Chapter Text
Life has so many lessons stored for each and every being that is brought to this world.
And a certain little girl who was as bright as the sun knows that very well.
Klee was only 4 years old when she learned that marriage is not love, but only an agreement on a piece of paper to be together. Klee's mommy and daddy are not together anymore as she witnessed in the courtroom that her parents are now divorced. And she thinks that it is okay for them to separate as daddy never looked back at them when he left.
Her mom, Alice, is a world renowned surgeon who has been saving millions of lives across Teyvat. And because of her devotion to save lives of those who are in need, her father decided to leave the doctor for another family. Klee remembers clearly that her father said that he never felt he was really a husband, a lover, nor a father to his family. Klee did not want to understand but she cannot deny that every word that the man said was a bucket of cold water poured onto her.
She had a vivid flashback of how he never looked back when Klee tried stopping him at the door as he decided to leave them for good, and Klee understood that her father was already happy with his new family. That she will never need a father anymore.
Alice never intended to be this devoted to her work but she was glad to know Klee was supportive of what she was doing. The first time Alice heard what Klee dreams of becoming, she thought it was not bad to let Klee explore the hospital.
After all, Klee wanted to become mommy's personal doctor one day.
Every birthday, every holiday, Alice made sure that she would be there for Klee. The fact that she is now a single mother has finally sunk in her mind and made her burst into tears. She was in the middle of a meeting, talking about the shifts and leaves that they will do. Dr. Baizhu, the director of Bubu Medical Center and one of her closest friends in the hospital, gave her a smile and a gentle pat on the shoulder.
"You know you can always take a break. You've been saving people, why not save your daughter from the hole that your husband left?"
Alice, in that moment, knew that she was also in the wrong. She felt like she failed being a mother to her only daughter.
With quivering lips, she thanked everyone in the room for letting her have some time with her daughter.
And at 5, Klee learned that a mother is not only a person who gives birth, but also a warrior who will fight and be brave to her child. Klee wants to be like mommy one day.
She is now at age 7, Klee is now familiar with every corner of the Bubu Medical Center, thanks to mommy.
Klee told Alice she will do homeschool instead so she can be with her all the time. She promised to do her homework and projects to send it in on time, but Alice was worried that Klee will feel that her childhood is being held back all because of her.
She hired her friend's son who is also working for her as an intern, Albedo, as Klee's caretaker so she could go to school more often than staying in the hospital. But the young sunlight was determined to be with mommy at all times, not aware of what she was betting her childhood with.
Now, Klee knows who is currently working in the morning, and who is assigned at night. She even befriended all the nurses and guards of the hospital and Alice was thankful that these people are looking after her little sunshine when it's her duty as a mother.
Klee was doing her usual routine: eat snacks when the clock strikes 9, finish her homework with big brother Albedo and send it to Mr. Huffman to give it to her school, do reading exercises with Ms. Jean the receptionist, eat lunch with mommy and auntie Dr. Lisa at 12nn, and roam around after nap time.
But today was something else.
Klee was doing her usual roaming in the pedia hall when she spotted Nurse Ganyu slipping a card on the wall.
- Yang Qiqi.
Assigned to Dr. Baizhu and Dr. Alice
Oh, that's mommy's new patient , she thought.
Nurse Ganyu was surprised to see Klee, who was reading the sign but recompose herself quickly to pat the little girl's head.
"Hello, Klee! How can I help you today?" The nurse cooed and tried to get on to Klee's level.
The young girl gripped on her backpack and pointed at the sign. "Mommy has a new patient?"
"Mhm, Dr. Alice has a new patient. From what I know, she's around your age, or probably older than you." Ganyu booped Klee's button nose with her forefingers and the younger giggled.
As soon as Ganyu fixed her posture, two nurses were pushing a bed towards the ward where they were standing. Klee remembers that their names were Nurse Amber and Nurse Noelle.
The ward door was open to anyone who would enter and it seems that Nurse Ganyu cleaned the room before they got there. Klee's curiosity got the best of her, she slowly approached the door and looked at the bed when the nurses finally left after placing the patient in her assigned area.
