The next day, Blaine stepped into Kurt and Lacey's hospital room at exactly 11:30am. To the millisecond.
Both patients' eyes lit up, though Kurt tried to hide it. Blaine smiled when he saw, though he didn't make a big deal out of it. If the roles were reversed, Blaine would have been happy to see Kurt too.
Lacey cried out in happiness, but was quickly shushed. "Take it easy, Lacey. Remember, you need to recover."
The girl rolled her eyes. "I feel fine. Can I go home now?"
"Not until the tests say you can. You know the drill."
The brother-sister talk continued, and Kurt only half-listened. He could hear the sound of Blaine's voice, a comforting buzz in his ear, but couldn't quite discern what he was saying. And that was fine.
Like the day before, Blaine and Lacey talked for a while, until Lacey drifted off to sleep. "Told you you needed to rest."
When Lacey was fully asleep, Blaine turned over to Kurt.
"Hi. How... are you?"
As well as can be expected.
But Kurt still couldn't respond. He blinked a few times to show he understood, but that was all.
Kurt felt a thrill when Blaine came closer...and closer...until he was right next to Kurt again.
"Listen, we need to find a way to communicate. I noticed that you can... move your eyes. So, how about if I ask a question, blink for yes, and look away for no? Does that work?"
Kurt blinked.
"Good. So, can I ask a few random questions? Just to get to know you a little?"
Kurt blinked again.
"Okay. I want to know how old you are. I'm sixteen. Are you sixteen?"
Kurt looked at a monitor, saying no, then looked back to Blaine.
"Fifteen?"
Kurt looked away again.
"Seventeen?"
Kurt blinked a few times.
"Okay, you're seventeen. Do you have a car?"
Kurt blinked, wishing he could smile. He was proud of his car.
"Did you grow up in Westerville?"
Kurt looked away, wishing desperately that he could communicate in a better way. Something more complex than just yes or no. He sighed mentally, and looked back to Blaine.
"All right, we'll come back to that one. Were you popular at school?"
And the questions went on. Kurt didn't mind answering them, though he did still want to get his voice back. Nurse C.'s latest tests had shown that there was nothing wrong with his voice per se, but his lips and tongue were too swollen to allow sound.
It was so frustrating! And Nurse C. had been so vague about when it would come back, if at all. Kurt didn't want to lose his voice. It was a huge part of him. Talking, singing, snarky comebacks... Kurt Hummel needed his voice. Without it, he was nothing.
"You know, your right arm looks okay. Did the nurses say it was damaged?"
Kurt looked away. His left arm and wrist were broken, both his legs were broken, but his right arm was okay.
"So you could use that arm if it was released?"
Kurt blinked, wondering where this was going.
"Huh... interesting..."
Kurt couldn't ask what Blaine meant. More frustration. And just to make it worse, that was when Nurse C. came to announce the end of visiting hours. Both Kurt and Blaine took an astonished look at the clock. Had they really been talking for seven hours?
Blaine drifted halfway out of the room, but stopped again. "Nurse," he asked cautiously, "Can I talk to you outside for a moment?"
Yeah, cliffhanger. Sorry! But I write fast, and Chapter Six should be in your hands by tomorrow. But no guarantees!
