** I do not own the Fosters nor any of their characters.
** A/N: This story is completely AU. It will correlate little to canon.
** A/N: This story is picking up directly where the last one, Broken Roads left off at. If anything is confusing, you can refer to that if you haven't previously read it.
** AGAIN, sorry to the people who already understood this. For the easily confused, this story is based on the show The Fosters as is each one under this category. All stories under this category heading are bound to have similarities. SIMILARITIES does not mean that the stories are IDENTICAL. Yes, I know Callie has been Lena's child before. That makes that detail and you may find a few others SIMILAR but not IDENTICAL to some other stories. I prefer young Callie, I do not like the 16 year old on the show and I am not trying to duplicate the show nor someone else's writing. But as I've already said, this story WILL NOT HAVE A HAPPY ENDING! For those of you who did not need this spelled out from me, trust me, I've read the reviews, there are people out there who do.
** A/N: This story is not a Lena gets together with Stef story and it has little in common with the tv show. If that's what you're expecting then read no further. I can already tell you it won't go down that way.
** A/N: As far as Stef not being Stef, that's because she is not and will not be the one from the tv show. This is a closeted Stef who is a lesbian who married a man for years because her Father told her it was a good idea as an adult woman who didn't live at home with him. This is not normal behavior for anyone IMO. She was broken. It took loving Lena to fix that part of her. That information is also NOT the culmination of the story. It's background info that gets you on the way.
** A/N: If you have nothing respectful to say then please do not bother me or anyone else about it. We are not sitting around waiting to hear from you. Nor do I need to hear you tell me that you do not want to read the story or you're offended by me having to spell this out for you. Once more, not holding my breath.
** A/N: For everyone else, I thank you for your patronage. Please feel free to review as long as you can be respectful. And hope that you enjoy. :)
Stef hurried frantically through the emergency room doors. She was about to run up to the desk but then she spotted Lisa, Lena's sister pacing the hallway. She ran to her.
"How is she? Where is she? What's going on?" she asked grabbing at her.
"Calm down. She's just inside." She nodded her head toward a door. "Things aren't looking too well Stef. But, at least she's awake now."
Stef choked on the things not looking too well part. "I have to be with her." Stef pushed past her sister and entered the room. Lena's eyes were closed but they started to flutter when she walked in. Those beautiful soulful brown eyes looked so scared and tired. Stef's heart broke all over again.
She had to walk around Dana and Stuart to get next to her. Gretchen was seated on the other side but Stef just ignored her. She reached down and grabbed her hand. She had to connect with her. "I'm so sorry baby."
Lena squeezed her hand with tears spilling down her face. Then she brought it up to the side of her face as her eye closed. Stef used that time to survey what damage she could. Lena had one eye swollen shut. There was bruising up and down her body as far as she could see and a huge gash across her forehead. She was attached to heart and fetal monitors. Stef didn't know how her body could contain all the pain she had to be racked with.
She let out a small guttural noise and this made Lena's eye fly open. She opened her mouth to start to say something when the doctor walked in.
"Well, Ms. Adams. They're preparing a room for you upstairs. From the ultrasound, there is some placental abruption. Placental abruption is where the placenta detaches itself from the uterine wall. We're going to need to keep you here and closely monitor you until we can determine the extent of the problem. We'll have to wait and see if the bleeding stops or if you start having other symptoms. For now, we just need you to lie there and stay as calm and comfortable as possible."
"Are my babies going to be okay?" Lena asked crying softly.
"Right now I can't answer that. We'll just have to keep the situation closely monitored." She clasped her hand and said, "We're going to do everything possible to ensure that everything is okay."
Lena expressed her gratitude and she left. Stef sat on the bed next to Lena and pulled her into her arms as best she could. Gretchen glared at her with pure malevolence.
Lena pulled away and looked over at Gretchen. "I think you should get back to the house."
Gretchen was shocked, "What?!"
"Callie's alone with just Rich. She's had nothing but tons of changes in her life lately. If she wakes up and finds none of her Mommy's home she's going to really freak out. I don't want her to have to deal with anymore problems than what she already has."
Gretchen wanted to keep protesting but knew that Lena was making sense. "Fine. But, I'm not leaving until you get up to your room. Stefanie can leave though."
"Stef is staying here with me. Callie needs her Mommy though. She's never spent more than a few hours away from me before. You heard what the doctor said. There's nothing more that any of us can do but sit and wait."
"What do you want me to tell her about all of this?" Gretchen softened.
"Just tell her that I was sick and had to go to the hospital. We'll figure out something more when the time comes. And please, bring her first thing. I need to curl up with my Callie girl."
"Okay baby." Gretchen leaned down and kissed Lena for a long time on the lips. Her family followed suit and then they all left.
Lena was glad for the solitude even if it was short lived. The nurses came in and had her transferred. They did more tests, recorded more results and then finally, Stef and Lena were alone together.
"Do you need anything honey?" Stef asked.
"No. I'm good. I just… I need you here with me right now." Lena patted the side of the bed.
Stef climbed in beside her and took her into her arms.
"I'm so scared." Lena's voice cracked and soon tears were slipping down her face again.
"I know baby. I am too. But, I've got you." Stef rocked her until Lena fell asleep. After a while, Stef fell into a troubled fitful sleep as well.
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The next morning, Stef was the first to awake. She had spent the night tossing and turning in a small cramped space and as she awakened and stretched her body groaned its resistance.
Lena woke as soon as she felt a shift in the weight of the mattress and for a moment looked a little disoriented.
"Morning sleepyhead. How are ya?" Stef leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.
Lena just gave a small shrug. They stood there for a moment both thinking of all the things that had gone unsaid between them. They hadn't talked about Mike nor anything else of importance last night. Instead Stef just gave Lena as much comfort within her arms as she could.
For Lena, her silence was about the anger that she could feel building inside her and the injustice of it all. And the fear and uncertainty of what would become of her babies.
For Stef, it was the guilt and shame that she felt about and towards Mike. How could she have married a man who would do this to a woman? A pregnant woman at that. She was the reason that Mike had even been able to get anywhere near Lena. She had not told him who she was dating for fear he would do something stupid. She knew that allowing him to go to Callie's birthday was a risk but she had had her hands tied and didn't know what to do without upsetting Brandon more than he already was. She knew that Mike thought that he was doing everything he could to get his family back. She just never imagined he would ever do this.
The nurses interrupted again and once again both women were grateful for that. Once more, monitoring results were charted.
The nurse introduced herself and smiled at Lena. "I'm Angelique. I'll be with you all day today. Later, the doctor will come and see you during rounds. Have you looked at how the menu works? You pick up the phone and dial the line and leave a message and the kitchen will send whatever you requested up to you. You have no dietary restrictions so you're free to order whatever you'd like. Also, we have movies on demand so at least you'll have some entertainment. Is there anything I can do or get for you right now?"
Lena gave a small smile and shook her head. Just then, Gretchen and Callie showed up.
"Aah, your family. I'll give you all some privacy. " She said while patting Callie on the top of her head as she passed.
"You can leave now. Her family's here." Gretchen said looking pointedly at Stef.
Stef looked over at Lena who nodded back at her. "I need to spend some time with Callie. It's okay. Go home. Gretchen's here."
Stef looked uncertainly back and forth but figured a few hours wouldn't hurt anything. She really did want to get home, shower and change. "I'll just shower, change, and be back." She leaned over and gave Lena an ever longer kiss than the one that Gretchen had given her the night before.