Dear God (Avenged Sevenfold)

Miles away from those I love purpose undefined

The very next morning both Natalie and Ava sat waiting in the doctors office, silent and scared shitless...not about the pain but about the possibility that neither one of them would be a match. "Ava I'm scared" Natalie whispered, clutching her best friend's hand tightly "I need this to work...Bryleigh needs this to work." "Shh" Ava cooed softly, her own heart was racing as their names were called simultaneously. "It will all work out I promise, we'll get your little girl healthy as a horse." While she sounded sure and confident of herself, her insides told her otherwise.

They both entered separate rooms and after filling out a few forms were asked to strip down to their under garments and put a hospital gown on. "The procedure should only take about 15 minutes" the nurse explained to Natalie "Then we'll have you recuperate for a little bit before sending you home." "How long will it take to get the results in?" Natalie asked hesitantly, she already knew the answer was 1-3 weeks but she was hoping by some miracle that it had suddenly sped up to over night but no such luck. "About 1-3 weeks give or take" the nurse stated with a smile before walking out, leaving Natalie to shake and shiver in the cold room.

TWO WEEKS LATER

Natalie was struggling with about three different things when she heard the phone ring and was about to scream in frustration when she finally got to it. "Hello?" she gasped breathlessly, attempting to shift Bryleigh to her hip. "Ms. Johnston this is Dr. Alpine's office." As soon as Natalie heard those words she sat down in the worn out recliner with a thump, causing Bryleigh to whine in her sleep before settling again. "I'm listening" Natalie stammered out quietly, her eyes filling with tears as the nurse explained that while she was somewhat compatible for a bone marrow donor they really weren't confident with it enough to proceed with the transplant. "Dr. Alpine really wants you to find her father and have him tested before we put your daughter through possibly more pain than she needs. If we can do this all in one shot we would prefer that." Natalie managed to choke out a few words to the nurse that she would attempt to find the father before she hung up and called Ava, her sobs waking Bryleigh up almost immediately who then began to fuss tiredly.

"I don't know what to do!" Natalie wailed, clutching her daughter tightly to her chest while Ava remained as calm as she could be on the other line. "I'll tell you what we're going to do. You're going to call work and tell them you're taking a Family Medical Emergency Leave and we're going to fly to California to find that man if it's the last thing I do!" Natalie shook her head silently, choking back more tears "I can't afford to fly out there Ava...and even if I could, I don't have the money to stay out there for god knows how long until we found him, IF we found him. And I can't take you away from Todd for that long!" Ava snorted on the other end, her mind already turning as she crammed clothes in a suitcase. "I don't care what you say about this but we're going. I have the money for the three of us to manage just fine out there for quite some time now and Todd totally understands and supports me. As for my work, I can work on my cases from my laptop so hang up the phone with me and get to packing. I'll be there as soon as I have our tickets printed out and a hotel room reserved." and with that she hung up, leaving Natalie to curse and thank her lucky stars she had Ava in her life.

Packing proved to be difficult for Natalie as Bryleigh was cranky and wanting mommy, causing her to pack everything with one hand while her daughter clung to her desperately, her tiny, tired sobs breaking Natalie's heart. "I know baby, I know" she stated in a hushed tone "You don't feel good but Mommy and Auntie Ava are going to take you to a place where we can work on making you feel better. Okay princess?" Whether Bryleigh understood her or not it seemed to work because for the remainder of the afternoon she allowed Natalie to pack as much as she could into 2 large suitcases, 1 diaper bag and a carry on. Natalie knew her boss would be pissed for leaving a voice mail about her impending absence but she knew they were gone for the day and she had no other way of reaching them so voice mail it was, if she came home to no job she didn't know what she would do.

Just as Bryleigh was finishing up an early dinner, Ava came strolling in, a fake smile plastered to her face as she kissed her niece on the head and handed her a stuffed kitten. "You ready for a big adventure princess?!" Natalie shook her head in amazement as Ava talked about their trip to California as if it were a fairy tale adventure rather than a search for her biological dad...nothing like looking for a needle in a haystack she thought as she locked up her apartment door. Once they made it to the airport everything seemed to fly by but go slowly at the same time and Natalie soon found herself pacing by the gate, waiting to board the huge Boeing 737 that sat waiting. "God what is taking so long?!" she wailed out, exasperated with everything in general. "Nat sit down" Ava stated quietly, rocking Bryleigh in her arms as she fell asleep again. "I can't sit down...I feel like if I sit down then I'm causing things to go slower. I have to pace."

By the time the plane finally took off, all three of them were sound asleep in their seats, Bryleigh having crawled back over to her mom but held fast to Ava's hand as they slept, waking only when the plane landed in California. "I got us a great hotel by the ocean" Ava explained sleepily as they waited for a cab, their luggage all around their feet. "It has two huge beds and a small living room/kitchen area in case we have to stay awhile. I figured we could take Bryleigh to the ocean while we're out here...let her have a little fun while we do our man hunt." Natalie smiled tiredly at her friend as she continued talking about her plan to find Bryleigh's dad and make him see reason no matter what the cost. "Just you wait...everything will work out in the long run. I'll make sure it does."