Melissa McCall was a bit of a rebel. She was a dedicated nurse and never did anything to endanger her patients. But she often bent or just plain broke the hospital rules when they got in the way of giving her patients what the really needed.
Take the young girl brought in late last night for example. An unaccompanied, unconscious, minor. Who according to the searches the police did with the name on her I.D., did not officially exist. With no records or proof of her age and the discovery that the I.D. was a clever forgery the hospital had been forced to call Social Services.
Scott's boss Dr. Deaton had been very unhappy when he was told by the Social Worker that he couldn't visit the girl when she finally got back from the emergency surgery needed to repair her damaged arm. Sherif Stilinski had been similarly unimpressed when he was told he would need to wait until the girl was awake and coherent and there would need to be a representative from Social Services or at least a temprary foster parent present before he could question the youngster. Melissa had never been so happy to have completed all the police checks, home visits, and the paperwork needed to allow her to stand in as an emergency foster parent as she was when the annoyed Social Worker approached her after waiting the entire day for the girl to wake up and asked if she would consent to act as the girl's temporary guardian until they could try and get things figured out. The girl's doctors had strongly insisted she be allowed to sleep for as long as possible without being disturbed for any reason. When the Social Worker angrily demanded to know if they intended to let the girl sleep through meals after both breakfast and lunch time had passed with the girl still asleep. The doctor had simply laughed and pointed out a nasal feeding tube already slowly pumping nutrients into the sleeping teen. When supper came and went with the girl still sleeping the decision had been made to give temporary guardianship to Melissa McCall. She had already completed all the paper work and had her home approved to foster a teen but had been waiting to discuss it one last time with her son Scott before she took on temporary guardianship of anyone. When Scott had shown up at the hospital after school and before going to work after receiving a call from Dr. Deaton explaining what was going on, Melissa had been shocked to find out that in her short time at the Animal Clinic the girl had greatly impressed Scott and he was genuinely concerned about her. When she ran the idea of fostering the girl past him Scott had been shocked that she was young enough to need fostering but had readily agreed to the idea before leaving for work. Once she had his support she had casually mentioned to the Social Worker that she was available to foster the girl and waited as the ever more impatient women grew frustrated at the long wait and finally gave up and assigned the teen to her care.
Shortly after the Social Worker and Sheriff had both left Melissa had met the frantic older foster brother of the girl. Realizing that since she was now the girl's guardian she could allow him to sit with her if she thought it was best, Melissa had at first been hesitant to allow the young man to be alone with the unconscious girl. Then he had started to ask her questions about if the new injuries had aggravated or been aggravated by any of her old injuries from the abuse she suffered back in 2007 shortly after she turned 13. The injuries from the beating, 2 breaks in her left arm, damage to the shoulder from the bad dislocation, 3 broken ribs, one punctured lung...the list went on with Melissa quickly scribbling down the list of serious injuries as the young man rattled them off. Realizing the young man did seem to know the girl and that he had just placed her age at not quite 17, Melissa offered to let him at least come with her when she checked on the young girl. But made it clear he would not be allowed to stay alone with her while she slept. Entering the room Melissa frowned. The poor girl was still asleep but was tossing and turning on the bed whimpering and flinching away from some unseen attack. All through out the day the girl had been plagued by violent nightmares.
Before Melissa had a chance to do anything to try and calm the girl the young man had rushed across the room and grasping the girl's hand tightly in one hand he used his free hand to slowly rub up and down the girl's arm. "Hey, hey, hey..." He chanted softly continuing to stroke her arm. "Shhh, shhh, shhh, wildcat. You're alright. You're safe now. You aren't alone anymore. I've got you." Turning in her sleep the girl settled down on her side facing the young man. Her face relaxing as she sunk into the first restful sleep she had gotten without the use of a sleeping aide all day. Ducking his head low over his sister's hand the young man turned a pair of dangerously effective puppy dog eyes on Melissa. "Please, don't make me leave her when she is like this." He pleaded. "She needs me..."
Sighing and clutching her chart to prevent herself from giving in to the urge to just squish his adorable cheek Melissa quickly gave in to her request. "Just promise to call for a nurse as soon as she wakes up Derek Hale or you will be in trouble." Melissa said sternly. Melissa had recognized the young man from when he use to live in the town years ago before loosing his family in the fire. The poor boy had already lost so much. Then to have the next family he tried to form ripped apart by Foster Care. Poor lambs. Scribbling a note in the chart that the presence of her brother was the only thing so far that allowed the girl to get any real rest Melissa left the young man to his silent vigil.