On the bed, there was a little girl, probably a few inches taller than her based on the height of the bedrest and the top of her head. Her eyes were closed and she had long beautiful black locks that reminded her of the night sky. The girl seemed to be resting right now and she did not want to bother her at all.
She eventually notices the tube and dextrose attached to her body, making Klee frown at the sight that welcomed her because there would be times that her mind would play tricks on her that could bring tears to her eyes. But right now, reality hits Klee that she is one of the fortunate children to be in the hallways and not on the hospital bed. She finally decided to go back to her mom's office with heaviness lingering on her chest.
And because of what she witnessed today, Klee learned that she was beyond blessed to have herself moving around freely and not binded by dextrose drips and weird wires.
It was a Thursday the next day and Klee came a bit late to the hospital because of the heavy traffic on the way there and the rain made it harder for her to arrive on time.
Today, she wore her favorite rain boots that Doctor Diluc gave her. It was a customized Dodoco rain boots that she received last Christmas and she could not be any happier to have her favorite TV character again.
Everyone in the hospital knows Klee's love for Dodoco Tales' protagonist. The 7-year-old would watch the show every 4pm at the lobby until 4:45 then Klee would start telling everyone what she understood on that day's episode. Of course, they would listen to her and ask her questions to make sure she really paid attention.
She has a plushie of the said character, a keychain, an umbrella... She can be considered as a collector at an early age.
And today, she brought her stuffed toy Dodoco to the hospital, a gift from Nurse Eula from the reception table. Making it wave to everyone she meets along the hallway. People would coo at her and the stuffed toy, and being a role model to Klee, they would greet back as well.
As soon as she steps into Alice's office, she sees Dr. Baizhu massaging his temples and his eyebrows were knotted together. Dr. Lisa had her arms crossed over her chest with an equally angered face. They all faced who entered the room and their expressions changed. Klee had a bad feeling about this.
Her mother was the first one to break the silence and offered a small smile. "Hi, love! How's the ride?"
The little girl does not know how she did it but Klee could only return the smile, she was faking one as if it was the natural thing to do since she noticed that the atmosphere was obviously heavy. "It was okay, mommy."
"Klee, you'll be having your reading practice with Ms. Jean, right?" Klee was not sure of what she was feeling right now with what she just saw and the sudden change of topic.
"Uh... Yes, mommy. I was about to go there but I forgot my reading books there."
It can’t be helped , all of them thought. The duffel bag that the little girl has tons of books that she needs to leave in Alice's office.
Klee is an avid reader. She loves fairytales, dragon stories, and stories about magic. Sometimes, she even reads books about science, but for age of course.
Dr. Baizhu helped Alice by handing the bag to the little sunshine, but Albedo was standing behind Klee and got the bag instead. It was indeed heavy for her to carry around.
"I'll see you at lunch time, love?" Alice cooed and Klee just nodded before going out and closed the door.
Klee learned today that adults would never tell their problems in front of children but they would never know that the silence and heavy tension can affect them too in ways that they can never imagine.
Once Klee was far away from the office, Baizhu looked at the two doctors, the doctor looked like he was already about to explode in anger with the way his face was starting to look red.
"Alice, we can't just proceed with the chemotherapy without the consent of the parents! That's fucking absurd!"
Alice sighed, rubbing her temples before showing the documents to the doctors in front of her. "How can we even get their consent when they already left her in our care? Baizhu- She's literally an orphan now!"
"But there are no official documents that show that this girl is now under social welfare!"
"Even if there are no documents, it's obvious that the patient is now homeless!"
"Then who will pay for her sessions? Who will let her understand the procedures? She's only 9, for Archon's sake!"
Lisa, on the other hand, who was looking angry earlier, suddenly became quiet and let the others quarrel. She inwardly sighed.
"The problem will not be about the service, medical and procedure fees, Baizhu. It's how her body will take all of these medications that we're preparing..."
The room fell silent once more and looked at the profile laid on the table.
Yang Qiqi, 9 years old.
Diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia at age 5.
No treatment was done when it was detected.
