Awaken - Glee - Puckurt

[youaredriving]

Title: Awaken
Author: youaredriving aka Scarletsptember
Rating PG-13
Pairing: Puck/Kurt
Word Count: 4,078
Warnings: I do believe the summary covers what you should be warned about. I know while I was writing this I needed tissues so, let that be a warning to you.
Summary: An accident leaves Kurt in a coma and no one knows if he will wake up from it or not. There is one person who doesn't give up hope. He is always sitting next to Kurt until visiting hours are up.


The day Finn finally told everyone in glee why Kurt hadn’t been at school for the past week, was the first time Puck had ever seen Finn cry. They sat in utter silence while Finn sobbed throughout the explanation. Kurt’s SUV wasn’t as safe as everyone had thought it would be. But the words that Puck could still hear, a month later was they don’t think he’s going to wake up.

While everyone had gathered around Finn and held him tight through the body wracking sobs, Puck just sat frozen in his chair. It didn’t make sense. Kurt was a safe driver. He had already been through so much in school and he stayed strong through all of it. Kurt didn’t deserve this. He should have been sitting in his chair, laughing at Mercedes and Tina or rolling his eyes at Rachel. He didn’t deserve to be in the hospital.

When Kurt was allowed to have more than family to visit him, the glee club was there. Mondays and Fridays they’d pack up and head over to the sterile room Kurt was kept in and they would sing to a sleeping Kurt. After the first two visits, the group dwindled down until it was Artie, Puck and Finn. The girls were upset about the way Kurt looked. He was still covered in bruises. There was a line of stitching along his temple and disappeared into his hair. Despite all of the dressing that covered Kurt’s wounds, he didn’t look like he was in any pain. It just looked like he was happy wherever he was.

Soon the only visitors outside of Kurt’s family were Artie and Puck. Artie didn’t stick around much longer. The last time he visited he had rested a hand on Kurt’s hip and whispered out a tear filled apology. In some weird way Puck understood why Artie couldn’t keep visiting. Both Artie and Kurt were stuck in their bodies, not able to do anything about it but Artie was awake while Kurt was unconscious. Seeing someone so trapped could really mess with a guy. Every time Artie visited and sung his soul out to Kurt, he’d leave with tears in his eyes. Puck didn’t hold it against Artie when it turned into only Puck visiting Kurt everyday.  He’d sit next to Kurt’s bed, as close as the lumpy chair that was provided could allow. He’d curl his fingers around Kurt’s and whisper about his day.

There were days Kurt wasn’t alone when Puck arrived to the hospital. Burt, Finn or Carole would be gathered around Kurt’s bed. Burt rubbing a hand along Kurt’s shoulder, Finn staring out the window and Carole standing with her arms wrapped around her chest. More often than not, Kurt’s room was empty of familiar chatter and the silence was only broken by the sounds of machines whirring and clicking. Those were the moment’s that Puck’s heart broke for Kurt. He understood what it was like to be alone, to have everyone forget that he was there. Even if Kurt wasn’t awake to know he had someone by his bed everyday, he’d be there. No matter how much his chest ached, he’d still be there for Kurt.

It was a day full of freezing winds, sleet and not enough hot chocolate to fight the chill when Puck realized as long as Kurt was in the hospital, he’d be right along side him, even if Kurt never woke up Puck wasn’t going to give up on Kurt

Puck knew that he would have to leave Kurt’s room and head home soon. If it weren’t for the fact that visitor’s hours were almost up, then it was because of the long walk home he had full of slush splashing up against his jeans and the icy roads.

The soft swoosh of the door opening made Puck grip Kurt’s hand tighter. He wasn’t ready to leave yet. He hadn’t said anything. He just sat there like he always did. It wasn’t fair that every time he figured out what he wanted to say the night shift nurses would swoop in to kick him out.

“Visiting hours are almost up Noah.”

Puck couldn’t help but smile at the sound of nurse Bonnie’s voice. She was one rocking old gal. Her hair always had some kind of sparkly clip holding all the wild curls away from her eyes. She sure didn’t act as old as she was. He had stuck around long enough one night to see her move Kurt on the bed like a pro.

