It took him a while, but finally, Blaine was ready to move on. He stepped into the next room – seven year olds to twelve year olds - which had a similar layout. The back of the room was a living room, but also sported a colouring table and a small bookcase. It opened to a much smaller courtyard – more of a greenhouse than actual courtyard.

The kids here were less patient – less social. There were hardly any of them milling around, unlike the ward with the older children. These ones stayed in their sections, quiet and occupied. Even the TV only had two kids watching it.

Blaine bit his lip, before choosing the loneliest looking child.

She was about ten, sitting up in bed and reading.

"Hello?" he said softly, and she looked up, her eyes wide.

"Hello." She whispered. "Are you a doctor?"

"Me?" he chuckled. "Nope. My boyfriend's upstairs with our baby, so I decided to come down here and keep people like you company!"

She regarded Blaine, looking him up and down before smiling slightly. "You have a boyfriend?"

Blaine paused, before smiling and nodding. "His name is Kurt, and I'm Blaine. What's your name?"

"Sammie." She smiled.

"So how long have you been in here, Sammie?" he asked conversationally, perching on the end of her bed.

"A couple of days now."

"And what's wrong with you?"

She heaved a sigh. "I have pneumonia."

"Pneumonia? Ah, that sucks." He said. "How long until you get better?"

"The doctor's aren't sure. They have to keep taking these tests."

"Yeah, but your parents are there when they do it, aren't they?"

She bit her lip. "No...not really. My daddy died a little while ago, and I've got five little brothers and sisters. She can't be here a lot...but she tries." She swallowed hard. "But I've got two older sister too, and they visit me."

Blaine was almost in tears. He took her hand. "Are you going to be okay?"

She smiled slightly. "I'm going to be okay Blaine...are you?"

"W-What?"

"You look upset... Are you okay?"

"Yeah... It's just..."

"All the sick people?"

Blaine was a little taken aback.

"Yeah. I guess." He whispered.

She smiled slightly, patting his hand.

"At least you can walk away from it." She whispered, and Blaine was speechless.

"How do you cope?"

She smiled. "I read."

"What sort of books do you read?"

She blushed, looking aside.

"I don't... exactly... read that many books." She murmered, a blush spreading over her cheeks.

"What do you read then...?"

"Fanfiction..."

Blaine's eyes lit up. "Really?"

She nodded shyly.

"What sort of fanfiction do you read?"

She blushed again. "I like...World of Warcraft...stuff."

"WoW?" Blaine grinned. "Sadly, I never got into it...but that means you play, right?"

She nodded, a small grin reappearing on her lips. "You should get into it sometime, Blaine...it's a good distraction."

^.^

Three to seven year olds were next, but Blaine didn't know how much more he could take. Sammie's sisters had come to visit – making him feel a little awkward, so he politely excused himself.

Now, he was walking down the ward with children who seemed at a loss as to why they were still sick. This age group was tricky – everything seemed horrible to younger children – they couldn't differentiate between actual pain and just crappy feelings, and so there were several nurses in this room.

"Oh Blaine, nice to see you!" a familiar nurse called, beckoning him over. "Can you just...sit in the middle of the room and start singing nursery rhymes? We really need to distract these kids. It's a bad day."

Blaine laughed. "Of course."

He grabbed a bean-bag from the 'living area' and plopped it in the middle of room, sitting down with his guitar. There was just one problem.

He didn't know any nursery rhymes on guitar.

Choosing a generic set of chords, he improvised, starting out with 'Old McDonald Had A Farm'.

Like magic, the kids were drawn to him – some came and sat around him, while others sat on the beds and listened.

By the third song, the kids were encroaching on his personal space, but he didn't really mind. It was better than crying children. Then the requests started.

"Can you play 'Humpty Dumpty?"

"I can try." Blaine hummed happily, trying to work out the chords in his head before actually playing them.

When he was done with that one, a little girl spoke up. "Can you play the Rudolph song?"

"That's a Christmas song! It's not Christmas!" one boy retorted.

"But I like that song..."

"What if I play that, then you can pick one?" Blaine compromised.

Their little game went on and on, until one of the nurses stepped in. "Okay kids, time for snacks!" There was a resounding cheer and suddenly the children were gone.

Blaine laughed. "That was fast."

"They love their food." She smiled. "Thank you so much. You gave us enough time to change sheets and things."

"You're very welcome. I had a lot of fun...two more rooms."

It was midday – he had two hours left.

Feeling a lot better about himself, he headed into the room he was in yesterday – six weeks to three years old. He knew Stephanie had gone home, but there was another little girl – Keana - that he had talked to and was dying to find.

He searched the cots and the small beds, section by section – waving hello to some of the little kids he recognised. He sang softly to some – playing patty-cake with others, until he came to the end of the ward, and still no Keana.

