Chapter 12

Growing pains

By the time Kurt Wagner was about to turn eighteen years old he had become one of the most famous aerialists in not only Germany, but throughout Europe. No longer had posters bearing his picture and name were as simple as reading Nightcrawler, but now each focused on “The Incredible Nightcrawler.”

Although Kurt’s fame had risen in the past three years, his ego had not. Granted, Kurt loved the thrill of a good audience and wanted nothing more but to give each show his all, but as Trent had advised him when he first started performing, Kurt kept a low profile and thought of the circus as nothing more but entertainment.

God had also played a large part in keeping Kurt’s ego from evolving into a mass greater than the planet Earth. The angelic symbols that now covered not only the mutant’s blue chest and arms, but had strung themselves onto his legs, a few on his back (but his tail wasn’t as good at etching as his hands were, so there were only a few), and also his face had kept Kurt from letting himself get too carried away with any actions. It wasn’t a surprise when Margali found out about these tattoos that she almost knocked his head off his shoulders and his ears almost went deaf.

Every Sunday, whether in Munich, Paris, London or even the smallest town in a desolate part of the continent, Kurt never missed a time to pray at a local church and ask God for forgiveness, strength, and bless the people he loved most.

Most people would criticize Kurt if he were a “normal” teenager because he spent more time practicing religion to which he was most devoted to rather than getting out in the world and hanging out with friends. Then again, most people wouldn’t give Kurt the chance to get out into the world. Any chance he had to seeing the places the circus went to had to be done at night when locals were at home or those who were out and about couldn’t see his face in the darkness of the night.

Unfortunately Kurt spent a good deal of time avoiding the crowded streets when he had the utmost desire to experience what it would be like to roam the avenues; although if he did take a chance every so often, the mutant had to not only wear his normal attire but adorn his appearance with shoes, a long, high-collared coat, a hat, and usually sunglasses, his hands in his pockets at all times and uncomfortably wrapping his tail around his waist and keeping it there.

Margali had warned him about the incidents mutants had with the public and one person catching a glimpse of him would turn into total chaos. It disappointed Kurt to no extent, but he knew it was true. Although he had grown into young adulthood and being shorter than the average man, standing at five-feet nine-inches weighing about 165 pounds, Kurt’s appearance as a “demon” would give any old lady a heart attack on the spot. The only normal feature, as Amanda had once pointed out, was his curly black hair—although in certain lights one would notice a large amount of indigo strands still present.

Yet when leaping from trapeze bar to trapeze bar, showing off his agile gymnastic abilities, and swinging on any set of parallel bars, Kurt was accepted into the lives of his spectators because naturally they all though his appearance was “all part of the act.” To them, Kurt was in heavy make-up and he was a normal looking human being in his everyday life.

Although Kurt was a mutant, looking like a demon, able to teleport to any place within a three-mile radius, Kurt’s mind was just like any average teenagers. Acceptance for who he was was a given, but he also liked the things most boys his age took interest in. Especially when it came to girls.

Kurt knew there was a slim to none chance that he’d ever have the opportunity of a relationship, but it didn’t keep him from dreaming. And the subject of his dreams was the girl he had grown up with and loved before he knew what love was.

Kurt knew that he had a good relationship with Amanda as friends, but he yearned for it to be more than that. Seeing her with her boyfriend of two years drove him insane with disappointment. Even if Deidrick didn’t exist, he couldn’t imagine Amanda seeing behind his indigo skin, yellow eyes, and sharp teeth. Who could?

An image that would stick in Kurt’s mind for a long time was one that made him teleport to his own room in an instant. He had come home from his daily workout in the fields in the back of the farmhouse to hear a good deal of giggles coming from upstairs. He knew Margali wasn’t home, so it wasn’t her, and the television was blank, so it wasn’t that. Going upstairs to investigate and satisfy his curious mind, Kurt passed Amanda’s half-shut door to catch a glimpse of the happy couple making out and tickling each other.

