Wisdom teeth and teddy bears
"Finn, honey, can you keep an eye on Kurt? He can take another Vicodin at 8:00. Your Aunt Jess' dog jumped the fence and Burt and I are going to help her look for him."
Finn did not have a good relationship with his aunt's dog ever since he accidentally sat on it. He felt bad about it, since it wasn't even one of those yappy little inbred pet store things, but a really nice beagle named Axl Rose. But Axl bore grudges, which meant that he was going to baby-sit his brother.
He poked his head in Kurt's room and saw that he was asleep, all curled up on himself, and he even thought he caught a glimpse of his brother's old teddy bear, which he brought out only on the nights when he really wanted comforting.
Carole had left half a meatloaf for him in the refrigerator, along with coleslaw, roast potatoes from yesterday, and a plastic container of soup for Kurt. There was also a list of things that Kurt needed to do, rinse with salt water mixed with a little baking soda regularly, and if the bleeding didn't stop, have him bite down on gauze pads. He started to heat up his own dinner when he heard Kurt's door opening. He trotted up the stairs to see if Kurt wanted anything and saw Kurt shuffling to the bathroom, holding his hand to his mouth and looking miserable.
"Hey, you okay, buddy?"
Kurt mumbled something, continued into the bathroom, and emerged again. "I ont ik eeug."
"Kurt, you're not in French class. Or is that French?"
Kurt enunciated a bit more clearly, "I ont like e BUGH."
Finn couldn't tell if he was sweating or if he'd been crying, but either case, his cheeks were way too wet. After a moment, he figured out what Kurt was saying. He wouldn't like blood, either. "I'll mix you some more of that rinse, just wait here." He patted Kurt into sitting on the toilet while he ran downstairs to get the baking soda and salt. He really didn't like seeing Kurt rest his head against the wall, looking so tired and sick.
Of course, the moment he came up with them, he saw two boxes sitting right there on the pedestal sink. "There you go, buddy." He lightly rubbed Kurt's back as he rinsed and spat, drooling into the sink.
Kurt looked up at him and complained, "Urs."
"I bet it does." He looked at his watch, which said that it was only 6:30, and continued to rub Kurt's back. Kurt was blinking hard and Finn really, really hated that. "You want to go back to bed now?" He was pretty sure that he shouldn't even try to offer to heat up something to eat, judging by the way that Kurt had gagged when rinsing his mouth.
His brother nodded, looking wretched, and Finn instinctively scooped him up to carry him back, surprising them both. Kurt didn't seem to mind, at least, if anything, he tried to burrow into Finn's chest.
When he tried to put Kurt back on his bed, Kurt mumbled something that didn't even sound like words and clung hard. "Okay, how about if I stay with you for a bit?" Kurt nodded, sleepily, and Finn got into the bed next to him, first pulling the covers over Kurt and sitting up with his back against the wall. Absent-mindedly, he started to pet Kurt's hair, and instead of the usual protests, Kurt made a faint appreciative noise. For some reason, Finn could see Kurt as a sleepy little kid, not wanting to be left alone at bedtime. That really made him feel like a big brother, and he kept petting his hair and holding Kurt's hand with his free hand.
He tried twice to get up, because he was getting really hungry, but each time Kurt whimpered an objection and Finn stayed right where he was. Finally, it was 7:50, which Finn decided was close enough to 8:00 to count, and he told Kurt, "I'm just going to get you another pill, okay? I'll be right back." Kurt murmured something and Finn carefully detached his hand. He got the bottle from downstairs, managed to get the child-proof cap open after a bit of struggling, and came back upstairs with the pill and a glass of water.
Kurt didn't seem quite coordinated enough to sit up, so Finn helped him with that, said, "Open wide," put the pill in his mouth, and held the water to his mouth. At least Kurt seemed to be able to swallow all right, and Finn didn't even bother trying to get away to grab something to eat, but got back into the bed and Kurt leaned against him. Finn profoundly hoped that Kurt wouldn't remember just how well those little whimpers and murmurs worked in making him want to do whatever Kurt wanted.
Finally, Kurt fell asleep, his hand loosening entirely its grip on Finn's. Finn gently lowered him onto the pillow, got out, and then carefully tucked the old teddy bear into the crook of his arm. "Get some sleep, little brother," he whispered, and went back downstairs, very quietly.