Kelsey Robbins

9

"Dad, can we go home yet?"Kelsey asked, laying back down after the flu test was finished. It came back positive, no surprise.

"Once the IV finishes, then we can go. Go back to sleep for a little bit," Wallace told her, pulling the blanket up as she laid there.

"You won't leave?" She asked, meaning more than leave the hospital. She was letting him in, she wanted to make sure he wasn't going to leave her like she assumed he would at the beginning.

"I'm not going anywhere Kelsey," Wallace confirmed. Kelsey nodded with a little smile, letting herself drift off to sleep.

He smiled a little, watching her fall asleep before sitting back in the chair and texting Donna.

Wallace: Flu was positive. Dr. Halstead said we can leave as soon as the IV is finished. She's sound asleep.

Donna: So antibiotics?

Wallace: Yeah, I'll pick them up in the morning.

He sighed and set the phone back down, watching Kelsey for a minute. He hated how miserable she looked, and knew she felt even worse.

The IV finished an hour and a half later, and they were free to go. Kelsey was still very sleepy and felt awful, falling asleep in the car as it was closing in on 1 AM.

"Come on kiddo, we're home," Wallace said as he put the truck in park and shut it off. "Go get in bed,"

Kelsey nodded and slowly headed up the steps and to her bedroom. Donna had set up a humidifier and had some NyQuil ready for when she got home. As soon as she took the medicine, she laid down and was out within minutes.

Donna smiled a little and headed to her room where Wallace was waiting for her.

"Thanks for taking her,"

"I wanted to. We needed a little time to talk. She admitted that I was more a father than her dad. Even called me dad," Wallace smiled, happy that he finally broke the teenager's wall down.

"I'm glad, I knew she would eventually," Donna grinned, both of them finally settling in bed after the long night.

——————

"Morning kiddo," Wallace smiled, seeing Kelsey come down the steps with a blanket wrapped around her. "How do you feel?"

"Crappy," Kelsey muttered, laying on the couch.

"I went this morning and got your medicine so let's get that in you," Wallace said as he got up, going out to the kitchen and grabbing the prescribed antibiotics.

Kelsey sat up as her stepfather returned with one of her tumblers full of water and the pills. He gave her the pills and the tumbler, watching her take both before she laid down again.

"What should we watch?" He asked, sitting back in the chair while Kelsey laid on the couch.

"I don't know," she mumbled, pulling her blanket up around her.

"How about a movie? Something funny?"

"Can we watch Greys?" She asked, only moving to look over at him.

"Only because you're sick," he chuckled, turning on the episode she picked out.

Both of them dozed off to it, up until Donna got home hours later. Kelsey actually fell into a pretty deep sleep so Wallace had changed the TV channel.

"Hey, how's my girl?" Donna smiled, seeing her sound asleep on the couch.

"Been sleeping a few hours. Took her meds this morning, and we watched a little Grey's Anatomy before she passed out. Barely moved since," Wallace explained, standing up to help Donna get her bags in.

"Good. Maybe she'll start feeling better on this medicine," Donna said as she picked the prescription up.

"I hope so. She's miserable,"

"But I'm glad you and her bonded a little," Donna told him, getting ingredients out for chicken noodle soup again.

"Me too, we needed it. I don't care what she calls me, I just want her to know I'm here," The man sighed, helping Donna by keeping Terrence entertained with a snack.

"She just doesn't trust easily," Donna sighed, not looking up from stirring the pot of soup.

"Oh, I know. Took me almost 3 years to get more than a hi or bye,"

"I knew she'd get there. It was just a matter of getting her there," Donna grinned, continuing to make dinner.

When it had finished, Donna quietly headed out to the living room while Wallace got soup in the bowls for all 3 of them. Donna kneeled by the couch and carefully started waking Kelsey up by pulling her tightly wrapped blanket off.

"I made some soup, and you need to eat before you can take more of the medicine," Donna whispered as Kelsey was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Can I eat it out here?" Kelsey asked, with a small voice as she woke up more and more.

"I guess," her mother grinned, while her stepfather brought the bowl of hot soup out.

"Thanks, Dad," Kelsey smiled a little as the bowl was lowered into her hands. Wallace smiled, loving that she now felt comfortable enough to call him her father.

"You're welcome kiddo," He said as he headed back out to the kitchen to start cleaning up.

Kelsey slowly ate her soup, watching another random episode of Grey's Anatomy. She was soon finished and had opted to go back up to her bedroom and get in her comfortable bed. She turned on a movie on her computer before falling asleep again, huddled under blankets.

——————

Around 9 PM, Donna headed upstairs with Wallace to check on both kids as they were both asleep before 7:30. Terrence was sound asleep which left both parents to check on Kelsey and give her medicine for the night.

"Hey Kelsey, time for meds honey," Donna said, moving her computer to the side table as Wallace handed the pills over. Kelsey didn't say much as she sat up and took the pills, taking the cup of water that was handed to her to wash them down. "Go back to sleep baby, we'll see you in the morning,"

"Night kiddo," Wallace said before dropping a kiss onto the top of her head.

"Night guys," Kelsey mumbled, laying back down and falling into her sleepy state again.