FIC: The Post-Apocalypse Crazies Blues
Title: The Post-Apocalypse Crazies Blues
Pair: Klaine
Includes: zombies, mpreg, sly reference to breastfeeding… and maybe a Wicked reference if you squint >:)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 5235
Summary: Blaine tries to show that he’s better to the world. Meanwhile, Kurt and Blaine get a glimpse at their baby, and their families (genetic and collected) worry about them.
AN: Whargarbl.
Also… probably an update next week, maybe not one after that, since I'm trying to finish the semester. We'll see if Kurt and the Peanut cooperate with me when I have the time to write those chapters.
Previous Parts
And now...
The doctors had tried to force Blaine back into his own room at first. They probably wanted to pump him full of thorazine. Technically they were all being slotted into this particular ward because they had the post-apocalypse crazies, but someone had written down that Blaine was Carol’s son, so when she had said “no” to more heavy drugs, there were no more heavy drugs. And when she and Burt had put the pressure on the doctors to keep Blaine and Kurt close to one another, the doctors had agreed to follow the wishes of their “parents” as long as he wasn’t a danger to Kurt and the baby.
He was Blaine Jansen now. He’d been slotted into a new family, with a new mother and a new brother.
But Blaine struggled. He remembered lashing out when they’d tried to force antibiotics on him. Pushing people away and crawling into a corner. Then it was Kurt with the needle instead of the nurse, whispering gently to him, asking him to come closer, to hold still so it wouldn’t hurt too much. Then their eyes met as the nurse chattered to Kurt, telling him what to do. And the needle slid into Blaine’s skin. It hurt, but Kurt wouldn’t hurt Blaine unless it was really necessary (or he’d turned into a walker). Blaine didn’t remember any of the exact words said, but he remembered the tone of Kurt’s voice. Hopeful. Tender.
Blaine admitted that his head was starting to feel a lot better now and didn’t fight if the nurses told him exactly what they were giving him. Apparently they’d diagnosed him with a fever the day after he and Kurt had turned back up in his hospital room, and they hadn’t been sure what had caused it. Maybe untreated injuries he’d caused himself, maybe infection of a scrape he’d not noticed when running from walkers. Occasionally, Kurt would reach under Blaine’s loose shirt and feel over his bruises, looking at him sadly. Blaine didn’t remember how he got those. He hoped... He really hoped that he hadn’t hurt anyone.
He thought maybe... he had. And he was scared that their little adventure through the hospital had been bad for Kurt, since the nurses kept checking on him, taking his blood pressure and all that. And Kurt freaked out a little when they were around, so obviously, his blood pressure wasn’t going to be great anyway, but still.
It was hard to sleep without sedatives, but Blaine preferred to have as few drugs in his system as possible. He still wasn’t comfortable leaving Kurt’s side, and he especially wanted to hold guard over him as he slept... which Kurt did a lot of lately. Kurt was being given sedatives. That made Blaine nervous, but he’d heard Burt talking about PTSD with Carol, and he understood that making decisions for Kurt’s health right now was complicated. It was a constant balance between him and the baby.
Dr. Redbloom, the only doctor Kurt would talk to or make eye contact with, came in once a day to feel over Kurt’s belly and listen to both his and the baby’s heart. She spoke in soft tones, and never told Blaine to step back. Blaine suspected that part of Kurt’s diagnosis had more to do what had happened on this side of the border. No one had expected Kurt to be so alert to what was happening to him. Blaine was already starting to forget that part, but the walkers were almost impossible to forget.
“I think maybe we want to take another look today, is that okay? Your blood work is doing a lot better. No ketones, good blood sugar. She seems to be putting on weight, too, and that’s even better.”
Dr. Redbloom was part Asian. Her hair was dyed fire engine red (part of the name?), but she was at least half. Blaine could tell from her eyes, but he hadn’t mentioned it. Most people didn’t notice that he was Pinoy when he was separated from his family (though how they thought he belonged with the flaxen-haired, fair-eyed Jansens, he’d never guess). But even if he’d been so inclined to share words with anyone besides Kurt and his family, it would’ve been rude to just start talking about it.
Blaine sat back when they rolled the machine in, and Kurt pulled up his pajama top up and looked to Blaine. “You ready to see our little girl?”
Blaine’s eyes followed Redbloom’s hand as she put gel on Kurt’s exposed belly, then he leaned close to Kurt. His lips brushed against Kurt’s ear. “Have you seen her before?”
Kurt shook his head. He looked a little nervous. Blaine took his hand and smiled.
This felt so bizarrely normal, holding one another, about to see their baby at a check-up. Blaine’s heart might explode from the excitement. For a brief moment, a nightmare he’d had (thanks to hearing about Kurt’s), popped into his mind. Their neuter little bloody-eyed walker baby, which they both watched with pride, groaning in Kurt’s arms, wiggling around as Kurt let it chew on his chest with sharp teeth...
Ugh.
Blaine closed his eyes hard for a moment. He would never, ever tell Kurt about that one. He didn’t know how Kurt had managed to attach to their baby even with his own dreams.
The image appeared on the screen, and Redbloom watched it seriously for a moment, pointing out the baby’s head, and hands, and her little fingers and toes. Blaine’s eyes went rounder and rounder.
That was her. That was their girl. Alive. Moving around, but not... fitful. Or disordered. She looked like any normal baby in any ultrasound he’d ever seen in a movie. And she was so big now! So close to being in their arms.
“Oh...” Blaine breathed.
“God, being pregnant is so freaky,” Kurt muttered.
Behind them Burt chuckled. Blaine looked up, having forgotten Kurt’s dad was right there. Had he always been there?
“I have a person walking around inside me!” Kurt shook his head. Burt laughed again and squeezed Kurt’s shoulders.
“She’s amazing,” Blaine muttered. He kissed Kurt’s temple. “You’re amazing.”
He wrinkled up his nose and wiped a hand over his cheek while squeezing Kurt’s hand. Kurt met Blaine’s eyes. Joy just radiated off of him, causing warmth to bloom in his cheek once again. Blaine could get used to that look.
“Her lungs are looking good, guys,” Redbloom noted with a nod. “Really good. That’s a relief. Take a breather. I’ll take some pictures of these, so you can keep them. I’m sure she’ll love to see pictures of herself in daddy’s tummy one day.”
“We don’t really have any pictures,” Blaine murmured.
“Carole... Um.” Burt shook his head. “My Carole. She brought some of our albums. We’ll put these with those. Start up a book for Peanut.”
