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"Come on, girls, we're going home!" he snarled outside the room as he closed the door. The three who waited began to follow as he strode rapidly down the hall toward the rear staircase; Sara trying to match his pace and the two sisters floating alongside.

"But, what about Bubbles?" Blossom asked, wondering why he was so angry and thinking that his anger had made him forget they were going the wrong way. Their car was parked near the front. He suddenly stopped and whirled to face her. They all stopped.

"I'm not giving up just yet, and I can't do anything sitting around here! Now, let's go!"

"I'll be right here, girls." Sara said. "I'll call if anything changes."

"If anything changes? I don't wanna be somewhere else when she dies! I wanna be with her!" Blossom thought. It was stupid to leave. But Buttercup was as jumpy as the professor was.

"Yeah, let's go!"

"Thank you, Ms. Bellum." he told Sara. "Girls, we'll get the car later. There's no time."

That meant they were flying. Blossom didn't want to leave. She looked back at Sara, who smiled reassuringly at her.

"NO!" she screamed inside her head. "I DON'T WANNA GO!"

"Please, Professor! Let me stay!" she pleaded.

His dark look darkened even more. "I'm not going to argue with you, Blossom. Now, come on!"

Sara stood, watching helplessly. It would be a good idea for one of the three to stay with Bubbles, but the man was distraught and she didn't feel it was her place to interfere.

Blossom began to break down. "Professor, why are you so mad at me?"

He acted as though he'd been slapped, and the rigidness drained from him along with his anger. His shoulders slumped and he knelt beside his daughter and brushed away the tears that had started to form.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm not angry with you!"

"Who are you mad at?"

"Nobody. Everybody. Myself, mostly. I feel so helpless! I just can't accept that there's nothing that can be done."

"Yeah, Professor, there?s GOTTA be something we can do!" Buttercup agreed. "But what?"

His expression changed suddenly, as if he'd just experienced an epiphany. "Buttercup, I think I just came up with something! You girls wait right here!"

He ran the twenty feet back to Bubbles' room and went inside.

* * * * * * *

Dr. Waldman and the three staffers seemed surprised to see him barging in. "Yes, Professor?" he asked.

The professor looked at his desperately ill child with newfound hope, suddenly convinced he could save her.

"Doctor, how big would she have to be for you to do the surgery?"

"What?!" Waldman was sure he?d heard that wrong, and if he hadn't, it meant the man's desperation had pushed him over the edge.

The professor caught the raised eyebrows and wasn't fazed in the least. He was an inventor as well as a scientist and had gotten used to skepticism, even in the extreme, years ago.

"Doctor Waldman, do you remember a while back when the girls ran into that colony of fleas and were shrunk?" ²

To the professor and the others in the room, it would appear that the doctor was trying to recall the event, but in actuality, Waldman's mind immediately began to process this new information. Certainly he remembered. Every adventure the Powerpuff Girls faced was all over the news after they'd successfully overcome whatever it was they'd had to deal with. And it hit him then, what the professor was getting at. They'd been shrunk by that odd weapon and been restored to their proper size. If it could work in reverse?.of course, that would allow the surgeon ample room to maneuver, if Bubbles really could be made to grow. Waldman felt a growing excitement at the thought of a possible new technique opening itself up before him, but held onto that emotion. For he knew that even were it to work, it was most likely of no use to the little girl who lay comatose just feet away. The damage to her brain was, at this point, irreversible. But he was a doctor, sworn first to do no harm, then to help as many others as he could. Performing this procedure under these circumstances would do no further harm to Bubbles, and what might be learned from it could help thousands. He felt a slight pang of guilt for what he was about to do, agree to using the dying girl as a guinea pig. He also didn't want to dash the man's hopes, for there was still the tiniest chance for that miracle to happen. There was always that.

Fully aware of his responsibilities, both to the patient and her loved ones, and to the greater good of society, he made his decision. "Why, yes, Professor, I do recall that?you're saying that you can make her grow?" Of course, he knew the answer was yes.

"Yes, Doctor, I think it's possible. I saved that ray gun and it does have a 'grow' feature."

Waldman's excitement now showed itself. "Professor, that might just work. I'm going to order another CAT scan right now and get Dr. Vora to look at it."

At those words, one of the nurses left the room, to alert the staff down at the imaging unit. Dr. Vora was the chief pediatric neurologist at Townsville General and would do the surgery if it was possible. She'd already seen the earlier scans and ruled it out.

"I must tell you this, Professor. There is the very real chance that it's just too late to help her, even if the enlarging works." He hated to say it, but ethics required that he be truthful.

"I understand." came the response. "But it's better than doing nothing."

Waldman clapped him on the arm. "I agree. Get moving, and we'll try to have everything ready when you get back. Come straight to the main desk and they'll direct you to the operating room."

