The next few days passed in a blur. Blaine marked the passing of time by the meals Jason and Colton brought him, the nurses and doctors coming in to check on Kurt, and the few hours of sleep he managed to fit in here and there. Only once did he leave and that was to run to a nearby hotel and shower since Jason told him he was starting to petrify in his dirty clothes. He didn't want Kurt to wake and be grossed out, so he cleaned up and just threw the clothes he was wearing in the trash.

On the third day, the doctor stopped the sedation, saying it was time for Kurt to wake up and start working towards movement and healing. Blaine refused to leave his side from then on. Kurt could wake up at any moment and there was no way Blaine was going to miss seeing his eyes after so many days of staring at him unconscious.

Kurt was doing well, his bruises were already changing from the angry purples and blues to greens and yellows. Blaine knew Kurt would not want to see himself like this, so he'd have to keep him distracted and not let him see a mirror until he could handle the shock.

Blaine was humming mindlessly, stroking Kurt's arm, when he saw his head twitch.

"Kurt?" he said. "Baby, are you waking up finally?"

"Mm," Kurt moaned. "Hurts."

Blaine pushed the button for the nurse and told her Kurt was waking up.

"I know, baby. You were pretty badly injured and had to have surgery. There is going to be a lot of pain. Just try to stay still for now, okay?"

"'kay," he muttered. "Blaine?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"Love you," Kurt murmured, his eyelids fluttering.

"I love you, too, baby. Can you look at me so I can see those gorgeous eyes of yours?" Blaine encouraged.

"Mm," Kurt moaned and blinked slowly. Finally his eyes opened, though not fully because of the swelling that still surrounded his face. He looked at Blaine and Blaine felt like crying and cheering all at the same time.

"I've missed those eyes," Blaine said, stroking Kurt's arm gently.

"How long's it been?" Kurt asked, his speech still garbled.

"You've been out for almost three days now. The doctor's wanted you to rest instead of having to feel the pain," Blaine explained, trying to keep things simple.

"It hurts, though," Kurt said.

"What hurts the most?" Blaine asked.

"Belly the worst. But I hurt all over," Kurt said, looking at him, his eyes slightly glazed.

"Your belly hurts because you had to have surgery. Everything else hurts because you got the crap beat out of you," Blaine said honestly.

"Marco," Kurt whispered, his eyes wide.

"Marco didn't make it, Kurt. He passed away yesterday," Blaine said, hoping the news would ease his mind. Thanks to Blaine and the bat, Marco had died from severe internal hemorrhaging. They'd tried several surgeries from what he'd heard, but it was too little too late. He wasn't sorry. Looking at his fiancé and knowing the pain he was experiencing, he wished he could kill Marco all over again.

"Good," Kurt muttered. "He was asshole."

Blaine grinned. "He was asshole." Kurt like this was pretty adorable.

"My mouth hurts, Blaine," he whined. "Hurts to talk."

"Your tongue and mouth got burned somehow, baby. You have blisters all over your mouth. Can you remember what happened?" Blaine had been curious of what could cause that kind of burn and yet part of him didn't want to know.

"Chili sauce," Kurt murmured, a tear trickling down his cheek.

"Chili sauce? What do you mean, baby?" Blaine asked, wiping the single tear away.

"Ghost chili sauce," he said. "Marco said it was hottest chili in the world. Put it on my tongue and made me keep it in my mouth then spit it out. Did it a lot. He liked to watch my eyes water and my nose run. It hurt, Blaine."

Blaine stared at him in shock, unable to fathom the sadistic nature of man. "Oh, baby, I am so sorry. The doctors have been coating your mouth with Lidocaine to numb it. We'll have the nurse give you some more."

"'kay. Thanks Blaine," Kurt said, his eyes fluttering closed, too exhausted to keep talking.

The nurse came in and gave him pain medicine, saying that when he was able to be a bit more alert, they'd give him a pain pump. She also swabbed his tongue with the numbing agent and Kurt looked relieved immediately. She adjust his blankets and pillows and left quietly.

Blaine was sure Kurt was asleep and went back to rubbing his wrist.

"Blaine?"