“Have you two thought of names yet?” Redbloom asked, giving Kurt a tissue to wipe off the gel.
“We’ve talked about it a little.” Kurt shrugged. “I won’t know for sure until I see her.”
Redbloom sat in front of them. “I think it won’t be too long now. It’s time for you both to start thinking about your family. They’ll let you move in at the refugee housing with your parents, once you’ve had her. I don’t think it’s a good idea to release you until then, though. A lot can happen, and you’re very young. I’d feel better if you stayed with us, and let us take care of you both.”
“They’re not gonna get twitchy about custody, are they?” Burt asked. “I dunno anything about Canadian custody laws or whatever. But I don’t get the feeling a lot of the doctors respect these boys.”
“They just don’t understand. But you and Carol both look like responsible adults, and you have my recommendations. What we want for all of you is a stable environment.” Redbloom looked to Kurt and Blaine. “And Kurt, you’ve improved a lot, whether the other doctors have noticed or not. It’ll be okay. The government is exhausted enough taking in the refugees and trying to patrol the border. They won’t bother you unless someone reports you.”
“It’s me,” Blaine said. His own voice startled him. It seemed loud. He looked down at Kurt and petted his hair. “I’m the one... The one they’ll report.”
“You’re both in recovery right now,” Redbloom said. “Now, that may take a little while longer, but just focus on getting better for Kurt and the baby. Everything else, your mother will help smooth over.”
His mother. The image of her, face half torn off as she shuffled toward them in her silk nightgown, jerked through his mind.
Kurt squeezed his hand and looked up at him with big, concerned eyes. He’d guessed what Blaine was thinking.
No one was going to take their little girl away from them now. He was going to have to work harder at pulling it together. The jerking around. Jumping and attacking. Getting disoriented. It was the violence they’d be worried about.
“I’m getting better,” Blaine said softly.
“Yes, you are,” Redbloom said encouragingly.
She didn’t realize that was a declaration of intent. He didn’t know how much he could control it, but as much as he could... He would. Whenever he was lucid, he would make the nurses see how not crazy he was.
***
There was no doubt that Kurt and Blaine were a thing unto themselves. No one would have expected them to be otherwise after surviving for so long under such conditions, but it was still true. They rarely talked to strangers. They looked to one another constantly. They were anxious when the other was out of sight. And often it seemed as though, when they were talking to one another, that they forgot other people existed.
Maybe they actually did.
Van hated to have thoughts like those, because she liked them. Both of them. They seemed to be sweet kids, but there was something markedly disordered about they way they lived in the world. (Not that she was one to talk, or had been before.)
Kurt had actually improved, somewhat, since Blaine had returned, even if he seemed to be jittery and coping with some new and wonderful stress on his psyche. Maybe that improvement was due to his general health finally starting to get better, and the baby getting stronger, or the distance from taking the anti-ghoul serum, or just being with his family.
Blaine did look a little less like a crazed hobo now that he’d had a shave and Kurt had pruned his hair down to a manageable mess of curls. But that didn’t mean he was anywhere near ready to do things on his own. Without Kurt, he’d probably drift back off into wherever he went when he grew silent, staring at the sheet-covered windows. But he was obviously fighting to take the reigns whenever a stranger came in that Kurt didn’t want to talk to.
And that was really sweet, in a way. Identifying a stress he could take on his shoulders, even if it meant that Kurt just stopped talking to people outside of the family.
Right now, Blaine and Kurt were having a telepathic conversation, as far as she could discern, while the rest of them watched the news about the recent strike on the dead in the Northeast. That was good for them, because there were more and more of those fucking things trying to get across the border every day. And while so far their forces had taken down all the strays coming across, security here was not so impenetrable, no matter what the locals seemed to think. There was no security good enough, in Van’s mind. Nothing that would make the nightmares pass or the itch to leave her trigger finger. She’d been a little disappointed when she saw an orderly dragging away the girl down the hall who somehow kept getting her hands on knives.
Not that knives were that useful against ghouls unless you stabbed clean through the eye to the brain. Maybe someone had hurt her when she was going through processing.
Bits and pieces of whispers floated to Van’s ears.
“I like...” Blaine’s voice, which was rarely heard, was so incredibly warm and sweet. It was hard to believe the stories about this kid actually being kind of a raving gun nut. “I like... Georgia.”
Kurt raised his brows. Blaine shrugged. Kurt mouthed something, and Blaine laughed.
“And jelly,” Blaine whispered.
Van’s eyes widened as it hit her that they were very used to having to communicate very quietly or in complete silence. They were haunted, bless their hearts.
Well. They all were.
She looked back at the screen, and Finn grabbed her from behind. She squealed.
“Dammit, Finn!”
“Hee hee. You think they’ll get them?”
“I think they need to reduce the number of them as soon as possible. It’ll be better, while it’s cold.” Van grabbed his hands and continued to stare at the television anxiously. “They got through at the Fort Wayne checkpoint.”
Kurt turned his head. “What? What got through?”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Burt said. He eyed Finn and Van pointedly. “Just relax.”
“No, what happened?” Kurt insisted.
“That’s really all the detail we have,” Van said. “Some of the ghouls broke through.”
“Walkers,” Finn clarified, using the word Kurt seemed to have adopted for them. It hardly mattered what they called them. They were swelling in numbers at the border.
“Don’t you worry.” Burt touched Kurt’s shoulder. “I have supplies packed and ready to go if we need to bolt further north. No one’s gettin’ left behind, this time.”
“They’re migrating up here because we’re up here,” Blaine said quietly. “They’re running out of food down there because everyone’s dead now.”
“Sooo cheerful,” Rafe joked, leaning his chin on the back of his hand.
“And if they break through before Kurt has the baby?” Blaine insisted. He eyed his new “brother” with impatience.
Van raised a brow. This was probably the most focused he’d been in the past two weeks. She turned to him and watched them both seriously.
Kurt took his hand and rubbed it. “It’ll be easier to survive with a group to help. And anyway, what if they break through after? Babies cry. It’ll be like a dinner bell.”
“Don’t say that.” Burt put his hand on Kurt’s head. “And anyway, Mike’s mom is a doctor and Carol has delivered at least one kid. I asked them about it. If all else fails, we’ll just keep Kurt off his feet as much as possible and let them handle it when the time comes.”
Van tilted her head jauntily. “Burt’s the man with the plan.”
