Counting To Fifteen [Grey's Anatomy]

chapter twenty six - family portraits & familiar faces

Daisy and Calypso were both free of the flu the following week.

Naomi, however, was not. The nanny had definitely picked up the cold from watching the girls, something that both Daisy and Calypso felt guilty about.

Naomi being out with the flu meant that nobody was available to watch the girls, and Mark was forced to bring them to the hospital that dreary Saturday.

It wasn't anything odd for Daisy, considering she usually went to the hospital on Saturdays to meet with Dr. Sen.

But Calypso found it so strange. She had sort of thought going to the hospital with Mark meant that she'd see all sorts of cool things and cool people, doctors running around and yelling and racing against time. She thought it'd be like some sort of action movie.

Calypso was very disappointed to find out that being at the hospital with Mark meant that she had to stay in the hospital's daycare all day. She felt like a baby, and that embarrassed her. She wasn't a baby, she was six. She was practically a grown-up.

To make matters even worse, Daisy wouldn't be with her for a while because she'd be in psychiatry, so Calypso would be all by herself with a whole lot of other loud kids.

"Can we hurry today up?" Daisy asked, glancing up nervously at the clock. "My sister is in daycare by herself, and...and she doesn't like being by herself."

"She'll be okay." Dr. Sen reassured. "Our daycare staff is excellent."

Daisy frowned at that, looking back up at the clock. She hadn't been in the room for very long, she still had a little ways to go until the session was over.

Daisy just hoped that Calypso was okay. She knew her little sister didn't like being away from her, and Daisy truthfully didn't like being away from Calypso either. She would keep the younger girl glued to her side if she could.

The girl let her eyes wander away from the clock, focusing instead on the small station Dr. Sen had set up on the table in front of her.

There were quite a few pieces of blank sheet paper sprawled out as well as a large box of crayons. Something that made Daisy particularly satisfied was the fact that the crayons were brand new, the wax gleaming flawlessly. They were arranged by color in the box, and the assembly line of perfect gradients made Daisy want to smile.

The bright hues drew Daisy, and she badly wanted to reach out and begin to color on a piece of the perfect white paper.

But that felt far too elementary. Daisy would be embarrassed if she merely sat for her entire psychiatry session and colored a picture.

"Would you like to color?"

Daisy looked up at Dr. Sen, the man obviously having taken note of her interest in the crayons.

Daisy only shook her head, something that made Dr. Sen frown. "Why not?"

"Coloring is for kids." Daisy stated the obvious. "I'm not a kid."

Daisy wished she was a kid, though. She ached to regress back years ago, to reconnect with her inner child and color a picture. Maybe draw a yellow sun with a smiley face just for the heck of it.

Daisy knew she wasn't an adult, but she definitely wasn't a kid. Calypso was a kid, and Daisy takes care of her. A child couldn't take care of a child, so by that logic Daisy thought of herself as a grown-up...despite only being thirteen.