Blaine jumped, his heart pounding. Smiling, he squeezed his wrist softly. "Yeah, baby?"

"You sing to me? Fixing song?" he asked sleepily.

Blaine grinned, pleased. "Yes, baby, I sang to you. The Coldplay song, 'Fix You'. You remember?"

"Uh huh. Thought it was a dream. It was pretty, Blaine. Thank you," Kurt said, a small smile on his swollen face.

"You are welcome, love. Would you like another song?" he offered. He would do anything to ease Kurt.

"Yes, please," he whispered.

"Any requests?" Blaine asked.

"Something happy. Love stuff," Kurt stuff. "Cause I love you."

"I love you, too. Okay, let me think for a minute," Blaine said. Then he smiled and began singing in a soft voice, pausing every so often to plant soft kisses across Kurt's face. His small smile made it all worth it.

Well you've done done me and you bet I felt it

I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted

I fell right through the cracks

and now I'm trying to get back

Before the cool done run out

I'll be giving it my bestest

Nothing's going to stop me but divine intervention

I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn some

I won't hesitate no more, no more

It cannot wait, I'm yours

Well open up your mind and see like me

Open up your plans and damn you're free

Look into your heart and you'll find love love love love

Listen to the music of the moment people dance and sing, we're just one big family

It's our God-forsaken right to be loved loved loved loved loved

So I won't hesitate no more, no more

It cannot wait I'm sure

There's no need to complicate

Our time is short

This is our fate, I'm yours

Do you want to, come on, scootch over closer dear

And I will nibble your ear

I've been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror

And bending over backwards just to try to see it clearer

But my breath fogged up the glass

And so I drew a new face and I laughed

I guess what I'll be saying is there ain't no better reason

To rid yourself of vanities and just go with the seasons

It's what we aim to do

Our name is our virtue

But I won't hesitate no more, no more

It cannot wait, I'm yours

Well open up your mind and see like me

Open up your plans and damn you're free

Look into your heart and you'll find that the sky is yours

so please don't, please don't, please don't.

There's no need to complicate

'cause our time is short

This oh, this oh, this is our fate, I'm yours

"Thank you, Blaine. I'm yours too," Kurt murmured, as his blinks became slower.

"Good to know," Blaine smiled.

"Love Blaine," he slurred.

"I love you, too, baby. Sleep now," Blaine said, brushing his hair back.

"Be here, wake up?" he mumbled.

"I'll be here. No worries. Sleep sweet, my love," he assured him with a soft kiss.

. . . . .

"How is he?" Jason asked. He and Colton had brought Blaine dinner again along with a change of clothes. Blaine had quickly scrubbed up in the bathroom in Kurt's room and changed.

"He's doing really good. They are taking him off sedation and he already woke up for a little while earlier. He's so cute when he's all loopy. I just hate that he's in so much pain," Blaine said, giving Kurt a fond smile.

"I can't even imagine," Colton said, his eyes wide.

"Did you know that asshole Marco put freakin' ghost chili sauce on his tongue? Do you know what ghost chili's are?" Blaine asked.

"Uh, yeah, those are the hottest peppers known to man. And Kurt had to have that shit in his mouth?" Jason asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, he had to hold it in his mouth and then they had him spit it out. I guess I'm glad he didn't have to swallow it. Who knows what that would have done to his insides. As it was, he had to have his spleen taken out and several blood vessels fixed to stop the internal bleeding," Blaine relayed.

"Whatever happened to Marco?" Colton asked.

"Dead," Blaine said, a grim smile on his face.

"I can't say I'm sorry to hear that," Jason said.

"Same here. And with Smythe in jail, everyone is safe, right? This is all over?" Colton asked Blaine.

"Yeah, it's all over. Except for Kurt's healing. That will take quite a while, but he'll get there. He's strong," Blaine said.