“We gotta be prepared.” Burt motioned toward the television. “These government folks don’t know their asses from a hole in the ground. If we gotta run, we run, but for now we wait here and see how much the doctors can do for Peanut.”
Van looked back at the newscaster. There was footage behind him, teams of soldiers facing down hundreds of ghouls. Freaks. Creepers. Walkers. Whatever.
It would be fantastic if they could just head out now. Blaine had a point. Her eyes drifted back to Kurt, who was also watching the news, one hand patting the side of his belly absently. Such a little mother, comforting his child as though it was second nature. There was no way Burt would move him before he had to. Kurt needed the hospital care, and frankly so did Blaine. He had some injuries that the doctors had found once they’d got him off the drugs. And there was absolutely no way Burt would leave him, or him and the baby, at the hospital. She couldn’t blame him.
If she’d had the choice, she would have died with her son, too.
***
“Dude.” Finn tilted his head to the side as he looked at one of the pamphlets Dr. Redbloom had sent to their room with a nurse.
“Deal with it. I’m a Holy. Vessel,” Kurt informed him, snapping his fingers.
Finn chuckled and flipped a page. He didn’t know why he found them so fascinating, except that they showed the science of a reality he hadn’t really completely understood. Then again his knowledge of babymaking had always been a little fuzzy, until Burt had sat him down with a different set of pamphlets. “What did the counselor say?”
“Well. She talked to us about... Parenting things. I can’t remember a lot of what she said.” Kurt sighed and pushed himself up in the bed. “I um... I couldn’t talk to her. I tried.”
Blaine touched Kurt’s arm and rubbed it. “You did fine. Dr. Redbloom told her it would take some time with us.”
“Maybe I can convince her I’m of ‘sound mind’ next time.” Kurt leaned toward Blaine and rested his head on his shoulder. When his eyes closed, a tear trickled out, and Finn frowned. He hated to see Kurt struggle so much.
“I’ll talk when she’s around,” Blaine insisted. “You need to keep your stress low. I’m the one she needs to write off on as not criminally insane.”
“Dude, the level of verbal you’ve reached in the past week has been pretty amazing,” Finn added.
Kurt opened his eyes, still pouting. “You think they won’t be concerned if I can’t ‘handle’ things?”
“It’ll be okay. There are plenty of people around who will wanna help you with the baby. Plus, she’s not even out of you yet. And do you really need to be able to talk to random people to be a good parent?” Finn shrugged. Then he frowned and held the pamphlet far from his face to examine the picture. “Dude!”
“Stop looking at that!” Kurt snatched it from him.
“I’m just curious about the birds and the bees.” Finn sat back and watched the two of them curl together, like they were two people functioning as one. Which was either poetic, or codependent, or a sign they should be married already. “You’re lucky.”
“To be here?” Kurt stroked Blaine’s cheek. “I guess we are.”
Seeing their obvious affection for one another, when they’d first gotten together, before the world had ended, had kind of bothered Finn. It was weird because he loved his brother, and he’d gotten to the point where he understood that “gay is okay,” but watching them love on one another had made him uncomfortable. It was something he’d told himself that he had plenty of time to work on.
Now it didn’t phase him. At all. It seemed like the most natural, healthy thing in the world, compared to the rest of the stuff in it, and he didn’t even flinch. Maybe it was because there were so few living people he even knew. How could he reflect their attitudes when they were corpses, walking or not?
“No, I mean that you can... That you have Reddin’s, right?” Finn smiled crookedly as his brother looked back at him. “It’s so rare. Most gay guys won’t ever be able to have their own kids. Or gay ladies, I guess, either.”
Kurt’s lips curved, and he rubbed his nose against Blaine’s. “That’s true.”
Blaine picked up the pamphlet and started to look through it. “Oh. That’s how we feed her. That makes a lot more sense.”
Kurt’s brows raised curiously, but with a little exasperation, then opened his mouth as though he were about to reply, but then he ignored the comment and returned his attention to Finn. “Where’s your ladyfriend?”
“Back at the fort, cookin’ up vittles!” Finn propped his feet up on the side of Kurt’s bed.
Blaine’s hand snaked over Kurt’s chest, and Kurt grabbed it and laughed, almost shyly. Blaine was looking down on him curiously. Then he leaned over and nuzzled Kurt’s nose.
“Don’t be embarrassed. The shrink was talking about that, a little. We could go over it sometime, maybe when it’s just Carol in here. She said the nurses would help us.”
“It’s funny that I never even thought about that,” Kurt said. “Although I worried we wouldn’t be able to take care of her down there when we couldn’t even feed ourselves.”
Kurt closed his eyes again. Finn reached over to rub his back. Whatever they could do to take some of the burden off of him. He had no idea what they were talking about, but that wasn’t much different from about half the time, lately.
It didn’t take much for Kurt to doze off, and Blaine smiled fondly, looking so much more like himself as he watched Kurt sleeping.
“I dunno if the shrink is telling you this, but the way you’re stepping up and doing the stuff he can’t?” Finn shrugged. “That shows me that you’re ready to be a dad more than anything.”
Blaine pushed up his lower lip and drew in a breath. “Thanks. This is really not easy. I wish I’d started out stronger. So often, Kurt has to carry me, and... if it weren’t for him, I would’ve died long ago. Lack of fighting skills, or sense. I wanted to trust people when we shouldn’t.” He shook his head and covered his mouth. “He was the fighter. And he knew how to survive in ways I didn’t, and he had to be so strong, just so I’d make it.”
“Dude, there is nothing wrong with that. You got him up here, didn’t you? That’s all that matters. Kurt said you really manned up, once he started struggling.”
“He was just so weak,” Blaine muttered. “It just killed me to see him like that. He was... I don’t know how much longer he would’ve made it.”
“Yeah. He was starving. You get weak when that happens, even if you’re not pregnant.” Finn leaned his face on his hand. “I don’t have any doubt you did everything possible for him. Gave him everything you had. Just like now. For both of you. It’s not about you. It’s about, y’know, your family. The baby.”
“I’m so scared that he’s going to have to do that again,” Blaine murmured. “What if we have to leave?”
“I think it’s gonna be a few more weeks before the border falls,” Finn said. “And we’re ready. I just... I don’t think it’s gonna be that much longer before the baby is born. Do you? Kurt’ll do better after that.”
“Yeah.” Blaine leaned over and kissed Kurt’s hair. “Hang in there.”