For days Kurt couldn’t look at Amanda without thinking of that Deidrick guy hanging all over her, even if he wasn’t around. He didn’t like Amanda’s boyfriend for more reasons than he could count on both of his hands. For one he was a pretty boy that could get any girl he desired, and that annoyed Kurt beyond anything. Second, he knew Amanda was just ‘another girlfriend’ to this guy and he feared Amanda’s heart being broken when he was tired of her and found someone he would consider better. And what Kurt hated the most was the reactions he received from this lowly guy that called himself a swordsman. The only thought about Deidrick that brought a smile to Kurt’s lips was an encounter they had a month ago.

Kurt had been sitting on the sofa, watching an old movie he found while flipping through the channels. He heard the arrival of Amanda and Deidrick long before they reached the porch of the house. His haughty voice was clearly heard over the loudest vacuum cleaner.

They had entered the house in a burst of laughter, Amanda hanging on one of his arms and a disgusting smirk plastered on his face. Amanda looked very happy, which Kurt liked to see, but the moment he made eye contact with Deidrick his attitude changed and he went back to watch his movie.

“Kurt you should have been there,” Amanda said after she finished her laughing fit. “Deidrick made those other contestants look like toddlers.”

Kurt didn’t answer, nor did he turn to look at her, yet he could still imagine the prideful glare Deidrick made behind his back.

“I doubt if Elf Boy would be interested in something such as the art of fencing,” Deidrick remarked smartly.

Kurt’s tail tapped the cushion harder than it had been before they came home. “I doubt that someone like you would be able to handle someone like me in any contest,” he replied in a dry voice, his eyes still fixed on the screen.

Deidrick laughed. “Do you even know how to hold a sword little mutant? That is, if you could figure out which side was the blade and which side was the handle.”

Kurt hated to get into arguments like this. Since they first met, which hadn’t gone over well and resulted in Kurt teleporting away and Deidrick hyperventilating after seeing a “demonic elf,” the fencer made it a point to put Kurt down in any way he could. And one of his greatest verbal attacks dealt with Kurt’s humble looking face and short legs compared to Deidrick’s over six-foot stature.

“Kurt’s actually very good at fencing,” Amanda had said in a much more quiet voice than she had used only moments before.

The puff of breath Deidrick let out when he snickered caused Kurt’s head to slowly turn and lay his yellow eyes in a hateful glare. “Whatever, Amanda.”

Kurt smiled, his pointed teeth shining through blue lips. “Try me, dumbkolf.”

“You jerk,” Deidrick said, highly insulted. “You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“Then by all means,” Kurt said getting to his feet. “Why not test that hypothesis of yours.”

“I would if you had a sword,” Deidrick said, his face becoming conceited once again.

In a quick BAMF, Kurt teleported up to his room and reappeared in the living room, his tail holding an impressive silver sword. He couldn’t help but curl his mouth into a smirk when he saw the shock in other man’s eyes.

“Very well,” Deidrick replied opening his equipment bag, taking out his own sword and chest pad. “Pick your battle field.”

“Kurt, don’t…this is stupid,” Amanda said.

“He asked for it, Amanda,” Kurt replied as he started for the back door.

It was Kurt’s privilege to tease Deidrick into thinking he was equally matched with Kurt. They had done a numerous amount of tactics and each time Deidrick’s smile became bigger. Amanda stood off to the side, shaking her head at Kurt’s stubbornness. She knew her foster brother was the best at what he did, but she hated to see him play it out against someone like her own boyfriend.

Deidrick leapt at Kurt, his sword swiping through the air, narrowly missing Kurt’s stomach; Kurt’s own sword had been released and dropped to the ground. Deidrick pointed the tip of the blade to Kurt’s chest and snickered. “Games up Elf Boy,” he mocked.

“Doubtful,” Kurt replied. His tail picked up the sword and pointed it at his opponent’s neck. “Touché?”

“Why you little…” Deidrick had continued the brawl, but was most disgusted at battling the mutant’s tail. “That’s cheating!”

“Jealous that you don’t have a tail?” Kurt laughed as he continued. And with one quick movement, Kurt’s tail tossed the sword into the air, his hand grabbing the handle. Jumping up and twisting around in the air, Kurt’s arm made such a forceful attack that the accuser’s sword was thrown away.

“You’ll pay for that Wagner!” Deidrick yelled, highly embarrassed. He jumped at Kurt who teleported to appear behind the older boy.

Grabbing both arms with his own and wrapping his tail around both of Deidrick’s legs, Kurt smiled. “Give up?”

