"Kurt?" Blaine called back, running up the stairs. As it grew closer to the time Kurt was due into the hospital, Blaine had become hyper-aware of his needs – coming to his every call.

"Blaine... something's happening..." Kurt said, staring down at his baby bump in horror.

"What do you mean 'something'?" Blaine asked with a frown as he walked through the door of their room. Kurt was hunched over his stomach, curled in pain, a dark liquid starting to spread around him on the bed. Blaine froze in the doorway, his heart jumping into his throat.

"Shit." He breathed. "Kurt, y-you're bleeding!"

"Oh my god…" Kurt's eyes squeezed shut and he gave a violent jerk as his stomach contracted. "Blaine…I-I think I'm going into…l-labour..." Kurt was panicking, trying hard to breathe through the waves of pain washing through him. "It's too soon…too soon. My appointment…"

"Kurt, please…please calm down." Blaine soothed, not really sure what to do.

"Blaine! I'm going to have a baby. I need to go to the hospital."

"Shh, Kurt, it'll be okay. You have to calm down. Remember what the doctor said? That if you panic, it might hurt the baby?" Blaine said, trying to get him to focus on calming himself down. Kurt nodded, trying to catch his breath through his sobs.

"Blaine." He moaned. "It hurts so fucking much."

"Shh, I know babe, I know." Blaine was mumbling nonsense, grabbing the hospital bag they'd packed and flinging it over his shoulder. He lifted Kurt up and carried him downstairs, trying to keep his focus on getting to the hospital rather then what was wrong with Kurt. He wasn't being very successful.

"Blaine?" Kurt gasped as Blaine set him in the car.

"It's okay, it's okay." Blaine assured him, but Blaine clutched at his sleeve.

"Listen to me before you start panicking." Kurt wheezed, one hand clutching at his stomach. "Call my dad."

Blaine sucked in a deep breath, nodding slightly

He pulled out his phone as he rounded to the driver's side, hitting the speed dial for Kurt's dad.

"Hello?"

"Kurt's at the hospital. Something's wrong. Meet us there."

He hung up without waiting for an answer, sliding into the car and starting it in the same movement. Kurt was lying against the seat, his face twisted into a grimace of pain, his eyes closed.

"Kurt!"

His eyes fluttered open. "Mm?"

"Please…keep talking to me?"

Kurt nodded, breathing deeply and rearranging himself on the seat.

"Blaine…this isn't going to be good."

^.^

Kurt had been rushed straight into the operating theatre when they'd arrived. A nurse had shoved a pile of cloth into Blaine's arms and seconds later he'd been at Kurt's side, scrubbed and sanitised. They hooked Kurt up to monitors and had injected him with something that they'd mentioned, but Blaine couldn't pay attention.

Everything seemed to pass in a blur, and that was probably because everything was. People were shouting and calling to each other, bumping into things as they hurried to get Kurt ready. It made Blaine worried.

Kurt had clutched at Blaine's hand, refusing to let go.

"Blaine." He'd choked out. "It's too early isn't it? I'm only barely eight months..."

"Shh, it'll be okay." Blaine soothed, watching wide-eyed as they prepped Kurt, wiping his stomach down with disinfectant. He looked away as they started to cut him open, though Kurt didn't seem to feel it.

Blaine pressed his lips to Kurt's forehead, kissing him repeatedly with his eyes closed, simply praying that everything would be okay.

"Blaine?" Kurt mumbled drowsily as people worked over his stomach.

"I'm still here Kurt." Blaine soothed, dropping his gaze to Kurt's face and stroking his cheek gently.

"Love you. You and Baby." Kurt said as a baby's crying suddenly filled the air, breaking the silence.

Kurt smiled weakly as the baby was placed on his chest.

Two seconds. Two brief seconds - Kurt saw his baby, before his eyes rolled back into his head, and the tight grasp on Blaine's hand was gone.

The monitors went wild.

Blaine watched in horror as the baby was snatched off Kurt's chest, the umbilical cord being cut in the confusion before it was taken away. Blaine couldn't pay attention to his child – Kurt was lying limp, with doctors and nurses fluttering around in somewhat of a panic.

"Kurt?" Blaine called desperately, tightening his grip on Kurt's hand.

There was no response. No short squeeze of reassurance. No nod. Kurt just lay there.

"Get him out of here!"

Blaine was suddenly pushed out of the way, and then there were hands pushing him until he somehow found himself next to the nurse in another room – adjacent to the OR. She had his baby, and he just watched, completely numb as she gently bathed, weighed, and pricked the baby's ankle, taking a blood sample.

Something told him to go back to Kurt, but he didn't turn around. He couldn't turn around. Any willpower to do something other than stare at his baby was gone. There was shouting going on in the next room – calling out numbers, statistics, recommendations, and even a couple of curses – which made Blaine wince as a cold ball developed in his gut.

Finally finished, the nurse turned with a smile.

"Congratulations…you have a beautiful healthy baby girl." She told him gently as she dressed. "She's a little underweight, but that shouldn't be a problem for too long." She laughed lightly, wrapping her in a blanket and turning to Blaine with the baby outstretched.

"Now, cradle your arms." She instructed gently, placing the baby in his hands before fixing his arms, moving them until he held the baby securely. "Do you want to take her to meet your family?"

"But...Kurt...?"

The nurse swallowed hard and gave him a reassuring smile. "They're doing everything they can in there…you'll be able to see him once they're done. For now, your baby needs to know she's okay."

Blaine nodded slowly, gently stroking over the baby's cheek, willing himself not to cry or tear up or let go to the fear that was plaguing him.

"Will...Will he be okay?" he had to ask.

The nurse's expression was full of sadness as she gazed at the baby in his arms.

"I don't know."

^.^

Half an hour later found Blaine pacing the waiting room, half in shock and worry, and half in awe of the tiny little girl in his arms. That was when Burt and Carole found him, rushing to his side.

"Where's Kurt? How is he?" Burt demanded. Carole's eyes were on the baby in his arms.

"I don't know. I can't…nobody will tell me anything and I can't get in there and he's in surgery and…"

"Blaine, calm down!" Carole said softly, stroking his arm gently.

Burt looked absolutely livid. "Where is he?"

"In the OR…they forced me to leave…I can't."

"Both of you, calm down!" Carole said softly as their loud voices woke the baby.

Carole tutted and took the baby from Blaine's arms, who let her go without a word. She fussed over the little girl, and suddenly Burt's eyes widened.

"Is this…?"

Blaine nodded. "Kurt's. She was born like…half an hour ago." He whispered.

Burt looked over at her, swallowing hard and shaking his head in disbelief.

"What was Kurt like…?" Carole asked gently, sitting down by Blaine's side.

Blaine's eyes suddenly filled with tears and he let out a sob, letting himself cry now that he had someone older – someone to rely on – with him. He shook his head and Burt awkwardly patted his shoulder as he cried. There was something missing in Blaine – maybe it was the shock – but he seemed empty. Finally, Blaine was able to compose himself.

"He was…she was crying. They'd taken her out and she was crying, and then he just…" Blaine sobbed again, the force of it wracking his body.

"I think he's dying!"