“He’s always been a tough little guy,” Finn said. “You didn’t know him before the death threats. He joined the football team, won us a game, then went into the showers a few weeks later and told the whole team off before quitting. In the showers. ”
Blaine chuckled.
“He tromped down the hallways in ten inch Lady Gaga heels and confronted guys three times his size when they hassled Tina. He nursed his dad back to health after he had a heart attack and is the only kid I know, besides Quinn, who could get mouthy with Coach Sylvester without getting his butt kicked. He’s been harassed since practically the day he was born. Don’t worry so much about him.”
“He’s amazing. Maybe not so much of a surprise he had what it took to survive down there,” Blaine said, trailing his fingers around Kurt’s face.
“Hey.” Finn waited until Blaine was looking at him. “You’re still here. You did too.”
***
Kurt opened his eyes then looked around himself.
He was alone.
The feeling was outright bizarre. Since his dad had found him, he’d only been left alone once. It wasn’t too surprising. He had been sleeping, and there was no reason to think he’d be in any danger.
Weird that it had taken him weeks to accept that reality. He still felt anxious, but there were no immediate threats. For now.
He waited, rubbing his belly with both hands and hoping someone would come back. It wasn’t a good idea to go out wandering again. He knew that.
Then the toilet flushed, there was a sound of water running, and Blaine came out of the bathroom.
“Hey.”
Kurt closed his eyes. “Hey.”
“You okay?” Blaine came to his side and took his hand.
“Where’d everybody go?”
“Your dad is with Rafe and Carol. Finn said he had to go ‘talk’ to Van.”
The way Blaine said that just cracked Kurt up, and that got Blaine laughing as well. The two of them sat there giggling for several minutes.
“That felt good.” Blaine bowed his head, and Kurt reached over to pet his neck. Blaine’s eyes closed, and he sighed. “We can’t get used to this. It’s not gonna last.”
“I think you’re right. It’s hard to get sane when I know they’re coming.”
“Just um, let us worry about that. For now. I know you can do things, but let us, okay? Everyone wants to look out for you. And her.” Blaine squeezed his hand. “I’m doing better, right? I’m better... than I was? I’m going to get better for you both.”
“Oh, honey.” Kurt touched his lips, then reached out for Blaine. It didn’t take much to draw Blaine near, and he touched their foreheads together, and gave Blaine a nuzzle. “We’ve made it this far.”
Blaine nodded, then kissed his lips slowly. Kurt returned the favor with several little kisses, sucking in Blaine’s lower lip each time. Blaine’s hand trailed down Kurt’s side, eliciting a shuddery sigh.
As scary as it was, trying to handle things one at a time, health, people, reality, the future... When they lay together, it all fell away, and nothing was strange. It was all as it should be.
“Wasn’t it enough to knock him up once?” Burt said grumpily as he entered.
Kurt shot his dad a look over Blaine’s shoulder.
“Okay, you can’t... You can’t get him pregnant again, can you?” Rafe asked, his eyebrows going askew.
“I’m not a freakin’ cat, okay? There’s a pamphlet that Dr. Redbloom left me on the table over there,” Kurt said dryly. “You should brush up on your basic biology.”
Rafe stuck out his tongue, causing Carol to laugh.
“Maybe we should just give them some time alone,” Carol suggested.
“No.” Burt sat down and eyed them both. “You don’t let ‘em fool around when the doctors are complaining about ‘high-risk.’”
“I’m sure Blaine would never do anything to hurt Kurt or the baby,” Carol argued. She stood behind Rafe, petting his hair.
This had an interesting effect on Kurt’s friend. The sarcasm drained from Rafe’s face, and his eyes grew wider. He looked younger. Kurt though that was probably what he’d looked like, at first, when his dad had found him.
Finn drifted in, Van trailing with a bag in her hands. Her hair was sticking up oddly in the back. Kurt tried hard not to crack up as he met Blaine’s eye.
“We’d you go?” Burt asked.
“Um... Nowhere. I figured it would be okay to step out for a minute-”
“Like it was okay last time?”
“It was okay last time,” Kurt objected. “I found Blaine.”
Burt twisted his mouth to the side. “And high blood pressure.”
Kurt rolled his eyes. “You’ve said, to the doctors, and I quote, My son’ll do a lot better’n not with his babydaddy with ‘im!”
Finn laughed at Kurt’s impression of his father, drawing a sharp glance from Burt.
“Fine. Just let me be the dad, okay?” He sat down next to Kurt, and Kurt reached out for his hand.
It was weird, still being here in the hospital, knowing that he wasn’t going anywhere. Stuck in bed like a terminal patient. People hovering. Worrying about him.
“I wouldn’t let anything happen to him,” Blaine promised. He looked up at Burt with a serious little frown.
“I trust Blaine with Kurt,” Finn said firmly. “Down there or up here.”
Burt nodded. “I know that.” He sighed. “Just worried about you kids.”
“I worry about you, too,” Kurt said. “You’d better be taking your heart medication. And eating healthy! And getting to a doctor yourself and getting your exercises done-”
“I am!” Burt frowned at him, then patted his shoulder. “I just tryin’ to be here for you both.”
“It’s not you he doesn’t trust. Well, me, he doesn’t trust. But with you, it’s the doctors,” Rafe told them. He waved his hand. “Let ‘im fuss. It makes him feel better.”
Carol smiled and hugged Rafe’s shoulders from behind. “Let’s just agree to be here for each other. That’s the best way I’ve found to get through in strange times like these.”
“Strange times,” Kurt repeated, laying his head back on the pillows.
He would’ve liked to have had a few more minutes alone with his partner. But being surrounded by everyone did have its benefits. Maybe that was why he was able to start feeling more secure. They’d spent so long, alone, but not alone, thanks to the presence of walkers and wicked people alike.
Now in the hospital, once again, they were never alone, even when they were alone. But now the people were a buffer against all the dangers surrounding them.
“I brought some food.” Van raised the bag she was carrying and set it on the table. “The doctors said you guys were eating better, so I thought, ‘picnic!’”
“That smells great,” Kurt told her quietly.
Van looked at him, with a little surprise, then smiled widely. “I hope so!”
Finn came over to help her with the plates, and they dished up servings of grilled chicken, vegetables, potatoes, and biscuits for all three of their patients. Rafe started up a wild story about how he and his dorm mates had created a campus-wide scavenger hunt game that involved posting the occasional lewd picture to Facebook, or to the board outside of the campus pro-life society. Kurt didn’t doubt that Rafe enjoyed an audience.