Approaching a nurse, he frowned. "Hey...uh...there was a little girl here yesterday...he name was Keana...is there...?" he looked around. "Where is she? Did she go home?"

"Oh Blaine..." she put her hand on his arm, biting her lip. "Keana passed away last night."

Blaine froze, blinking slightly. "What?"

"It happens sometimes. She was very sick to begin with, and her body was too weak to survive."

Tears pooled in Blaine's eyes and he frowned in disbelief.

"Wow." He muttered, and the nurse watched him with concern. "Wow."

"Are you okay?"

Blaine wiped his eyes, nodding slightly. "Yeah. Yeah...I'll...I'll...I will come back for the...babies tomorrow. I'm going to go...back to our room."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

He nodded, trying hard to force a smile. "Fine."

"If you're sure. Thanks for your help today."

"No worries."

^.^

When Blaine returned to his room, he was a sobbing mess. Everything about today was just emotionally draining – the kids who tried so hard to be strong, when they all feared the inevitable. And then Keana – who had died before she was given a real chance at life.

It wasn't fair!

He collapsed on the bed, thankful Kurt wasn't back yet, burying his face in the pillow and letting his grief take over.

He knew one thing for sure – he would never become a children's doctor - or ANY doctor, for that matter.

"Blaine?"

Blaine turned around to find Jackie wheeling Kurt in, and he quickly wiped his face.

"Kurt!" he tried to be happy – he really did – but Kurt saw right through it.

"Blaine, what's wrong?"

Jackie wheeled him to the bed before bidding them goodbye, but Blaine didn't want to talk about it. He silently helped Kurt and Madeline into bed before crawling into bed with them.

"How was physio?" he asked sullenly.

"I'm...hobbling...and I've stopped falling down. My legs are getting stronger."

Blaine managed a smile, kissing the side of his face. "Good on you. Are you able to go home tomorrow?"

"Physio wants to wait and see how I am tomorrow morning before she makes her decision."

Blaine nodded, then fell silent, gently stroking Madeline's hand as she slept.

"How was your day? What did you end up doing?"

Blaine shrugged. "It was fine."

Kurt frowned, burrowing into him and planting a kiss to his jawline. "You're not happy...and that worries me."

Blaine sighed. "I'm fine."

"Tell me later?"

"Maybe."

Kurt sighed. "Well, for now you can hold Madeline." He carefully dumped the sleeping three-week old in his arms. "Because cuddling her makes everything better."

Blaine let an actual genuine smile slip, looking down at the bundle of perfection in his arms.

She really did make everything better.

^.^

On Friday, Kurt woke with a smile on his face.

"Physio time!" he grinned.

Blaine mumbled something next to him, slowly opening his eyes.

"What?"

"Physio. It's my last day of six hour work!"

Blaine smiled – he felt much better this morning. He kissed Kurt and stretched, yawning as Kurt pulled himself out of bed and into the wheelchair.

"Do you want to have breakfast in the cafeteria this morning? We'll bring Madeline and..."

"Yes."

Blaine chuckled, looking at the time. "We have two hours until the physio comes...do you want to get dressed?"

Kurt snorted. "No. I like my jammies."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I specifically go home Wednesday to get something other than your jammies?"

"Yeah, but you used fabric softener when you washed them." He wiggled a little in his wheelchair, sighing happily.

Blaine chuckled, expertly fixing a bottle for Madeline and making up a small travel bag for her, before slotting it under the wheelchair. He then retrieved Madeline and gave her a small kiss on the nose, before letting Kurt take her.

"Breakfast." Kurt grinned.

Blaine laughed happily, wheeling him to the lift and pressing the button for the ground floor. Madeline woke up at the weird sensation of going down, her face scrunching up.

"No, no, no!" Kurt cooed, hoisting her up to his shoulder and patting her back.

Blaine knelt down, tracing her little fingers as they convinced her that everything was okay and she didn't need to cry. They got away with little whimpers, and when the lift opened, she was back to happy gurgling.

Blaine and Kurt shared a special glance – relieved and grinning – that was their first real problem that they'd faced, and they'd tackled it quickly and easily.

They were proud, to say the least.

^.^

"You're out of bed. On your own." Jackie approached them at their table, a wide grin on her face.

"Yep!" Kurt said happily, spooning the last of his fruit into his mouth.

"You're also late."

Blaine and Kurt glanced at the time – wondering just how two hours had passed so quickly.

"Sorry..." Kurt whispered guiltily.

"No, no...Kurt, this is a good thing. You're getting up and moving about without our help."

Kurt's eyes lit up. "So...are you saying this is an incentive to let me go today?"

