A/N: I'm really on a roll here. Third chapter I've done today but I feel bad about leaving things hanging with Kurt unconscious and stuff. This story is likely still far from over. I think I'm going to continue into the aftermath and do a court trial against Becky. It just feels like I'm coming up short ending it here. And I have to put Klaine back together still too! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: You know me and you know I don't own Glee.

Too bright light. White ceiling, awful looking bed curtains on a rack, a steady beeping sound in his ears. These were the first things Kurt was aware of when he opened his eyes. He blinked, trying to clear his vision.

A groan left his lips, alerting the figure sitting in the chair beside his bed, one hand clasping Kurt's.

"Oh my God!" the figure cried and Kurt cringed slightly before recognizing the voice as belonging to Blaine.

"Blaine…" he rasped out.

Blaine squeezed his hand and looked down at him, smiling, fresh tears rolling down his cheeks, though Kurt could tell he has been crying an awful lot lately. Still, there was no one Kurt would have been happier to see. Not even his dad and that was saying something.

"What happened?" he asked, trying to sit up straighter in the bed and wincing as the movement put a painful strain on his lower back.

"Becky…" Blaine started with a sniff. "She shot in the back Kurt."

Kurt's eyes got really wide as the memories of the shooting at McKinley came rushing back to him. They were coupled with the realization of how serious this was. Shot in the back. If the bullet had pierced his spinal cord…

Blaine seemed to catch on to what he was thinking and squeezed his had again. "You were very lucky Kurt. The bullet just missed your spinal cord, but it shattered a few of your vertebrae." That was extremely lucky. How the hell had it missed his spinal cord. But Blaine apparently wasn't finished. "That's the good news," he said, face falling.

"What's the bad news?" Kurt asked quietly. He was afraid to know.

Blaine drew a breath. "The spinal cord wasn't hit by the bullet but the fractured bones in your spine caused the section of your spinal cord where you were hit to swell. When the doctors performed surgery on your back to stable the fractures and set bones so they could heal, they found the task more complicated due to the swelling of your spinal cord. They don't know the excess of the damage but they said at the very least, you might be temporarily paralyzed from the waist down."

Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. This was spinal cord suppression. Kurt couldn't bare to think about being paralyzed.

"My life is over before it began," he mumbled quietly.

"Hey no, don't think like that Kurt. You have to stay positive. If it's temporary paralysis than you can go back to NYADA after you recover," he said, squeezing his hand.

Kurt gave him an exasperated look. "We have no idea how long temporary paralysis could be if it is only temporary," he said, pleased with himself for managing not to snap at him. Blaine was only trying to help after. "NYADA's never going to put up with it." He gave his head a sad shake.

Blaine looked down at him for a moment before lifting his hand and placing a gentle kiss to the back of it. "I'm so sorry Kurt. But thank you for trying to rescue me."

It was then Kurt remembered exactly what he had been doing when he'd been shot and he stared at Blaine in wonder. "How are you safe?" he asked, willing himself not to cry. He was sure Blaine had fallen to his death and yet he was standing right beside the bed, looking completely alive and well.

"Puck," Blaine said. "He turned up out of nowhere and caught me before I could fall," he concluded with a soft smile.

"Remind me to thank him later," Kurt replied.

"For what?" Blaine asked, still smiling at him.

Kurt just stared back at him for several long moments before he took a breath and said very softly in a voice barely above a whisper, "For saving the love of my life."

Blaine's breath hitched. He stared back at Kurt, eyes unblinking and wondering if the pale boy had just said what he thought he did. Kurt gave a very short nod of the head and Blaine couldn't help himself anymore. He leaned down and pressed his lips softly to Kurt's.

The pale boy gasped at the contact but didn't pull away. He gently kissed Blaine back, eyes fluttering shut and fireworks bursting in his head. This was right. Blaine was who he should be kissing. Not Adam. And it didn't matter that the younger boy had hurt him so badly. Kurt knew Blaine would never do it again. Blaine was his soulmate and that had always been true. It had taken him just a little more time to really grasp a hold of that.

"I forgive you," Kurt whispered against Blaine's lips when the two of them finally broke apart.

"You're beautiful Kurt," Blaine whispered back.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Please Blaine. I look awful. I'm sitting in a hospital bed wearing a hideous gown with no real back to it and I bet they haven't been conditioning my hair."

That was enough to cause Blaine to break out in laughter. "Oh Kurt," he said when he had calmed down. "Only you can be in the hospital with a serious injury and have your biggest worry be your hair." He shook his head, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

"What's the prognosis?" Kurt asked a moment later, becoming very serious again. Blaine sat back in the chair he'd been sitting in.

"Coach Beiste and Ryder are gone. The school is planning on holding a memorial for them soon." Kurt felt his eyes begin to water. He didn't know Ryder that well but Coach Beiste was the best coach the McKinley High Titans ever had. Replacing her was going to be a nightmare. And though Kurt had never been on the team while she was coach, he still had a lot of respect for her. At the same time, he felt guilty.

"She died because of me," he said quietly.