The gloom of the ward seemed to dispel a bit with their family collected there.
Pair: Klaine
Includes: zombies, mpreg, sly reference to breastfeeding… and maybe a Wicked reference if you squint >:)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 5235
Summary: Blaine tries to show that he’s better to the world. Meanwhile, Kurt and Blaine get a glimpse at their baby, and their families (genetic and collected) worry about them.
AN: Whargarbl.
Also… probably an update next week, maybe not one after that, since I'm trying to finish the semester. We'll see if Kurt and the Peanut cooperate with me when I have the time to write those chapters.
Previous Parts
And now...
The doctors had tried to force Blaine back into his own room at first. They probably wanted to pump him full of thorazine. Technically they were all being slotted into this particular ward because they had the post-apocalypse crazies, but someone had written down that Blaine was Carol’s son, so when she had said “no” to more heavy drugs, there were no more heavy drugs. And when she and Burt had put the pressure on the doctors to keep Blaine and Kurt close to one another, the doctors had agreed to follow the wishes of their “parents” as long as he wasn’t a danger to Kurt and the baby.
He was Blaine Jansen now. He’d been slotted into a new family, with a new mother and a new brother.
But Blaine struggled. He remembered lashing out when they’d tried to force antibiotics on him. Pushing people away and crawling into a corner. Then it was Kurt with the needle instead of the nurse, whispering gently to him, asking him to come closer, to hold still so it wouldn’t hurt too much. Then their eyes met as the nurse chattered to Kurt, telling him what to do. And the needle slid into Blaine’s skin. It hurt, but Kurt wouldn’t hurt Blaine unless it was really necessary (or he’d turned into a walker). Blaine didn’t remember any of the exact words said, but he remembered the tone of Kurt’s voice. Hopeful. Tender.
Blaine admitted that his head was starting to feel a lot better now and didn’t fight if the nurses told him exactly what they were giving him. Apparently they’d diagnosed him with a fever the day after he and Kurt had turned back up in his hospital room, and they hadn’t been sure what had caused it. Maybe untreated injuries he’d caused himself, maybe infection of a scrape he’d not noticed when running from walkers. Occasionally, Kurt would reach under Blaine’s loose shirt and feel over his bruises, looking at him sadly. Blaine didn’t remember how he got those. He hoped... He really hoped that he hadn’t hurt anyone.
He thought maybe... he had. And he was scared that their little adventure through the hospital had been bad for Kurt, since the nurses kept checking on him, taking his blood pressure and all that. And Kurt freaked out a little when they were around, so obviously, his blood pressure wasn’t going to be great anyway, but still.
It was hard to sleep without sedatives, but Blaine preferred to have as few drugs in his system as possible. He still wasn’t comfortable leaving Kurt’s side, and he especially wanted to hold guard over him as he slept... which Kurt did a lot of lately. Kurt was being given sedatives. That made Blaine nervous, but he’d heard Burt talking about PTSD with Carol, and he understood that making decisions for Kurt’s health right now was complicated. It was a constant balance between him and the baby.
Dr. Redbloom, the only doctor Kurt would talk to or make eye contact with, came in once a day to feel over Kurt’s belly and listen to both his and the baby’s heart. She spoke in soft tones, and never told Blaine to step back. Blaine suspected that part of Kurt’s diagnosis had more to do what had happened on this side of the border. No one had expected Kurt to be so alert to what was happening to him. Blaine was already starting to forget that part, but the walkers were almost impossible to forget.
“I think maybe we want to take another look today, is that okay? Your blood work is doing a lot better. No ketones, good blood sugar. She seems to be putting on weight, too, and that’s even better.”
Dr. Redbloom was part Asian. Her hair was dyed fire engine red (part of the name?), but she was at least half. Blaine could tell from her eyes, but he hadn’t mentioned it. Most people didn’t notice that he was Pinoy when he was separated from his family (though how they thought he belonged with the flaxen-haired, fair-eyed Jansens, he’d never guess). But even if he’d been so inclined to share words with anyone besides Kurt and his family, it would’ve been rude to just start talking about it.
Blaine sat back when they rolled the machine in, and Kurt pulled up his pajama top up and looked to Blaine. “You ready to see our little girl?”
Blaine’s eyes followed Redbloom’s hand as she put gel on Kurt’s exposed belly, then he leaned close to Kurt. His lips brushed against Kurt’s ear. “Have you seen her before?”
Kurt shook his head. He looked a little nervous. Blaine took his hand and smiled.
This felt so bizarrely normal, holding one another, about to see their baby at a check-up. Blaine’s heart might explode from the excitement. For a brief moment, a nightmare he’d had (thanks to hearing about Kurt’s), popped into his mind. Their neuter little bloody-eyed walker baby, which they both watched with pride, groaning in Kurt’s arms, wiggling around as Kurt let it chew on his chest with sharp teeth...
Ugh.
Blaine closed his eyes hard for a moment. He would never, ever tell Kurt about that one. He didn’t know how Kurt had managed to attach to their baby even with his own dreams.
The image appeared on the screen, and Redbloom watched it seriously for a moment, pointing out the baby’s head, and hands, and her little fingers and toes. Blaine’s eyes went rounder and rounder.
That was her. That was their girl. Alive. Moving around, but not... fitful. Or disordered. She looked like any normal baby in any ultrasound he’d ever seen in a movie. And she was so big now! So close to being in their arms.
“Oh...” Blaine breathed.
“God, being pregnant is so freaky,” Kurt muttered.
Behind them Burt chuckled. Blaine looked up, having forgotten Kurt’s dad was right there. Had he always been there?
“I have a person walking around inside me!” Kurt shook his head. Burt laughed again and squeezed Kurt’s shoulders.
“She’s amazing,” Blaine muttered. He kissed Kurt’s temple. “You’re amazing.”
He wrinkled up his nose and wiped a hand over his cheek while squeezing Kurt’s hand. Kurt met Blaine’s eyes. Joy just radiated off of him, causing warmth to bloom in his cheek once again. Blaine could get used to that look.
“Her lungs are looking good, guys,” Redbloom noted with a nod. “Really good. That’s a relief. Take a breather. I’ll take some pictures of these, so you can keep them. I’m sure she’ll love to see pictures of herself in daddy’s tummy one day.”
“We don’t really have any pictures,” Blaine murmured.
“Carole... Um.” Burt shook his head. “My Carole. She brought some of our albums. We’ll put these with those. Start up a book for Peanut.”
