Counting To Fifteen [Grey's Anatomy]

chapter thirty five - worries & closet monsters

Daisy was sleeping quite contentedly when she was shaken awake.

"Daisy?" A tiny voice whispered, a hand on the girl's shoulder as she was gently shaken. "Daisy."

"Hmm." Daisy hummed, the sound of Calypso's voice making her eyes pry open.

The six-year-old was stood next to Daisy's bed, eyes wide. Calypso's hair stuck to her skin slightly, the light sweat making it evident to Daisy that her little sister had a nightmare.

Daisy said nothing as she peeled back her comforter, scooting over slightly to make room for the little girl.

Calypso climbed up in the bed beside Daisy, pulling the covers over her as the two girls laid in silence.

Daisy wasn't sure what time it was. There was a faint light streaming in from the windows. It was far too faint to be the rising sun, and Daisy decided the soft light was probably just the brightly lit city of Seattle. Daisy's bedroom was still dark, and she decided it must've been sometime in the middle of the night.

Calypso snuggled into Daisy's side, and Daisy reached her hand up to comb through the girl's sweat-matted curls.

"I can help you run a bath, if you want." Daisy offered, speaking quietly.

Calypso merely shook her head, a gesture Daisy could hardly make out in the dark. "I wanna stay here."

Daisy didn't care that her sister was so clammy, truthfully, she just didn't want the girl to be uncomfortable.

Something had clearly upset Calypso, and as much as Daisy wanted to know what her nightmare had been about, she knew that asking would only upset Calypso even more.

"I don't think Mark did a good job looking for the monsters in my closet tonight." Calypso whispered. "Because...because I woke up scared, and I tried to go back to sleep but I thought I heard noises."

"It's a drafty apartment, Cal." Daisy yawned, knowing there was an explanation for every little random creak and noise. "Or else Thomas is just being nosy again."

"Maybe." Calypso whispered, her eyes falling to the girl's double-doored closet. It was an ominous figure to make out in the dark, even more so with the faint light from outside casting shadows. "Does...does your closet..."

"No." Daisy confirmed to ease the girl. "Teenagers scare monsters. They don't hide in our closets."

"Good." Calypso spoke firmly, as if monsters in closets were a very serious issue. "Good, that's good."

It was quiet for a bit, silence radiating through the room. Daisy was tired, and she felt as if she was about to slip easily into another state of sleep when Calypso began talking again.

"Do you ever worry about things?"

"Mhm." Daisy confirmed, letting her eyes remain shut as she talked. "All the time."

Both girls talked in hushed tones, as if it were illegal to speak at a volume any louder in the middle of the night. Whispers were the only thing that circulated the room.

"Like what?" Daisy heard her sister ask her.

The teenager let her eyes flutter open, focusing on the dimly lit bedroom ceiling that displayed a vastness of empty space.

"I don't know. Everything, I guess. And us, and...and everything that involves us. I worry about what comes next, about what bad thing is waiting." Daisy exhaled as she spoke, the wheels in her head turning. "Do you worry about that stuff?"

"Not really." Calypso spoke in a light tone. "I mean...'cause if you think about it, we've already gotten all the bad things in life out of the way, and so much has happened, and...only good things are left. There isn't anymore bad for us to go through."