"I don't want to leave…" Kurt sighed, running his hands absentmindedly through Blaine's curls.

Damn. Was that out loud?

Blaine smiled up at Kurt, his eyes hidden behind his shades. "You mean you don't want to leave New York, or you want to stay here; relaxing all day?"

They were sitting on the Great Lawn in Central Park. Well, Kurt was sitting, Indian style, while Blaine was sprawled out on his back, his head resting in Kurt's lap. They had been so tired from walking around the city all day yesterday and that morning; they'd just taken a plaid, a couple of drinks and some snacks from the penthouse and headed over to Central Park, to veg out in the sun for the rest of the afternoon.

"Both, I guess…"

Kurt's mouth quirked, as he gazed at a little boy playing soccer with his dad. He lowered his head and met Blaine's eyes.

Blaine pulled one of Kurt's hands toward his lips and kissed its palm. "I've been thinking…".

"Did it hurt?" Kurt grinned, tracing Blaine's nose lightly with his index finger. Blaine slapped his arm playfully.

"Shut up!" He laughed "No, I've been thinking… I'm not going to sell the penthouse just yet."

Kurt paused his movements. "Why?" He asked in a shrill whisper.

"Because I was thinking it would be nice to have a place here… So we can come over to stay whenever we like." Blaine lifted his shades from his eyes. "And I was thinking, since we have three bedrooms, maybe we could invite your parents and Finn and Rachel over to spend Christmas and New Year's Eve here?"

Kurt squealed.

"Oh my God! That would be so amazing! They'll love it!" Kurt doubled over to give Blaine a quick peck on his forehead. Blaine quickly reached up and grabbed the back of Kurt's head, bringing their lips together in a sweet, upside down kiss.

"I could kiss you all day…" Kurt breathed against Blaine's mouth. "But not in this position." He laughed, straightening his back.

"No? I had the impression you were quite bendy…".

Kurt shook his head. "Dr. Anderson, no matter what the topic, your mind always ends up in the gutter, doesn't it?"

Blaine nodded. "True... I blame those sexy nurses in their perky pink outfits."

Kurt hummed in response.

"So… you really don't want to leave?" Blaine asked tentatively.

Kurt shrugged. "You know I was just saying that. We need to go home obviously." He grinned. "But I had a great time here. This is an amazing city to be in. Amazing but confusing…".

Before Blaine could probe any further, a soccer ball landed in Kurt's lap.

On top of Blaine's face.

"Fuck Blaine!" Kurt quickly threw the ball aside. "Are you okay?" He saw Blaine pinching his nose.

"Yeah… I'm okay…" He groaned softly, moving to sit up.

The boy who had been playing soccer with his father ran up to them. He was about eight years old, Kurt guessed.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kick it into your face, sir!"

The boy's father joined them.

"Sorry about that! Are you hurt? I'm a doctor, do you want me to have a look at your face?" He asked worriedly.

Blaine laughed. "No, no, it's fine. It doesn't hurt. I'm a doctor too. And my boyfriend is a nurse." He pointed to Kurt. "So we're in capable hands."

The man laughed. "Well, that's a coincidence. Sorry again about this, sometimes my son doesn't know his own strength when he kicks that ball."

Blaine shook his head.

"No problem!" He took the ball and handed it to the boy. "You're pretty darn good, you know. I used to play soccer when I was your age, we did tournaments and everything. It was cool!"

The boy beamed at Blaine. "Really? Can… can you play with us for a while?"

"Now Jason, leave these gentlemen alone, they were… um… talking to each other." Jason's father looked apologetic.

But Blaine had already gotten to his feet and looked at Kurt, his eyebrows raised in question. "Would you mind?"

Kurt shrugged and shook his head with a smile.

"I'd love to! Let's go." Blaine said to the boy, and followed him and his father to where they'd been playing before.

Kurt stretched out and went to lie down on his stomach. Supporting himself on his elbows, he watched in amusement as Blaine ran back and forth while making some impressive soccer moves.

Two things struck him as he watched the scene before him.

One; Blaine was a true natural with kids. The way he talked and acted around that little boy just showed what an amazing dad he was. It was such a shame he was missing out on his own daughter. All the love Blaine had for her, but couldn't give her… it was heartbreaking to witness.

