Breathe Again

Chapter 19

...

"Hey, take a deep breath," Kurt whispered tenderly as he placed his hands on Blaine's shoulders, softly massaging the tense muscles under his fingers. Blaine bobbed his head slightly in acknowledgment before doing as told, inhaling deeply before breathing out.

They had now been waiting in the hospital for what seemed like an endless amount of time. Upon their arrival, the boys and Max had been informed that Ella had suffered from a ruptured aneurism resulting in a brain hemorrhage, and that she had been rushed into emergency surgery upon her arrival to the hospital. The doctors had told them that they would try their very best to help Ella through this, but that at that very moment, things hadn't looked so good. The five hour mark was now approaching since Ella had been taken in for surgery, and they were still waiting for an update of any kind.

Blaine took another deep breath before glancing back at Kurt. "They've been in there for hours," he whispered. There was an undertone of defeat in his voice that clutched at Kurt's heart, causing the boy to stop his massage, and instead wrap his arms around Blaine from behind.

"She's going to be okay," he said quietly as he hooked his chin over Blaine's shoulder.

"I –" Blaine began, but stopped, shaking his head as he swallowed hard and tried to get a grasp on the emotions that threatened to spill from his body. "What if she's not?"

Kurt shook his head, wedging his lip in between his teeth as he searched for the right words to comfort Blaine. Instead, he simply pressed a soft kiss to the boy's cheek, before standing up and walking around the set of chairs that separated the two, sitting down in the one next to Blaine and reaching out to take his hand in his.

"I know that none of us can know for sure that she will be okay, but look at who we're talking about, Blaine. Ella's a fighter. She's one of the strongest, most stubborn women that I have ever met. And that's saying something, because my best friend is Rachel Berry," he added, feeling relieved when a smile twitched at the corners of Blaine's mouth. "If anybody is going to pull through something like this, it's Ella." Kurt looked around the large waiting room and spotted Max sitting in a chair at the far end, expression blank as he stared at the bright white wall across from him. "Have you talked to him yet?"

Blaine nodded slowly as he slouched further into his chair, tightening his hold on Kurt's hand as he did. "He said that he just needed some time alone," Blaine answered. He reached up to run his hand through his messy curls before looking over at Kurt who was still watching Max. "I don't blame him."

"No of course not," Kurt agreed, moving his attention back to the boy sitting next to him.

"How are you so calm?" Blaine asked after a moment of silence between the two. Kurt reflected on the events of the evening and realized that although he had felt incredibly upset the whole time, he had internalized it all. Compared to Blaine, who had paced nonstop the entire first hour they had been in the hospital, Kurt must have seemed almost serene.

Kurt raised his shoulders in a shrug. "I guess I'm able to stay calm when I know that the people around me need me to be," he answered honestly, not even realizing that he had somehow managed to avoid an attack in one of the most stressful situations he'd ever encountered. "I did have a little panic moment in the bathroom earlier," he admitted. "It's not that I'm not worried, because if anything happens to that woman, I don't know what I'll do. But, you two seem like you need someone to stay level headed at this moment, and I guess I've decided to try and be that person."

"Thank you," Blaine breathed, squeezing Kurt's hand as he did. "For just being here, for being you."

Kurt nodded, giving Blaine a soft smile before slouching slightly in his own chair. "Everything's going to work out the way that it should," he assured as he leaned his head against the other boy's shoulder, smiling softly when Blaine kissed the top of his head and leaning his own against it.