“Let me go freak!”

“You can’t beat me and it bothers you, doesn’t it?”

Kurt’s verbal attacks did him little good when Deidrick worked his arm free and landed an elbow into young Wagner’s stomach. Quickly pulling away, Deidrick backed up and went towards Amanda.

“You’re such a mutant freak, Wagner. No wonder why you belong to a circus!”

Kurt had stood his ground for several minutes after Amanda had pulled a frightened Deidrick back into the house. It had been wrong of him to use violence to prove a point. That night it only earned him another scar on his back and another enemy. The only good that came from this whole encounter was that Deidrick never spoke to Kurt again.

* * *

It was a rare occasion that Kurt would get to spend his birthday at home in Germany. Usually Margali would schedule one more quick tour through the country before the harsh winter set in, but because of a broken arm she got when she fell down the stairs, this year would be slightly different.

It had obviously made Amanda very happy because she couldn’t stop talking about how nice it was to be invited to a party and actually be able to go.

“What kind of party?” Margali asked one night at dinner.

“A costume party,” Amanda said as she drank her water. “Figures that Deidrick can’t go. He’s got a stupid tournament in France again.”

“Or he doesn’t want to be seen in a costume,” Kurt said under his breath, thanking the heavens no one heard him.

“Why not take Kurt then?” Margali suggested staring at her daughter.

Both Kurt and Amanda looked up, both surprised. Kurt could tell by Amanda’s expression that Margali’s suggestion wasn’t a mutual thought yet she hid it well. He knew she would feel obligated to take him along, which was probably a bad idea in the first place, so he put his head down and continued to eat his meal.

“I guess I could,” Amanda said after a moment of silence. “It is a costume party, so no one would be the wiser.”

Kurt looked up, a bit surprised to hear such words from her mouth. “I don’t want to be any trouble…you go by yourself and have a good time.”

Amanda rolled her eyes. “Honestly Kurt when else would you have a chance to mingle with society? You’ll fit in perfectly. Just don’t swing your tail around and no one will notice its real.”

Kurt surprised a small laugh, but his heart didn’t stop at jumping out of his chest. He couldn’t believe he’d be going to a party with Amanda…and no Deidrick in sight. Not only that, but he’d be able to go as-is, no hats or sunglasses needed. It was a dream come true.

However, though the fact that Kurt would get to spend a whole night with Amanda, he was nervous enough about people figuring out he was a mutant he was considering backing out of the whole deal.

“Kurt, you’ll be fine,” Amanda said as she adjusted the headband of cat ears on her head. “Hold on a second…”

Kurt sat on her bed, watching her leave the room to change into the black skin-tight suit she was going to use for her black cat costume. He heard her curse to herself in the bathroom across the hall and noticed the look of embarrassment she had on her face when she came out.

“Can you zip this stupid thing up?” She asked, her cheeks red.

Kurt nodded and zipped the material together when she turned to stand in front of him. She looked over her shoulder, just to double check the zipper was completely up, and pulled out her cat’s tail from her costume bag.

“Just pretend you’re in costume and no one will pay any attention,” she told him. “Besides, most of them will be too drunk to figure it out anyway.”

“There’s going to be drinking?” Kurt asked a bit surprised.

Amanda nodded and then started to apply her bright red lipstick. “Always is. So just in case I have too much you can drive home.”

Kurt sighed at the thought. Driving wasn’t one of his most favorite things in the world; that and he didn’t have much experience on the road and with a normal car.

“Alright, lets go.”

The ride to Amanda’s friend’s house wasn’t long. Cars lined the whole street and every window of the party’s house was lit. When the two got out of the car both could clearly hear the music blaring from the building.

“The neighbors don’t care?”

“The neighbors are probably all there. Its like all one big party street ‘far as I hear,” Amanda told him while she locked the car.

Kurt followed her up the paved sidewalk and to the front door. She barely finished knocking when a girl wearing a bunny outfit opened the door and laughed. “Amanda! Glad you could make it!”

“Hey Trudy,” Amanda said and stepped inside.

“Oh, Amanda,” Trudy said with a seductive smile towards Kurt. “Whose this? It can’t be Deidrick.”