Jackie grinned. "It just might be."

Kurt beamed happily and Blaine laughed.

"Are you ready to go?"

Kurt nodded, readjusting Madeline and settling her more comfortably.

"I'll see you at two?" Blaine asked, kissing him briefly, and he nodded.

^.^

Carole was already waiting when they arrived.

"Ah, there you are. We were beginning to think you escaped."

"They were having breakfast." Jackie grinned, and Carole laughed.

"I forgive you then."

Kurt stretched, allowed Carole to take Madeline, and then hoisted himself out of the chair. With wobbly steps, he eased himself onto the floor for stretches.

With both legs stretched out, either side of him, Carole sat in front of him – just out of reach, with Madeline in her lap. The aim of it was to give him a reason to stretch further – and getting to Madeline was pretty good motivation. Barbara talked to him through it, getting him to relax certain muscles as he stretched, pushing him down further when he started lacking in strength.

"Wonderful." Barbara grinned, letting him flake out a bit.

"Tummy time?" Kurt asked, and Carole laughed, nodding and settling Madeline down on her stomach, her cot blanket stretched out underneath her.

"You know what that means?" Barbara asked, grinning as Kurt sprawled on his stomach. He looked up at her, fingers pausing where they were stroking Madeline's cheek, a scared expression on his face.

That sentence was never a good thing – it always meant Barbara was about to make him do some evil stretch she'd just made up.

"Ab-bridges."

"...what?"

"Essentially, you're planking, but you balance on your elbows and toes, hands clasped in front of you."

"...Planking?"

"Yeah...planking - Kurt...you can't tell me you've never heard of them? Everyone was doing it..." Carole said softly.

"I was pregnant for nine months. Anything that happened during that time, I have put out from my mind."

Barbara laughed. "Alright, I'll show you." She dropped to the floor, springing up on her elbows and toes and holding it. "Back straight, head up, everything tense."

Kurt watched her, knowing that tomorrow he would be in so much pain.

"Owch?"

"By the end of today, I want you to hold it for three and a half minutes. Then you can go home."

Kurt blanched. Three and a half minutes.

"Ugh."

"Come on, practice."

Kurt heaved a sigh, pulling himself up into the right position. His stomach screamed at him, and after thirty seconds, his whole body was quivering, and he had to let it go, whimpering slightly.

"Wow. Ow."

Barbra smiled. "Alright, try again?"

He flailed, resting on his stomach, before sighing and pulling himself up again.

This time he managed a minute. But god it hurt.

"Alright, good." Barbara said softly. "Let's move onto stairs, and then we can come back to this."

Kurt nodded gratefully, standing up and stretching slightly. Carole stayed on the floor with Madeline while Kurt moved to the small stair machine.

He was good at these ones – slow at first, but once his legs warmed up properly, he could almost make the entire staircase without holding onto the rails.

"Very good." Barbara praised happily. "Can you walk in a straight line for me – I want to check your hip alignment."

Without rails, Kurt kind of sucked. He took slow steps, wincing slightly as they shook, but he made it to the end without falling.

"That's good too – you haven't thrown your hips out or anything. You up for more Ab-bridge? Then we can have some morning tea."

Kurt nodded, slowly and carefully flopping down where Madeline was still on her tummy, watching him curiously. He grinned, stroking her hand and giving her a kiss before tensing up and pulling himself into the right position.

He could do this.

He stared determinedly at Madeline – she was watching him again – as he felt his legs start to shake, but he couldn't drop it. He had to go home today. He couldn't stay in this place again. He wanted to take Madeline home and show her around – he wanted a spend a night with Blaine in a bed that catered for the both of them – where he didn't have to make sure neither of them would fall out. And god, he just wanted cheesecake...and coffee.

Madeline let out a little whimper, and that was it. Kurt dropped the position with a gasp, his eyes locked on hers.

"Two and a half minutes." Barbara said softly, and Kurt let out a little growl, taking Madeline's hand.

She immediately stopped being about to cry, looking at him again.

"I think that's enough tummy time." Carole said softly – seeing how frustrated Kurt was.

"I want to...one more time. Please." Kurt said, shaking out his arms and legs slightly.

"I'll go feed Madeline." Carole said, and both Barbara and Kurt nodded.

"One more time." Kurt insisted.

"Alright, but then it's morning tea. You'll hurt yourself otherwise."

He nodded, pulling himself back up.

He had to make it this time. He had to. He knew he could. He was strong now. He could do it.

His legs, arms and stomach screamed abuse at him, and he wanted to just relax – he could let it go...maybe he could go home tomorrow. It wouldn't be that bad. One more night wasn't that bad.

"Kurt..."

"Shh. Concentrating." He gasped.

"Kurt, that's four minutes."