"Weakness and sweating. Walking a half mile is much for her right now", Connor told Charles, who was sitting in the Rhodes living room, still preparing the surprise.
"Dad? When can I come in?", Amy screamed from the floor, still waiting to get in, while both men prepaired everything for her present and used the time talking about their patients condition.
"Couple of minutes. Enough time for another episode of Third Watch!", Connor responded.
"Awww", she moaned, but went upstairs, so both doctors continued speaking.
"I didn't really expect it to take this long. Her test results are still good. But the recovery seems to last like forever."
"Be patient. And don't forget we talk about pneumonia and sepsis here."
"Yeah, you might be right."
"How about her brain? Further psychological effects?"
"Still sleeping in the same room. One nightmare a day, hedaches. Feels more like having a baby instead of a teenager sometimes."
"Why do you think it works like this? I mean why is she alot better when you're around?"
"I don't know. Maybe she feels more safe and protected then,it reminds her on her childhood."
"You want to hear my advise?"
Connor nodded.
"Keep it that way. At least for 2 weeks. It's a special situation that requires special treatment. Maybe our little friend will help her to sleep in her own room again", Charles stroked the fur of the puppy, Rhodes finally bought as a secret gift. It was a wirehaired terrier, the kind of sort, Amy alway begged for.
"Alright buddy. Can you do that? Can you provide some comfort to your new owner?"
The dog baied and wagged his tail.
"And if not?"
"What helped her to stay when you put her in her own grip as a baby?"
"I don't know. It was her moms task. Maybe something familiar. Like a stuffed animal or her towel."
"Then do it. Give her something familiar. It can be a framework with a photo or your watch or something personal like that."
"Dad, can I come in now?", Amys came back. Charles nodded his head, opened the door.
"There you go, Mrs. Rhodes."
"Doctor Charles? Are you the surprise?"
"Take a look right there", Daniel said to her, when she already started running.
"Oh my god. A puppie", she ran tot he little dog, pressing it against her chest.
"That's the surprise?", Amy asked and got Connor to nodd. Before he could help, she ran in his arms and gave him a bear hug...
CMDCMDCMD
"We named him Christopher."
"Like Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh?"
"No, like Christopher Columbus, the conqueror", Rhodes explained to Halstead, who looked at the computer with wide eyes, after they talked about one of their patients.
"How is she?"
"If you ever have a kid with a sleeping issue, buy a puppy. Could save you some extra hours of sleep."
"You're funny."
"Dr. Rhodes, you daughter wants to talkt o you", Reese informed Connor, creating a surprised smile in his face.
"Is she in trouble?"
It was near midnight. A fact that put Connor in a bad mood.
" I don't know, but she seemed fine."
"Been pleased to early, huh?", Halstead mourned, when Connor already set out to his office, already having a guest for him to waite at the reception.
"What the hell happened?", Connor wanted to know, noticing that Amy wore her work out clothes.
" I locked myself out."
"Great. And how did you get here? Did you walk on your own?"
"I tried, but I had to stop near the station. I was to weak, so I called Natalie and she brought me in here."
Connor rolled his eyes.
"Doggie stays with Mrs. Dolan", she explained her puppy staying with a neighbor.
Connnor groaned, shook his head in disbelief.
"Will I ever get you growing up?"
Amy smiled as innocent as possible.
"And now? What am I doing with you? Can't cancel my job to drive you home."
"So I have to stay here to be your asistant."
"No, defnietly not. You've got to go sleeping. Now"
He pointed to the floor.
"You stay at my office to get some rest. And you'll regret if I see you talking to April in the middle of the night. Do you hear me?", he handled her they keyes, giving her a strict look, watching how she directly walked towards his office.
As soon as she left the door, his alarm went on.
"Dr. Rhodes. Your patient, went into V-tech", Meggie screamed from her desk. Connor ran tot he ER, without noticing a special stranger, watching everything.
Amy hid behind a corner, came out and stared through the window of the ICU.
There was blood everywhere. She watched her father, trying to resuscitate a young girl, around her age. She didn't know who the teenager was. But she had seen her here and then at her school.
Watching the whole procedure, she started to feel sick and her heart beated as fast as it did when she ran a marathon before her illness.
Desperately she watched Will Halstead making a typical gesture, then Connor closed his eyes and shook his head before he removed the tubes.
She knew what that means. The girls life was over. She was gone.
To her regret, Connor turned around and his eyes met with hers.
"Who in hell let her in?", he shouted, then he stepped outside.
"I told you to stay at my office", he yelled. Thats's when she started running. Without knowing what she did, she ran outside and stopped at the middle of the road, when she recognized a car coming her way…