“This is my friend Kurt,” Amanda replied. “Deidrick couldn’t come.”

Kurt could feel himself blush, as the girl looked him over carefully and then winked at him. “Well, the party’s everywhere, so find a spot and chill.”

Kurt followed Amanda to a group that sat in the corner, each holding a glass of some sort of drink. He looked around and or listened to the conversations Amanda engaged in, not having the slightest clue on their topics. It was mostly about other people, their school days, (which Kurt didn’t go to the schools like Amanda had), and other subjects that Kurt couldn’t care less about.

It wasn’t until a guy bumped into him and handed the young mutant a glass mug of beer. “Hey,” the stranger said looking over Kurt. “Man, that’s the coolest costume I’ve seen yet. How long did it take ya?”

Kurt could smell the alcohol on the other guy’s breath and could tell there wasn’t much time left until he fell over unconscious from the drinking he had been doing. “Not long…” Kurt replied, unsure of what to tell him.

“Hey, we’ve got a game going on over there,” the stranger said, draping an arm around Kurt’s shoulders. “Hey Amanda,” he slurred. “I’m stealing your friend here.”

Amanda just waved them off, deep in conversation with her own friends. Kurt, still holding the mug of beer, was led over to a table where a group of young men were laughing up a storm.

“Hey bros! This here is…what’s your name buddy?”

“Kurt Wa—”

“Kurt’s gonna join in on our game guys! Fresh meat here—hasn’t had anything yet I’m guessin’!”

A large cheered applause sprung from the group of them and a chair was shoved under Kurt’s legs, causing him to instantly sit. “What’s the point of this game?” He asked, looking around for some sort of game pieces.

“Whoever drinks the most buddy,” said the kid that pulled Kurt away from Amanda.

“But—” Kurt started to protest. He really had no desire to drink the poison that intoxicated almost all, if not every person in this room.

“C’mon, you’ve got to be able to hold something! You didn’t dress up like that to just sit around, right?” another guy yelled out.

“Start out with that mug o’ yours,” said another.

Kurt looked at him and then at the mug. “Well, maybe just—”

“That’s the spirit buddy!” the first guy yelled out, slapping Kurt on the back. He took his own glass and gulped it down without taking a breath. “Your turn.”

Kurt held up the mug and looked at the liquid inside. What could a couple of drinks hurt? Taking a deep breath, Kurt chugged down the entire glass, putting the empty container back down on the table as he gasped for air.

Everyone around the round table yelled out and applauded him as another partier took a smaller glass and gulped its contents down. It became a large circle of turns, the glasses ranging from a large glass mug to a small shot glass.

By the time the first person dropped out, rather say jumped from the table and made a mad dash towards the bathroom, Kurt had forgotten how many drinks he had consumed. In a matter of five minutes four guys were gone and only three remained that were stubborn enough to go on.

A large group had formed around the table, mainly girls, who wanted to see who could out drink the other. And by the time it was down to Kurt and a guy named Dale, the mob had started an ongoing cheer.

“C’mon Kurt ol’ buddy!”

“Show that kid what demons are made of!”

Kurt hadn’t even paid attention to the joke one of his “buddies” cracked while their arms were draped around him. He held up a small shot glass and made a one-man toast to his opponent. With one swig he doused it, his head spinning and stomach yelling out for him to stop. And luckily for him the other had barely finished his gulp when he jumped up from his seat and ran out the back door.

A loud applause broke loose into the music filled room and Kurt shook his head in agreement that he was the ultimate champion. He had never felt so good in his life. Everyone gave him a proud pat on the back.

It took a few minutes, but the crowds dissipated and Kurt was able to make his way to a vacant couch where he could let his head stop spinning. But it wasn’t long before a rather attractive blonde dropped down next to him, practically landing in his lap.

“Hey there hot-cake,” she said in a low sexy voice. Dressed as a cowgirl, Kurt couldn’t take his eyes off of her angelic face. She looked so innocent yet so seductive he hung on her every word. “Heard you won the drinking game they had goin’ on o’er there.”

Kurt nodded stupidly, his yellow eyes boring into her.

“Nice costume. I’m totally into the whole elf ear thing. And you’ve even got yellow contacts. Very…” she began, trailing a finger down his chest. “…Sexy.”