* * * * * * *

To Buttercup, it seemed like the professor had been in there an hour, though it had been less than five minutes. It was driving her crazy, waiting. Seeing the nurse come running out set all of them on edge and she uttered a loud 'Finally!' when he stepped out of the room with the doctor and the intern. He said something to the doctor briefly and the two physicians turned and hurried away. He walked rapidly toward her. It was a determined look that he wore on his face.

"Buttercup, do you want to stay here with Blossom or come with me?"

The body language of both girls made it clear how they felt. Blossom was overjoyed at being able to stay and Buttercup couldn't wait to get out of there and DO something. She grabbed his arm and practically pulled him down the hallway. He grinned slightly and told Blossom and Sara that they'd be back soon, and he turned and ran, with Buttercup floating beside.

"I wonder what he's gonna do, Ms. Bellum?" Blossom said, watching them go. "Maybe it's not too late!"

She felt suddenly drained. Everything had been happening, it seemed, at light speed, and now there was nothing to do but wait.

"I think I'm gonna go sit with her and just talk. She didn't give us a chance, before. I just hope she can still hear me."

Sara knew what Blossom was talking about. During her short time alone with Bubbles, aside from the nurses being in there, Bubbles had tried to say she was sorry, 'for hurting Townsville' was the way she'd put it, for all the unintentional damage she'd caused and for being a problem sometimes; and had asked Sara to ask the mayor to forgive her. Sara had tried to shush her and told her to just rest. She had gone in there to say goodbye, but just couldn't bring herself to. Bubbles had tried to do it for her. She was sure Bubbles had done most of the talking with her sisters, too.

"You go right ahead, dear. I need to go make sure Mayor isn't giving away the store while I'm gone. Just a quick call and I'll be right with you."

Blossom smiled at the thought of Mayor on his own in that big office. "OK." She watched Sara give her a smile and walk down the hall, then she floated to Bubbles' room and went inside.

"Oh!" she said, seeing the other nurse, who was standing at the far side of the bed, checking readouts and writing on a chart.

"Don't pay any attention to me." the nurse said, not looking up.

"Do you think she'll be able to hear me?"

Now the nurse looked over at the small girl, who was pulling a chair up closer to the bed to sit. "Yes, Blossom, she can still hear. I don't know how deeply asleep she is, but some or all of it might get through to her. Just pretend I'm not here."

"OK. Bubbles, there?s something I've always been meaning to tell you?."

It was hard, finding the right words. Bubbles had done most of the talking earlier and she hadn't gotten the chance. She realized right then the mistake of not being more honest and forthcoming with her feelings. Bubbles shouldn't have had to wait until this moment to hear them. She tried to sort out exactly what to say, and noticed the nurse unhooking her sister from one of the monitors. Its lights went out and it gave a small, final 'beep'. She flew out of her chair.

"Stop, what are you doing?!" she shrieked, her heart pounding madly in her chest. "She's not dead!"

Startled, the nurse gasped and took a step back, holding the electrical lead in one hand. At that moment, the door opened and a young male orderly pushed a bed, already made up, inside. Getting over the initial shock, and seeing the scared look on the girl's face, the nurse spoke.

"Blossom, we're taking Bubbles back to prep her for surgery. Once we get her there, everything will be hooked back up. Relax, she's in good hands."

"Oh. Sorry." Blossom said, somewhat embarrassed. "Can I go with her?"

The woman shook her head. "I'm afraid not. You'll have to wait in the waiting room. But you can stay here for now if you like. When your father and sister get back, we'll send someone to get you."

She began disconnecting the other monitors, leaving the contacts hanging from where they were taped to Bubbles' body in various places. The orderly moved to the near side of the bed and Blossom moved back to give him room. She watched as the two gently lifted her sister and situated her on the other bed, tucking the hanging electrical leads and the still-empty collection bag with the tubing running to her bladder, alongside her. She showed no sign of movement other than her slow, shallow breathing, which didn't change.

"Ms. Bellum is coming back here." Blossom told the nurse.

"Oh, good." The woman didn't like the idea of leaving a child this age unattended, even this particular one. It was her first personal experience with any of the Powerpuff Girls, and the small figure who floated there in front of her seemed nothing like the self-assured mini-adult she'd seen countless times on the news. "Why don't you try to take a little nap?" she said with a smile.

Blossom felt a little more reassured, though her emotions still raged inside her. She appreciated that the nurse was trying to make her feel better. "Thanks, maybe I will. I do need to be alert in case there's a crime or something." She returned the smile and sat in the chair.

Just like that, the switch back from the child to the 'duty first' creature from TV. It was disconcerting, and the nurse gave her head an imperceptible shake. Her own duty lay in a coma before her, and it was time to move.

