“Yeah Jessica, I got it—don’t worry he’ll be fine—I’ll watch him—Okay, no problem.” Carole spoke over the phone after being paged to the physical rehabilitation unit.

She didn’t typically work that unit, but today was slow and they were scrapped for nurses. So she made her way down to go supervise some poor kid.

It wasn’t often that people used the physical rehab center for recreational purposes. Mainly it was just mandatory for people recovering from surgery.

But she understood, that this poor kid was depressed and needed a way of coping without harming himself. So she was happy to go sit on duty to make sure nothing went wrong.

She hated to think about it, but you never know. There was a lot of equipment that could be used to harm oneself.

Hopefully this patient was stable enough that he really did just want to run on the treadmill to cool off.

The door opened quietly and someone she didn’t expect walked it.

“Kurt?” She asked.

Kurt immediately ran over and pulled her into a hug.

“Oh my god, Carole! I didn’t know you worked this area of the hospital, I thought you were in the other wing. It’s so nice to see you! I miss you guys!” Kurt exclaimed still not pulling away from the hug.

“We miss you too Kurt! I don’t typically work in this section, I was just filling in. I didn’t know I’d be supervising you though.” She smiled.

She kissed him on the cheek and pulled away.

He turned on the treadmill and began to run as they talked.

“So how are you doing?” She asked.

“I was doing fine this morning, but then Ugghh group therapy. I just needed to do something. It’s like I can feel the depression and anxiety I always do. But I know I can’t cut. So I’m just trying anything to deal with it.” He explained.

“What happened in group therapy?” Carole asked concerned.

“Ugghh, those assholes asked if Blaine was the one who raped me.” Kurt grunted.

“Why would they ask that?” Carole asked confused.

“We were just talking about what triggered our initial mental disorders and this girl, Bethany, just flat out asked me who raped me. Then this jerk, who’s my roommate, asked if it was Blake. He called him Blake! Ugghh people. Then I told them all how lovely Blaine is and I told them how Karofsky was the one who did it. It shut them up when I told them how Blaine even donated an organ to save my life. I guess just talking about everything made me angry, especially the way they asked. I just felt overwhelmed. I felt like I needed to cut. But I can’t do that.” Kurt said increasing the speed on the treadmill as he ranted.

“They had no right to accuse Blaine. They don’t know him, and they don’t know you. But I think you need to calm down. You know how great Blaine is. You know he would never do that. So you shouldn’t let other people’s foolishness upset you.” Carole said calmly.

“They all apologized and stuff but I just needed to cool down. You know?”

“I understand. And I think it’s very mature of you to come do something productive rather than cutting. It’s a big step.” Carole replied.

“Thank you. I’m trying really really hard.”

“We know you are sweetie.” Carole smiled.

“Are dad and Finn coming to visit tomorrow?” Kurt asked.

“No sweetie,  we called to schedule a visit but they said we needed to call a week in advanced, so we’ll all be here to see you next week.” She said sadly.

“It’s okay. The same thing happened with Blaine.”

“I’m sorry sweetie, at least we’ll all be here for you next week.” She smiled sadly.

“It’s okay. Because I can still talk to you guys, and the warblers are going to be performing here and I asked one of the staff upstairs if we could come down to watch. And she said that music could be a good form of therapy so she agrees. So at least I’ll get to watch Blaine sing.” Kurt smiled.

He left out the part about how after the concert he’d find away to sneak some alone time with Blaine, but she didn’t need to know that.

“That’s great sweetie. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you in the audience.” Carole smiled.

“Yeah, I can’t wait for those punks to see how amazing a singer he is, and I can’t wait for next Saturday. I wanna introduce him to everyone and rub him in their face so they can see how great he is and feel bad for what they said about him.” Kurt laughed.

“You must be feeling better, there’s the normal Kurt we love.” Carole said happily.

“They’re nice people though, I guess I was just mad for them assuming that about Blaine.” Kurt sighed.

“It’s okay to be mad. Just promise me if you are upset you’ll come do something like this rather than harm yourself.” Carole recommended.

“I will.” Kurt smiled.

“That’s good.”

The two continued talking as Kurt ran for another hour and a half.

“It was great seeing you again, but I think I’ve cooled down some and I think I’m alright to go back upstairs.” Kurt said stopping the treadmill.

“Okay sweetie. I love you.” She said pulling him into a hug.

“I love you too, will you tell Finn and dad that I love them as well?”

“Of course sweetie.” Carole smiled as she walked him to the door.

Kurt felt better after his run.

He felt really good.

He went back to his room and showered and changed and situated himself on the floor to do today’s work.

He spent the rest of the afternoon on the floor doing work until about nine or so when Holden, Bethany, and Kim walked into his room.

“Hey Kurt, we just wanted to apologize again for earlier.” Bethany said sadly.

“Yeah, it was very out of line for you to assume your boyfriend did that to you. He sounds like a great person and we’re sorry.” Kim added.

“Sorry Kurt.” Holden said not looking him in the eyes.

“It’s okay guys. I’m not mad. Just talking about all that stuff got me worked up and I needed to cool off.” Kurt reassured them that it was okay.

They hugged him and Bethany and Kim said goodnight as they left the room.

Holden sat down on his bed and Kurt laid on the floor finishing his work.

Neither of them said anything.