Two; if this had been a park in Ohio, they wouldn't have been able to sit like that together – let alone kiss each other – without being harassed; and that father would just have dragged his son away from those 'disgusting fags'. But this wasn't Ohio. Not at all…

This was New York… and Kurt would be leaving a small piece of his heart behind when he left the next morning.

Monday 7:50 AM

"Ready to go back to reality?" Blaine asked Kurt, his hand resting on the door handle of the staff room.

Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "As long as you are part of it."

Blaine grinned and gave Kurt a quick peck on the cheek, before releasing his hand and opening the door.

Needless to say, they were greeted like a married couple who had just returned from their honeymoon. Rose tackled Kurt as soon as he entered the room, while Blaine received a pat on the shoulder from Jenny.

Rose hugged Kurt tightly. "I'm glad you're back sweetie."

She pulled back and looked at Kurt. "You look different." She said quietly, so only Kurt could hear. "You're glowing. If I didn't know better, I'd say Dr. Anderson knocked you up." She wiggled her eyebrows.

Kurt rolled his eyes and laughed. "You're still the same though!" He joked. "But yeah, I had a wonderful time. It was perfect." His eyes drifted to Blaine, who had taken a seat and was talking to Dr. Taylor.

"That's great honey. I hope you're well rested though; we have some new patients. We were just discussing them. Go sit down, I'll pour you a cup of coffee." Rose said, walking towards the coffee machine.

"Thanks Rose!" Kurt called after her. He smiled and greeted the rest of his coworkers. Everybody looked happy to see him.

Except for Stephanie, the new intern. She was giving him the strangest look. Something felt off about it, although Kurt couldn't pinpoint what exactly. His train of thought was interrupted by Dr. Taylor.

"Right, so Blaine and Kurt, welcome back. I was just going over the files of our new patients. So, as I was saying before you came in, we have Jeremy, who's been transferred here from the children's hospital in Pittsburgh. He's 3 years old and has been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma."

"Ewing sarcoma? For a 3 year old? That's almost unheard of at that age." Blaine said.

Dr. Taylor nodded. "It's very rare, that's true. Anyway, his left leg will have to be amputated. But first he'll need 3 weeks of chemotherapy. We'll try to shrink the tumor so the amputation can be restricted to the area below the knee."

Blaine was nodding as he took notes. "Okay. Any particular reason for the transfer to our hospital?"

Dr. Taylor looked towards Jenny, gesturing for her to answer in his place.

Jenny took the cue and started talking. "His parents are both from Lima. They lived in Pittsburgh, but just moved back here. I believe his father is a police officer, and he got offered a spot at Lima PD. His mother is a teacher, but she's staying at home for now, as long as Jeremy is ill."

She turned to Kurt. "Kurt, you'll need to take some blood samples right after this meeting is over. The lab needs them by 9 AM."

"Sure." Kurt nodded.

Dr. Taylor continued to run through the children's files, giving the staff a brief summary about each new patient, as well as instructions for tests and treatments to be carried out.

Kurt's eyes were drawn to Blaine, who was sitting on the other side of the table, in between Dr. Taylor and Stephanie. His boyfriend was studying the files as Dr. Taylor was passing them over to him, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Kurt smiled at the sight. After spending almost a week in the company of a carefree, chipper, frivolous Blaine, it was a bit odd to see him return to full doctor-mode. Odd, but nice; he loved Blaine for every aspect of his being.

The smile on Kurt's face disappeared as he saw how Stephanie leaned towards Blaine, whispering something in his ear. Blaine turned his face towards her and smiled, as he in turn whispered something back. And then Stephanie fluttered her eyelashes and giggled, while running her hand through her long, curly brown hair.

Kurt couldn't believe his eyes.

The girl was flirting with Blaine.

That bitch.

Stephanie turned her eyes toward Kurt and met his angry glare with the same strange look she'd given him before. Except now there was a hint of a scornful smile added to it.

Kurt had to bite his lip to refrain from saying or doing something stupid. He didn't want Blaine to think he didn't trust him; because he did, he honestly did… But he didn't trust that little tramp next to him. There was something about her that rubbed him the wrong way.

