New story alert: Runaway Train outtakes. We decided we didn't want to cut some scenes entirely and gave some story to the other characters in this universe. Read this first and then go check it out.

Chapter 5

Be Ok

Derek had carried a sleeping Amelia back to bed shortly after Carolyn Shepherd had departed, and Mark had left soon after. Husband and wife had cuddled on their living room couch, attempting to watch a movie, but dozing in and out of sleep.

About an hour after her brother had placed her back in bed, Amelia was ripped from dreamland by an overwhelming wave of nausea. Before she could even make sense of her surroundings and gather her thoughts, her stomach violently contracted as she vomited pb&j and Gatorade all over her brother and sister-in-law's bed.

Horrified and embarrassed, Amelia was desperate to clean up as best she could before she was caught. Unfortunately, as she got up to gather the bedspread, dizziness struck her and her belly gurgled a warning. Dropping the blankets she stumbled to the en-suite as fast as she could, throwing herself at the toilet as more liquid bile shot out of her mouth.

All thoughts of the bedspread were forgotten as she sat there dry heaving, sweating profusely, and shivering.

'What was happening to her? Was she dying? This felt worse than withdrawal.' She thought deliriously as she leaned heavily against the side of the bathtub.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she woke up in a lukewarm bath with Addison stroking her face gently with a washcloth.

Amelia met her eyes, and Addison gave her a small smile despite the worry evident on her face.

"I-I messed up the bed, Addie. I'm so sorry, I tried to clean it up, but…" Amelia whimpered in a hoarse voice, trailing off and looking down away from Addison.

"Shh… Don't. That doesn't matter." The redhead replied. "Your fever spiked again. You've been pretty incoherent for the past hour or so…"

"An hour?" She whispered in shock. It felt like just minutes since she'd been heaving over the toilet.

"Yes." The redhead confirms. "We found you passed out on the floor here, and after taking your temperature and failing to wake you up, Derek helped put you into the bath… I think the fever is dropping a bit now. I'm so relieved." Addison shared calmly, the only sign of her internal angst being her tensed jaw and glassy eyes.

"Is Derek mad at me?" The sick girl asked fearfully, pulling her knees to her chest in a self-soothing hug and resting her cheek on top.

"No, honey. He is scared for you and he doesn't know how to handle those feelings sometimes. I want you to always remember that, Amy. No matter how he acts or what he says. He is your big brother, but he struggles with things just like you do." Addison tried to explain, unsure if Amelia was truly comprehending her words, and hopeful that Derek wouldn't overhear.

"I'm the one who makes him struggle. If it weren't for me, Derek and my mama and my sisters would be so much happier…" The younger girl replied, refusing to believe otherwise. She buried her face in her knees, shivering in the cool water.

Addison frowned, shaken by the reality of Amelia's hopelessness. Standing slowly and reaching for a warm towel, she tossed it over her shoulder before she crouched and reached for Amelia's hands to help her stand and step out of the tub.

After wrapping her in the towel, Addison sat Amelia on the closed toilet seat. She dried the girl's dark hair with another towel before beginning to thread the damp locks into braids.

"You know… Derek cried when he found you lying on the bathroom floor tonight, Amy. That has to stay between you and me, but he loves you so much. So does your mom, and so do I." Addison stated, breaking the silence. She finished Amelia's braids and moved to kneel in front of her. "Got it?"

Amelia met her kind eyes and lifted the corner of her lips just a bit.

"Got it."

Addison spent the next two weeks caring for Amelia. Derek thought she was pushing it, and was borderline babying his teenage sister. And quite honestly, Derek wanted his wife back.

"Addie, you need to stop. She is not two years old, and she no longer has a fever. It's time for you to stop hovering so much, she needs her own space and so do we!" He shouted at her, frustration boiling over. He knew he shouldn't have yelled, he knew that neither she nor Amelia had done anything wrong, but he couldn't help himself.

"It's been long enough, Addie. It's time to start getting back to a normal routine; both for us and for her. She needs to go back to school, and so do we. Our class work is piling up because we're neglecting it while we revolve our lives around my sister like she is a newborn infant!" He huffed.

Addison rolled her eyes. Derek always had fingers to point when he was upset.