The last word she spoke slowly rolled off her tongue as she gave him a cute little smile. His mouth opened a bit, thinking he’d let out a chuckle, but nothing came. He adjusted his position in the seat, causing her to do the same and practically sit on his knee. “There’s a room in the back that no one’s occupied. We can get to know each other if you want.”

Kurt raised an eyebrow. “Why not right here?”

She giggled. “You’re cute. We can start here if you want.”

Kurt nodded and gave a goofy smile. “I’m Kurt Wag…. I’m Kurt.”

“Cute name for a cute little guy. I’m Gari.” She hung her upper body over his abdomen and traced his chin with her index finger. “So, Kurt, what brings you here?”

Kurt opened his mouth, about to answer, when Gari moved up and covered his mouth with hers. Even being as drunk as he was, Kurt was able to comprehend a girl kissing him. Her lips moved slowly on his and he wasn’t sure if he should kiss back of just sit there. But to Gari it didn’t seem to matter much.

“Still want to stay out here?” she asked softly in his ear, her tongue darting out and licking the pointed tip.

“I…I…” Kurt stuttered, not sure of what to say.

“C’mon sweet-cakes,” Gari said getting to her feet and bringing Kurt’s arm with her. He let himself be pulled off his comfortable seat and he didn’t even realize he had followed her to a bedroom when she shut the door and turned on a small lamp on a nightstand.

“Gari, I…what do you? I…” he stared at her and was unsure of what to do. His legs seemed to be glued to the floor and his tail felt rather floppy. Part of him yelled to run back out and go find Amanda, but and the other half lectured him to stay here a while longer.

Kurt didn’t know how long it took for Gari to get him to the bed and take his clothes off, but he realized that he had never felt anything so exciting in his entire life. Either Gari didn’t notice his entire body was blue, considering his “costume” or she didn’t care because not one word was mentioned about it. Unless she can’t see ‘cause it’s so dark in here, he thought quickly. His whole life seemed to have become a blur and he could only focus on this one moment.

And it was over as quickly as it started. Catching his breath and opening his eyes to look up at the ceiling, Kurt watched as Gari leaned down to kiss his forehead and get off him to gather her own costume.

Kurt sat up and looked over to her. “Going already?” he asked with a smug grin on his face.

Gari smiled as she slipped into her jean skirt and put on her cow-skinned shirt. “I need to find my boyfriend. He’s got to be passed out somewhere around here.”

Kurt’s eyes stared at her and his mouth dropped. “Your…you have a boyfriend?”

Gari merely rolled her eyes and nodded a simple yes.

Kurt was dazed. He had no idea she already had a boyfriend. But his head and stomach hurt too much to care. He watched her wink at him and leave the room. He couldn’t believe he had just slept with a girl for the first time in his life—after they just met, and she had a boyfriend who was at the same party. How could he have been so stupid?

Kurt found it hard to get back into his clothes and make his way out to where a bunch of people attempted to dance to the blaring music and where others sat around and talked. He couldn’t find Amanda, but he did catch a glimpse of the guy that dragged him off to the drinking game table.

“Have another one?” Kurt said when he stepped out onto the deck in the cold air.

“Take this one. There’s more o’er that way,” the other said as he shoved his half empty glass into Kurt’s three-fingered hand.

Kurt wasted no time on finishing the drink, taking a seat on a stone bench, not even paying the slightest bit of attention that his tail was swishing wildly behind him.

Amanda caught sight of the large clock on the wall and didn’t even realize it was past midnight. In fact, she hadn’t even realized Kurt had wondered off; she didn’t see him anywhere in the large room.

She mentally patted herself on the back for not getting herself plastered like a good many of the people at the party had done. She did it once and promised herself she’d never do it again.

Amanda set her glass down on the table and stood up, hoping to find Kurt in the process, but to her surprise he wasn’t anywhere to be found.

“Hey, have you seen my friend?” she asked one of the girls sitting across from where she stood.

“I think he was with Dale and someone else last time I saw him.”

“They’re outside I think,” someone else piped in.

Amanda let out an agitated sigh. Moving towards the sliding glass doors that led to the deck, Amanda noticed that the only people outside where all on the ground passed out. She hoped Kurt wasn’t one of him. And to her unfortunate discovery, he was.

