This is mostly a filler chapter. We hear a familiar name, and things start to pick up again. I'm dealing with a few things, so chapters will be up late. I was just diagnosed with a genetic disorder and a type of dysautonomia, which is where my nervous system doesn't work right. It's been a lot of ups and downs. Bear with me!

I also wanted to add - If I'm using too many medical terms and you're not understanding, leave me a comment! I'll try to answer any questions and add a little bit of explanations in my notes. I tend to forget that other people don't work in a hospital or have the exposure I do - I work as a CNA in a hospital and like to research.

Kurt was dozing when a knock on the door rang through the room. He shot his head up and his eyes shot open, making Finn snort with laughter.

"It's the girls," he explained. "You good to see them?"

Kurt scrubbed at his nose and nodded. His dad wasn't back from talking to Dr. Sullivan after the tests, no matter that there wouldn't be anything to show up – there never was.

"Yeah, always," Kurt commented, his head slamming back onto the pillow. He tried to shift, but stopped when a sharp pain ripped through his chest and sent his head further into the pillow, grunting.

Finn stopped and looked at Kurt, frowning. Kurt waved it away, however, and tried to sit up a little more. Nurse Rosa kept prodding him to sit up straight and use the incentive spirometer, which really, really sucked majorly.

"I'm fine. Let them in. Just – Tell Brit I'm still sore," he grunted. Kurt breathed out a small sigh against the nasal cannula.

While Finn's back was turned, he grimaced and tried to sit up a little more, hands shaking heavily as he tried to relax back. When Finn turned around, ushering the girls in, he looked as if he had never moved, and had wiped the grimace from his expression.

Brittany halted before she came in the room, her eyes catching on the machines and the tubes running around Kurt. Kurt seemed dwarfed by the machines, and the wires and the tubes looked painful. The nasal cannula was what caught her, however. It was taped to Kurt's cheeks, and it looked like he'd been picking at it. She shook off the shock and composed herself.

"Dolphin!" Brittany said as she rushed over. Kurt could have screamed when she started running toward him, but Santana cleared her throat before Kurt could act. Brittany stopped and caught herself before she walked over and bent over to give her dolphin a big hug.

"Hmm," Kurt hummed as he accepted the hug. It felt nice to have a comforting touch from someone other than his family and the hospital staff.

Plus, Brit's hugs were to die for.

He pushed his nose into her neck, trying fight back tears as he sat there. When the two pulled away from each other, Kurt was wiping away tears and adjusting the nasal cannula so it rested in the nostrils. Brittney sat down on the edge of the bed while Santana strolled up to the bed.

She looked calm and cool on the outside, but on the inside, she was angry. She was angry that someone like Kurt, who was so dead set on being incredible and amazing, was fighting against his own body as it rebelled.

Kurt gave her a knowing look and opened his arms, careful of the IV. Santana wrapped him in a hug and let out a shaky sigh.

"You cannot keep doing this to me," Santana whispered. Her voice was choked by emotion and the words came out squeakily. "You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," Kurt whispered back. He sniffed back tears again.

They squeezed each other tight, Kurt wincing audibly as his ribs protested. They parted moments later, Santana pulling a chair to the side of the bed so she could sit. Finn hovered at the door, and Kurt waved him off.

"Go get something from the cafeteria," Kurt said. "Satan and Brit know what to look for and when I need some help."

"Alright. I'll be back. Want anything?" Finn asked. He walked to grab his wallet and put it in the pocket of his gym shorts.

Kurt immediately jumped on it.

"Milkshake? Please? Or French Fries? Only the cafeteria ones though." Kurt looked rather excited at the prospect of getting either, and Finn immediately made the decision to get both, just to make Kurt's face light up.

"Yeah. I'll see what I can do," Finn answered. He quickly ruffled Kurt's hair, his heart falling when he realized that it wasn't riling Kurt up like it normally was. Then he felt the cold gel from the EEG's and made a slight gagging noise.

Kurt began to laugh, coughing every once in a while.

"Now you know why I want to shower," he proclaimed. "But seriously, either would be amazing. The milkshake would be so good."

"Chocolate?"

"Yes!"

Kurt said it so fast that Santana laughed, and Brittany perked up. She'd been quiet for a few minutes, just watching her friend, to make sure he wouldn't launch into a seizure again.

"Alright. Stupid question. Anything else? They want you to gain more weight."

"That's why they took me off the ketogenic diet," Kurt affirmed. His hand came up to his face to pick at the tape, and Finn snapped his fingers. Kurt's hand immediately dropped from his face and he wrinkled his nose.

"Leave it alone Kurt!"

Finn waved as he stepped out of the room, leaving Kurt in the room with the girls. As soon as he was gone, however, Brittany moved to the other side of the bed and Santana sat on the spot Brittany had vacated. They settled with Brittney on Kurt's left side and Santana on the right, and both sat back so they were lying next to Kurt, on their backs.

"Biting the bullet to look like I care," Santana started, sounding like her snarky self, "How are you doing?"

