Hailey's POV

A couple of days had passed since that wonderful meeting between Charlie and her new foster parents and I was at the district, having a slow day of paperwork when I got a phone call from an unknown number.

Confused, I answered it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Hi! Is this Hailey Upton?" A voice asked. I knew I had heard this voice before but I couldn't match it to a face. "This is Caroline, Charlie's foster mom. We met briefly a few days ago."

Bingo.

"Oh yeah, of course," I replied, "Is something wrong?"

My conversation over the phone was attracting attention in the unusually quiet bullpen.

"No, no, it's just Charlie's getting discharged from the hospital in about an hour and something just came up and I can't pick her up. I totally understand if you're busy but I feel like Charlie would be better waiting a few hours for my sister to pick her up with you than with someone she doesn't know. My sister lives outside of Chicago so it's going to take her some time to get down here," Caroline explained.

I took a moment to process what Caroline was asking.

"As I said I totally understand if you can't," Caroline said when I didn't reply right away.

"I'd have to run it by my boss so do you mind if I call you back?" I finally said.

"Of course and please, if you can't I completely understand if you can't," Caroline told me and we said our good-byes before I hung up.

Jay looked over at me, clearly concerned, "Is everything okay?"

I just nodded and got up, heading to Voight's office, which probably just made everyone else even more confused.

"Can I help you, Upton?" Voight asked me when I knocked on the door.

"Yeah actually, I just got a call from Caroline," I started, "She had something come up and she wanted to know if I could look after Charlie for a few hours until her sister gets into town."

Voight didn't say anything for a moment and I just stood there, waiting for some kind of answer.

"What if a case comes up?"

"It's only for a few hours and if a case does come up, she can sit downstairs with Platt," I responded.

I knew Voight was seriously contemplating allowing Charlie to stay because I knew he had a soft spot for Charlie. I just knew.

Finally, Voight nodded.

"She stays out of the way and if a case comes in, I want her downstairs," Voight told me and I nodded.

I thanked him and then headed back into the bullpen where I pulled out my phone to call Caroline back.

"Sarge?" I knocked on his office door almost an hour later, "Charlie's getting discharged soon."

As soon as I had called Caroline back telling her I would be able to pick up Charlie, she immediately thanked me a million times and said that she would drop by Med to give the written consent so Charlie could be discharged to me.

"You better get going then," Voight replied, "Bring Halstead with you."

Voight was already allowing me to do something he probably wouldn't let anyone else do so I didn't question why I had to bring Jay with me. Instead, I nodded and left his office, heading over to Jay's desk.

"We have to go," I told Jay, tapping him on the shoulder.

Jay looked up at me, confused, "Where are we going?"

"To pick up Charlie from Med. She's getting discharged soon," I replied, tapping my foot impatiently.

"Why do I have to come?" Jay asked, even though he was already getting out of his seat and following me outside.

I looked over at him, eyebrows raised, "You're welcome to go back and ask Voight."

"Ah, I see," Jay nodded and we got into the car without another word.

"I'll get your discharge papers ready then," Dr. Manning told us.

We were in Charlie's hospital room. When Caroline dropped by, she must have also dropped some clothes off for Charlie because instead of wearing a hospital gown, Charlie was wearing a pair of denim shorts and a green t-shirt which she had rolled up a little so it wouldn't cover her shorts, that way it couldn't be mistaken that she wasn't wearing anything on her lower half.

Her left foot was in a boot and she was standing using crutches to keep her weight off of the broken foot.

"I guess I'm finally out of here," Charlie said, breaking the silence.

I nodded, "Yeah. I told you it wouldn't be too long."

Charlie smiled, "Trust me, it felt a lot longer than two weeks."

"Well, the main thing is that you're healthy and on the road to recovery," I said and Charlie nodded.

We all stood there for a moment while we waited for Dr. Manning to come back. None of us spoke and I kept looking at Charlie, trying to figure out what to say to keep a conversation going so we wouldn't have to wait in pure silence.

"They seem like a really nice family, Caroline, Micheal and Nicole I mean," Charlie said to nobody in particular, "I can't remember what their last name is for the life of me though."

"Yeah, they do," I nodded, agreeing with Charlie.

Charlie sighed and her lips fell into a frown, "I still wish I could be going home with my dad though. My dad should be here right now. He'd say 'Charlotte, I'm never letting you out of my sight' and then he'd pull me into a hug and we'd go home and eat homemade macaroni and cheese."

"Don't you think your foster parents could do a better job though?" Jay asked, "Taking care of you?"

Charlie paused for a moment before looking up to meet Jay's eyes. The two stared at each other for a moment before Charlie hobbled over on her crutches. She only stopped when there were a measly few inches between then she narrowed her brown eyes before talking.

"My dad wasn't a good citizen. I know he killed a man who was a husband, a son, a father to two little girls. I'm not even going to say he was a good man because good men usually don't murder innocent people and I know that. But my dad was the best dad I could ever ask for," Charlie's voice was so quiet I could barely hear her.

She stopped talking for a moment to stare at Jay before resuming.

"He picked up every single broken piece after my mom died and never once did he leave me, physically or emotionally. He's put me before him every single time and he's always going to be my dad. I know you're a cop and technically he's a criminal so I understand if you can't comprehend this," She said and then gave Jay one last hard look before backing off.

Thankfully, right after that interaction, Dr. Manning walked in with a smile on her face.

"Alright, everything is done. Charlie, you're set to go," Dr. Manning announced and Charlie smiled gratefully back at her.

"Thank you for everything," Charlie shifted into a more comfortable position on her crutches, "I'm sorry if I was a pain at times."

Dr. Manning laughed lightly, "Don't worry about it. You kept us all on our toes."

Charlie blushed a little and after a few more exchanges of "thanks" and "take care of yourself", we were on our way back to District 21.

"I talked to my Seargent and the compromise for you staying for the next few hours is that until Caroline's sister comes to pick you up, you're allowed to stay in the bullpen unless a case comes in. If a case comes in, you're going to have to stay downstairs with Seargent Platt," I informed Charlie.

The teenager nodded, "Okay, I can do that."

When we got to the district, I went to help Charlie out of the car but she was fast and got out before I could get there. I had a feeling she would have refused my help even if I was fast enough.

She followed us into the district with her little hop step because of her broken foot and crutches and politely greeted Platt.

"Hello," She said, nodding.

"Hello to you too," Platt replied, looking over at me expectantly for an explanation.

I put a hand on Charlie's shoulder, "Charlie's going to be here for a few hours until Caroline's sister comes to pick her up. I already cleared it with Voight. He said if a case comes in, Charlie's going to stay down here with you."

Seargent Platt didn't say anything so I just nodded and used my hand which was still on Charlie's shoulder to guide her towards the stairs.

As soon as I unlocked the gate, I realized that stairs might be a problem for Charlie but before I could say anything, Charlie started her hop step up the flight of stairs to the bullpen.

"I don't think was going to let us help her," Jay said, earning him a chuckle from me.

"No, she most definitely wasn't," I replied and the two of us followed her up.