Counting To Fifteen [Grey's Anatomy]

chapter thirty - a holding facility

Daisy felt as though she could finally breathe again.

She had always technically been able to breathe, of course. Oxygen was an essential sustainment to human life.

But this was a different kind of feeling. Daisy could breathe, each inhalation was easy and relaxed. She wasn't constantly worried that she would get hurt, she didn't feel the need to check over her shoulder every waking moment.

Daisy was happy, and she felt at ease back at the holding facility. It wasn't as spacious as Mark's apartment of course, the girls had to share a small room with two twin beds. The rooms weren't as warm and cozy as Mark's apartment, there was always a cold draft circulating through.

Daisy didn't mind it though. She was comfortable, and she let a small smile take over her face as she let out a deep breath, laying back on the concrete-like mattress.

Daisy looked over to the opposite side of the room, frowning at the sight of her little sister curled up in bed facing the wall. It was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon, the six-year-old shouldn't be sleeping, she should be bouncing around.

Maybe she was just a little bummed out about having to leave. But Daisy knew that her sister would be fine after a couple days.

The thirteen-year-old got up from where she had been laying, making her way over to the few things that Calypso had unpacked from her suitcase. Daisy found the scribbled drawings that Calypso had made on top of all of her things.

Calypso usually took great pride in her coloring, working as hard as she could to stay within the lines.

These pictures were lousily colored though, different color scribbles all over the characters she was coloring, as if she decided to give up and take out all of her frustration on a coloring sheet.

"Your pictures are pretty." Daisy finally spoke up, clearing the stiff silence in the air as she attempted to cheer her little sister up. "We could hang them up on the wall, decorate the room a little bit."

"No thanks." Calypso's voice came out small, her words muffled by the thin, tattered blanket on the twin bed.

"Are you sure? Octavia probably has tape or thumbtacks in her office, I'm sure she wouldn't care if we-"

"I'm good, Daisy."

The tone of the little girl's voice made it very evident that she wanted to be left alone. As much as Daisy wanted to respect Calypso's space, she didn't want to leave the girl by herself. The holding facility would prove to be lonely and miserable if the girls didn't stick together.

"Can I sit?" Daisy asked after a moment.

Calypso remained silent, not responding to Daisy's request.

The girl did, however, pull her legs up to her chest, making room for her older sister. Daisy took that as a non-verbal invitation.

The older of the two girls pulled herself up onto the small twin-sized bed, letting her head rest back against the cold cinder block wall.

It had been a mentally and physically draining week for both of the girls. Daisy probably could've curled up right there with her sister and taken a cat-nap if it weren't for the panicky thoughts filling her head.

This was undoubtedly a good idea, Daisy was sure of it. She didn't regret taking the steps to ensure that the sisters were safe.