trans_9 | What if I bleed, What if I break; [Open to anyone in Medbay]

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What if I bleed, What if I break; [Open to anyone in Medbay]

Claire had somehow managed to sleep through quite a lot in the last day and a half. Maybe she would've woken up sooner if she'd had any idea of what was going on around her, but whether it was the drugs or overall fatigue from blood loss and the energy it had taken to keep awake until shed been put under, she slept through the night and most of the day. She came close to waking up a few times, stirring in her sleep or voices pulling her up from her dreams, but she'd slip under again before fully waking.

After a while, she just couldn't sleep anymore, however. She wasn't particularly quick in the waking aspect, of course. She was aware first that she wasn't in her "bed" in the precinct almost immediately. Her stomach felt oddly numb, and slowly she blinked her eyes open, staring up at the ceiling above her, a look of slightly disoriented confusion passing over her face. One hand moved to her stomach, and she felt the bandage there, remembering.

I got shot. The thought was a little disturbingly calm. She briefly considered sitting up to get a better look around her, but there was a dull ache underneath the numbness, and she decided she was pretty good in the position she was currently in, for the moment. She did turn her head, though, when she caught movement in her peripheral vision.

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Sherry drew closer and smiled at Claire a little more fully. "I'm glad to see you're awake," she said and looked Claire over to make sure she was really okay. "Were you sleeping? I can go..." As much as she was excited to make sure Claire was okay, Sherry knew her mother would need rest.

Even if none of the parties concerned over Claire's health liked the idea of sleeping more. "You can sleep for Dad. I don't think I've seen him sleep at all."

Yes, Leon, she is telling on you.

Claire smiled at that, reaching out to smooth her hand over Sherry's hair.

"I've slept enough for the both of us already, I think." She felt a slight twinge of guilt that she'd been cross with Leon earlier, but brushed it away, smiling a little wider. "His turn to get some rest anyway. You make sure he does, all right? I don't think they're gonna let me out of here for another day or so."

Sherry nodded in acknowledgment and rested her head in Claire's hand for a second.

"I'll do my best, but he's stubborn." In fact, he'd probably tell her to go play, or read, or go sit with Claire, or something of that sort. Anything that kept her from the chaos and people that came in and out of the precinct. "Is it really going to be another day?" You mean all this technology and they don't have an instant-get-better button somewhere? she thought a with a little almost-frown. "I'll come and keep you company, then. I don't mind." Yuri and the others would understand, too. Besides, she was still technically on restriction.

"You're sure you wouldn't rather go play with your friends?" She knew the med bay wasn't the most entertaining place in the world. Honestly she'd split if she didn't think they'd restrain her of she tried.

"Or maybe catch up on some sleep? You don't look like you've been sleeping much either," she frowned at Sherry, taking the little girl's appearance in. Granted she was always a little on the pale side, but the circles under her eyes were new.

Sherry shook her head. "I don't mind keeping you company. Besides..." she trailed off and laughed a little nervously. "I... sort of... got into trouble. Sort of." And it was a lucky thing that Leon hadn't had the five minutes of clear-consciousness to deal with Sherry.

Not when he was cleaning up the mess of a half-civil war, and prisoners and coming up here to watch over Claire. No, the two of them had been... mostly silent. "I did sleep, though. A little. More than Dad has."

Claire wasn't going to let Sherry change the subject on the whole getting in trouble thing. She arched an eyebrow at her daughter, tilting her head to the side.

"What'd you do to get in trouble?"

Sherry's face flushed pink with embarrassment. "Escaped the sensoriums. Vega and I did, but Kon and another person caught us and dragged us back." She bit the inside of her cheek at the frustrating memory.

"We'd almost made it, too, and then when they caught us... I... I kind of dragged Vega into a vent. To escape, you know?" Sherry's face sobered. "Dad said we'd talk about it later." But clearly, that 'later' hadn't come.

Claire snorted a little at that, shaking her head and leaning back against her pillow a little.

"Well if Dad said you were gonna talk about it later, I'll leave it up to him." Far be it for her to step on Leon's paternal toes. "Why were you trying to escape the sensoriums, though? We put you kids up there so you'd be safe."

"That's why," Sherry pointed out. "I was worried about you and Dad, and Vega... Vega wanted to see what was going on, because we were 'forbidden' to go down." Hey, at least she hadn't wanted to rubberneck ~~as much~~. "Also, the other person that caught me denied our ball pit and put us in the south of France before Waterloo.

"It was highly annoying," she added. "But mostly, I was really worried. People started talking about the fighting on the comms, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. Both of you." Sherry crossed her arms, defensively. "All this over a stupid sluggy thing and people that don't seem to get that it was fairly tried and ruled on." Sherry muttered under her breath.