“Nurse Bonnie,” Puck released Kurt’s hand for a moment to hug her before he was back at his post with Kurt’s hand in his. “How are you doing? It’s been a few days since I last saw you. You didn’t take a vacation on us did you?”

“Too old to sit around and do nothing,” Bonnie waved a hand at Puck as she began the daily exercise of stretching and working Kurt’s muscles. She pulled the sheet down to the foot of the bed and she held a foot in her hand. She worked the ankle and rubbed her hands over the arch and toes of his feet before she moved to bend Kurt’s leg at the knee.

“I should probably go,” Puck murmured as the gown began to scoot up along Kurt’s thighs. He felt like he was intruding on Kurt’s privacy.

“You know,” Bonnie spoke softly causing Puck to stop and listen to her, “In the beginning you and your friends hand it right.”

“I’m sorry?” Puck titled his head and watched the way she massaged Kurt’s arms and hands.

“Not many coma patients have their visitors sing to them. Sure they play the radio, leave audio books on but what Kurt had the first two weeks that was something special. He had something worth waking up to. I know it seems unlikely for him to wake up but you need to think of it this way, Noah. Kurt here, he was able to breathe on his own for a little while. The only reason he’s got that tube in his throat it too keep him breathing like you and I. Not all coma patients could breathe like Kurt did. The only machines he’s hooked up to are for fluids and nutrients that he can’t get while he’s like this. Kurt is still somewhere in there. He’s healing, resting and most of all; he’s fighting to wake up. He just needs someone to fight right alongside him.”

Puck licked his lips and rubbed at his eyes to fight off the tears that threatened to form from Bonnie’s words.

“You’re a good boy Noah,” She patted at his arm. “And if Kurt’s still in there he knows you’re here waiting for him. You just have to believe.”
“It doesn’t seem as easy as just believing,” Puck whispered as he briefly rested a hand on Kurt’s cheek, “No matter how much I want it, it doesn’t seem as easy as just believing.”

Bonnie urged Puck towards the door, “You need your rest. Be careful out there. The roads are dangerous.”

On the walk home, something sparked inside of Puck. Kurt needed something worth waking up to. He needed to feel like someone was there waiting for him to wake up. Just sitting there wasn’t going to be enough. Puck needed to figure out how he could do more than sit and hold Kurt’s hand. There had to be something.

It had taken the entire weekend for Puck to research what could be done for a coma patient and to come up with a plan. It had taken a bit of convincing to get Burt to agree to him taking Kurt’s favorite jacket, spritzed with a dash of the light cologne he wore to the hospital. He also stole his little sister’s iPod doc and Kurt’s iPod. He even went as far as checking out a few books Kurt might have liked so he could read.
“Looks like someone had a busy weekend,” Bonnie held her arms out to lighten Puck’s load and followed him into Kurt’s room. She held Kurt’s jacket up with delicate hands, “Where would you like this fine piece of art.”

“Maybe covering him?” Puck scrunched his nose up as she settled the coat over Kurt’s chest and smoothed the wrinkles out with gentle swipes of her hands. “I want him to be able to smell it, to feel it.”

Bonnie clapped her hands together in excitement, “What next?”

“I thought I might sing to him,” Puck shrugged. “It’s his dream, to sing.”

“Well I’ll let you to it. I’ll only interrupt when you need to head out.” Bonnie grasped Puck’s shoulder.

Puck waited until the door had closed before he turned on Kurt’s iPod and scrolled through the albums until he found the instrumental piece he was looking for. The volume was low as he picked up the copy of Jane Eyre. He had seen Kurt totting around a ragged copy of the book throughout the years they went to school together. Anytime something was going on, that book would always tumble out of Kurt’s bag during the dumpster tosses. It was easy to figure out that it meant something to Kurt. So he read until his eyes grew tired and his voice grew hoarse.

