Cate's scowl disappeared as she approached the nursery. Even though she'd just seen Lux a few hours ago, she already missed her terribly. She smiled as she approached Lux's basinet.

But, when Cate arrived at Lux's basinet, it was empty. Cate sucked in a sharp breath.

She reminded herself of the last time Lux's basinet had been empty. Cate had prepared for the worst when really Dr. Cooper had just been examining Lux. Cate took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

But, Dr. Cooper always examined Lux in the morning, Cate knew. Why would he be examining Lux now? Unless something was wrong.

Cate wasn't sure if she felt like crying because she was worried about Lux or because she'd had such a bad day, but she knew she was on the verge of tears.

Alex found Cate crying quietly in the nursery. "Hey. What's wrong?" Alex asked gently, putting her hand on Cate's shoulder.

"Where's Lux?" Cate asked instead of answering.

"She's OK," Alex said quickly. "A cardiac surgeon from Portland Grace Hospital is examining her."

"Why? What happened?" Cate said in between sobs.

"Nothing," Alex insisted, rubbing Cate's shoulder comfortingly. "Mr. Bazile called him in. I'll take you to them."

Cate wiped her tears and tried to compose herself, embarrassed that she'd overreacted. She didn't want John to see her like this. He'd been impressed with her maturity and now she was crying like a little kid, Cate thought ruefully.

"Cate!" John said, surprised when Cate and Alex entered the hospital room. Shouldn't she be in school?

"Hi," Cate said, smiling slightly. Her smile disappeared when she saw Lux lying on the examination table.

"I'd like you to meet Dr. Burke," John said to Cate. He turned to the doctor. "This is Lux's mother."

"It's nice to meet you," Cate said politely. "How's Lux?"

"She's doing quite well," Dr. Burke replied. "Now I have Lux's medical history, but I want new X-rays, a new MRI and a new echocardiogram."

Cate's brow furrowed in confusion. "Lux has already had all of that."

Dr. Burke nodded. "Yes, but I'd like more recent test results before I determine Lux's treatment plan."

Cate's frown deepened. "Has she gotten worse?"

"There's no reason to be concerned," Dr. Burke assured Cate.

"OK, I guess," Cate said uncertainly.

Dr. Burke nodded toward a nurse, Danielle, and she took Lux to run the new tests he had ordered.

"Can I come?" Cate asked softly, wanting to be there for her daughter.

"Yes," Danielle replied, smiling reassuringly at Cate.

Cate watched helplessly as Danielle ran the tests, poking and prodding her baby. Lux whimpered and reached for Cate.

"Almost done," Danielle said soothingly, as much for Cate's benefit as Lux's.

Danielle finished up and smiled at Cate. "We can go back to the exam room now."

"That's it?" Cate asked tentatively, glancing at her daughter who looked so small and helpless.

Danielle nodded.

They went back to the exam room. John was still there, but Dr. Burke had disappeared.

"Cate, Dr. Burke is the top cardiac surgeon in Oregon. Lux is in great hands," John said gently, putting his hand on Cate's shoulder.

Cate looked up at John. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I really appreciate everything you're doing for Lux, but why did you have him examine Lux without talking to me? I mean, I'm her mother."

"I called him first thing this morning. I wanted the best for Lux. I didn't know he'd be available on such short notice, but he was and I wanted him to look at Lux as soon as possible," John explained.

"That makes sense," Cate said thoughtfully. "I want to be here when he performs the surgery, though."

John smiled. "Of course."

Dr. Burke knocked on the door before entering.

Both John and Cate stared at him expectantly. Cate was wringing her hands together nervously. She studied Dr. Burke, but his face betrayed no sign of emotion. She held her breath, wondering if he came bearing good news or bad news.

"I can perform the surgery and repair the defect," Dr. Burke said confidently.

"When?" Cate asked, releasing her breath.

"It is my opinion that Lux is strong enough now. However, Dr. Cooper feels it would be better to wait until Lux is stronger. In this case, it's a judgment call," Dr. Burke said.

"What happens if she's not strong enough and you perform the surgery?" Cate asked quietly.

"We will monitor Lux throughout the surgery. If there are any complications, we'll stop the surgery immediately," Dr. Burke said.

Cate swallowed. "But last time she almost died."

Dr. Burke nodded. "Any surgery is risky. I can't make any guarantees. I can tell you this is a simple procedure that I've performed thousands of times."

Cate bit her lip, not completely satisfied with the answer. She didn't care about the other times Dr. Burke had performed the surgery. She only cared about this time. She understood that he couldn't make any guarantees, but when Lux's life was on the line Cate needed one.

Cate turned to John. "What do you think?"

"I think Dr. Burke is the top cardiac surgeon and I trust his opinion. I'd like him to perform the surgery sooner rather than later so we can get Lux out of this hospital," John said confidently.

Cate wavered. She wanted desperately to get Lux out of the hospital. Still, the thought that making the wrong decision could result in Lux's death held Cate back. Cate didn't know if she could make this decision.

"I don't know," Cate said honestly. "I need to think about it."

"I understand," Dr. Burke said kindly.

John frowned, but knew it was ultimately Cate's decision. He pasted a smile on his face as he turned to Dr. Burke. "We'll be in touch. Thank you."

"Yeah, thank you," Cate chimed in as an afterthought. She was glad that Lux was in capable hands. She just wished Lux's life wasn't in her hands at the moment.

"I have to get back to work," John said regretfully as they walked back to the nursery. "I hope you'll consider moving forward with the surgery."

"I want him to perform the surgery. I hate that Lux has been in the hospital her whole life. I want so badly to hold her and play with her and take her to the park. But, if she's not ready, she could die," Cate said what she'd been thinking aloud.

