? Blaine, they've agreed that you can accompany Kurt up to the OR floor and one of the nurses will show you to the surgery waiting room. I just spoke with Kurt's dad and told him to meet you up there in the waiting room. Any questions before I let them surgery team take over?" Bridget asked patiently.

Blaine looked to Kurt who shook his head. "No, I don't think so, Bridget. Thanks so much for helping arrange all of this. We really appreciate it."

"Of course," said Bridget, smiling personably. She gently smoothed out Kurt's blanket and gently patted him on the shoulder before stepping out of the room.

"Okay, hi Kurt," said Doctor Jameson. "Like Bridget was saying, I'm going to be taking care of you in the operating room tonight. You can call me Doctor Molly. I've gotten most of the information I need from your chart, but just to confirm with you, you are allergic to Amoxicillin, right? Any other drug or food allergies?"

Kurt shook his head. "Nope, just the Amoxil."

"Okay great," said the anesthesiologist, jotting something down on a clipboard as she spoke. "What about any previous surgeries? Any problems with anesthesia that either you or someone in your family has had in the past?"

Again, Kurt shook his head. "No, I've never had any surgeries. My mom...umm, she...d-died of cancer about ten years ago and my dad had to have heart bypass surgery about six months ago, but I don't...think he had any problems with it,."

"Okay, what about any chronic health problems? Diabetes? High blood pressure? Acid reflux?" the doctor continued.

"Umm...just like...seasonal allergies. And sometimes I...get migraines. Nothing else." Kurt answered tiredly, the stress and anxiety of the day weighing on him more and more with each passing moment. Blaine noticed his fatigue and discretely gave his hand a squeeze, exchanging a quick look of encouragement as he did so.

"Got it. Those are the last of my questions. Now I just need to go over what's going to happen next really quickly, okay? In just a minute, I'm going to inject some medicine into your IV to make you feel sleepy and relaxed. Then we'll take you upstairs. Once we get to the OR, you'll get to say goodbye to your friend and then I'll bring you back and move you onto the surgical table. Once we get you situated, I'll give you some more medicine through your IV to put you entirely to sleep. While you're out, we'll be breathing for you through a tube in your throat, and I'll be monitoring you closely throughout the surgery to make sure you are doing well. The surgeon will make a small incision on your right side and will remove your appendix and drain any fluid that's built up around your appendix. The operation should only take about 1-2 hours if all goes well and then we'll bring you back to the recovery room and start waking you up from surgery. Once we get you settled into the recovery room, we'll let one friend or family member sit with you until you have woken up and are ready to go up to your hospital room. Okay? Any questions?"

Blaine felt his stomach twist and flip as the doctor droned on and on about all of the tortures that were to come for Kurt. The thought of Kurt unconscious with a tube down his throat was enough to make Blaine feel slightly sick. He could tell that the doctor was aiming for reassuring, but Blaine couldn't help the rising panic he felt at the thought of having to leave Kurt on his own in mere minutes.

Kurt weakly spoke up, however, jolting Blaine out of his increasingly grim and morbid thoughts. "Yeah, will it...will the s-surgery make the pain go away or is it g-going to be worse?" he asked shakily.

The surgical nurse spoke up first this time. "The surgery should help to relieve the pressure in your stomach from the build up of fluid which will help with the pain over time. But you will probably have some post-operative pain from the incision. As soon as you start to wake up after surgery, a nurse will ask you to rate your pain and administer pain medications to make you comfortable. Once we get you up to your room, we'll probably hook you up to something called a PCA pump which will let you self-administer pain medications by pushing a button. We work really hard to help you get your pain under control because it is an important part of helping patients recuperate after surgery."

Kurt nodded. "Okay, thanks."

"Alright, Kurt," spoke Doctor Molly again. "I'm going to go ahead and give you that medication I was telling you about a few minutes ago. You should start to feel sleepy and relaxed in a minute or two." The doctor quickly removed a capped syringe from her scrub pocket and opened it and smoothly injected the contents into Kurt's IV port. "Right, okay, let's head upstairs. Blaine, if you want to grab that bag with the rest of Kurt's personal belongings, you can follow us upstairs."

Blaine stooped down to grab the large plastic bag containing Kurt's clothing and shoes and slung it over his shoulder before resuming his position next to Kurt's left side, sliding his hand back into Kurt's as the doctor and nurse grabbed the bed rails and began to slowly propel Kurt's bed out of the room and down the hall to the waiting elevator.

As the elevator doors slid closed, Blaine looked down at Kurt, noticing that he had a loopy grin on his face and was splaying the fingers of his right hand in front of his eyes quite comically. "Umm, Kurt? Whatcha doing?"

"Bl-aaaine..." Kurt slurred exaggeratedly. "My fingers look funny. Like sausages. They're dancin' like the Cheerios. Did I 'ver tell yooouuthat I was a cheerleader? I was awe-some t-too. So h-hot. Boom like dynamite."

