Emergency crews were busy trying to put out the fires and trying to find survivors. Los Angeles was a city that trained for devastating earthquakes and the emergency system was constantly being refined and updated. It didn’t take long for the city to respond to this occurrence. A triage area was immediately set up to start dealing with the survivors. They were taken to another concourse until they could be sent out to the local hospitals. The dead were laid out side by side until they could be moved to the morgue.

LAX is the world’s sixth largest airport servicing over 60 million passengers. Once the security alerts were bumped up to DEFCON 1 security was tripled. It was mind blowing to the powers that be that this terrorist act had been accomplished.

The airport was closed off and only first responders were allowed near the blast site.
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Kurt’s grandparents had been about 30 minutes away when they heard the news on the radio. They immediately turned around to head back to the airport.

Burt was working when the radio that constantly played music in the background announced the bombing of the Los Angeles Airport. Burt quickly ran into the office and turned on the small television he kept on his desk. Every channel was covering the bombing and for a minute Burt was transported to that fateful day when he sat and helplessly watched the Twin Towers collapse. May 13, 2012 would now be added to the list of infamous days in the history of the United States. He looked at the time and hoped that Kurt’s plane had managed to clear the airport before it was bombed.

He grabbed the phone and dialed his in-laws but they had no information. They had just turned their SUV around and were headed back to the airport. As he put the phone down he saw Carole running into the garage, tears were streaming down her face and they collapsed in each other’s arms.
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“Any change?” asked Burt.

The nurse just shook her head and said, “Mr. Hummel, the doctor will be in for his rounds in about an hour.”

Burt and Carole were sitting side by side waiting for the doctor to update them on Kurt’s condition. Finn had sustained two broken legs but otherwise had survived the blast. The other members of the Glee Club had all survived with some broken bones and a few concussions. They had been saved by the fact that they had been standing behind the heavy counters of the self-check kiosks. They had all been kept overnight to make sure there were no other complications and then released into the custody of Kurt’s grandparents after clearing it with the families.

He had assured the families that he would take responsibility for the children until they could make it to California. Kurt’s grandfather still had contacts in the military and he had requested and received permission to have the military transport these kids to his home since most of them were not mobile. There were simply too many broken kids to transport in an SUV. They had also provided a mental health specialist trained in post-traumatic syndrome to speak to the group.

Travel in and out of Los Angeles was at a standstill for the time being. All air travel had been suspended around Los Angeles and Ontario, San Diego and Palm Springs were swamped with stranded passengers. It was a few days before the families made it to the Coachella Valley. They were just relieved that their children were alive and grateful that Kurt’s grandparents had been there to care for them in the aftermath of the bombing.

Kurt and Mr. Schuester were the only two that were still in the hospital. They had been standing in front of the kiosk trying to get checked in when the blast had occurred. They had both been severely injured and were now in the Intensive Care Unit.

“Mr. and Mrs. Hummel, I am Dr. Steele. Let me go over your son’s chart and then I can give you a clearer picture of what is going on with him.” He took a few minutes to look at all the test results in the chart and checked Kurt’s eye to see if it responded to the light.

“How is he doing Doc?” asked Burt with a tremble in his voice. He was looking at his son laying there with most of his head wrapped up in bandages and casts on his arms and legs.

“Kurt was hit by shrapnel. His face took the brunt of the shrapnel and his body was buried under some of the debris. He is still in a coma and until he wakes up we won’t really know the extent of any brain damage he might have suffered. His arms and legs are broken but they will heal in time. I am more concerned about his facial injuries especially his left eye. He has a laceration from his eye all the way down to his chin. He underwent surgery to repair some of the damage to the eye and we are hoping he will retain his sight. He will most likely have a scar, but barring any brain damage he should make a full recovery.”

Burt seemed to falter a bit but he managed to thank the doctor for doing everything possible for his son. As the doctor was leaving he asked, “Dr. Steele, can you tell me how Will Schuester is doing? He was with my son and I believe he is still in ICU.”

“Mr. Hummel, I can only give out that information to family.”

“His family isn’t here yet. His parents were on a cruise and have finally been located. They are supposed to be flying in tomorrow morning. I would like to see him and make sure he is okay. He is family, Dr. Steele.”

Dr. Steele sighed and said, “Mr. Hummel, the reason your son is alive is because Mr. Schuester shielded him from most of the debris that rained down on them. Unfortunately, Mr. Schuester died about an hour ago. I am sorry for your loss.”