Kurt sighed and looked down at his lap before shrugging. Tears threatened to drip down his cheeks, and he wiped the tears from his eyes with the side of his right hand, trying to keep the IV from getting wet, even with tears. Afterwards, however, he began to pick at the tape that secured the nasal cannula and prevented him from ripping it off his face every ten seconds.

"Frustrated," Kurt whispered. He glanced down at his lap and played with his hands.

"Oh Dolphin," Britt whispered. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and began to rub the base of his neck, giving it a gentle massage.

Her hand connected with a little bit of the gel and she shivered from the temperature. After that initial shiver, however, she scooped a little bit of it and began to play with it on her hand. Kurt couldn't help but laugh as she brought her hand close to play with the gel.

"It's this weird EEG gel. It's the same they use for ultrasounds," Kurt explained, though he knew that Britt knew perfectly well what it was. "They glue it to my head to watch the brain for seizure activity."

Brittney nodded, and looked rather interested.

"Wonder how much electricity can go through it."

Knowing that it was more a statement to herself, Kurt turned to Santana and began to elaborate on his previous comment.

"I'm just frustrated. And I'm in pain, and I think Dad knows about the –" Kurt cut off as there was a gurgling noise within his chest. He began to cough violently, pushing his head back against the pillow as each cough tugged at his broken and bruised ribs.

Santana took Kurt's hand and gave it a squeeze. She reached for the call button, which was in his lap, and pressed the red button, all without him seeing. Kurt managed to lift his hand and point to the pink kidney basin, coughing violently. Mucus and sputum dislodged from inside his chest and was now sitting in his mouth, waiting to be spit out.

Brittney, no longer fascinated with the gel, grabbed the basin and stood up so Kurt could have more room. She gave the basin to him and listened as the young man coughed and spit out an orangey-red colored sputum. An alarm began to sound from the monitor that protruded from the wall. Santana looked up and frowned when she saw Kurt's oxygen Saturation was resting around 84%, not the usual 90% minimum it should be.

"Help me sit him forward," Santana commanded. Brittney immediately slid one arm under Kurt's armpit, while Santana did the same. They quickly moved Kurt into a more upright position, their free hands resting against Kurt's upper back, like they had done this together before.

Immediately, Kurt's hacking became less violent and he moved the basin into a new position as he continued to cough and spit. He was spitting out the last of it when Rosa ran in, a few more kidney basins and an albuterol treatment.

"Alright, Kurt. Get that stuff moving," Rosa commanded. She worked around the girls who supported Kurt as she pulled on a pair of gloves and swapped out the basin.

Kurt's coughing began to calm as more and more mucus was passed from his lungs to outside his body. However helpful this would have been anyway, it caused an excruciating shock of pain through his chest as broken and bruised ribs moved in ways they shouldn't.

Rosa put the basin off to the side and, as Kurt gasped to regain his breath, she set up the nebulizer treatment.

"How you doing Kurt? Better?"

Kurt shook his head, still gasping. Santana rubbed his back soothingly, and she and Brit shared a look of worry. But, as Kurt's breathing evened out, he began to gain a little bit of his color back.

"I'm good. Can I sit back?" He picked his head up and looked between the girls.

Immediately, they placed him back against the pillow castle he now called his bed. Rosa was there with the oxygen mask and the vaporized medication. She gently pulled the tape off Kurt's face and then removed the nasal cannula, replacing it with the Oxymask.

"You good, Porcelain?" Santana asked. Kurt nodded and gave them a shaky thumbs-up.

"Sorry," he wheezed out. "Pneumonia."

"It's alright, Teen Gay. We're used to it. At least you don't have a catheter," Santana said.

Kurt huffed, coughing again, and shook his head.

"Like they'll let me out of bed," he puffed.

Brittany sat down on the edge of the bed while Rosa made a few tweaks to the airflow and then patted Kurt on the shoulder.

"Mijo, not too much longer. You need to sleep," Rosa reminded him.

Kurt frowned and looked up at her, gently pulling the mask off for a moment.

"Can they stay?" he huffed. "Finn stays, and he's not blood."

Rosa hesitated for a quick second. The girls had been here before, and he was always a lot more content when they were here opposed to Finn. And the girls knew what to do if something went wrong. Hell, they were Sylvester's Cheerios. They'd probably know what was going to happen before it would happen.

"They can stay. But when I bring your meds in, you let them kick in. You sleep if you need to. Alright, Mijo?"

Kurt nodded. His furrowed eyebrows evened out as he let the treatment start doing what it was supposed to and open up his lungs. He let his body sag against the bed as Rosa turned and washed her hands. When she was gone, Brittany and Santana settled back into their previous positions at his side.

Santana took his right side, Brittany the left. He sagged back against Santana and took Brittany's hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze.