“Damn it, Kurt,” she hissed as she knelt down next to his body that was slouched on the wooden deck against the railing. “Kurt, get up. C’mon, we’re going home.”

Kurt merely moaned, letting his head slump forward. Amanda shook his shoulder and tried to pull him to his feet. “Kurt, lets go!”

Without a warning, Kurt’s eyes shot open and he jumped to his feet and threw his head over the railing, the contents of the drinks he consumed making a second appearance. He breathed heavily and let his body hang on the railing, his head pounding and his stomach feeling like it was going to give up everything else inside it.

“Oh! Disgusting!” Amanda yelled at him. But her mortified face turned serious when Kurt slumped back down on his knees and leaned his forehead against the spindles of the railing. “Kurt, you’re not fooling around, are you?”

He didn’t answer. Amanda noticed that his blue face glistened with sweat and his chest heaved for air. She looked down and noticed that his normally active tail was immobile and looked dead next to his leg.

Amanda gasped when she put a hand against his cheek. “Scheisse…Kurt stay here. I’m going to call Mom, alright?” She was relieved to see he nodded his head slowly, yet it looked like it was painful.

Amanda stumbled her way back into the house and found the kitchen phone, dialing her house number as quickly as she could. “Mom? Mom?”

“Amanda,” Margali said sleepily on the other end. “What’s wrong?”

“I need you to come get us. Kurt’s like really sick and there’s no way I can get him to the car.”

“Alright I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Amanda felt panicked. How could this have happened? Kurt had enough sense to not drink that much. She returned to his side and tugged at his arm. “Kurt, lets get out to the front yard, alright?”

Kurt tried with all of his might to get to his feet, but his knees bent more so than usual when he walked. He didn’t even realize she was trying to support him.

“You need help?”

Amanda nodded a quick yes to Trudy’s older brother who took one of Kurt’s arms and flung it over his shoulder. He practically dragged the drunken mutant out the front door and sat him down on the steps as gently as he could.

“Thanks,” Amanda said but was cut short when Kurt jumped up again and had a second vomit attack into the bush on the side of the house. “Mein Gott,” she told herself as she helped Kurt sit back down when he was finished.

She couldn’t believe how hot and sweaty he was. She had never seen him so sick. “No more alcohol for you buster,” she commented. Kurt’s head lay in her lap, his body laying sideways on the step of the stoop.

A large sigh of relief washed over Amanda when she saw a pickup truck pull up to the side of the road and saw her mother and Chester get out. “Mom!” She called, not letting go of Kurt’s head.

“Damn it, Amanda!” Margali yelled as she knelt down next to Kurt. “He’s got a bloody fever to boot!”

“I know Mom!”

“Give him to me. I’ll get him home,” Chester said moving in and picking Kurt up in his arms.

Amanda followed her mother back to the car as Chester loaded Kurt into the truck’s passenger seat and drove off. She knew it was her fault, but she hated more than anything for others to emphasize her wrongs.

“Amanda, how could you let this happen? Kurt’s barely drank before in his life and you let him get carried away like that?”

“What am I, his babysitter! Kurt’s eighteen, he doesn’t need people hovering over him!” Amanda spat back.

Margali started the car and barely checked the road for other cars when she turned around and drove off. “You know how those idiotic kids are! Why didn’t you warn him?”
“I didn’t know he took off with them! Jeez. I went to have a good time, not to be Kurt’s chaperon!”

“Forget it,” Margali yelled back. “You can do no wrong.”

“Oh give it a rest, Mother!”

Once they returned to the house, Chester helped Kurt upstairs and into the bathroom where he had a few more rounds of emptying his stomach. Margali chased up after them and felt Kurt’s forehead. “He’s burning,” she told him. “We’ll get his head under the shower faucet.”

Amanda stood in the doorway, worried for Kurt’s condition. She knew that he’d definitely not feel better tomorrow. Hangovers hurt more than anything.

It was difficult to get Kurt’s jacket and shirt off, leaving him in a plain white tee. He let a yell out when he felt his head being doused under icy cold water. Margali then threw a towel over his head to dry his hair off and both she and Chester helped him into bed.

