trans_9 | 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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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."

She smiled, although when Sherry yawned her smile faltered briefly.

"You should go get some sleep, sweetie."

"I will, I promise. I tried staying awake with Dad, but... it just hasn't worked like I thought it would." Sherry replied honestly. "In fact, I was going to go get a book to read from the media library, to help me sleep."

"That sounds like a great idea, honey," Claire said, smiling a little and stroking a hand over Sherry's hair again, smoothing down a couple flyaways they'd both missed. "I don't want you depriving yourself of sleep anymore, all right? It isn't good for you, you could get sick."

"Okay," Sherry murmured with a shy, embarrassed smile. It hadn't been her intent to make her mother worry over her, when she was the one in bed. "I won't unless there's an emergency," she promised. "Like this. This was an emergency." She kissed her mother's forehead and drew away.

"I'm going to go now, so you can rest some, too." Besides, she didn't want to be forcibly shooed out by Doctor Grey.

Claire didn't particularly think her getting hurt was something her daughter and best friend should be losing sleep over, especially since she was fine, but part of her did appreciate how worried they'd been. Nodding at Sherry, she smiled a little, reaching out to squeeze her daughter's shoulder.

"Sounds good. Make sure Dad gets some sleep too, all right?"

Sherry smiled, "I will, Mom." She'd just have to find him first. Oh well, that wouldn't be so hard. He'd only be in two places anyway - even if the precinct was huge. She started to walk away and stopped short, turning back around to her mother.

"I'll see you later, I love you," Sherry added and hurried out of the medbay.

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

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