A little over an hour later Melissa opened the door to check in on her patient. Well her new foster daughter, who also happened to be her patient. Hmm. She might need to check with administration to see if she was technically allowed to still treat the girl now that she was her guardian. Shaking her head to clear the muddled thoughts Melissa was shocked to see the feeding tube lying on the floor oozing and the curtain closed between the bed and the door. "What in the world?" Scared that the girl had been taken away by the man claiming to be her brother Melissa rushed forwards and ripped open the curtain. Seeing what was on the bed had her slamming to a halt as if she had run into a wall. The young man had joined the girl on the bed and was cradling her protectively in his arms. She was asleep with her head on his shoulder and his head had tilted to rest atop her head as he fell asleep himself. Moving to turn off the feeding pump Melissa moved as quietly as possible to try to avoid waking the two young people. Lifting a blanket from the pile on the side table Melissa unfolded it and gently laid it over the young man. Smiling softly she turned to leave the room and get supplies to clean up the spilled liquid diet.
"Thank you." A soft voice whispered from the bed behind her. Spining around Melissa looked into a pair of startlingly green eyes. The young girl appeared to be wide awake from where she was laying clutched like a giant teddy against the young man's side. "He needs the sleep." Moving carefully the girl shifted herself around slightly trying not to wake her brother. When he started to frown in his sleep she cooed softly at him. "Shhh, shhh, shhh. It's alright. Just get some sleep." Sitting up straight the girl settled against the young man's side cooing softly to him. "You need to get some sleep. I'm alright now. You can rest. I'm not going anywhere." Smiling as the man shifted in his sleep and settled against the pillows. They watched as he cuddled into her side with his arm still wrapped tightly around her waist the girl turned back to the nurse. "Hi, I'm Jess Black." Lifting her hand as if for a handshake the girl frowned down at the multitude of wires and tubes restricting her movement. "Any chance you can remove all these? I tried to do it myself but Derek kept stopping me." Grinning impishly Jess glanced to the mess from the feeding tube. "Managed to get that devilish thing out before he came back from the bathroom and saw that I was awake. Sorry about the mess but Derek wouldn't leave me alone long enough to clean it up." Shaking her arm with all it's wires and tubes in annoyance Jess turned back to Melissa. "He seemed to think I couldn't be trusted not to try and use my teeth to rip these out if I wasn't watched constantly."
Stepping closer to the bed Melissa glance over the girl's chart and inspected the machines around the bed. "My name is Melissa McCall and I have been asked to be your temporary guardian." Melissa introduced herself to the girl. Jess's numbers were much improved. No reason she couldn't have most of the wires removed. Removing everything but the I.V. Melissa chuckled as the girl scowled down at the remaining tube. "Sorry honey, but after the bloodloss and then surgery you are going to need I.V. fluids for a while. This line is also supplying your pain meds. So you probably don't want it gone too soon." Melissa was surprised to see the girls frown deepen.
"Honestly. It is the pain meds I would like to be without." Jess grumbled. "I get a little silly on pain meds and I have embarrassed myself around Derek quite enough." Staring down at the sleeping man cuddled up to her side she clenched her hand and hugged it tight to her stomach. "The pain meds remove any filter I have. The urge right now to reach over and start petting Derek's hair is practically over powering right now." Jess suddenly froze and looked back up at the nurse. "Wait! McCall? Any relation to a young man named Scott McCall?"
Melissa laughed softly. "Yes. That particular young man happens to be my son. And I guess now he is your foster brother. He actually stopped by earlier after hearing about everything from Dr. Deaton." Looking at the sleeping man she grinned. "Not sure you can blame all that on the meds. I had to leave the room earlier to keep myself from pinching your brother's cheek. That boy is ridiculously adorable."
"Right!" Jess laughed. "And those freaking puppy dog eyes of his. They should require a warning label." Sighing Jess stared down at the soundly sleeping man. "Must be fates way of trying to make it up to him for how royally unfair his life has been." Looking back at the nurse Jess smiled. "Thank Scott for stopping by. I am sorry I missed him. That boy is another one who has been blessed with a powerful pair of puppy eyes."
Stepping out of the room Melissa flagged down another nurse and asked them to send a janitor and bring a meal try to the room as soon as possible. Stepping back into the room she pulled a chair up to the left side of the bed and sat down. "If you are feeling up to it. I have a couple of questions." Pulling the list of questions she had been told to ask by the Sheriff and Social Worker out of the chart Melissa pulled a pen out of her pocket and turned to the girl.
An hour later all the questions had been answered and the story the girl had told while answering them had brought tears to Melissa's eyes. A janitor had come clean up the mess from the feeding tube and a nurse had brought in a huge tray covered in food and drinks. The girl had nibbled lightly at a few things and sipped at some juice but the meal was mostly untouched. Frowning at the mostly untouched tray Melissa turned to the girl with concern. "You barely ate anything. Is there something else I can get for you?"