Blaine tried and failed to suppress a snort of laughter, glancing up at the doctor to see that she too was finding Kurt's sudden chattiness amusing. "Sorry," she chuckled. "That medicine tends to make patients a little loopy. Sort of like being drunk. You wouldn't believe some of the things I hear from patients."

"Druuunk?" Kurt called out loudly. "Bl-aaaaine? Who's druunk? Are you? You gonna kiss Rachel Berry again...like l-last time? That wasn't funny. I was sooo mad at you. But you are sooo gay. Just like ya told me. 100% gay, right? Just like me. That's awe-some. That you and me are both gay."

Blaine's cheeks flushed a bright shade of crimson as he looked down at the floor. "Okay Kurt, I think that's enough sharing for tonight. How about you close your eyes for a few minutes, 'kay?" Blaine's ears burned as he could feel the curious gaze of the nurse on him while the doctor appeared to be studiously reviewing Kurt's chart in an attempt to give Kurt and Blaine a little privacy.

"Nope...don't wanna sleep. I want to talk to you. So cute. Bl-aaine, you are soooo cute. I wish I could be as cute as you. But this gown tooo-tally clashes with my skin tone. Yuck!" Kurt continued to babble obliviously.

Blaine could feel his cheeks flaming and did the only thing that came to mind to shut Kurt up. He quietly bent down to Kurt and kissed him gently, full on the mouth, figuring that there was nothing he could do to embarrass himself further at the moment. As he pulled away, he saw Kurt's eyes were wide and his mouth had opened in shock. For once, he'd manage to render Kurt momentarily speechless. He decided to take advantage of Kurt's speechlessness by telling him the one thing he'd been thinking all night, ever since he first found Kurt lying on his bathroom floor in his dorm room.

"Hey Kurt? Honey, I want you to know that I love you." Blaine said tenderly, his eyes tearing slightly as he thought for the millionth time how lucky he was to have Kurt in his life.

Kurt's eyes went wider still as he took in what Blaine had said. "You do? Oh Blaine, me too. I looove you this much," he exclaimed happily, removing his right hand from his side and stretching it out to indicate a great distance. Kurt winced visibly as his exaggerated movements jarred his right side. "Ouch, ouch, ouch!" he breathed, dropping his hand back to his right side. "That hurts. Oh man, that really hurt," he continued, pouting exaggeratedly. "Bl-aaine...kiss it better."

Blaine decided to take the path of least resistance and ducked to plant a gentle kiss on Kurt's forehead, jolting slightly in shock as his lips made contact with Kurt's temple as a result of the heat pouring off of Kurt's face. It certainly appeared that his fever was spiking again, which was undoubtedly worsening Kurt's current loopy mental state. "There you go, Kurt. All better."

The elevator door dinged as they reached the third floor and the doors slid open. And just like that, all of the lightness from the elevator dissipated, and Blaine's stomach began to churn at the thought of leaving Kurt. Kurt must have also sensed the change in mood as he suddenly gripped Blaine's hand tightly, his face dropping into a serious expression. "Bl-aaaine, I don't want you to leave me. Dr. Molly, can't he stay a 'lil longer? Pleeease?"

"I'm sorry, Kurt, but only doctors can go past those double doors there. Look, we're going to step over here and give you a minute to say goodbye to your...boyfriend, okay? Blaine's going to wait in that room right there next to the operating room, see?" she asked, pointing to a small, deserted waiting room nearby that contained a coffee maker, flat screen TV, and piles of magazines. She gestured to the nurse, and within seconds, they had stepped around the corner and out of view, giving Blaine a few precious moments of privacy with Kurt.

"Blaine," Kurt cried plaintively. "I don't want you to go. Please. I'm...still s-scared. Can't you s-sneak into the other place like a ninja?"

Blaine stifled a laugh at the ninja comparison. "I wish I could, Kurt, but I'd get in trouble." His eyes narrowed as the conversation became more serious. "Listen honey, I promise that I'll be here when you wake up though. Your dad will be here too. I...I love you Kurt. So much. I just need you to be strong for me a little longer, okay? Everything's going to be fine when you wake up."

""Kay Blaine," Kurt agreed sleepily as his eyelids started to droop. "I..I love you too, Blaine. You are..the best boyfriend. Ever. Make sure that...my dad doesn't freak, 'kay?" Kurt failed to hold back a deep yawn. "And Blaine? When I wake up, I wanna...can you be holding my hand? That way I know you're there, deal?"

"Of course, honey." Blaine bent down to press another gentle kiss to Kurt's temple, trying hard not to let his emotions overwhelm him lest he burst into tears in front of Kurt. "Just close your eyes, okay? I'll be right here when you wake up."

Kurt allowed his eyes to sink closed at last, and Blaine gave his beautiful boyfriend a lingering look before signaling to Dr. Molly that they were ready. With one last squeeze of Kurt's hand, he allowed the nurse to separate the two of them and to slowly push Kurt's gurney through the double doors and out of sight. Blaine stood there for several minutes after Kurt disappeared, fighting to gain control of his emotions as he prepared himself for the hardest part that was still to come. The waiting.