"Oh, sweetie." Claire couldn't help laughing a little, reaching out so she could pull Sherry close and into a one-armed hug. She was often amazed what an intelligent girl Sherry could be.

"I appreciate you worrying, honey, but next time we put you somewhere so you don't get hurt you need to stay there, okay? I don't know what I'd do if you ended up here instead of me."

Sherry leaned her head against Claire's and wondered, briefly, if this meant she wasn't in a whole lot of trouble. That would be nice. She thought about Claire's words and nodded a little. "Alright, I'll stay there next time. If there's a next time." There had better not be a next time, she added to herself.

"Besides, I'm good at keeping out of trouble. Unless I fall into a sewer, or something." Though she was fairly sure the likelihood of her falling into a sewer in Stacy was pretty much zero to none. She returned the hug gingerly.

She smiled, keeping a tight hold on Sherry and leaning her head back against her daughter's.

"Guess we'll just have to steer clear of sewers." She hadn't been crawling in sewers much the past several years, but she would probably always carry those vivid memories of Raccoon's infested sewers. She wouldn't be pleased with herself if Sherry had to be put in a situation like that again.

"I think I can do that," Sherry promised with a little smile. "Or, at least call for help if I manage to fall through one."

She decided that she rather liked the warm, funny feeling in her chest. "So... how do you suppose I get Dad to finally sleep?" Sherry didn't want to interrupt him while he worked, but if she could just get him alone for five seconds...

Claire laughed a little, shaking her head.

"You just have to corner him, and you can't relent until he gives in." She smoothed her hand over Sherry's hair, smiling at the little girl and winking. "We're all stubborn people in this family, but he'll listen if you keep on his back."

Sherry wondered if that meant she might literally have to get on her father's back. Probably. "But what do I do if he gives me his," and Sherry's features settled in a surprisingly accurate mimicry of Leon's annoyed face: lips turned into a thin frown, brows came together heavily and made her eyes look dark. And while the look worked for Leon, on Sherry it felt kind of comical, "face? He might spite me and not sleep anyway."

And then the tears would come - crocodile or not, she was fairly sure she could get those to work on her poor, beleaguered father. She smiled at Claire, though, knowing the Leon's ears were probably burning as the two of them spoke.

She was amazed at the imitation of Leon's face that passed over Sherry's. It was no wonder that no one had questioned that they were related, the little girl looked very much like her pretend father. Smiling, Claire leaned her face close to Sherry's, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

"I trust you to do whatever it takes to get Dad to slow down until I'm out of here and can help out."

"Piggybacking him it is, then," Sherry murmured, her face breaking into a mischievous grin. Poor Leon, he was probably somewhere interrogating one of the conspirators, and had no idea that his daughter was planning against him. Oh well, it would take the sting off whatever punishment he lay on her.

"I'll ask Mister Chief to help me hold him down. He's really big."

Claire grinned at Sherry, ruffling her hair affectionately.

"Sounds like a great plan to me." Leon might've said he'd try to catch a nap, but she didn't have any way of making sure he followed through with that in a somewhat timely manner. This was her way of making sure he would.

"Ack, Mom!" Sherry pulled back to straighten her hair and pulled a face. Why did adults think that was cute and endearing? she wondered. Sometimes the answer she got was, Because you're cute when you flail!, but that seemed like a pretty annoying thing to do to a girl.

Especially a girl that liked keeping her admittedly short hair straight and not sticking up at every conceivable angle.

Claire laughed at the face, reaching out to help Sherry straighten her hair out.

"Sorry, sweetie," she said, unable to compose herself.

"No you aren't," Sherry replied, her lips twitched to keep from smiling, though it wasn't working very well.

Sherry's attempt at seriousness just made Claire laugh more, and she leaned forward to plant a kiss on the little girl's head.

"You're just like your dad. He hates it when people mess with his hair, too."

"But he does it, too," Sherry pointed out and grinned. "And his hair doesn't move." It was one of the Eight Wonders of the World, and Stacy, as far as Sherry was concerned: Dad's Immobile Hair. To her increasing credit, she didn't even flush at the affectionate kiss; certainly her other parents had never been so affectionate with her, and it was still a little strange to be loved upon and spoken to on a regular basis. She liked it, though, and wasn't about to start complaining.

Besides, she told herself, who actually says, 'Stop paying attention to me!'? Why would they?

Claire raised an eyebrow before snorting lightly and shaking her head. "He's just careful about it. Sometime I'll sneak up on him and show you that it does move." He'd kill her afterwards, but it'd be worth it, in her opinion.

"Uh huh," Sherry's look remained skeptical. "I would love to see that, Mom," she answered truthfully. Of course, she didn't doubt that Claire would need to run, quickly. "I'll trip him if he chases you."

She turned her head to cover a yawn and looked back at Claire. "Promise."

What if I bleed, What if I break; [Open to anyone in Medbay]

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