“Have you two thought of names yet?” Redbloom asked, giving Kurt a tissue to wipe off the gel.
“We’ve talked about it a little.” Kurt shrugged. “I won’t know for sure until I see her.”
Redbloom sat in front of them. “I think it won’t be too long now. It’s time for you both to start thinking about your family. They’ll let you move in at the refugee housing with your parents, once you’ve had her. I don’t think it’s a good idea to release you until then, though. A lot can happen, and you’re very young. I’d feel better if you stayed with us, and let us take care of you both.”
“They’re not gonna get twitchy about custody, are they?” Burt asked. “I dunno anything about Canadian custody laws or whatever. But I don’t get the feeling a lot of the doctors respect these boys.”
“They just don’t understand. But you and Carol both look like responsible adults, and you have my recommendations. What we want for all of you is a stable environment.” Redbloom looked to Kurt and Blaine. “And Kurt, you’ve improved a lot, whether the other doctors have noticed or not. It’ll be okay. The government is exhausted enough taking in the refugees and trying to patrol the border. They won’t bother you unless someone reports you.”
“It’s me,” Blaine said. His own voice startled him. It seemed loud. He looked down at Kurt and petted his hair. “I’m the one... The one they’ll report.”
“You’re both in recovery right now,” Redbloom said. “Now, that may take a little while longer, but just focus on getting better for Kurt and the baby. Everything else, your mother will help smooth over.”
His mother. The image of her, face half torn off as she shuffled toward them in her silk nightgown, jerked through his mind.
Kurt squeezed his hand and looked up at him with big, concerned eyes. He’d guessed what Blaine was thinking.
No one was going to take their little girl away from them now. He was going to have to work harder at pulling it together. The jerking around. Jumping and attacking. Getting disoriented. It was the violence they’d be worried about.
“I’m getting better,” Blaine said softly.
“Yes, you are,” Redbloom said encouragingly.
She didn’t realize that was a declaration of intent. He didn’t know how much he could control it, but as much as he could... He would. Whenever he was lucid, he would make the nurses see how not crazy he was.
***
There was no doubt that Kurt and Blaine were a thing unto themselves. No one would have expected them to be otherwise after surviving for so long under such conditions, but it was still true. They rarely talked to strangers. They looked to one another constantly. They were anxious when the other was out of sight. And often it seemed as though, when they were talking to one another, that they forgot other people existed.
Maybe they actually did.
Van hated to have thoughts like those, because she liked them. Both of them. They seemed to be sweet kids, but there was something markedly disordered about they way they lived in the world. (Not that she was one to talk, or had been before.)
Kurt had actually improved, somewhat, since Blaine had returned, even if he seemed to be jittery and coping with some new and wonderful stress on his psyche. Maybe that improvement was due to his general health finally starting to get better, and the baby getting stronger, or the distance from taking the anti-ghoul serum, or just being with his family.
Blaine did look a little less like a crazed hobo now that he’d had a shave and Kurt had pruned his hair down to a manageable mess of curls. But that didn’t mean he was anywhere near ready to do things on his own. Without Kurt, he’d probably drift back off into wherever he went when he grew silent, staring at the sheet-covered windows. But he was obviously fighting to take the reigns whenever a stranger came in that Kurt didn’t want to talk to.
And that was really sweet, in a way. Identifying a stress he could take on his shoulders, even if it meant that Kurt just stopped talking to people outside of the family.
Right now, Blaine and Kurt were having a telepathic conversation, as far as she could discern, while the rest of them watched the news about the recent strike on the dead in the Northeast. That was good for them, because there were more and more of those fucking things trying to get across the border every day. And while so far their forces had taken down all the strays coming across, security here was not so impenetrable, no matter what the locals seemed to think. There was no security good enough, in Van’s mind. Nothing that would make the nightmares pass or the itch to leave her trigger finger. She’d been a little disappointed when she saw an orderly dragging away the girl down the hall who somehow kept getting her hands on knives.
Not that knives were that useful against ghouls unless you stabbed clean through the eye to the brain. Maybe someone had hurt her when she was going through processing.
Bits and pieces of whispers floated to Van’s ears.
“I like...” Blaine’s voice, which was rarely heard, was so incredibly warm and sweet. It was hard to believe the stories about this kid actually being kind of a raving gun nut. “I like... Georgia.”
Kurt raised his brows. Blaine shrugged. Kurt mouthed something, and Blaine laughed.
“And jelly,” Blaine whispered.
Van’s eyes widened as it hit her that they were very used to having to communicate very quietly or in complete silence. They were haunted, bless their hearts.
Well. They all were.
She looked back at the screen, and Finn grabbed her from behind. She squealed.
“Dammit, Finn!”
“Hee hee. You think they’ll get them?”
“I think they need to reduce the number of them as soon as possible. It’ll be better, while it’s cold.” Van grabbed his hands and continued to stare at the television anxiously. “They got through at the Fort Wayne checkpoint.”
Kurt turned his head. “What? What got through?”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Burt said. He eyed Finn and Van pointedly. “Just relax.”
“No, what happened?” Kurt insisted.
“That’s really all the detail we have,” Van said. “Some of the ghouls broke through.”
“Walkers,” Finn clarified, using the word Kurt seemed to have adopted for them. It hardly mattered what they called them. They were swelling in numbers at the border.
“Don’t you worry.” Burt touched Kurt’s shoulder. “I have supplies packed and ready to go if we need to bolt further north. No one’s gettin’ left behind, this time.”
“They’re migrating up here because we’re up here,” Blaine said quietly. “They’re running out of food down there because everyone’s dead now.”
“Sooo cheerful,” Rafe joked, leaning his chin on the back of his hand.
“And if they break through before Kurt has the baby?” Blaine insisted. He eyed his new “brother” with impatience.
Van raised a brow. This was probably the most focused he’d been in the past two weeks. She turned to him and watched them both seriously.
Kurt took his hand and rubbed it. “It’ll be easier to survive with a group to help. And anyway, what if they break through after? Babies cry. It’ll be like a dinner bell.”
“Don’t say that.” Burt put his hand on Kurt’s head. “And anyway, Mike’s mom is a doctor and Carol has delivered at least one kid. I asked them about it. If all else fails, we’ll just keep Kurt off his feet as much as possible and let them handle it when the time comes.”
Van tilted her head jauntily. “Burt’s the man with the plan.”