Lisa's heart aches badly to know Qiqi's parents were irresponsible and negligent. The child has been suffering for so long… The audacity to make a child and throw them away like it was not their own…
How cruel…
"But she only has a month to live…" Baizhu muttered, making him sink in his chair with a broken heart but as much as it brings pain into their hearts, it is a part of their job… to face what is about to happen. “I don’t even know if she can handle the first therapy…”
"And the anemo Archon, Barbatos, saw the skies turn from gray to blue, blizzard to clouds, cold to warm… the heavens rejoiced as Mondstadt was finally free." Jean sighed happily as she closed the book. It was one of her favorite stories written by Vennessa Aetos. Jean was happy to share it with Klee, who was listening intently and had a big smile on her face.
"Please tell me more, Nurse Jean!" The young girl bounced on her seat, excited to go on another book adventure but sadly Jean needed to do some documents laid out for her by Nurse Kaeya.
"I'm sorry about that, Klee… But I promise to read a story tomorrow. Visit me again?" The nurse said, holding her pinky out and Klee laced her pinky on hers.
"You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life. You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice. The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend, the frost will freeze your tongue off so you never lie again.”
Jean could only laugh at her and fixed Klee's books in the Dodoco duffel bag and handed it to Albedo. Maybe Jean needs to scold Ajax from the Pulmonary Department for teaching Klee weird nursery rhymes.
"Alright, see you tomorrow, Klee." And the younger one waved, saying her goodbye to the receptionist and to her caretaker as she will start her usual rounds.
"Albedo, I need you to send this to Dr. Alice… it's about Qiqi's lab tests…"
Somehow, Klee ended up at the ward that she visited the other day again.
- Yang Qiqi
Dr. Baizhu and Dr. Alice
But the door was closed and Klee was relieved to see Qiqi's name was still there. She thought that Qiqi might be lonely since the other card holders had no names on them. She fixed her backpack then knocked on the door, opening it slightly.
The patient looked up and noticed how she blinked at her as if she was trying to ask who she was. It was unusual for someone her age to be venturing in the hospital.
"H-Hello…" the other stuttered. Klee was amused at how soft her voice was and the younger could not even contain her happiness.
"Hi! My name is Klee! And I'm only seven! How about you?"
"I'm Qiqi… 9."
Silence.
Klee was not sure how to keep the conversation going but the other girl laughed and gestured to her to come over.
"You know it's not good to keep the door open. Come on in."
The more Qiqi spoke, the more Klee felt welcome, and so she accepted the invitation. Klee entered the room before closing the door and made her way to Qiqi's bed.
She held Dodoco up to the patient and grinned. "Dodoco."
Qiqi laughed at how cute the other sounded when she showed the stuffed toy. She reached out her hand to pat Dodoco before resting her back on the inclined bed.
"What are you doing here by the way?" Qiqi asked, soft eyes on the younger.
Klee held Dodoco back into her arms and a touch of pink started to color her cheeks while she scratched the back of her head. "I usually go around here… it's my first time to be in the pedia hall…"
"You're not a ghost, right?"
"Hey, I'm alive!" Klee pouted as Qiqi laughed at her answer. But it was far better than awkward silence.
"Do you go to school?" Qiqi once again asked to keep the conversation going and Klee appreciated the effort that Qiqi was putting in. She suddenly felt shy to make her do the asking than the answering. Without even asking permission, she climbed up the bed with the help of the chair beside them and sat across the other.
"I'm homeschooled, well I consider this hospital as my home now. How about you?" Klee got a shake of head as an answer from Qiqi, making the younger frown.
"I stopped attending school because I'm always sick." The other said softly and played with the hem of her blanket.
"Oh… well, I miss going to school but being with mommy and the nurses here is much better!" Klee took off of her backpack and opened it, taking out a picture to show to Qiqi.
"This place is actually a home and a school to me now… there are a lot of people who teach me things I need to know."
Qiqi was in awe as she saw Klee was being carried by the doctor who was attending her and the staff surrounding them. It seems like a family picture…
Family…
"That's a very nice picture, Klee… You have a loving-"
There was a knock on the door and Klee sees nurse Yunjin with a smile.
"Good afternoon, Qiqi! Oh, good afternoon, Klee! I'm sorry to disturb your little chat but Qiqi needs to take her medicine now."
