"Dad!" called Blaine the minute he pushed the front door open, keys still swinging in the lock. "Dad! How is he?" he asked in a slight frenzy, locating his father in the kitchen after hurriedly yanking his keys free and slamming the door shut.

"Calm down, Blaine," said his father gently, gesturing for the boy to sit opposite him at the kitchen table. Blaine hovered for a moment, fidgeting from one foot to the other before sighing and slouching down onto the chair, his bag falling onto the floor next to him with a resigned thump.

"Sorry, Dad," he said with a bite to his lip.

"Don't apologise," replied his father with a kind smile. "I'm glad that you worry for other people. It shows you care."

Blaine nodded a little, not really sure how to reply to that and just desperately wanting to know how the other boy was doing.

"Firstly, his physical injuries are completely fixable, the bruising we had initially found is showing signs of reducing," started his father, Blaine nodding along, giving him his full attention. "I'm afraid to say that his hearing and sight appear to be permanent, it seems he's been like that for a while. He still won't tell us his name so we can't track down any family to get in touch with." He took a deep breath before continuing. "In fact he hasn't spoken at all since you left the hospital. I was very much hoping you would accompany me this evening to see if you can help."

"Yes," Blaine answered immediately, eyes wide with sincerity. "Please, Dad. I'll do anything you need."

His father smiled, eyes crinkling as he reached across the table to place a hand on Blaine's arm. "Thank you, son."

Blaine swiftly walked into the IC unit, a couple of paces before his father, heading straight for the bed at the end. He smiled politely at a nurse before waiting by the curtains for his father to pull them aside. His father was in full doctor mode, dressed in his white coat with a clipboard in one hand.

Once the curtains were out of the way Blaine walked into the small space to sit back in the chair he was in yesterday. The other boy's eyes had been closed, but they fluttered open as Blaine gently cupped his hand within both of his.

"Hello," greeted Blaine softly, leaning closer so the boy could hear. "It's Blaine. Remember me?"

The boy didn't reply but his fingers shifted slightly to hold Blaine's hand loosely. Blaine smiled, running a thumb over the back of the boy's hand.

"Can you tell me your name?" he asked.

"Name?" repeated the boy quietly after a pause.

"Yes, yours," encouraged Blaine gently.

"I...mm..." mumbled the boy, turning his head towards Blaine slightly. "Kurt."

"Kurt?" said Blaine with a delighted smile. "It's nice to meet you Kurt."

Kurt didn't reply but his weak grip tightened slightly on Blaine's hand.

"Would you like anything? I can get you something to drink or..." Blaine started, only to be quietly interrupted.

"Sing," Kurt almost sighed the word. "Like...like before..." Blaine's mind flashed back to when he had found Kurt in the car park, softly singing in hopes that it might have helped.

"Of course," replied Blaine, resting his head on the side of the bed so Kurt could hear better before starting to gently sing.

"Kurt?" asked Blaine's father in a clear voice. "I'm Doctor Anderson, I'm Blaine's father-"

He stopped mid sentence when Kurt scrunched up his eyes and turned his face away, arm coming up as if to protect his face.

"It's alright, Kurt, he's not going to hurt you," murmured Blaine into the other boy's ear.

"Please," gasped Kurt quietly, not relaxing in the slightest.

"No one's going to hurt you," said Blaine firmly, remembering with a pang of his heart what his father had said about Kurt having signs of abuse. "I promise."

Very slowly Kurt lowered his arm, leaving it to rest on his chest, but his head was still turned away from Blaine's father, towards Blaine.

"Kurt?" Blaine's father tried again, slightly more hesitantly. "Can you tell me your surname?"

"Hummel," replied Kurt through a strained gasp.

"Thank you, Kurt," he said before standing and walking round the bed to Blaine, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'll be right back, call if you need me."

Blaine nodded and watched as his father slipped through the curtain and out of sight. He then turned his gaze to Kurt who was shaking slightly, body still tense.

