I rub my eyes tiredly and yawn at the small table next to the kitchen. "Victor, could you possibly not make everything in the goddamn kitchen make noise? The sun is bad enough," I grumble.

"Deal with it, Sam," he sighs, collapsing into the seat next to me. "I need my morning coffee."

My brother and Elena left Victor and I to look after Cassie while they're in London. We graciously accepted when Nathan called to ask, but what we didn't realize is babysitting is a lot harder than it looks. Cassie's fun, but... she's a handful. I don't know how they do it 24/7. "God, I can barely keep my eyes open," I say, stifling another yawn.

"You're telling me..."

We sit in silence for another five minutes, longing to light up. But we know if we do, Nathan and Elena would sense it somehow and their collective wrath would rain down upon us.

We both cringe at the sound of Cassie calling from her room. "Sully! Sam! I don't feel good!"

After an exchanged glance, we pull ourselves out of our seats. "Coming, Cass!" I yell back.

She has the covers pulled up to her chin and eyes scrunched shut. Victor kneels beside her, and I position myself on the post by her feet. "What's wrong, girly?" he asks.

"My tummy hurts," she pouts.

"Your tummy hurts?" Victor places a hand over her stomach. "Does it hurt here?"

"No, it hurts here." She moves her arms from under her covers and points to the lower, right portion of her abdomen.

Victor suddenly looks concerned and shoots me a look. "Has the pain been consistent?" he asks after I shrug, not really sure what he's getting at.

"Um, I think so."

"Okay..." He places a hand on her forehead, and his eyebrows contract even further. "You're a little warm, sweetheart. Does anything else hurt?"

"Well, my head a little."

"But mostly your tummy?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, Cassie, okay." He stands from his kneeling position and bends over a little so I can hear his lowered voice. "I think she might have appendicitis."

I don't know exactly what that is, but I know it's bad. "Really? How do you know?" I whisper back.

"I did some research about common ailments after Nate came down with a bad stomach bug. She has all the classic symptoms of appendicitis."

"So what do we do?" My heart rate has increased. If anything happens to Cassie, I could never forgive myself.

"We should take her to the hospital. She needs medical attention if it is appendicitis. If it's nothing, there's no harm done."

"Okay, I'll get Cass, you get the car."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Oh, hey," I catch Victor's arm as he makes for the door. "Should we call Nathan?"

"Not unless it's serious. We keep it between us, okay?"

"Good idea," I nod. Victor heads to the garage as I try to get Cassie out of bed. "Come on, Cass. We're going to the doctor."

"But the doctor's scary."

"No, the doctors are nice people. They're there to help you feel better."

"But they poke me with needles every time I go. It hurts."

"I promise there won't be needles this time. They're just gonna have a look at your stomach."

Cassie thinks for a second, then reluctantly starts to push the covers off. "Atta girl," I say, scooping her off the bed. She giggles and reaches her arms around my neck. Carrying her is faster and takes her mind off the impending doctor's visit.

I sit in the back of the car with her as Victor takes us to the local children's hospital. It's not the closest one, but Victor says this isn't extremely urgent yet. We walk through the emergency room sliding doors calmly, me holding her little hand that fits completely in my own. I let her share a seat with me in the waiting room, leaning against my side under my arm. Victor was right about her running a slight fever. She's even a little paler than usual.

My attention shifts from Victor at the the check in desk to Cassie when she pokes me in the side. "Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Why does that boy have a tube in his nose?"

I gently push down her arm. "Don't point, Cassie."

"Oh, sorry."

"Those tubes help him breathe."

"Why can't he breathe on his own like everyone else?"

"Because he's sick."

"But I've been sick before, and I never needed the tubes."

"Well, he's a different kind of sick."

"What kind of sick is he?"

"I don't know."

"Then how do you know he's a different kind of sick?"

"Because... I don't know."

"Go ask him."

"No, that's okay. I don't think he'd like that very much."

"Why not?"

"Because that's private information. How would you like it if someone came up to you and asked you something private?"

She thinks for a second. "I guess I wouldn't like it very much."

"So, there you go."

Cassie sighs and curls up further against my chest. "My tummy hurts."

"I know, sweetie. Sully's getting the doctors, okay?"

"Okay."

I pat her arm reassuringly and hug her a little closer. A few minutes later, Victor rejoins us. "They'll receive us in a few minutes. They're processing her information." He takes the seat next to Cassie and carefully tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. "How're you feeling, girly?"