"In case you didn't notice, Derek, your sister nearly died less than two weeks ago! I won't apologize for giving her the extra attention she needed. School is not a priority right now. Unless you'd like her to regress all over again and go back to getting high every night, someone needs to show her love because obviously you all can't!" Addison blew up, exhausted and unwilling to deal with more than one child.

"Also, newsflash Derek, we are not her parents, nor are we her legal guardians. We can't just walk over to the local high school and enroll her without them enquiring about her long absence, and who we are in her life. If you want her back in school so badly, then go talk to the person who has that ability; you know, the woman who gave birth to both of you, and three others? How about you take some goddamn responsibility and do something yourself to help."

"I can't do this. Call me when you want to be rational." He scoffed bitterly, grabbing his coat and storming out.

He wandered through Central Park, he had no idea where he was really going. He debated going to Mark's, but before he knew it he ended up at Sam's place.

"Derek? What are you doing here?" Sam asked, surprised to see him. Derek sighed, rubbing his face.

"It's a long story. Wanna let me in so I can tell it? I brought scotch." He held up the bottle as an offering. Sam raised an eyebrow but moved aside to let him in.

"Let me guess, another fight with Addie?" Sam ventured, pulling to glasses from his kitchen cabinet.

"Yeah, sort of." Derek muttered, unscrewing the cap to liquor and filling the two glasses with a generous pour.

"We've been arguing about my sister of all things."

"Your sister?" Sam asked, confused. "Why would you fight about your sister? Oh, did Addison agree to babysit without asking you or something?" He joked.

"No, not one of my older sisters. My younger sister, Amelia. She's staying with us for a while because she and my mom have been butting heads. I love her so much, and I want to protect her from everything, but I'm just… I'm tired, man." He sighed.

"She's been screwing up her life and Addison has just decided to completely coddle and baby her. She justifies all of Amelia's behaviour, and it's like she can do no wrong in Addison's eyes. She doesn't see the reality with my sister, and when I point it out? I'm the bad guy." Derek explained, downing his glass and pouring another.

Sam swallowed his as well, sensing it would be a long conversation. He barely knew anything about Derek's kid sister, but he got the impression he was about to learn a lot more.

Derek didn't return to the brownstone until much later; well past midnight. He wasn't drunk, but it was very late and he hadn't exactly called his wife to tell her where he had been. He slipped into their bedroom, sighing with relief when he saw his wife fast asleep in their bed.

Smirking, he tiptoed to his closet and began changing for bed. Before climbing into bed, Derek noticed the light was on full blast in their bathroom, he knew from experience that the glare pointed directly to his side of the bed, so he made his way over to turn them off. As he drew closer he realized the bathroom wasn't empty, and what sounded like muffled crying could be heard through the closed door.

Derek took a deep breath and slowly pushed open the door, unsurprised to see his sister but alarmed at her condition. She was hovering over the toilet, gagging and coughing, clearly trying to throw up what little she had in her system. He was pretty used to the sight by now, but deep down inside he was alarmed that her health wasn't improving.

"Oh crap, Amy!" He sighed with worry, gathering her up in his arms, stroking tendrils of loose hair away from her face.

"If you can't keep anything down, Ames, then we gotta take you to the hospital. There is no way this is still the flu." He pleaded softly, stroking her dark hair. She was too weak to fight him, let alone complain about the idea of going to the hospital.

Derek honestly had no clue what to do anymore. He was tired and frustrated, and he was never supposed to be parenting his baby sister. This wasn't his job and yet, he knew it was. Their mom didn't know what to do with Amelia, and Derek had made a promise to their dad that he would always be there for her. It was just so hard some days to keep that promise, and it became even harder when he had to be like a father to her instead of her brother.

"Rek." She mumbled, borderline delirious at this point.

"Yeah, Ames?" He whispered, kissing the crown of her head.

"I'm sorry..."

"Ssh." He soothed. "I know, I know. Everything is okay, it's all forgiven. I'm sorry too. I need you to try and relax for me now, okay? Save your voice."

"K." She sniffled, burying her head into his chest. "I don't feel good, Rek."

"I know, just rest. I have you." He soothed, wrapping her in his arms and rubbing her back until he felt her full weight against him, boneless and surrendered to exhaustion. He felt struck by the realization that he didn't want to let go of her. She needed him right now, and he had no idea what else to do other than just hold on to her.

End Chapter

Song title: Be Ok-Ingrid Michaelson