Kurt woke the next morning at 8am. He looked to his right and Blaine was still sleeping soundly. That was odd. Blaine was almost always awake by 7am and the one waking Kurt up. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom to freshen up before waking Blaine up. He figured the trip must have taken more out of him than he let on last night. Plus he woke up coughing several times throughout the night.

While he was brushing his teeth he heard more loud coughing. "Blaine, are you ok?" He called out. The coughing just continued.

As he came out of the bathroom he could see Blaine trying to reach the water on the nightstand next to him. The night splints on his hands are too bulky to let him hold the bottle so he rushed over and helped him take a drink.

"Let me help Sweety" he said while tipping Blaine's head forward and pointed the straw toward his mouth. "There you go. Is that better?" . Blaine nodded and took a few deep breaths.

"This cough just won't go away. Maybe we should call my Dr at home and see if she can call in something to a local pharmacy ."

"Yeah" , Kurt agreed. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll call her office right now. Do you want to get up and have a shower?"

"I think that might help with the cough actually. The steam always seems to settle my chest."

Just as he was saying that, there was a faint knock at the bedroom door. "Come in" the boys said in unison. Marlena Anderson peeked her head in the room.

"Are you boys ready for some breakfast?"

"Sure Mom, we'll be down in about a half hour" . Marlena gave her son a kiss on the forehead and smiled.

"I'm so happy you're home baby" she told her son.

"Me too Mama. Can you help Kurt get me up so he can make some phone calls?"

"Sure I can! Kurt, tell me what I can do". Kurt told Marlena to go into the attached bathroom to get the shower chair and bring it to the side of the bed. Since the lift is so big they left it at home in New York. Kurt has grown accustomed to just moving Blaine on his own anyway since it's faster. Blaine prefers it that way because any chance to be held by Kurt is a good thing in his opinion. He relishes the moments when he's embraced so completely and lovingly by his soulmate.

Kurt transferred Blaine to the shower wheelchair and let Marlena push him into the bathroom while he set up the vanity to brush his teeth and shave him. Blaine's Mom was comfortable with all these things as she had visited him before and assisted Kurt with his care.

While she was helping Blaine get ready, Kurt called the Dr in Manhattan. They spoke for about 20 minutes about the ongoing cough that just won't seem to go away and how long they were planning to be in Ohio. Kurt made an appointment for Blaine to be seen the day after they get back and the Dr said she would call in a strong cough syrup in the meantime to help relieve the symptoms.

When Kurt went back into the bathroom, Marlena was finishing up with shaving Blaine. It was taking longer than normal given that he couldn't stop coughing long enough to keep from getting cut.

"How long has this cough been happening Kurt? I know that Blaine will just tell me everything is fine so I won't bother asking him."

"He had a cold a few weeks ago and it's come and gone since then. It's gotten worse in the last couple days though. I just got off the phone with his Dr and she's prescribing some cough syrup that should do the trick and he's got an appointment when we get back. So that means we get to swing by the pharmacy on our way to my Dad's house. You ready for a shower Blaine?"

"As ready as I'll ever be I guess "he replied. Marlena headed into the kitchen to make some breakfast and Kurt helped Blaine clean up in the shower. Blaine was right. The steam from the shower did manage to loosen the cough. He was feeling a lot better afterwards.

Breakfast was great. They all sat at the table and discussed the plans for the rest of their stay. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and they'd all be celebrating together at the Anderson's with the Hummels on Christmas Day.

David Anderson walked them out to their van and saw them off as they headed into town. As expected, the pharmacy had the prescription ready and Kurt gave a dose to Blaine before they even left the CVS parking lot.

The visit with Burt and Carol was going great. They had a lot of catching up to do as it had been a few months since the last time they had visited the boys in New York. The medication made Blaine drowsy and Kurt found this out when he asked him a question and got a snore in return. Kurt used the control to recline him a little and let him nap.

"We didn't get a lot of sleep last night with his cough. Plus the drive here was pretty hard on him. The cough medicine has codeine in it so I kinda expected this to happen. Carol, how about you and I make some lunch and Dad can sit with Blaine and nap? "

"That sounds about like what happens every time you two come to visit . "They both laughed and started whipping up some soup and salads for everyone.