* * * * * * *

As they left the hospital, Buttercup and the professor did not see the white sedan with the blue decals that said 'KZIX-TV CHANNEL 5 NEWS' on both sides, that was parked only five spaces away from their own in the east side lot. Every reporter who was worthy of having the job had the professor's license plate memorized. But the reporter inside, at the wheel, and the cameraman, who preferred to be called a technician and was in the backseat fiddling with his wide-angle lens, saw them. Not coming out the front entrance like you would expect, but almost out of nowhere from the rear of the building, in the air three floors up. The reporter grabbed the cell phone off the seat next to him, from the pile of empty coffee cups and fast-food breakfast sandwich wrappers, and dialed the station.

"Stanley, something's up. Buttercup and the professor just flew out of here in a big hurry and left their car in the lot."

* * * * * * *

Professor Utonium had long ago gotten over the fear of being carried through the air by his girls. The first few times had been terrifying, but after his experience of helping them as a crimefighter in his short career as Power Prof, he'd found the sensation of speeding through the skies exhilarating. But not today. Now, he only wanted to get home, and back to the hospital. He concentrated on his mental list of what to gather as quickly as possible, wondering if the doctors had anything sufficiently strong enough to cut through Bubbles' skull. What it would take to penetrate bone that had withstood tremendous explosions and violent collisions with brick, steel and concrete from great heights, he hadn't a clue, and doubted if the surgeon had even considered that. The hardest substance known to him was a wondrous metal called duranium. It was very rare, and he had obtained some to use as cutting blades and drill bits, which had been essential in working with the titanium exterior of the DyNaMo. Perhaps some of what he had could be fitted to the surgeon's cutting tool.

As she carried him along, Buttercup knew he was thinking deeply and knew she ought not derail that train of thought. But she was desperate to know what he had in mind for saving her sister, and even more so to learn what she could do to help. Trouble, and big trouble at that, was nothing new to her. They'd been in plenty of jams and always found a way out. But this feeling of utter helplessness was new to her, and she couldn't stand it. So her desire to know won out over her knowledge that she should stay quiet.

"Professor, what are we gonna do?"

"?or perhaps a combination of lasers?oh, I'm sorry, Buttercup, did you say something?"

"Yeah, but I interrupted you. Never mind, Professor, what you're doing is more important."

"No, dear, that's all right. I heard you. I'm hoping that by enlarging her with that gun the fleas shrunk you with, that the surgeon will then have enough room to be able to remove what's making Bubbles sick."

She felt a new surge of hope. "Really? Do you think it'll really work?" She answered her own question. "It's got to, Professor, it's got to!"

It was probably too late, just like Dr. Waldman warned, but he couldn't tell her that. Somehow, though, she must have been able to read his mind.

"But it's not, is it?" she said matter of factly, then began speaking in a rush, choking on her words at times. "Professor, I know we were supposed to tell her goodbye, but I couldn't! Blossom kept trying just to tell her not to talk and that everything would be okay and that she needed to rest but I know it's cause Blossom couldn't do it, either!" Tears began to run down her face, the wind blowing them off in a mist.

"Please, Buttercup, try not to cry. I don't want you flying us into a tree."

Where it came from, she didn't know, but she giggled. Probably nerves. But the snapshot of her flying them smack into something because she couldn't see straight popped into her head and left just as quickly, and it got her attention.

"Sorry, Professor. But it was like she knew. She wouldn't let us hardly say a word. She kept saying she was sorry for all the times she messed up and for acting like a baby and for crayoning on my WWF posters and stupid stuff that makes me feel awful for gettin' mad at her for. I could tell Blossom feels like that, too. And the funny thing was we were the ones that were crying the whole time, not her. She knows, Professor, and I think she was tryin' to make it easier for us."

"I know, sweetie. She did the same thing with me."

"Then are we really doin' this for ourselves instead of her?"

Whoa. That floored him, because she was right, in a way.

"Yes and no, Buttercup. In a way, we ARE doing it for ourselves. It's our way of fighting, of saying 'No, I won't accept this.' It?s our way of not losing hope."

"Is that fair to Bubbles?"

"No matter what we do, Buttercup, we're wrong. If we fight to keep her when that's not the best thing for her, it's not fair. If we DON'T fight for her when she might still have a chance, we're wrong, too. It's something we can't ever really know the answer to. Only God knows when it's her time. So we fight, because that's our nature."

"Yeah." Now THIS was something she understood. There was something else that he thought she ought to hear.

"Bubbles believes she's leaving us. They say people often know when they are about to die. But they are often wrong."

She felt the hope flooding back. "So, let's fight!"

He saw them coming up rapidly on their house, and steeled himself to hit the ground running. "Okay, here's what I want you to do?"