“Miss Pillsbury gave me a pamphlet today,” Puck snorted in amusement as he pulled the rumpled up piece of paper out of his pocket. Your friend isn’t waking, but you are. Puck smoothed out the wrinkles, “I didn’t even know she had this one stashed away.”

Puck tucked it under his leg as he adjusted the bed rail nearest him down. He rested his head next to Kurt’s hand and took a deep breath, “They think I’m crazy for coming in here everyday to see you but I’m not. I know that you’re going to wake up. How could you not? You wouldn’t miss the newest fashion lines or whatever you call them coming out. You wouldn’t want to miss that Harry Potter kid on Broadway. You’re going to wake up. I know it. You’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met and you don’t give up. Ever. So I’m not giving up either.”

He didn’t mean to fall asleep during the visit but he couldn’t help it. He was so tired. Class was getting harder, his mom was picking up more shifts so he had to be sure he sister was getting food, her homework done and cleaned up before bed. He didn’t have much time left for homework or himself.

When he woke up it was to Nurse Bonnie’s sniffling that no matter how hard she tried to muffle with her Kleenex it just wasn’t working. She noticed the Puck wake and she clasped her hands together, “Oh Puck.”

“What?” Puck sat up and saw what she was so teary eyed about. Kurt’s lips had curled up into a smile. “What does that mean? Is he waking up?”

“I don’t know baby,” Bonnie wrapped a hand around Puck’s shoulders, “We won’t know until the doctor gets in to do a few tests.”
“Why isn’t he doing them now?” Puck sputtered out.

Bonnie shushed Puck and led him out to the hallway, “He’s on his way in but no matter what the results are both you and I know something.”

Puck slotted his fingers together and rested his hands on the back of his head and looked up at the bright fluorescent lights to stave off the tears that were threatening him. “What?”

“Kurt’s happy. Something has made him happy and that my boy is always a good sign.”

Three days. Puck never knew that time could move as slowly as it did the past three days he hadn’t been able to visit Kurt. The only visitors allowed to see Kurt were family members.

The first day of school after Kurt smiled Finn came into glee his face radiant with happiness. “Kurt might wake up.”

Puck listened to the excited chatter from everyone and waited to hear more about Kurt but Finn didn’t have anymore to say. He stood in the center of the room, wrapped in everyone’s arms muttering how thankful he was for everyone visiting and keeping hope that Kurt would make it through this.

The second day Puck barely paid attention to the math test he was taking. He was on autopilot as he worked each of the problems out. Halfway through the test he flipped the paper over and began to draw. He didn’t know why but he ended up drawing Kurt’s room. He hadn’t realized how much he had added to the sterile room until now. Kurt’s black jacket was tossed over the chair Puck always sat in. There were bright pictures lining the wall across from Kurt’s bed, so incase he woke up there were reminders of all the people who cared for him. Puck’s own letterman jacket had taken up residence over Kurt’s chest, the arms tucked behind his neck as if he were being hugged.
Kurt’s iPod had been switched out to Puck’s because if he was going to sing to Kurt he was going to sing something he didn’t need to print the lyrics out to in order to sing. He had even draped one of his Gram’s hand sewn quilts over Kurt’s feet. He got hell from the staff about it but they realized that Kurt needed the extra warmth. His temperature rose a degree and his arms dropped from the tight hold they had found and stretched out to his side one night.

He didn’t realize his missed Kurt as much as he did now. He missed the snarky comebacks, the way Kurt tilted his head back and clasped his hands together when he laughed or got excited about something. He missed the crazy clothes that Kurt said were in fashion while they looked like the tamer side of Elton John’s closet.

The third day Finn came into glee club, Puck couldn’t take the way everyone gathered around Finn as if he were something special. They chatted about Kurt and how he was doing but they never really said anything at all. He grabbed his bag and headed towards the hospital. Cutting school never felt so bad before. Usually there was some sense of excitement of leaving school grounds, but now? Walking off school grounds, Puck felt like he was leaving to have his heart ripped in two, and he couldn’t do anything about it. All he wanted was for Kurt to wake up and no one was saying if the small change in behavior was a sign that he would.

