A/N: Just wanted to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, and alerted!

Also, I want to thank my wonderful beta - Little White Wallflower to all of you! - for putting up with me and helping me so much. You are amazing (: Just for being my beta, in the future you can be Chandler instead of Monica as long as I can still be Joey! And I take back what I said about the twins hating you! (:

Blaine turned the hot water on full blast, ignoring his flesh screaming and reddening in protest. He let the closed, tiny bathroom fill with steam until it was verging on a sauna. He washed his hair quickly with the shampoo the hotel provided, then contented to stand with the water beating on his back and shoulder. The heat began to release the tension that had made a home in his aching muscles. It had been an entire week of stressing over Ava, worrying about her well-being and how many surgeries she would need and if she wouldn't…

Blaine shook his head. He couldn't go there. He loved Ava more than anyone in his life. But then there was that close second…

How could this all be happening? He had gotten used to the fact that he would never see Kurt again. And it was horrible. Earth-shaking, heart-shattering pain. It felt like a part of him was dying. And now…

He didn't know until now he could hurt worse than he did then…

Blaine turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, shaking off the droplets in his hair. The mirror was covered in steam, and he could just barely make out his blurred outline. Just an outline of a human, everything else completely undefined. Like some sick metaphor he couldn't quite put his finger on.

And he almost smiled… But thought better of it and stumbled to the motel room bed and laid down. Falling instantly into a fitful sleep filled with dreams of his waking nightmare.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night….

"Noooo." Blaine moaned. "Five more minutes!"

Take these broken wings and learn to fly….

He sat up, realizing someone was calling him. The clock revealed he'd only been asleep for an hour.

"Hello?" His voice was gruff with slowly receding sleep.

"Blaine." Claire's voice was flat. "You need to come back. Now."

Blaine was already out of bed, pulling on clothes and grabbing the room key. "I'm on my way."

Blaine slammed the door to Ava's room open in his rush and almost lost his balance. Claire was lying in the hospital bed with Ava, her arms wrapped around the little girl. Sarah and Wes were sitting in the chairs against the wall, and a thirty-something woman in scrubs was sitting on the windowsill with a folder in her lap. The stillness jumped to action as he entered the room.

"Daddy!" Ava brightened up. She seemed to be the only one without a chip on her shoulder… Interesting, considering she really did…

"Hey, baby girl." He smiled, hugging her to his chest, and wishing for good news. But in the back of his mind he knew it couldn't be good if Claire had called him back that quickly.

"Hi, Mr…" The doctor began, then furrowed her eyebrows. Only making it painstakingly clearer that she was very new to their case, and didn't quite understand their… Non-traditional family.

"Anderson," Blaine supplied. "But you can call me Blaine." He reached out to shake her hand.

"Hi, I'm Doctor April Caston. I'm the new surgeon assigned to Ava's case. I'd like to talk to you and Claire if that's alright."

"Of course." Claire stood and Ava looked disappointed. Wes quickly took Claire's spot and attempted to distract Ava by telling her about California.

When Blaine and Claire were in the hallway, Dr. Caston started immediately with the information. Blaine wasn't sure whether or not to be grateful for her lack of sugar-coating.

"The tumor in her spine is quite large. However, after testing it, it appears to be benign. It's around the top of her spinal cord, and since she is so young, the risks of removing it are much greater. Paralysis and death are always a risk, but it could also stunt her growth if there are complications in the surgery. As long as it isn't doing any serious damage right now, we would like to wait as long as possible to remove it. However, there are two tumors in her brain. One is in the part of her brain that holds…" The doctor faltered for a moment before continuing. It didn't go unnoticed. "…her personality and her memories. There could be complete memory loss and many other devastating outcomes if the tumor is larger than we expect when we go in. However, the other is in a location of her brain that means we can remove it with minimal risk. It's boarders are highly defined, and we would like to remove it soon, today if possible. The sooner we remove it, the sooner we can begin chemo treatments for the other tumor."

Claire's grip on Blaine's hand was growing tighter. Their glances met and she nodded a small amount.

"I can leave you two alone to make your decision…" The doctor suggested.

"No," Blaine said. "No, if it'll help we… We'll agree if she does."

"Great," Dr. Caston agreed. Her mouth was smiling reassuringly, but it didn't touch her eyes. Blaine fleetingly wondered how many families she had smiled that same smile at, and had later had to tell them the worst possible news. Beginning with that famous line of: 'we did everything we could'.

The next few hours were a blur of activity for Ava. After consenting to the surgery, and the treatment after, countless tests were run by countless nurses, each one telling Ava how brave she was.

But Ava didn't think she was brave. She thought she simply wanted to go home again.

Two hours before the surgery was scheduled, a thought that had taken root in Ava's mind a few days previously had finally grown to a bursting point. Her mother and father were sitting quietly, while Aunt Sarah read the third Harry Potter book to her. Uncle Wes had left an hour ago to take a phone call and hadn't been heard from since.

"I want to cut my hair." Ava blurted out. Everyone jumped at the sudden expulsion. Her dad's eyes hazed over slightly, and all three adults were silent.

"I don't want it to fall out… Or for there to be…spots. I want to cut it all before the surgery."

Her mom stood up and crawled into the bed next to Ava, kissing the top of her head. "My brave, brave little girl. Are you sure, sweetie?"

Ava nodded, feeling the lump in her throat rising higher. Her mom smiled at her.

"I'll talk to the nurses and see what we can do."

Ava had grown to despise the hospital bed. She was supposed to stay in it at all times…

She didn't.

She still hated it though. She was chained to it.

Literally… Her IV in her arm was connected to the bed post.

"Bye-bye, cutie." Aunt Sarah grinned, kissing Ava's cheek. "We'll go hat shopping once you get out of the hospital. Believe it or not, I've got quite the eye for fashion." She winked.

Uncle Wes walked over and rubbed her shiny head that had a slight, fine fuzz on it still. "For good luck." He whispered. She grinned up at him.

After saying goodbye to her parents, Ava was wheeled into the surgery room. An over-whelming good feeling rushed over her, and she wasn't scared at all. The good feeling meant it all would be okay…

But she went under before she realized the happy feeling was from the anesthesia.

Claire, Wes, and Sarah had all left for the hotel rooms. Blaine sat alone in the waiting room. Ava was still in surgery. The world was dead silent. No flurries of movement at three in the morning.

The air felt still, like no one was breathing. Like there was no life anywhere. Blaine hoped and prayed that wasn't true.

A disturbance from the chair next to him made Blaine jump.

"I didn't mean to scare you." Kurt whispered. "I'm sorry." The tone of his voice led Blaine on to the fact that Kurt's words held more weight than on the surface. Blaine nodded slowly.

"It's fine. It's done. And I–"

"I know." Kurt interrupted. Silence fell, the tension between them electrifying the air; breathing life back in to it.

"You know… The surgery isn't…"

"There isn't a lot of risk involved. Yeah. You're about the tenth doctor to tell me that. But strangely enough, when it's your kid, there's no such thing as 'minimal risk'." Blaine himself was surprised at how emotionless his words were.

"Right…" A pause. Then Kurt stood. Blaine saw him move closer from the corner of his eye, but unable to meet his gaze, he stared at the opposite wall.

Something warm was pushed into his hands…a coffee cup. Blaine looked up then to see Kurt's retreating back.

"What's this?" Blaine asked stupidly. His voice cracked from non-use.

Kurt smiled sadly at Blaine over his shoulder, shrugging slightly.

"A peace offering."

Reviews would be lovely (: