Chapter 21

December 9, 2012

Lying in bed with Blaine was more difficult for Kurt to endure than he had thought it would be. The slave boy had a strong hold on him and there was no way Kurt could remove the duvet from himself without exposing the other boy to the cold air. He was sweating in his clothes but still didn't make a move to get himself more comfortable, especially since Blaine made content sounds from time to time. If it wasn't for his constant coughs, his sleep would have looked peaceful.

Kurt was beginning to doze off when his room door was pushed a little and Burt came backwards with a bed tray in his hands. When the man turned around the boy saw two bowls of steaming hot soup with spoons in them. Suddenly Kurt felt really hungry, something he hadn't felt since the previous morning.

"He's been sleeping a lot," Burt commented after seeing the scene before him and Kurt was glad that his dad decided not to make fun of the way Blaine was sleeping on him. Until he did. "Probably because our pillows are so comfortable."

"Very funny," Kurt said dryly. "He said he was afraid that someone might hurt him while he was asleep..."

"They probably came after him while he was sleeping," Burt speculated. "That would explain it."

The boy nodded and caressed Blaine's cheek that wasn't on his chest. "Blaine? Wake up. You need to eat."

Blaine easily woke up as he hadn't been sleeping for that long. "Food?" he asked hoarsely.

"Yeah, my dad made some chicken soup," Kurt explained and helped the boy sit up.

When they were finally sitting comfortably, Burt came to the bed and put the tray with food on Blaine's lap. "Hi, Blaine, my name is Burt. I'm Kurt's dad," he introduced himself.

"Hi, Kurt's dad," Blaine smiled at him and lowered his eyes to the soup in front of him. "It smells nice."

"It's hot," Kurt warned the boy. "Let me help you."

The boy took the spoon from the bowl that was closer to the slave but Burt stopped him. "You need to eat as well. I'll help Blaine."

Kurt watched as his dad took the spoonful of soup and blew cold air at it making sure it wouldn't burn the boy's mouth.

"Open up," Burt said and waited for Blaine to open his mouth.

The boy chewed what was solid in the spoon and swallowed with a frown. "Hurts to eat," he uttered.

Kurt tried his own soup but didn't endure any pain. "How does it hurt?" he asked.

"Swallowing," Blaine explained.

"Your throat must be sore from the cold," Burt said with sympathy. "We'll give you some medicine afterwards but you really need to eat, okay?"

"Okay," the boy agreed with no arguing though it was obvious that he wasn't too keen on eating anymore no matter how loudly his stomach started growling.

They continued eating in silence, Blaine eating much more slowly since Burt took extra care of the temperature of the food as well as making sure not to let any drops fall on the bedding or the boy's skin. The slave also chewed slowly as it seemed that it was less painful for him to swallow well chewed food. Despite it being obvious that it hurt Blaine didn't complain and took every spoon that was offered to him until he couldn't fit anymore.

"I'm full," he said sadly eyeing the half empty bowl.

"That's fine," Burt said and put the spoon back into the bowl. "You can have some more later when you feel hungry."

"Thank you," Blaine said and yawned. "Can I use my own hands next time?"

Burt laughed and retreated the tray once Kurt put his spoon into his empty bowl. "Yeah, if you are feeling better by then."

"I will," the slave boy nodded. "But I'll only be using my right hand because my left wrist hurts..."

"It will heal," Kurt said. "Dad, can you stay with Blaine for a little while? I will take the tray to the kitchen and grab some pyjamas from the dryer for him."

"Sure," the man said and Kurt left them alone after hearing Blaine say that he needed to pee.

The boy went to the kitchen and then to the room where they kept the washing machine together with the dryer. He took the dry clothes out of the dryer and found his clean pyjamas among other things. It smelled really nice and Kurt was sure Blaine would appreciate it, especially in the state he was in right now.

Kurt took the pyjamas but before he left he noticed the body part of his favourite toy lying on the washing machine and he remembered his dad telling him he would put it there. Now that he had the head as well, he could finally fix the toy and then wash it later. The boy took it in his other hand and went upstairs to find his dad telling Blaine about some football game he had watched recently.

"Did you know Blaine liked football?" Burt asked when he noticed Kurt.

"I didn't," Kurt said attempting to hide his smile. "I'm glad you two have something in common."

"Finally I'll have someone to watch football with," the man said happily. "Like really watch, not just pretend to with empty eyes staring at the screen."

Kurt shrugged. "At least I try," he said and extended the pyjamas to Blaine, who, he had noticed, was wearing a new clean pair of boxers. "These are for you, Blaine. It would be great if you could out them on."

Without hesitation the slave boy got out of the bed and put on the clothing. When he was ready to go back to bed, he noticed the other thing Kurt was holding.

"Mr. Honey!" he exclaimed, his face lit up with a big toothy smile.

"You remember it?" Kurt asked confused. Blaine couldn't recognise him so it was weird that he could remember the toy he had had for a short time.