He didn’t get to see Kurt though. He just sat outside the room listening to the muffled drone of Burt’s voice speaking with the doctor through the closed door. He watched nurses and doctors pass without a backward glance and he wished that Nurse Bonnie could actually tell him how Kurt’s tests went.

Burt stopped on his way out of Kurt’s room and looked down at Puck. He didn’t say anything but extended a hand and drove Puck home. Puck couldn’t complain about riding in Burt’s beat up truck with nothing but the sound of the heater keeping him company. It was faster than walking and much warmer. He’d get home with enough time to cook dinner and get his sister settled in for the night early.

Burt stopped outside their apartment and placed a hand on Puck’s shoulder. Puck looked over at Burt, a tear had escaped his eye as he squeezed Puck’s shoulder.

“What is it Mr. Hummel?” Puck was afraid to ask but Burt wasn’t someone who cried in front of people, he was a mechanic, a man’s man. So seeing Burt Hummel like that freaked him out. “Is Kurt okay?”

“Kurt’s great,” Burt choked out. “He woke up.”

Puck felt his heart stop in his chest. Kurt was awake. Everything inside of him wanted to yell at Mr. Hummel to tell him they needed to go back to the hospital. He needed to see Kurt. “He’s awake.”

Burt nodded before he gathered Puck into an awkward hug, “Thank you. Whatever you did, just thank you.”

Words were lost on Puck. He hadn’t done anything. What was he supposed to say to Burt now? What was he supposed to do?

“Kurt won’t be able to get visitors until day after tomorrow. They’re doing a bunch of tests to make sure he isn’t suffering from any permanent injuries but he’s awake.”

Puck nodded, biting into his lip, “I’m glad.”

Puck skipped school until he was able to see Kurt. A phone call from Burt was all Puck needed to scramble out of his room with his gift for Kurt in hand and to be heading for the hospital. He tried his hardest not to run through the hallways of the hospital and burst into Kurt’s room. He didn’t burst into Kurt’s room, not even walk into Kurt’s room.

“Noah,” Bonnie looked everywhere but at Puck, “I just want you to understand something before you go in there. If you two weren’t on the greatest terms before his accident, Kurt might not react the way you want him to.”

“Why would you even say something like that?”  Puck curled his hands into tight fists.

“I heard that other boy, Finn, talking about you. You’re a good boy, I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t get hurt,” Puck left Nurse Bonnie standing in the middle of the hallway as he strode to Kurt’s room. He could hear Kurt talking to Finn, Burt and Carole. He could tell how happy Kurt was to be awake.

He didn’t want to chance ruining that for Kurt. No matter how much he wanted to see Kurt, he didn’t want to be the person to cause Kurt unneeded stress. Pulling the envelope he had brought for Kurt out of his jacket pocket, Puck stared at the neat script. He shook his head before he tore down the hallway trying to catch up to wherever Bonnie had gone to. She was standing at the nurses’ station filling out paper work when he set the letter down next to her. She looked up at him with wide eyes, “Please just get this to him.”

“Noah,” She tried to reach out and stop him from fleeing but she wasn’t quick enough. Puck was already down the hallway with tears staining his cheeks. Maybe Kurt would realize he had been there and he was sincere in his want for Kurt to get better. If Kurt did want to see Puck he’d let someone know. Until then Puck was staying away.

It had been a week since Puck heard Kurt’s voice through the heavy doors of the hospital. And he still hadn’t heard anymore from Kurt than that. He didn’t know if Bonnie had actually delivered the envelope to Kurt or if she decided it would be better for Kurt not to have it.
            In the week though, Puck realized he had left so much with Kurt. His iPod, his own jacket, his drawings and pictures. Those were things that Puck didn’t want anyone to see but Kurt. By now the entire glee club had wondered who brought the items into Kurt’s room. He had heard enough gossip about it that it made him sick.