Both children pouted and Qiqi gave Klee the saddest eyes that she could muster. Her medicines that she needed to take were so bitter. The taste lingers too long in her tongue that she wants to puke it out whenever she takes them.
But Klee gave her an assuring smile and held her hand. "I'm about to go home in a bit. Be strong and drink your medicine, okay?" Qiqi only nodded because Klee's reassurance had an effect on her.
"Alright… you'll be here tomorrow right?"
"Of course! I'll show you my favorite book if you like!"
Qiqi only nodded and gave Klee a wave when the other jumped off the bed and went to the door, saying her goodbye. "See you tomorrow, Qiqi!"
"See you tomorrow, Klee."
Yunjin, who witnessed the whole thing, awed for a while before proceeding to give Qiqi her medicine.
"Seems like you made a friend here, Qiqi." Yunjin chuckled and patted Qiqi's head as she handed a bottle of water and placed a small tray with different medicines on her lap. "Are you happy that you have a friend?"
Qiqi was shy to admit and probably it was too early to call Klee as a friend. But Yunjin laughed to herself and gave Qiqi another pat, but this one was assuring the younger. "It's okay, you don't have to answer."
Qiqi nodded again before taking the medicine one at a time. Her face stirred at the bitter taste but she will take them bravely today. She made a promise to Klee.
"Miss Yunjin?"
The nurse was about to leave when Qiqi was done with her pills but looked at the young girl on the bed.
"I…is it okay if you braid my hair tomorrow?"
"Of course, love."
Klee came to the hospital early in the morning to see Alice. Big brother Albedo is now officially her caretaker rather than an intern. Albedo personally wants to be Klee's caretaker rather than doing his duty as nurse intern. The said man only gave Alice a small smile, knowing that the doctor was confused at their early arrival.
What made Alice curious was the bento that Klee was holding onto. Klee usually eats her breakfast in her Hello Kitty bento, but today, she was holding a Kuromi bento. That cartoon is not even pink nor red, Klee's favorite color. "Darling, who's that for?" The doctor asked as she got on her eye level, holding her busy hands in hers.
"Well, it's for the new patient, mama... I asked big brother Albedo to help me prepare breakfast so I could give it to her..."
Alice's eyes widened and her gaze shifted back and forth from Klee to Albedo. "O-Oh dear- why didn't you tell mommy? I could've bought a bigger bento!"
Klee was just delighted to hear that. She can give Qiqi lots of food if it is a bigger bento! Albedo, on the other hand, stifled his laugh and looked away. "Klee did most of the cooking. I was only there guiding her."
Without any second thoughts, Alice took Albedo's hands and gave them an assuring squeeze. "Albedo, thank you. For being there for Klee. I'm sorry if I'm passing all of my responsibilities to you…"
"Doc, it's no problem… I…"
Alice gave Albedo a look, all eyes were filled with concern until… "I've always wanted a sister of my own… Because I only have two big brothers. But who would have guessed my prayers were heard?" Albedo chuckled and shrugged.
That's right… Albedo has two big brothers; Durin, who is a lawyer, and Alfisol, who is working as an ambassador. Both of them have a good reputation and knowing Albedo, Alice understands the pressure of being the youngest who has yet to prove himself to his mother, Rhine.
Just when Albedo was about to leave the office, Alice smiled and held his hand, which caught the younger's attention when Alice gave it a small squeeze. "Your mom has always been so proud of you, Albedo…" And the said male looked away, tears were starting to form on the line of his eyes and chuckled when Alice finally let go of his hand. "Thank you, auntie… but, I'm far more thankful for letting me be a part of your family." He nodded before going out, Alice heard he would be staying at the reception area.
Alice wonders if Klee is holding any resentment against her for not being there for her. The doctor is highly aware of Albedo's insecurities and his hatred towards his mother, who pressured him to become a doctor like Rhine.
She remembers how Albedo would roll his eyes when Rhine boasted about his brothers to everyone she met, and when people asked about Albedo…
"Eh, he's always in his room, drawing and reading. Nothing to talk about."
Alice's chest clenched badly, not liking how nonchalant Rhine was whenever Albedo is brought up in the conversation. She hopes that being Klee's caretaker would at least put Albedo at ease.