"What?" Blaine asked, astounded.

Kurt looked at him. "Coach Beiste died because of me Blaine. Becky fired meant that bullet for me. She shot it at me. Coach Beiste jumped in the way and took it for me, much like you took that slushie for me last year."

Blaine was surprised by this news. He has never expected anything like that. He squeezed Kurt's hand.

"It's not your fault Kurt. She made the decision to jump in the way of the bullet, just like I made the decision to jump in the way of the slushie." Kurt merely hummed. He still felt guilty for being the cause of the football coach's death but he knew that Blaine was right.

He waited a beat before continuing his enquiry. "What about everyone else?" he asked.

"Sam and Mr. Schue are doing okay. Their injuries are healing but Sam can't walk for a while and Mr. Schue has his arm in a sling to keep his shoulder from moving too much," Blaine said.

"And Kitty?" Kurt asked nervously, remembering the girl having been shot in the stomach.

"She needed immediate surgery and a blood transfusion but she's expected to make a full recovery." Kurt was honestly just glad that no one else seemed to have been killed in the shooting.

There was a knock on the door and both boys looked over to see Coach Sylvester standing in the doorway. She was on crutches and had a bandage wrapped around her head.

"Mind if I interrupt?" she said. Kurt and Blaine gestured for her to come on in. "I must admit, you were very brave Kurt," she said.

Kurt stared at her for a moment. "No Porcelain?" he asked, teasingly.

Sue gave him a smile. "I'm trying to be serious for once. This is not a joking matter and I feel a bit guilty for what happened to you Kurt," she said.

Kurt furrowed his brow, not at all sure what she was going on about. "Why?"

It was Blaine who answered him. "She tried to stop Becky when she went for your handgun Kurt," he said. Kurt was confused.

"Why did Becky go for my gun?" he asked. He had been facing away from Becky and Sue when he was trying to pull Blaine up from the ledge so he hadn't seen anything that had gone on behind him.

"Because hers ran out of bullets," Sue replied. "Anyway, I tried to stop her from getting it and she conked me on the head." She looked down at the floor. "I don't know why Becky did any of this, or why she turned on me after all I did for her. She was going to shoot herself you know," she finished.

Kurt's eyes went wide. "The conversation I heard you having with her on phone when you were following me in the hallway." Sue nodded.

"I heard Becky's end of it," Blaine said. "She was sitting on the edge of the roof with the gun pressed to her head. If she had gone through with it, she would have used the last bullet on herself and fallen to the street below," he explained.

"Instead, when I showed up," Kurt started, "She seemed to pull herself together."

"And that final bullet was used to break the ropes tying Blaine's wrists around the pole," Sue concluded.

For a moment, the three of them were silent. Even with all this discussion and realization of things that happened by hearing certain events from someone else's point of view, none of them could fathom just why Becky had done it. But something was seriously wrong with the girl. Kurt couldn't understand what happened.

"We're all going to have to testify you know," Sue finally said. Kurt looked at her.

"Testify?" he asked.

Blaine squeezed his hand again and sighed. "Becky was arrested Kurt. Seeing as she's eighteen, she being charged with a felony and tried as an adult. Murder and attempted murder and physical assault."

Kurt stared at him with wide eyes. "You can't be serious! Becky's got Down Syndrome. Surely she'd be released on the charge of disability and possible mental instability, even if the latter is not due to her condition."

Blaine and Sue exchanged glances with each other.

"They wanted to Porcelain," Sue said. "They wanted to just relinquish charges and release her to the custody of a program where she could get help." Kurt wasn't understanding why that didn't happen. "But it's like I told William when I first put Becky on the Cheerios. She just wants to be treated like everyone else."

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked.

Blaine gave him a small smile. "Becky told them no. She didn't want to be belittled for what she did because of her disabilities. She said she would hold her head high and be tried just like any other person who could have committed the crime. So they respected her wishes."

Kurt was surprised by this. He felt a swell of admiration for the girl, despite what she had done. She could have gotten off easy but no, she didn't want that. It was a sign that perhaps Becky was remorseful for what she had done after all. She was a very smart girl. She knew it was wrong. But still, it didn't exactly answer the question of why.

"Do you think she'll accept a plea bargain?" he asked. Both of them shrugged.

"Not a clue," Blaine replied. "It's not known whether she's pleading guilty or innocent."

Kurt furrowed his brow for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Well, given what you just told me, I think it would be extremely odd for her plead innocent." And another thought crossed his mind then. "And it's one hundred percent doubtful she'll plead insanity."

"Unless that's what her lawyer wants her to plead," Sue said.

Kurt shook his head. "No. It would just land her exactly where they wanted to put her in the first place. If she wanted to be tried like any other person, it wouldn't make sense for her to plead insanity, regardless of what her lawyer thinks."

He was right of course. Why tell them she wanted to be tried like anyone else just to turn around and plead insanity in court? That would be pointless and unnecessary. It would make the trial a waste of time spent on a case that could have been easily closed up if she had agreed in the first place.