Dr. Taylor ended the briefing and everybody started chatting.

Stephanie pointed toward the pen in Blaine's hand and cooed. "Oh, that's pretty, where did you get it?"

Blaine smiled and looked at Kurt. "It's a gift. Kurt gave it to me. It's lovely isn't it?"

"Yes, that's right." Kurt said in a clipped tone, his eyes shooting daggers at Stephanie. "Blaine LOVES it."

Stephanie raised one eyebrow and smiled sweetly. "Really now? That's… cute."

Kurt felt his face flushing in anger. Blaine had turned his back towards Stephanie to talk to Dr. Taylor, and was oblivious to what was happening between the two co-workers. Kurt drew in a ragged breath.

"Now listen to me, you little-"

"Kurt! Did you bring us something from New York?" Emily interrupted him. "Did you get me those lavender colored M&M's from M&M's World?"

"What?" Kurt looked at Emily. It took a moment for her question to sink in. "Oh right, Em! I did, I have them here." Kurt bent over and started rummaging in a shopping bag next to his chair. "Here they are!" He handed a large bag filled with M&M's to Emily, who squealed in delight.

Kurt handed the other gifts to his co-workers. He'd gotten a quirky little purse for Rose and a snow globe with Lady Liberty inside for Jenny. The snow globe was tacky as hell, but Jenny collected them, so he'd bought one in some touristy souvenir shop.

He sneered at Stephanie. "Sorry, I didn't bring you anything back from New York."

Stephanie chuckled as she rose from her chair. She passed Kurt and patted his shoulder, bending down to whisper in his ear. "Oh, but you did, sweetie, you did." She gave his shoulder another squeeze and walked out of the staff room.

Rose plopped down next to him. "What was that all about?" She frowned.

Kurt shook his head. "I don't know", he said under his breath, "but she is pissing me off. She was flirting with Blaine! And scoffing at me! Right? I'm not imagining things, am I?" He whispered sharply.

"She's acting strange alright." Rose shrugged. "I don't really know her, no one does. She never talks about herself. I don't even know how old she is. We figured it's because she's new and shy."

"She doesn't seem shy to me!" Kurt huffed.

"No, not really…" Rose admitted. "But don't let it get to you. You don't even have to work with her; she's teamed up with Em."

"Yeah…" Kurt said warily. "Maybe you're right."

He got to his feet as Blaine passed by him, giving his upper arm a little squeeze.

"I'll meet you for lunch at the cafeteria, okay?" Blaine asked.

Kurt smiled and gave a slight nod. "It's a date!"

Kurt's heart melted a little when he entered Jeremy's room. The little boy was lying on his side, clutching a giant teddy bear, looking vulnerable and sad. It was obvious he felt quite sick.

A young woman was sitting next to the bed, holding Jeremy's hand between hers. She was smiling at the boy, but Kurt saw the weariness and sadness in her eyes. It was a familiar sight to him; he'd seen it countless times before on this ward.

"Hi, I'm Kurt." He said to the woman.

The woman looked up and gave Kurt a tired smile. "Hello, I'm Lisa. I'm Jeremy's mom."

"Nice to meet you." Kurt nodded.

"And you must be Jeremy." He said softly to the boy. "My name is Kurt, and I'm here to take care of you."

Kurt explained to Lisa about the tests they were going to do. She nodded numbly, and asked a few questions along the way. Then it was time to draw blood. It was a tricky thing to do, as children's veins were a lot smaller. Luckily, Kurt had a lot of experience doing this.

"Hey Jeremy, do you like books?" He asked.

The boy nodded.

"That's great! Look what I have here!" He handed a very large book with colorful pictures to Lisa. "Why don't we get you to sit up a little, so you and your mom can both look at the pictures? And maybe your mom can read you the story? It's about an animal farm!"

Jeremy's mom understood what Kurt was aiming for, and propped her son up against the pillow, in a sitting position. She went to sit next to him, holding up the book and started to read to her son.

Kurt sat down on the edge of the bed. He put on his gloves and started preparing the needle and vials. He then took Jeremy's arm, careful to keep it out of the boy's sight, and disinfected it.