Chester called his wife back up to let her know he’d be staying the night to help Margali if she needed to get Kurt to the bathroom. With a broken arm, Margali was limited to what she could do, especially with a full-grown mutant teenager who was tossing his guts out every half hour.

Around four in the morning, Amanda woke to hear a lot of tossing and moaning from down the hall. She pushed herself to get out of bed, slide slippers on her feet and make her way towards Kurt’s half closed door.

Kurt tossed around on the bed, seemingly having a terrible nightmare. She went over to him and put her hand on his forehead, but the moment her fingers touched his skin his hand shot up from under the sheets and wrapped its fingers around her wrist.

“Kurt! Wake up!” Amanda demanded.

After a moment, Kurt’s eyes focused on her, but he didn’t say a word. His grip on her wrist loosened and he fell back into the pillow on the bed. “Amanda…” he said in a hoarse whisper, his eyes closing again, but his body didn’t relax much.

Amanda quickly went into the bathroom and returned with a cold wet cloth. Sitting on the edge of bed, she patted the cloth on his tattooed forehead and cheeks, watching as he fell back to sleep.

She never expected to have stayed up with him the rest of the night. Before she knew it the sun was slowly rising and cleansing the dark earth with its bright rays. Kurt was still fast asleep, but he looked very uncomfortable. The cloth was folded into a rectangle and lay on his forehead to keep him cooler, but she knew from the sweat on his neck that he still had a fever.

“No better?” Margali asked coming into the room, still dressed in her nightclothes.

Amanda shook her head. “I think this is more than a hangover, Mom.”

Margali removed the cloth and felt his face with the back of her hand. “He’s still very warm. Just let him rest for now. There’s nothing much else we can do.”

Amanda nodded and her mother left to start breakfast. Her eyes rested on Kurt’s limp hand draped over his stomach. She put her own on it and felt the softness of his skin. She couldn’t help but feel responsible. As she sat there and thought about the previous night, she remembered that he had been outside on the deck.

“You must have been out there for a while and the cold finally got to you,” she said softly.

Throughout the day Amanda was in and out of Kurt’s room, checking on him and making sure he was all right. She couldn’t remember when he had slept so much. She looked at the clock that read it was well into the afternoon. He was usually up by seven, even eight at the latest, not sleeping past three-thirty in the afternoon.

Amanda found a spot on the edge of the bed that Kurt’s sprawled-out body didn’t occupy. She let her fingers brush over the short curls that fell over onto his forehead. She hated to see him suffer like this. She only hoped that he’d get well soon.

By the time night had been well into itself, Kurt had woken up enough for Margali and Amanda to attempt getting some soup into him so he would be starving to death. Margali felt like she was feeding the baby she found eighteen years ago, taking small spoonfuls of the liquid and letting him slurp it down.

Amanda sat on the other side of the bed, holding the bowl for her mother, letting a smile crack when a droplet of the soup trickled down his chin. He looked so helpless it was cute, but she knew he didn’t feel that way in the least.

For two straight days Amanda and Margali looked after the sick Kurt. Each few hours he seemed to be better, but he never left the bed. Even the sound of the small TV on his dresser hurt his head and so it remained off.

When Amanda finally felt she didn’t have to sit in a chair in Kurt’s room all night, she returned to her own cushiony bed only to find that she couldn’t sleep even for a few hours. By the middle of the night she had had enough and was ready to hit her head to knock herself out.

Finally, after tossing around for another hour, Amanda got up and gingery went down the short hall to the stairs. She titled her head when she saw a light flickering in the living room. Slowly making her way down the stairs she was surprised to see an old movie flashing on the screen across the room.

“Hey, what are you doing up?” She asked softly as she went to the couch where Kurt sat in his normal crouched position.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he replied, his voice sounding normal once again.

“Me neither,” Amanda replied taking a seat next to him. “You’re feeling better though?”
He nodded. “For the most part.” He smiled and looked at her, his eyes soft and grateful. “Thank you.”

She smiled, equal gentleness in her expression. “Your welcome.”

**********

German Translations: Dumbkolf-idiot (I think…that’s what a friend told me at least)

Mein Gott-My God

AN: Surprised what I had happen to Kurt during the party? Who said he’d live his life completely “innocent” hmm? Throws a little twist I think.