Blushing lightly Jess shook her head. "A lot of lean years growing up has left me with a very small appetite. I tend to nibble little bits through the entire day instead of eating big meals a few times a day." Looking down at the form sleeping against her side Jess reached down and gave his shoulder a gentle shake. "Wake up Derek. Someone needs to eat some of this food."
"10 more minutes." Derek groaned cuddling his face tighter into Jess's side.
Reaching down Jess threaded her fingers though his hair and cooed. "Wakey, wakey brother dear."
Both women laughed at the way the young man continued to cuddle into Jess's side and cling to her a moment longer before finally waking up and freezing when he realized what he was doing.
Slowly pulling away from the girl and sitting up the young man rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Did someone say something about food?" Derek asked looking around the room and sniffing hungrily.
Rolling the tray table closer to the young man Melissa watched as he devoured most of the food on the tray only pausing long enough to check that Jess was really done with each item before practically inhaling it.
When Derek had finished the food he stood up and turned back to the girl in the bed. Gently he pushed her back against the pillows and tucked the blankets around her. "It's late. You need to get to sleep. I have some important errands to run and Mrs. McCall here seems to be a pretty decent choice for a Foster Parent. Looks like you might have gotten a decent one for once...Maybe she can be persuaded to allow me to visit you sometime?"
Both the young people turned to Melissa hopefully and the combined power of their puppy dog eyes would have made anyone cave. Well at least that is what Melissa decided to tell herself later when asked about the decision. "Of course! You can visit your sister any time! If I am not here to vouch for you they may make you stick to visiting hours. But it won't be long until she is released from the hospital and moves to my house and you are free to visit her there anytime at all." The two young people beamed happily at Melissa. Watching Derek fixed the girl's blankets one last time before leaning in quick as lightning and dropping a kiss on the top of Jess's head before turning and rushing out of the room without saying another word.
Staring after him Jess blinked her eyes a few times before staring down at the I.V. tube. "What the hell kind of drugs do you people have me on? Because I am having some weirdly vivid hallucinations. If I didn't know any better I would think that Derek had actually just given me a kiss goodbye. Could you please at least lower the dosage?"
"It seemed real, because it was real. Cutest thing I have seen in ages." Stepping up to the row of machines beside the bed Melissa lowered the dosage on the Morphine drip slightly. "Guess we should start weaning you off the high power pain killers anyways. You will probably be discharged in the morning. If you need them I can get you some strong pain killers to use once we get you settled at home." Sitting back down in the chair beside the bed Melissa smiled and pulled a piece of scrap paper and a pen from her pocket. "Speaking of home, I have a few important questions for you." Melissa began seriously. "Do you think you'll be in the same grade as Scott for school? If so he can show you around and help you for the first few weeks. Is there anything you can think of that you would like me to get for you from your truck to have while you recover for the rest of the week? By next week Monday you should be recovered enough to start part time at school. We'll need to get you registered and get all your school supplies this weekend. Are there any foods you are allergic too or just really don't like? What is the name of the Auto Shop you are working for again? I can give them a call and let them know you won't be able to come in for a few weeks because of your injuries. I am sure they will understand. Oh, what is your favorite color or colors if you like more then one? I want to stop and get some new blankets for the bed in your new room and if I know your favorite color I can try and find something in that color." Melissa finished with a nervous smile.
Looking a little shocked and the long rambling list of questions Jess fiddled with the edge of a blanket and looked down at her lap while she replied. "Um...yeah...I guess if I have to go back to high school I will likely end up in the same class as Scott. The only things I need from my truck are my laptop case and my phone charger. Where is my phone? I haven't seen it anywhere...I am not a big eater and don't have any allergies. As far as preferred food I tend to get sick if I eat anything too overly processed which means most fast food makes me sick. I tend to cook all of my meals from scratch when I have access to a kitchen." Jess rattled off the answers seeming somewhat surprised by how helpful and friendly the woman was. "If you can just find me my phone I can contact the Auto Shop myself. Not that I don't appreciate the offer. But I prefer to handle my buisness affairs by myself." Jess paused as if to think if she had answered all of the questions she was asked. "Oh, and my favorite color is dark green."
Melissa slapped herself in the forhead with one hand then digging into her pocket she pulled out a familiar looking cell phone. "Dr. Deaton gave this to me to give to you when you woke up." Handing the girl the phone she warned her. "You can check and answer messages for a few minutes but then you need to go to sleep. Otherwise I will have to confiscate the phone until tomorrow morning." Pulling out a piece of paper Melissa scribbled something on it and handed it to the girl. "Use this to sign in to the hospitals wifi if you want. Just wait until the morning to get too involved with Facebook or YouTube." Watching as the girl turned on her phone and it exploded with message alert sounds Melissa left her to her correspondence.