Counting To Fifteen [Grey's Anatomy]

chapter twenty seven - a stern talk

Daisy had managed to pack her things up in record timing.

It truthfully hadn't been much of a challenge to stuff what little belongings she owned into that tiny suitcase.

Daisy didn't really feel sad either. It sort of just felt like every other time she packs up and leaves a placement. The holding facility had come to be one of Daisy's only senses of stability, and she couldn't wait to return to the familiar place in just a few hours.

Calypso felt sad, though. Moving from placement to placement to placement was so tiring for her, and she didn't enjoy it nearly as much as her older sister did. She ached to just be able to settle down with one placement forever.

Daisy rolled her luggage out of her bedroom and down the hall, heading towards the kitchen. She knew that Mark still had a few hours before he got off and they were good on time, but she was still sure to put some pep in her step. It wouldn't hurt to hurry.

Calypso was already waiting in the kitchen, her eyes glued to the refrigerator. She was focused intently on the drawing she had made in art class that was currently pinned to the stainless steel with a magnet.

"Do you think Octavia would hang my drawings on her refrigerator?" Calypso asked her older sister. "Because...because I like when my drawings get put on the fridge, and I really want that to keep happening."

"I'm sure Octavia would be happy to do that for you." Daisy assured as she gave her little sister a small smile. "Do you have everything packed?"

"Yeah." Calypso spoke softly, her eyes drifting down towards her small suitcase. "I wish we could stay."

"I know." Daisy nodded. "But we have to go."

"I know." Calypso echoed her sister, a small sigh escaping her lips.

Daisy truthfully did feel bad that Calypso was so upset. She didn't like seeing her sister so torn after having found a placement she really liked.

But Daisy also knew that sometimes doing the right thing was the hardest. Maybe this placement had been good for a few months, but maybe things would have gone south. Maybe Daisy was saving them from a few months of relentless abuse.

Daisy reached for the landline that was sitting on the kitchen counter, punching in the first few digits of Octavia's phone number that the girl knew religiously.

The last four digits was where things got a little murky, though.

Daisy knew it started with a five. But then what came next? Was it a nine? A zero? Was there a perfect amount of even and odd numbers between the four digits?

"Do you remember Octavia's number?" Daisy turned to her younger sister for help.

Calypso merely shrugged, and Daisy figured she should've assumed as much. Why would the six-year-old remember Octavia's phone number?

Daisy frowned as she looked down at the phone in her hands, feeling as puzzled as ever. She had dialed Octavia's phone number before. Why couldn't she remember those last crucial digits?

That same familiar feeling of Daisy's throat closing up came over the girl as the front door to the apartment opened and Mark appeared.

Mark didn't start screaming or throwing punches like Daisy imagined he might.

He sort of just stood in the doorway as he let his eyes fall on the girls, taking in the sight of the luggage beside them, and he let out a sigh.

Daisy couldn't tell if Mark was tired, angry, or annoyed, but she didn't really care to find out.

It felt like ages that the three of them all just stood there staring, frozen in time. Daisy was uncomfortable, the anticipation of what would come next giving her dreadful anxiety.