"I'm okay."

"That's good. We're going to see the doctor in a few minutes."

"No needles?"

"No needles."

Soon, a nurse comes to collect us and takes us to one of the rooms down the hall. She asks us questions about Cassie's medical history, most of which we can't answer because we're not her parents. The nurse listens to Cassie's heart, reads her blood pressure, and prods her abdomen while asking what hurts.

She leaves with a smile, and once she's out of the room, Cassie lets out a relieved sigh. Victor rubs her leg and says, "It's okay, sweetheart. You're being very brave."

"Yes, very brave," I add from the chair in the corner.

Her mouth twitches into a small smile. "My tummy still hurts."

"Give the doctors some time. They'll make it better."

"But when?" she whines. "It's getting worse."

"Soon, kiddo," Victor assures her.

We aren't forced to wait too long for the doctor. She walks in with a clipboard and charts and holds out her hand to shake. "Hi, I'm Dr. Roe."

"Sam Drake."

"Victor Sullivan."

"Cassandra Drake."

"Hello Miss Drake, welcome to Davidson Children Hospital," Dr. Roe smiles.

"You can call me Cassie," she says.

"Well, thank you, Cassie. You're here because your stomach hurts, correct?"

"Yes."

Dr. Roe then turns to the adults in the room. "Well, from the information we've gathered, there is the possibility of appendicitis. The removal of the appendix is recommended within the next 24 hours."

Victor and I exchange looks. "How... Are you sure it's appendicitis?" I ask. "I mean, all you did was poke her and ask questions. Appendicitis seems like a large jump."

"Well, we don't like to take risks with appendicitis. If the appendix bursts, there could be many serious complications. You can live a normal life without it, so it's better safe than sorry."

"Okay, but the problem is we're not her parents," Victor says. "They're out of town."

"We can have them fax their signature over. You should probably contact them so we can authorize her surgery as quickly as possible."

Cassie's eyes widen. "Surgery?"

"Don't worry, you'll be asleep the whole time. You won't feel a thing," Dr. Roe says, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Cassie shrugs off the hand and jumps off the examination table. She runs over to hide behind Victor's legs. "No! I don't want it!"

"Whoa, girly! Where are you going?" he asks, bending down to pick her up.

"I don't want it! I want Mommy!"

"Kiddo, it's okay, it's okay..." She hugs him tightly around the neck. Since it's going to take a while to calm her down, I'm gonna have to be the one to call her parents.

Damn it...

I pace the hallway outside Cassie's room where she proceeded to throw a temper tantrum. I had to leave the room, or her parents wouldn't be able to understand me.

My palms suddenly become very sweaty as the dial tone abruptly cuts off. "Hello?" The voice on the other end sounds groggy. Time zones can be kind of tricky.

"Hey, buddy," I say, forcing cheeriness into my voice. No sense in worrying him from the start.

"'Buddy'? What's going on, Sam?"

Damn it, he's onto me already. "Uh, nothing... major."

Nathan sighs, and it sounds like he's pushing himself into a seated position. I hear a lamp flick on. "What's going on?" he asks again.

"Cassie woke up with a stomach ache and a slight fever."

"Oh, did you give her some of the medicine we have stocked in the cabinet? There's about twenty different varieties in there, so one of them's bound to help."

"We didn't give her any medicine, but we're actually at the hospital right now, because Victor-"

"What?! The hospital?"

"Yes, because Victor suspected it was appendicitis. We've already met with the doctors, and they're saying we should consider appendectomy within the next 24 hours."

"Wh... How..."

I can hear movement in the background as the phone picks up Elena's voice. "Nate, who's that? Who's in the hospital?"

"Sam and Sully are in the hospital with Cassie. They say she needs her appendix removed."

"What?!"

"I know, that's what I said."

"Nathan, put me on speaker," I say.

I hear a beep and brace for impact. All I hear is silence. "Um, guys? You okay?" I try.

"Is..." Elena whispers. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, she's totally fine. She's just a little worked up at the moment, but Victor's in there with her."

"Why does the surgery need to be within 24 hours? Can't they wait until we can be there?"

"How the hell should I know? I'll hand you over to the doctor for that. It'll be just a second."

"Okay..." they murmur at the same time. They sound either very calm or terrified. I can't really tell.