They were quiet for a while, as the treatment finished. Rosa bustled in and out for a good ten minutes, setting up Kurt's next dose of antibiotics and his next dose of anticonvulsants and painkillers. With how many bone bruises and broken ribs and fractures to his skull, Dr. Sullivan had prescribed for Kurt to have morphine every hour, though the teen was only taking it every 6-8 hours. He was in excruciating pain, but tried to fight the pain medication tooth and nail, getting his way eventually.

No one could win when faced against Kurt Hummel.

When Kurt's breathing treatment was finished, she switched out the oxygen mask for a nasal cannula and turned the oxygen back on. Kurt looked up at her as she finished and pulled on a new pair of gloves. Brittany and Santana were quiet and pensive while Kurt conversed with Rosa, still sounding a bit breathless.

"What am I on?" he questioned, a very slight, soft wheeze audible.

"5 Liters, Mijo. Leave it on, don't make me retape it to your face like a 5-year-old. Trial run!"

Santana almost snorted with laughter at the indignant look on Kurt's face. She grinned as Kurt fixed her with an unamused glare. He then looked up at Rosa, his nose wrinkled.

"Don't you give that look, you've broken five in the 4 days you've been here," she said, a playful smile on her face. "Alright, I have your medication. I need to get to your IV."

Kurt lifted his right hand, and Rosa cleaned the port before starting to push the medication through the IV. First came A dose of Morphine – doubled, at Dr. Sullivan's new order. If Kurt wasn't going to take it frequently, he'd get a bigger dose spread out further throughout the day. He wrinkled his nose when the dose of medication hit him, and looked up at her with a grave expression.

He pointed to her with his left pointer finger.

"You just dosed me," he accused.

"I gave you your normal medication, Mijo. Dr. Sullivan's orders," she responded. The line was rehearsed and Kurt wrinkled his nose, sitting back against the mattress, which had been moved so that it sat at 50 degrees.

He rubbed at his nose as she pushed a flush of saline and then the next few doses of medication. He was more relaxed when she was done; able to breathe better, not in much pain, and finally comfortable now that the migraine was gone.

Rosa left a few minutes later, and Kurt turned his head to Santana, looking tired. His eyelids were heavy with the effects of the medication and the stress of his situation.

"Please tell me something good. Gossip, newest in Glee, football drama, I'd even listen about Puckerman's conquests."

Santana grinned devilishly and patted Kurt's leg.

"There's a new boy in town," Brittany said, grinning as wide as can be. "He's a Dolphin!"

Kurt frowned and scrubbed at his nose. He wrinkled it, feeling the skin on his nose prickle and itch. Santana took his hand and held it in his lap, and Brittany took his other hand, working together to keep Kurt from (A) scratching his nose, and (B), Pulling the nasal cannula off his face.

"The last time another Dolphin was in town, he ended up cheating on me with Rachel Berry," his tone was so cynical that Santana was ready to record this and put it up on Youtube.

On that thought, Santana's phone began to burn a hole in her pocket. She almost reached for it, stopped, and then grabbed it anyway. She quickly set her phone up on the bedside table, pressing record. It sat up on its side, recording what was about to come.

"And then Rachel Berry and Blaaaa-ine," he half paused, trying to reach up for the nasal cannula before he was caught, "got together and broke up in a week! And said I was the reason!"

"Yeah, they were kinda dicks," Santana said. He patted Kurt's shoulder.

Kurt scrubbed at his nose again before he puffed out a sigh. He was quiet for a moment, his eyes sliding closed against his will. They were all quiet, waiting to see if Kurt would sleep or stay awake.

Santana was almost convinced that he would fall asleep – with all the medications he was on, she wouldn't put it against him. But then he slammed his head up and his eyes became wide.

"Is he cute?"

Santana jerked up, while Brittany seemed unfazed. Her heart pounded in her chest as she looked down at Kurt. Jesus Christ, Kurt! She thought to herself.

"Who?"

"T-Thh-The new kid," Kurt mumbled. "The Dolphin."

Santana nodded to Brittany, who took out her phone and tapped on it a few times. Then she showed him the photo. Kurt's eyes went wide and he took the phone.

"He's cute," Kurt mumbled, his eyes threatening to droop. But he shook his head, bringing himself back into further awareness.

"His name's Sebastian," Santana said. "He's from –"

"Dalton," Kurt murmured. "He was the cute one I saw at lunch, 'n in the lye – Libr – Library."

Kurt passed the phone back and let out a small hum. He let his eyes slide closed.

"Finn said someone's dating Blaine," he said, gently picking his head up and forcing his eyelids open. It felt like there were 20-pound weights attached to them, but he did it.

Santana snorted.

"Frankenteen hasn't been around school much in the last four days, Teen Gay. He heard it wrong from Puck."

Kurt nodded and settled back down, putting his cheek on Santana's shoulder. Brittany took his free hand and squeezed it lightly.

"Go to sleep, Teen Gay."

"Stay? Please?"

Brittany smiled and wrapped an arm around Kurt's shoulders.

"Go to sleep. We'll stay for a while."

Kurt didn't respond, his head already lulling to the side. He slipped into sleep easily, the medication aiding in the rapid change between awareness and sleep.