Blaine nodded and sat down on the bed. "A friend gave it to me. What happened to his head?" he asked confused.

"It broke but we could fix it after you take your medicine," Kurt offered.

"I'll bring a glass of water," Burt mumbled and left.

"Why do I need medicine?" Blaine frowned.

Kurt sat down on the bed and took the other boy's hand in his without even thinking. "You got really cold not long ago and now you are sick. You cough a lot and your throat is sore. Also, you have a fever so you need to take some pills to get better."

"Can Mr. Honey take medicine too?"

Kurt smiled fondly at that. "He needs different type of cure. It needs... a surgery."

"Are you a doctor?" Blaine asked with a tilt of his head.

"I am right now. And you can assist me during the procedure," the boy said and went to find his sewing kit.

"Would it make me a nurse?"

"Yes, it would," Kurt said and took his large sewing kit out of the drawer. "Here it is."

Blaine watched Kurt come to the bed and put the kit on it. "It's huge!" he said in amazement.

Kurt fished the toy's head out of the bag and sat down next to Blaine. "I like designing clothes. I'm planning to study design after school. And next week I will alter some of my clothes to fit you before I can go shopping for you. Unfortunately, I won't be able to bring you with me."

"It's okay, I don't like shopping anyway," Blaine said and took Mr. Honey's head. "It will be a difficult surgery, doctor."

"With an assistant like you it should go well," Kurt giggled and took out the pills so that they would be ready by the time his dad came back with water.

Which happened moments later as Burt walked into the room carrying a single glass in his right hand. "Here it is," he said and gave the glass to Blaine.

Kurt gave him the pills and the boy swallowed them one by one. "Still hurts," he said massaging his neck and gave the glass back to Burt. "Thank you."

"No problem, kid," the man said. "I'll go catch a game. Yell if you need anything, okay?"

"Sure," Kurt said and Burt left. "Okay, nurse, let's take care of our patient. Hold its body still so I can sew its head back."

"Okay, doctor," the boy said and took the body part in his hands, holding it gently but still firmly.

Kurt put a thread through a needle and placed the head where it had to be. "Let's begin," he said and carefully put the needle through tender material.

They worked for good ten minutes before Blaine's eyes became heavier but he insisted on staying awake since their patient's wellbeing depended on them. Sometimes they had to stop when the boy began to cough so wildly that the toy shook but other than that it went well and by the time they finished Kurt was satisfied with the outcome.

"It's almost like new, a bit scarred but still beautiful," he said and Blaine took the full hold of the toy as Kurt went to tidy up his sewing kit, making sure to save the leftover thread for his scrapbook.

"He is even prettier now," he said. "You can see he was hurt but it didn't ruin him."

"That's true, he is incredibly strong," Kurt said not looking at the toy but directly at Blaine who now had the toy pressed to his chest.

"Can he sleep with us tonight?" the slave asked hopefully. "We need to make sure nothing bad happens after the surgery."

"Of course," Kurt said and yawned suddenly feeling the consequences after the sleepless night. "Do you want to sleep now?"

Blaine nodded and made himself comfortable in bed with the teddy bear still in his arms.

"I'll go change," Kurt said and went to the bathroom to change into shorts and a t-shirt.

After brushing his teeth he made a mental note to take a shower in the morning or in the evening is he woke up the same day, and went back to his room ready for bed. The boy had expected Blaine to be fast asleep but for some reason he was staying awake.

"Not sleepy anymore?" Kurt asked as the boy yawned as an answer to his question.

"I wanted to say goodnight," Blaine said with a sleepy smile.

"Um, would you like to brush your teeth before going to bed?" Kurt asked.

The slave boy ran his tongue over his front teeth and shook his head.

Kurt looked at him disapprovingly. "Starting tomorrow you will have to do it every morning and before bed," he said and got under the duvet.

"Okay," Blaine said and snuggled to Kurt's side with the teddy bear between them. "Goodnight."

"Sweet dreams," Kurt said, trying hard not to think how much their sleeping position reminded of a little family. Soon they both fell asleep peacefully in each other's arms.

December 10, 2012

Waking up was difficult for Kurt. He woke up with a startle when the front door was shut with some force and opened his heavy eyes, his brain still refusing to fully function. Judging by the light seeping through the closed curtains he guessed that it was already morning and his dad just left for work. He couldn't believe he had slept for so long even if it was after a sleepless night. His emotions must have left him drained.

When his sight got a bit clearer the boy saw Blaine still asleep with the toy by his side but not holding it. He smiled at how adorable the slave boy looked and carefully got up as his bladder could hardly hold any longer.

After he was done with the bathroom Kurt made his way into his room and found Blaine sitting in the bed. The boy looked up and there was nothing but confusion in his face, which was soon replaced by recognition.

"Kurt?" Blaine uttered, the pain of betrayal obvious in his voice. He lowered his head respectfully. "I'm sorry for speaking without permission... Master."