After the two left, Blaine sat there thinking. All of this, all of it, was his fault. He'd killed Sebastian. He'd set everything up. He'd moved Kurt into the same apartment as him. Kurt was kidnapped to pay back Blaine for what he did to Sebastian. If he'd let that asshole live, none of this would have happened. If he'd just called the cops and let them handle it, maybe Kurt would be fine right now. They could be in their dorm room laughing or watching TV or arguing over watching baseball or Project Runway. Or they could be making love. But here they were instead, Kurt unconscious, his body in so much pain he couldn't stand to be awake for more than a few minutes at a time. All because Blaine wanted revenge. It was too much suddenly, and he broke down, bending over and burying his face in his hands. His shoulders shook with the force of his sobs. He had done this to Kurt. He may as well have swung the bat and stabbed him with the pickle fork. This was all his doing. His anger, his self-righteous attitude, his idea that he could take vengeance on someone with no regard to how it would affect others; all of that was responsible for the man he loved being in pain. He was broken, his body literally broken and bleeding. A loud sob escaped him and he bit his lip until he tasted blood, not wanting Kurt to wake up.

"Blaine?" Kurt's quiet voice interrupted him.

Blaine immediately quit crying and wiped his face.

"Yeah, baby?" he asked, his voice quavering.

"Why are you crying?" Kurt asked, his eyes bright and as clear as he'd seen them since the kidnapping.

"I'm not," Blaine started.

Kurt tried to glare at him, but the movement it took to make the expression pained him and he whimpered. "Don't lie to me, Blaine. I may be hurt, but I'm not stupid."

"It's just... God, Kurt, I am so sorry for all of this. This is all my fault. If I had left Sebastian alone, if I had let the authorities handle what happened to you, then none of this would have happened. Smythe would have had no reason to come at either of us. But I just had to take matters into my own hands and get back at Sebastian. And now you are paying the price for it. I'm so sorry, baby," he said, the tears beginning to fall again. He leaned his head on Kurt's bed, near his hand, sobbing out his guilt and heart break.

"Blaine, sweetie, don't cry," Kurt said, awkwardly patting Blaine's head with his bandaged hand. "I don't blame you. You did what you did to protect me, to avenge me, and I am so honored that you love me enough to do that. Please don't cry," he begged.

"Kurt, please just forgive me if you can. I love you so much. I would never have done any of this if I had known what would come of it," Blaine cried.

"Of course I forgive you. There is nothing to forgive. Blaine, I hurt," he moaned.

Blaine reached over and grabbed the small pump the nurse had told him how to work. He settled it in Kurt's hand, putting his uninjured thumb over the small button.

"Just press this when it hurts. You can push it once every ten minutes. So just give it a press and it'll inject pain medicine into your IV," Blaine said.

Kurt pressed it immediately. Within a minute, his pained expression was easing.

"Blaine?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"Sing to me again? The doctor said that singing to me helps me heal faster," Kurt said, a silly smile playing on his lips.

"Did he now? That's funny because I've been awake and conscious during the doctor's visits and you've been unconscious," Blaine teased back.

"It was when you, um, when you, it was a psychic visit," Kurt said. "Now sing to me. A silly song, cause you are silly," Kurt said, his eyes easing closed again.

"Fine," Blaine said. He thought of the perfect song and began singing.

I feel like a loser

I feel like I'm lost

I feel like I'm not so sure if I feel anything at all

But believe me, I'm not helpless I just

Need someone to love

So my situation's rough

But that just makes me a dumb human

Like you

Kurt's small giggles kept him going, spurred him to sing louder. He saw Kurt's uninjured foot bobbing to the beat of the song and it made him grin.

I feel like a shortstop

Along third base

I may just help you but I still don't like your face

But believe me, I'm not hostile I just

Want to hear you laugh

When I'm sarcastic like that

But that just makes me a dumb human

Like you

Why

Do I have this incredible need to stand up

And say "Please, pay attention?"

It's the last thing that I need

To make myself seen

Well, that ain't my intention

No

I feel like an artist

Who's lost his touch

He likes himself in his art, but not his art too much

But believe me, I've got something

I just don't know how to say

That I'm just fine with the way

With the way that I'm moving

But that just makes me a dumb human

That just makes me

That makes me a human like

You

"That song suits you, Blaine," Kurt slurred.

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked, grinning.

"You're a dumb human," Kurt said, sticking his tongue out at Blaine.

"I can't argue with that," Blaine said and kissed him softly on the cheek.