Friday evening he made the journey to the hospital huddled beneath a hoodie that was layered over with a jacket. The wind still bit at his cheeks and his ears felt numb. The warmth of the hospital was welcome as he shuffled through the halls to find Kurt’s room empty of visitors. He didn’t enter though. He just stood in the doorway watching Kurt turn in his sleep. Such a simple movement shouldn’t have made him so happy but to see Kurt conscious enough to move in his sleep was beautiful.

“He’s been asking about you,” Bonnie’s voice was soft as she stepped beside Puck. They both stood watching Kurt mumble in his sleep and snuggled down deeper into his pillows. “You should hang around for a little while. He’ll wake up in a bit. He always wakes up close to the end of visitor hours.”

“You don’t think he’d mind?” Puck whispered as he braced a hand on the door.

“I think he’d rather like to see you,” Bonnie nudged Puck into the room and silently closed the door.

Puck moved around the bed to his usual spot. The chair was still lumpy and the guard rails were still up. With deft hands Puck moved a rail down and rested his head on the empty space on the mattress. He stared up at Kurt wondering if he was allowed to touch him now that he was awake. He twined their fingers together and closed his eyes.

Puck hovered in between the layer of sleep and wakefulness. He was so comfortable and happy but there was something pulling at him to waken fully. Soft strokes of fingertips along his scalp had him humming in satisfaction. No one had touched him so gently, it was hard to ignore the curiosity of who could bestow such a touch and remain asleep.

“Puck.”

Puck snuggled down deeper into the sheets and let out a soft sigh.

“Noah,” The soft caresses stopped, “Please wake up.”

Cracking an eye open he saw Kurt’s bright eyes staring down at him. He didn’t know what to do. He stayed as he was, silent and waiting for something more to happen. When Kurt brushed a hand along his cheek he sat up.

“It’s so good to see you,” The words crept from Puck’s lips without him intending to speak them and they just seemed to keep coming. “I missed you so much.”

Kurt licked his lips and gave a smile, “Thank you.”

“For what?” Puck quirked a brow at Kurt wondering what Kurt needed to be thanking him for.

“Everything,” Kurt wiped at his eyes. “For reading to me, for bringing all these things in here? For not giving up on me?”

“No one gave up on you,” Puck stood up and pointed towards the picture of the glee club he had tacked up to the wall, “Each of us didn’t go a day without thinking about you.”

Kurt shrugged, “But you’re the only one who was here.”

Puck looked out the window. Snow had begun to fall and stick to the ground. It took half a season for Kurt to wake and he woke to the most beautiful part of it. He woke to the beauty. Puck started for the window but the cool grip of Kurt’s hand stopped him.

“You,” Kurt swallowed as he tugged Puck closer to the hospital bed, “I could hear you.”

Puck stared at how Kurt had casually tied their hands together and felt himself being pulled down towards the bed. He toed his boots off and let Kurt pull him onto the bed. He curled around Kurt and breathed in the subtle scent that always reminded him of Kurt. Morning air.

“I read that if you stay positive, and you interact with people in a coma that they might be able to hear you. I knew you’d be able to hear me.” Puck whispered into the back of Kurt’s neck. “Even if I didn’t say anything important or just read a book I had a feeling that you would hear me.”

Kurt tugged Puck’s hand over his chest so their hands were resting on his heart. It beat steady and strong. “I always heard you.”

Puck rolled his lips together and bit down hard. He shouldn’t feel like crying but he was so happy, everything was so right he couldn’t help it.

“You write beautifully too,” Kurt whispered. “You’re letter was far better than any bouquet of roses, or stuffed animal. I never imagined you had a talent you never shared.”

“I just needed you to know,” Puck stopped mid-sentence and pressed his face in between Kurt’s shoulders. “I just need you to know how much I cared for you. How I knew you would always wake up.”

Kurt turned to face Puck, his cheeks red and tears trailing along delicate skin. Puck wiped the stray tears with a thumb, “Why are you crying?”

Kurt smiled before he rested their foreheads together, “Because you made it okay to wake up.”