"Kurt?" started Blaine, edging closer to the bed so the boy could still hear as he lowered his voice to a calming tone. "It's me, Blaine. Just me."

The hand in Blaine's tightened.

"What's your favourite thing ever?" asked Blaine, trying desperately to find something that would help Kurt feel more comfortable.

"I don't-" started Kurt, gulping. "Music."

"Music?" repeated Blaine in delight.

"I'm s-sorry," stuttered Kurt, trying to pull his hand free from Blaine's.

"No, no," assured Blaine, chasing after Kurt's hand.

With his free hand Blaine reached down to rummage in his bag, pulling out his ipod and earphones. He dropped them onto his lap, untangling the earphones and then scrolling through his music with one hand.

"I'm going to put a headphone in your ear, alright?" warned Blaine once he had picked out some music. He gently put one of the headphones in the ear closest, the one that Blaine knew he could hear out of. Kurt tilted his head away at first, trying to dislodge the earphone but Blaine quickly pressed play and Kurt stilled.

Blaine had chosen something soft and calm, not sure what kind of music Kurt even liked.

Kurt opened his mouth as if to say something, but then just closed it, his eyes slipping closed as his body seemed to relax back onto the mattress. Blaine ran a soothing finger down the back of Kurt's hand, happy that Kurt seemed more at ease.

"Blaine?"

Blaine turned around at the voice, seeing his father had entered the little partitioned area and was looking at Kurt with a small smile.

"He, uhm-" Blaine coughed. "He said he liked music."

"He seems much more comfortable around you than anyone else," commented Blaine's father.

"Maybe because I'm about the same age?" suggested Blaine, looking over to Kurt.

"Perhaps," shrugged his father. "Or perhaps he can just tell that you're a genuinely lovely person."

Blaine turned back to his father with a wide smile.

"I need to talk to you about Kurt," his father said, the small smile he had had on his face slipped.

"Oh, okay...should we just step outside?"

"Yes, I think that would be best," nodded his father.

"Okay, err...hold up." Blaine gently pulled the earphone out of Kurt's ear. Kurt startled slightly, turning his head one way and then the other with a small frown. "Kurt?" asked Blaine gently. "I'm going to just step outside for a moment, I'll be right back. But you can still listen to the music, okay?"

"Okay," breathed Kurt. Blaine returned the earphone to Kurt's ear and set the ipod to his favourite playlist. With one last reassuring squeeze to Kurt's hand Blaine stood and followed his father into the main area of the IC unit.

"We found Kurt on our records," started Blaine father.

"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Blaine.

"Well yes, from a doctor's point of view we now have all his medical history and other relevant information," he agreed. "It's just not going to be a very nice thing to hear as someone who cares about him."

"Tell me," requested Blaine.

"He lost the hearing in his right ear and partially in his left from meningitis when he was 15 months old. The sight he lost at eight years old when he was in a car crash with his parents." He stopped to take a breath. "Neither of his parents survived the crash and he was put into the foster care system."

Blaine inhaled sharply, listening to his father with wide eyes.

"From what we can tell he was then passed around to various foster families, never staying long in one place."

"You said..." Blaine started. "You said there were signs of abuse and-and malnutrition when he first got here."

"Yes, I don't suppose being a blind foster child with limited hearing was a very good life, I understand some of the families he was with were not the most...agreeable."

"That's horrible," whispered Blaine.

"Yes," agreed his father with a sad nod.

"What happens now?" asked Blaine, his brows furrowed with worry.

"He's still seventeen, so after he is deemed fit to go he will be put back into the system."

"But...but what if he ends up with someone horrible?" asked Blaine.

"I'm afraid...there's nothing we can do," sighed his father.

Blaine pressed his lips together, eyes downcast. He walked past his father back through the curtains to where Kurt lay, a peaceful expression on his face as he listened to the music from Blaine's ipod.

"I wish I could help you," whispered Blaine, sitting back in his chair by Kurt's bed, knowing Kurt could probably not hear him with the earphone in his good ear. "I wish I could get you somewhere safe."

Hello!

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