"You're going to feel a little sting Jeremy, but don't worry about it, just look at those silly animals, okay?"

Everything was going well. Jeremy's arm gave a little twitch as Kurt inserted the needle, but other than that, the boy didn't react. He was too engrossed in the story his mom was reading to him.

A few minutes later, Kurt had filled all five vials, and he announced that they were done.

"Good job, buddy. You're a champion!" He said, patting the boy's hand.

Lisa looked up in surprise. "It's over already? Oh my, you're good… in Pittsburgh they had him kicking and screaming every time!"

Kurt smiled and shrugged as he affixed the labels to the vials and took his pen to write Jeremy's name on them. Realizing he didn't know the boy's last name, he walked over to the cart and grabbed the file.

"The blood samples are going straight to the lab." Kurt said, as he opened the file, and scanned for the name. "The results should be in this afternoon and Dr. Tay-"

And then he froze.

No.

Impossible.

"Is there something wrong?" He heard Lisa asking. But he couldn't respond. He couldn't move.

No.

NO.

Not this. Not here. Not now.

Jeremy.

Jeremy Karofsky.

"Kurt? Kurt Hummel? Is that you?" A very familiar, extremely unwelcome voice jolted Kurt out of his trance.

His eyes snapped up to stare into the one face he never wanted to see again. Ever.

Dave Karofsky.

He felt his body starting to revolt.

Blood drained from his face, a ringing sound danced through his ears, his knees trembled, and shit, did he just drop that vial of blood on the floor? Fuck, it was broken. He couldn't look down to check, but he'd heard the crashing sound. Now they'd have to do it again to that poor little boy. Jeremy. Jeremy Karofsky. Dave Karofsky's son. His son.

"No…" Kurt whispered.

"Kurt…" Dave took a tentative step towards him. "I…"

"NO!" Kurt screamed, and finally, finally his body realized what it had to do.

Run.

Kurt didn't know how he made it out of the room, but the next thing he knew, he was sprinting through the corridor. He needed to get away. He needed to hide. His feet carried him to the one place where he knew he was safe. The one place where Karofsky wouldn't be able to reach him.

Blaine was in his office, preparing for his consultations, when Stephanie came in with a stack of files.

"Here you go, Dr. Anderson, these are all the files you've requested." She said in a sugar sweet voice.

"Thanks Stephanie, just put them on top of the cabinet please." Blaine answered casually, while scrolling through files on his computer screen.

"Was there anything else you needed?"

Blaine turned his head and looked up at the nurse. She was standing right next to him, leaning against his desk.

"Um… no… I'm good. You can go now." Blaine offered, with a hitch in his voice.

Stephanie didn't move. She pointed towards the picture frame on Blaine's desk. "Is that Lily? Oh my God, she's adorable!"

Blaine was shocked. How did she know about Lily? He'd only told Kurt. Sure, there was a picture on his desk, but nobody knew it was his daughter, let alone her name.

"Wait… how do you know about Lily?" He asked.

Stephanie shrugged and smiled sweetly. "Everybody knows. You seem surprised?"

"I… no, I don't…" Blaine didn't know what to say. Kurt wouldn't have done this, he was sure about that. He trusted Kurt. Really. He wouldn't have spread such personal information. But how the hell did they know?

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Yes?" He shouted.

Rose entered his office. She looked upset. "He's not here?" She asked in a panicked voice.

"Who's not here?" Blaine frowned.

"Kurt! We can't find Kurt! It seems he had a run-in with a patient's dad and he ran away, and we can't find him, but his car is still in the parking lot!" Rose rambled.

"Shit!" Blaine jumped out of his chair and strode towards Rose. "Was it that Berton idiot again?"

Rose shook her head. "No, it was Jeremy's father; Mr. Karofsky."

Blaine was shocked into silence for a few seconds.

"Karofsky?" He hissed. "Fuck! We need to find him. He's probably off somewhere having a panic attack right now!"

He hurried out of the office.

Rose threw Stephanie a glare. "Get back to work, you!", she snapped, and she turned around to follow Blaine in his search for Kurt.