𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗘, greys anatomy

i ain't no miracle worker.

chapter two.
i ain't no miracle worker.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Charlotte awakes with a start the following morning, surprised she had even slept at all considering the strange place she had spent the night. of course, her back ached and her neck had been bent at an odd angle, but she had slept nevertheless.

it took the young girl a moment to recognize her surroundings, the previous night coming back in a rather slow haze: the persistent doctors who had found her in the park, taken her back to their hospital to take care of her cuts and bruises and broken wrist, and then had technically kidnapped her. in the new morning light charlotte was shocked she had agreed to any of that, let alone coming home with them. but she remembered how in pain and exhausted she had been the previous night and chalked it up to just that; she was desperate.

"oh, hey!" charlotte snaps her head towards the direction the voice was coming from, settling on jo brewing coffee in the kitchen. "i hope you slept okay. you can sleep on the couch, you know. much better than that old chair."

charlotte swallows nervously. "uh, it's okay." she shifts awkwardly on said 'old chair'.

"yeah, that's a lie." jo accuses without a second thought, immediately regretting it as soon as she spots the bewildered look on the young girls face.

charlotte blanches in anticipation of the usual after effects of being caught in a lie, surprised when the surgeon remains where she is.

"but it's okay, as long if you're comfortable." jo quickly recovers. she takes a sip of her coffee before setting it aside on the counter.

charlotte nods once, eyes never settling on one spot at a time.

jo eyes the child perched ever so delicately on the seat of the chair, her darting eyes somehow everywhere at once and she constantly scans the room. "it's just me right now." jo informs, sensing the lingering question, "alex already went in to work."

charlotte again nods once quickly, eyes still shifting around the small apartment.

jo grabs her mug back up from the counter. "uh, i'm headed out, but you can come with if you want. i could introduce you to everyone else, maybe sneak you into a gallery if—" the surgeon notices the nervous look once again sporting charlottes face. "or, maybe another time. you should just rest today, anyways." jo crosses the apartment and grabs her bag from the bed. "help yourself to anything in the kitchen, t.v remote's right there," she points at the coffee table, "i wrote my number down, it's on the counter. text, call, whatever, for anything, okay?"

charlotte nods, not expecting the previous nights invite to extend. "you mean, stay?"

"what?" jo is confused at first, but quickly recovers. "oh, yeah, of course stay. i mean, only if you want to, of course. we don't want you living on the streets, charlie." she smiles, relived upon noticing the corners of the child's lips slightly lifting as well. "shifts twelve hours, so i should be back around seven tonight, but don't stress if i'm not back, it's normal for surgery to run overtime." jo starts heading toward the door. "oh, and there's money on the counter for you to order yourself pizza or whatever. bye, charlie, have a good day!" and with that, the doctor slips out the door.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

When jo returns from work later that night, she is surprised to find charlotte doing the dishes. "charlie, you don't have to do that."