"Dr. Burke thinks she's ready," John reminded her.

"But Dr. Cooper doesn't," Cate pointed out. "I'd feel better if they were in agreement."

John nodded in understanding. "Keep me appraised of your decision."

Cate nodded, smiling slightly.

When John left, Danielle asked Cate if she wanted to feed Lux. Of course Cate agreed, excited to have her daughter in her arms. It was too rare an occurrence.

Cate stared down at Lux in awe. Sometimes she still couldn't believe she was responsible for this tiny little person who could move and breathe. Cate didn't know what she would do if she made the wrong decision and Lux died.

"I love you so much," Cate said softly, smiling lovingly at her daughter. "I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you."

Lux's little fingers grabbed a strand of Cate's hair. Cate smiled. Any contact with Lux felt so good. Although actually Lux was pulling kind of hard and it was starting to hurt.

Cate hesitated before gently moving Lux's hand. Lux lowered her hand and her fingers felt Cate's necklace.

"What are you doing?" Baze's voice startled Cate. She tore her gaze away from Lux to find Baze standing in the doorway of the nursery.

Cate fixed Baze with a deadly stare. "Spending time with our daughter. I know it's a foreign concept to you."

Baze shifted uncomfortably and stared at the ground.

"What are you doing here?" Cate demanded.

"I wanted to see her," Baze mumbled.

"What?" Cate asked. She couldn't hear him.

Baze looked up, his face reddening. "I, uh, wanted to see her."

Cate's expression changed from one of disdain to one of surprise. "Why?"

Baze shrugged. "She kinda looks like me."

Cate rolled her eyes. "She's your daughter even though you told everyone you never slept with me."

Baze looked down again, embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Cate asked in shock. She'd never expected to hear Baze apologize.

"I'm sorry I lied," Baze said, meeting Cate's eyes.

Cate rolled her eyes. She'd been hoping he was actually apologizing for not being there for Lux.

She still wanted Lux to have a dad even though she knew Lux's dad was a colossal jerk. Of course he was only apologizing for lying, which was just the tip of the iceberg.

Baze noticed Cate's expression. "My friends heard we hooked up and they were making fun of me," he said defensively.

"Thank you for apologizing," Cate said.

"It's your turn," Baze said, glaring at Cate.

"For what?" Cate practically spat out.

Baze gave Cate a hard look. "Having our kid without telling me. Telling everyone, including my dad, that I got you pregnant."

"Oh! Oh, I did not tell everyone you got me pregnant," Cate said angrily.

"Yeah, you did," Baze said, his tone accusatory. "Everyone knows."

"Yeah, because my sister told," Cate retorted. "She's mad because she has a crush on you."

Baze's eyes widened in shock. He'd been sure Cate was the one who told. He remembered what he'd said to her as she left Westmonte and cringed slightly. "Annie told?"

"Abby," Cate corrected, smiling slightly at the mistake. Despite Abby's over the top flirtation, Baze didn't even know who she was. She was still furious with her little sister.

"I didn't know," Baze mumbled. "I'm sorry…for what I said earlier."

Cate had a snarky comeback on the tip of her tongue, but stopped when she saw Baze's face. He actually looked like he felt bad. She knew he must have had a pretty bad day, too, and it was kind of her fault since Abby was her sister.

"You couldn't have known," Cate said instead.

Baze moved toward Cate, encouraged slightly.

Cate quickly covered her chest. She'd been trying to feed Lux.

Baze smirked.

"What?" Cate asked defensively.

"It's not like I haven't seen you naked before," he said, grinning.

Cate looked down, embarrassed. When she finally looked up again, she noticed Baze was staring at Lux. He was smiling slightly.

As soon as Baze felt Cate's gaze, he looked away.

Lux started crying suddenly, surprising both her parents.

Baze held up his hands defensively. "I didn't do anything."

Cate rolled her eyes. "Of course you didn't do anything."

Baze looked up, surprised. Last time Lux had cried his dad had acted like it was all Baze's fault.

"She's a baby. She cries. Shocking, I know," Cate said sarcastically.

She patted Lux and talked in a soft, soothing tone until Lux quieted.

Baze watched, impressed. "Wow. How'd you do that?"

Cate laughed at the question.

"No. Seriously. How'd you do that?" Baze asked again.

Cate shrugged. She didn't really know what to say. "She's had a hard day."

"Why?" Baze asked. Cate thought she detected concern in his voice.

Cate sighed. "She's been poked and prodded all day. They ran a bunch of tests."

"What kind of tests?" Baze wondered.

"Tests to see if she's ready for surgery," Cate replied.

"Is she?" Baze asked.

Cate swallowed. "I don't know. One doctor doesn't think so, but the top cardiac surgeon in Oregon does."

"So listen to the top guy," Baze said easily.

Cate frowned. "If he's wrong, Lux could die."

Baze gasped.

Cate stared at him. "Don't act so shocked. She's been fighting for her life since the day she was born."

"I didn't know that. I didn't even know I had a kid," Baze pointed out. "Then you made a big scene at the game and told me she was in the hospital. I thought you were just being dramatic."

Cate remembered how shocked she'd been when the hospital called because they needed her to donate blood. She'd known she had a daughter and she'd still been completely overwhelmed. It made sense for Baze to feel that way when he found out he had a daughter and that she was sick all at once, Cate realized. It was a lot for anyone. Especially the immature quarterback.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't and now if I make the wrong decision our daughter could die," Cate muttered.

Baze instinctively reached for Cate's hand.

Cate stared at him. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, uh, nothing," Baze said quickly, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Cate smirked.

"What are you gonna do?" Baze asked.

"I don't know," Cate admitted quietly.

"Will you, uh, let me know?" Baze asked.

"As soon as I figure it out," Cate said.