“We gotta be prepared.” Burt motioned toward the television. “These government folks don’t know their asses from a hole in the ground. If we gotta run, we run, but for now we wait here and see how much the doctors can do for Peanut.”
Van looked back at the newscaster. There was footage behind him, teams of soldiers facing down hundreds of ghouls. Freaks. Creepers. Walkers. Whatever.
It would be fantastic if they could just head out now. Blaine had a point. Her eyes drifted back to Kurt, who was also watching the news, one hand patting the side of his belly absently. Such a little mother, comforting his child as though it was second nature. There was no way Burt would move him before he had to. Kurt needed the hospital care, and frankly so did Blaine. He had some injuries that the doctors had found once they’d got him off the drugs. And there was absolutely no way Burt would leave him, or him and the baby, at the hospital. She couldn’t blame him.
If she’d had the choice, she would have died with her son, too.
***
“Dude.” Finn tilted his head to the side as he looked at one of the pamphlets Dr. Redbloom had sent to their room with a nurse.
“Deal with it. I’m a Holy. Vessel,” Kurt informed him, snapping his fingers.
Finn chuckled and flipped a page. He didn’t know why he found them so fascinating, except that they showed the science of a reality he hadn’t really completely understood. Then again his knowledge of babymaking had always been a little fuzzy, until Burt had sat him down with a different set of pamphlets. “What did the counselor say?”
“Well. She talked to us about... Parenting things. I can’t remember a lot of what she said.” Kurt sighed and pushed himself up in the bed. “I um... I couldn’t talk to her. I tried.”
Blaine touched Kurt’s arm and rubbed it. “You did fine. Dr. Redbloom told her it would take some time with us.”
“Maybe I can convince her I’m of ‘sound mind’ next time.” Kurt leaned toward Blaine and rested his head on his shoulder. When his eyes closed, a tear trickled out, and Finn frowned. He hated to see Kurt struggle so much.
“I’ll talk when she’s around,” Blaine insisted. “You need to keep your stress low. I’m the one she needs to write off on as not criminally insane.”
“Dude, the level of verbal you’ve reached in the past week has been pretty amazing,” Finn added.
Kurt opened his eyes, still pouting. “You think they won’t be concerned if I can’t ‘handle’ things?”
“It’ll be okay. There are plenty of people around who will wanna help you with the baby. Plus, she’s not even out of you yet. And do you really need to be able to talk to random people to be a good parent?” Finn shrugged. Then he frowned and held the pamphlet far from his face to examine the picture. “Dude!”
“Stop looking at that!” Kurt snatched it from him.
“I’m just curious about the birds and the bees.” Finn sat back and watched the two of them curl together, like they were two people functioning as one. Which was either poetic, or codependent, or a sign they should be married already. “You’re lucky.”
“To be here?” Kurt stroked Blaine’s cheek. “I guess we are.”
Seeing their obvious affection for one another, when they’d first gotten together, before the world had ended, had kind of bothered Finn. It was weird because he loved his brother, and he’d gotten to the point where he understood that “gay is okay,” but watching them love on one another had made him uncomfortable. It was something he’d told himself that he had plenty of time to work on.
Now it didn’t phase him. At all. It seemed like the most natural, healthy thing in the world, compared to the rest of the stuff in it, and he didn’t even flinch. Maybe it was because there were so few living people he even knew. How could he reflect their attitudes when they were corpses, walking or not?
“No, I mean that you can... That you have Reddin’s, right?” Finn smiled crookedly as his brother looked back at him. “It’s so rare. Most gay guys won’t ever be able to have their own kids. Or gay ladies, I guess, either.”
Kurt’s lips curved, and he rubbed his nose against Blaine’s. “That’s true.”
Blaine picked up the pamphlet and started to look through it. “Oh. That’s how we feed her. That makes a lot more sense.”
Kurt’s brows raised curiously, but with a little exasperation, then opened his mouth as though he were about to reply, but then he ignored the comment and returned his attention to Finn. “Where’s your ladyfriend?”
“Back at the fort, cookin’ up vittles!” Finn propped his feet up on the side of Kurt’s bed.
Blaine’s hand snaked over Kurt’s chest, and Kurt grabbed it and laughed, almost shyly. Blaine was looking down on him curiously. Then he leaned over and nuzzled Kurt’s nose.
“Don’t be embarrassed. The shrink was talking about that, a little. We could go over it sometime, maybe when it’s just Carol in here. She said the nurses would help us.”
“It’s funny that I never even thought about that,” Kurt said. “Although I worried we wouldn’t be able to take care of her down there when we couldn’t even feed ourselves.”
Kurt closed his eyes again. Finn reached over to rub his back. Whatever they could do to take some of the burden off of him. He had no idea what they were talking about, but that wasn’t much different from about half the time, lately.
It didn’t take much for Kurt to doze off, and Blaine smiled fondly, looking so much more like himself as he watched Kurt sleeping.
“I dunno if the shrink is telling you this, but the way you’re stepping up and doing the stuff he can’t?” Finn shrugged. “That shows me that you’re ready to be a dad more than anything.”
Blaine pushed up his lower lip and drew in a breath. “Thanks. This is really not easy. I wish I’d started out stronger. So often, Kurt has to carry me, and... if it weren’t for him, I would’ve died long ago. Lack of fighting skills, or sense. I wanted to trust people when we shouldn’t.” He shook his head and covered his mouth. “He was the fighter. And he knew how to survive in ways I didn’t, and he had to be so strong, just so I’d make it.”
“Dude, there is nothing wrong with that. You got him up here, didn’t you? That’s all that matters. Kurt said you really manned up, once he started struggling.”
“He was just so weak,” Blaine muttered. “It just killed me to see him like that. He was... I don’t know how much longer he would’ve made it.”
“Yeah. He was starving. You get weak when that happens, even if you’re not pregnant.” Finn leaned his face on his hand. “I don’t have any doubt you did everything possible for him. Gave him everything you had. Just like now. For both of you. It’s not about you. It’s about, y’know, your family. The baby.”
“I’m so scared that he’s going to have to do that again,” Blaine murmured. “What if we have to leave?”
“I think it’s gonna be a few more weeks before the border falls,” Finn said. “And we’re ready. I just... I don’t think it’s gonna be that much longer before the baby is born. Do you? Kurt’ll do better after that.”
“Yeah.” Blaine leaned over and kissed Kurt’s hair. “Hang in there.”
“He’s always been a tough little guy,” Finn said. “You didn’t know him before the death threats. He joined the football team, won us a game, then went into the showers a few weeks later and told the whole team off before quitting. In the showers. ”
Blaine chuckled.
