Adopted By The Hemmings (mgc)

Sixteen

~Another time skip: One Week Later~

"Lu! It's time to get out of bed! We need to go take care of your paperwork at Norwest!" Liz's yelling broke through the fog clouding Luna's half asleep brain. Her head was pounding as she sat up.

"Coming!" She tried to yell back, but her voice cracked from her scratchy throat. She shuffled to her closet simply pulling on some sweats and hoodie. As she moved downstairs slowly she met Liz by the door.

"Are you okay, Lu?"

Luna opened her mouth to speak only to have a wracking cough erupt from her chest. Liz quickly placed a hand against Luna's forehead.

"You don't seem to have a fever. . . Do you feel up to going to the school?"

"I'll be fine, I'm ready to get this taken care of." Luna offered a meek smile as another cough overcame her.

"Maybe when we are done, we'll go by the clinic. I don't like how you're sounding."

Liz snatched up her keys and purse before yelling up the stairs, "Luke, we're leaving! Don't forget to clean your room!"

As they got into the car Luna immediately curled up, closing her eyes. She felt Liz's eyes on her once more.

"Are you sure you want to go do this today? We can just go straight to the clinic and worry about your paperwork later."

"I want to get this done today, so I don't have to worry about it. You can take me to the doctor afterwards. Please Liz." Luna pleaded softly, trying not to irritate her throat.

Liz said nothing, but pulled onto the road before heading to the school. Luna closed her eyes and tried to keep still. Liz had turned the radio on and was humming calmly. Luckily, Norwest wasn't very far away from the Hemmings household.

"Alright sickly child, we are here." Liz pulled up outside of a large institutional building, putting the car in park. Luna crawled before following behind the older woman.

The inside of the building was complete with white walls, trophy cases, and a lot of posters. As they entered the administrative office they were greeted by a petite woman in a brightly colored shirt.

"Hello, Mrs. Hemmings, how are you today?"

"I'm fine, Kendra. We're just here to fill out some paperwork having to do with Luna's name change."

"Sure thing! Let me just go get that for you," Kendra's eyes glanced over at Luna showing concern.

"Would you like some water dear? You're looking a little pale."

Luna opened her mouth to protest, however Liz's voice cut her off,

"That'd be great Kendra."

The smaller woman scuttled away, her patent leather heels moving quickly. Liz faced the smaller girl before pointing to a chair.

"Have a seat, and just rest." Liz placed her hand against her forehead once more, frowning. As Karen came back she handed Luna a bottle of water along with a handful of peppermints. Luna meekly thanked her before taking a sip. Liz and Kendra worked quietly and quickly before having Luna give her signature. She still felt strange as she jot down her new last name.

"Okey dokey, you're all set! Luna, I hope you get to feeling better, dear and hopefully you'll enjoy being here at Norwest."

Luna and Liz thanked Kendra before they walked out of the building and into the sun. Luna sighed softly as she finally began to gain some more warmth.

"Thank goodness, that building was freezing." Her statement made Liz frown once more, placing her hand on the girl's forehead.

"You're definitely getting warmer now. C'mon in you get."