There was another knock at the door and the three of them looked up to find a police officer standing in the doorway. Kurt cringed when he saw that it was Officer West. Great, he was about to be charged with imitating a police officer.

"Go on, do it," Kurt said, holding out his wrists. Blaine looked confused.

"Kurt?" he questioned, not knowing what was going on. Kurt cringed and gave him a sheepish grin.

"Yeah, I uh…may have pretended to be a police officer so I could get into the school," he told Blaine who stared at him wide-eyed.

"Oh Kurt," he whispered, squeezing his hand.

Officer West, to Kurt's surprise, didn't slap handcuffs on his wrists but handed him a badge. A real honest to goodness badge.

"I'm not going to arrest you Mr. Hummel," Officer West said.

Kurt stared at him for a moment. "But why? Imitating a police officer especially during a dangerous situation is an offense," he said, looking away for a moment. Officer West chuckled.

"That may be true but we're letting you off the hook here. For one, you were very brave and handled the whole situation like a real cop. That's a lot for a nineteen year old kid who probably never wanted to hold a handgun in his life," he told him, looking between Kurt and Blaine and Sue. "And for another, you found the shooter before the real swat team could. So, I am instead honoring you and rewarding you with an authentic honorary police badge that had your real name on it."

Kurt was overwhelmed, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. "T-thank you sir," he said, taking the badge from him.

"You're welcome Kurt. By the way," he said, "Our research showed there really was an Officer Harper in the Columbus Police Department once."

Kurt nodded proudly. "Yes sir," he said. "My mother's father was Officer Harper sir," he added.

"You don't say." Kurt just grinned. "Well, he was a pretty popular police officer apparently. You might think about joining the force for real someday, you have his skill."

Kurt laughed and shook his head. "Thanks Officer West but my heart is set on musical theater. Besides, it looks like I might be facing paralysis." His face fell and Officer West clapped a hand on Kurt's shoulder.

"Hey, chin up kid. It will be okay. No one as brave as your were would ever be punished with full paralysis," he said.

"Brave? Contrary. I was fucking terrified," Kurt admitted. He looked at Blaine. "I only wanted in the school to find Blaine," he added. Blaine smiled at him. "I just, felt I had to rescue him."

"You did rescue me Kurt," Blaine said softly. Kurt frowned.

"No I didn't. Puck did. I got shot in the back and you almost fell to your death," he said in a defeated tone.

"Kurt look at me," Blaine began and Kurt turned his eyes on him. "You rescued me. You were the first one to find me. And don't say Puck found me first because we went to him."

Kurt furrowed his brow. "What?" he asked, slightly confused. Officer West had taken out a pad of paper and was apparently thinking whatever Blaine was about to say could be used as case notes. Probably smart.

"Becky made Jake call him. Told him to tell Puck if he hoped to see Jake alive again, he would meet her on the roof in an hour."

"When did this happen?" Kurt asked.

Blaine shrugged. "Sometime after I answered the call from you. At that time, she had us backstage at the auditorium. She'd just slashed the cuts in my chest and then threw a phone at Jake and told him to call Puck." He paused for a moment and Kurt gave him a gesture to go on. Sue was listening quietly as Blaine talked. This was hostage situation information. "So then, an hour later, she dragged us up to the roof with her. She grabbed Jake and for the first time, put the gun to his head."

"Wait," Kurt interrupted, stopping him. "What do you mean for the first time? I thought she was holding both of you hostage."

Blaine took a breath. "She was. But every time she made us walk, she shoved the gun into the back of my head. She was always threatening me with it, never Jake. I still don't know why."

Kurt frowned. "Okay, so she threatened Jake with the gun, then what?"

"She told Puck to tie me to the pole. When Puck refused because of the narrow ledge, she cocked the gun and placed her finger in the trigger and repeated the command."

"So Puck tied you to the pole," Kurt confirmed. Blaine nodded.

"I don't know what happened after that. I wasn't even aware she had left the roof until I saw her emerge from the stairs again later." He gave a soft sigh.

"And that was when she made the call to Sue," Kurt replied.

"That was when she made the call to Sue," Blaine confirmed. He looked up at Officer West. "I'm sorry I can't tell you what she did with Puck and Jake but it must not have been bad because neither of them are hurt obviously."

Officer West nodded. "No worries Mr. Anderson. You've provided quite a bit. We'll likely want to ask you and Mr. Hummel more questions later but for now, just try to recover."

He gave the three of them a nod of his head and made to leave the room. Kurt instinctively turned his eyes on his legs and tried with all his might to move one of them and not a thing happened. He couldn't even seem to feel them there.

"Try to recover," he scoffed. "Yeah, easy for him to say."

A/N: So this was a rather informative chapter. Though there really is nothing covered in explanation of what happened that you didn't read in the action. :P More coming up! Now the drama switches to Kurt's recovery and dealing with his paralysis and the trial and preparation, police interviews, news interviews, building evidence and all the dramatics that come with the aftermath of the shooting, including the memorial service. Stay tuned! Reviews make me smile! Happy reading!