“He tromped down the hallways in ten inch Lady Gaga heels and confronted guys three times his size when they hassled Tina. He nursed his dad back to health after he had a heart attack and is the only kid I know, besides Quinn, who could get mouthy with Coach Sylvester without getting his butt kicked. He’s been harassed since practically the day he was born. Don’t worry so much about him.”
“He’s amazing. Maybe not so much of a surprise he had what it took to survive down there,” Blaine said, trailing his fingers around Kurt’s face.
“Hey.” Finn waited until Blaine was looking at him. “You’re still here. You did too.”
***
Kurt opened his eyes then looked around himself.
He was alone.
The feeling was outright bizarre. Since his dad had found him, he’d only been left alone once. It wasn’t too surprising. He had been sleeping, and there was no reason to think he’d be in any danger.
Weird that it had taken him weeks to accept that reality. He still felt anxious, but there were no immediate threats. For now.
He waited, rubbing his belly with both hands and hoping someone would come back. It wasn’t a good idea to go out wandering again. He knew that.
Then the toilet flushed, there was a sound of water running, and Blaine came out of the bathroom.
“Hey.”
Kurt closed his eyes. “Hey.”
“You okay?” Blaine came to his side and took his hand.
“Where’d everybody go?”
“Your dad is with Rafe and Carol. Finn said he had to go ‘talk’ to Van.”
The way Blaine said that just cracked Kurt up, and that got Blaine laughing as well. The two of them sat there giggling for several minutes.
“That felt good.” Blaine bowed his head, and Kurt reached over to pet his neck. Blaine’s eyes closed, and he sighed. “We can’t get used to this. It’s not gonna last.”
“I think you’re right. It’s hard to get sane when I know they’re coming.”
“Just um, let us worry about that. For now. I know you can do things, but let us, okay? Everyone wants to look out for you. And her.” Blaine squeezed his hand. “I’m doing better, right? I’m better... than I was? I’m going to get better for you both.”
“Oh, honey.” Kurt touched his lips, then reached out for Blaine. It didn’t take much to draw Blaine near, and he touched their foreheads together, and gave Blaine a nuzzle. “We’ve made it this far.”
Blaine nodded, then kissed his lips slowly. Kurt returned the favor with several little kisses, sucking in Blaine’s lower lip each time. Blaine’s hand trailed down Kurt’s side, eliciting a shuddery sigh.
As scary as it was, trying to handle things one at a time, health, people, reality, the future... When they lay together, it all fell away, and nothing was strange. It was all as it should be.
“Wasn’t it enough to knock him up once?” Burt said grumpily as he entered.
Kurt shot his dad a look over Blaine’s shoulder.
“Okay, you can’t... You can’t get him pregnant again, can you?” Rafe asked, his eyebrows going askew.
“I’m not a freakin’ cat, okay? There’s a pamphlet that Dr. Redbloom left me on the table over there,” Kurt said dryly. “You should brush up on your basic biology.”
Rafe stuck out his tongue, causing Carol to laugh.
“Maybe we should just give them some time alone,” Carol suggested.
“No.” Burt sat down and eyed them both. “You don’t let ‘em fool around when the doctors are complaining about ‘high-risk.’”
“I’m sure Blaine would never do anything to hurt Kurt or the baby,” Carol argued. She stood behind Rafe, petting his hair.
This had an interesting effect on Kurt’s friend. The sarcasm drained from Rafe’s face, and his eyes grew wider. He looked younger. Kurt though that was probably what he’d looked like, at first, when his dad had found him.
Finn drifted in, Van trailing with a bag in her hands. Her hair was sticking up oddly in the back. Kurt tried hard not to crack up as he met Blaine’s eye.
“We’d you go?” Burt asked.
“Um... Nowhere. I figured it would be okay to step out for a minute-”
“Like it was okay last time?”
“It was okay last time,” Kurt objected. “I found Blaine.”
Burt twisted his mouth to the side. “And high blood pressure.”
Kurt rolled his eyes. “You’ve said, to the doctors, and I quote, My son’ll do a lot better’n not with his babydaddy with ‘im!”
Finn laughed at Kurt’s impression of his father, drawing a sharp glance from Burt.
“Fine. Just let me be the dad, okay?” He sat down next to Kurt, and Kurt reached out for his hand.
It was weird, still being here in the hospital, knowing that he wasn’t going anywhere. Stuck in bed like a terminal patient. People hovering. Worrying about him.
“I wouldn’t let anything happen to him,” Blaine promised. He looked up at Burt with a serious little frown.
“I trust Blaine with Kurt,” Finn said firmly. “Down there or up here.”
Burt nodded. “I know that.” He sighed. “Just worried about you kids.”
“I worry about you, too,” Kurt said. “You’d better be taking your heart medication. And eating healthy! And getting to a doctor yourself and getting your exercises done-”
“I am!” Burt frowned at him, then patted his shoulder. “I just tryin’ to be here for you both.”
“It’s not you he doesn’t trust. Well, me, he doesn’t trust. But with you, it’s the doctors,” Rafe told them. He waved his hand. “Let ‘im fuss. It makes him feel better.”
Carol smiled and hugged Rafe’s shoulders from behind. “Let’s just agree to be here for each other. That’s the best way I’ve found to get through in strange times like these.”
“Strange times,” Kurt repeated, laying his head back on the pillows.
He would’ve liked to have had a few more minutes alone with his partner. But being surrounded by everyone did have its benefits. Maybe that was why he was able to start feeling more secure. They’d spent so long, alone, but not alone, thanks to the presence of walkers and wicked people alike.
Now in the hospital, once again, they were never alone, even when they were alone. But now the people were a buffer against all the dangers surrounding them.
“I brought some food.” Van raised the bag she was carrying and set it on the table. “The doctors said you guys were eating better, so I thought, ‘picnic!’”
“That smells great,” Kurt told her quietly.
Van looked at him, with a little surprise, then smiled widely. “I hope so!”
Finn came over to help her with the plates, and they dished up servings of grilled chicken, vegetables, potatoes, and biscuits for all three of their patients. Rafe started up a wild story about how he and his dorm mates had created a campus-wide scavenger hunt game that involved posting the occasional lewd picture to Facebook, or to the board outside of the campus pro-life society. Kurt didn’t doubt that Rafe enjoyed an audience.
The gloom of the ward seemed to dispel a bit with their family collected there.