In the Blood [ON HOLD]

"You Are a Doctor"

Charlie groaned as her alarm went off, then sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She avoided looking at the small date displayed on the corner of the clock's display.

Two days.

Two whole days since she'd listened to Remi say he was going to Colombia, leaving her to stew over the fact that she couldn't succeed without the safety net offered by his money.

And stew she had.

Throwing the blankets to the side, she stumbled into the bathroom, avoiding the mirror. She knew what she would find: paler than normal skin and purpilish shadows under her eyes.

She turned the shower on, stripping out of her sleep-clothes while she waited for the water to heat up. Less than a week of hot showers and high water pressure had her dreading the idea of suffering through anything less than what she had here.

The shower didn't last as long as she would have liked, and she dried off before wrapping herself in a towel and making her way down to the kitchen. Her wet hair tickled her shoulders as she shuffled through the cabinets, searching for coffee.

She'd discovered on her first day in the house that Remi had taken the liberty of already stocking the cabinets, but she'd been reluctant to go through them until now.

When she finally found what she was looking for, she turned the coffee-maker on and scowled at the words "Colombian Roast" on the side of the package she'd pulled from the cabinet nearest the door. Even when he was gone it was still like he was mocking her.

While she waited on her coffee, Charlie slowly climbed the stairs to get dressed. The events of two nights ago and the two stark choices before her had left her in a fog, possibility and fear whirring through her mind and distracting her from any given task at hand. Not to mention the anger and resentment he'd left her with.

This had not gone unnoticed by Jazira the day before, but Charlie had been able to brush it off as worry over finding a place to stay permanently.

She wandered back into the bathroom after pulling on a pair of running shorts and a tanktop and plugged in a hair straightener. After a moment, she braved meeting the gaze of her reflection as she waited for the straightener to heat up.

The bruises Grayson had left around her throat had faded to light green fingerprints on her skin. 

Charlie nearly jumped out of her skin when someone banged on the front door, the sound echoing through the house. She frowned at her reflection, brow furrowing, and the banging came again.

No one she knew, knew that she lived here now. 

The knocking came a third time, sounding urgent now and Charlie ran down the stairs and across the living room to throw the door open.

"Matty?" she said in disbelief. "What are you..."

Her question was lost when she looked down to find he was carrying a little girl who could have been no more than two years old. The child had her head resting on Matty's shoulder, looking at Charlie with dull eyes.

"I need your help," Matty said.

Charlie hesitated for only a moment before moving to the side and gesturing for him to come in. He waited while she shut and locked the door, bouncing on his feet slightly, the repetitive motion making the little girl's eyes heavy.

"She woke up with a fever early this morning and has been sick four times since then," he said without any preamble.

Charlie frowned. "So why aren't you taking her to a doctor?"