Jesus woke up in the middle of the night when he heard a noise coming from down the stairs. He turned over looking at the clock which read 4:15 A.M. he laid back down brushing it of thinking that it was nothing to worry about. After a failed attempt of falling back to sleep, Jesus decided to get a glass of water. He quietly got out of bed and walked down stairs into the kitchen. He went over to the cupboard and grabbed his favorite cup. He filled his cup with water and went to the pantry to grab a snack. He sat down at the table with his water and crackers when he heard a noise coming from the living room. He knew that Callie slept in the living room so he decided to go investigate the noise.
Jesus quietly walked over to the living room where he saw Callie tossing and turning on the couch, whimpering. He knew all to well what was going on, Callie was having a nightmare. Mariana used to have nightmares every night when the twins first arrived at the Fosters home.
Jesus made his way into the living room and kneeled next to Callie gently shaking her shoulder.
"Callie, it's ok your just having a bad dream."
As soon as his hand came in contact with Callie's shoulder, she jerked away, cowering into the side of the couch and started breathing heavily.
Jesus tried one more time. "hey, Princess, everything is fine, shhh.. You're ok."
Callie flinched away violently. "Liam NO! Please no stop. Let me go! Stop it please."
"Callie, it's ok now. Liam can't hurt you, you're safe."
Callie jumped up and started breathing heavily. Jesus knew she was starting to hyperventilate and she was going to have a panic attack. He quickly got up and sat next to her rubbing her back but then realized that his actions were making it worse and scaring her as she jerked away sobbing. "No, don't touch me! Please, I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me."
Jesus got up and ran upstairs to get his moms. "Mom! Wake up, Callie had a nightmare and she is having a panic attack."
Steff and Lena got out of bed and ran downstairs. What they saw broke their hearts. Callie was sitting on the couch with her knees brought up to her chest, silently sobbing and shaking, struggling to breath. Steff sat down on the couch next to Callie gently placing her hand on Callie's knee
"No Liam please no."
"Callie sweetie Liam isn't here, your safe." Callie grabs her chest and starts coughing.
"Callie look at me, Callie sweets I need you to look at me."
Callie lookes over at steff shaking. Steff grabbed Callie's hand and put it against her chest. "Callie follow my breathing." Steff whispers soothing words into Callie's ear while getting her to calm down from her panic attack.
By now Callie's breathing has calmed down, but she is still sobbing and shaking. Steff pulls Callie into her side and lets he cry into her.
"Jesus go back on upstairs and try and get some sleep." Jesus wanted to stay and make sure Callie was ok, but he sighed and went up stairs to try and get some sleep, although he knew that after what had just happened he would not be able to fall asleep.
Jesus walked up stairs and as he walked past Mariana's room he noticed that her light was on. He walked into her room and saw her sitting up in bed staring at the wall in front of her.
"Mariana are you ok? What are you doing up?"
"I heard Callie and I feel bad about the way I have been treating her," Mariana says as a tear falls down her check.
Jesus walks over to her placing his hands on her knees "Mariana it's ok, you were just having a hard time adjusting to having a new kid in the house."
"Well if I was having a hard time adjusting how do you think Callie was feeling? She was probably scared and broken inside and I treated her like crap. I should have been nicer to her. She has been through a lot. even more than us, Jesus."
"I know Callie has had a rough life, but we can help her now, ok? We just need to be there for her and earn her trust."
"I don't think she is going to trust us that easy though. She seems so closed off, like she has built up a wall around her so that she does not get hurt anymore."
"I know she has been hurt a lot in her life, and it won't be easy for us to earn her trust, but that doesn't mean it's not possible."
"Ok, but how do we get her to trust us?"
"We just need to be their for her and be a little nicer to her."
Jesus gets up and sits next to Mariana on her bed. "Jesus?" "yeah?"
"Callie having a nightmare reminded me of when we first moved here. When I would have nightmares every night." "I know me too."
"Do you know what Callie's nightmares are about? Are her nightmares like the ones I used to have?"
"I'm not sure what they are about, they are about some guy named Liam. Probably one of her foster fathers. I don't know what he did, but I know that he hurt her, and I know that she is terrified of him."
More tears fell from Mariana's eyes. "Okay well I'm tired so I'm going to try to go back to sleep now."
Jesus said good night princesa as he kissed her head and left the room, closing the door behind him. Mariana wiped her eyes and laid down turning the light off. That night she fell asleep thinking about Callie and what she could do to help her.
Jesus went back to his bed room and walked over to Jude's bed to check on him. Jude was sound a sleep, so Jesus fixed his blanket, turned of the light, and fell asleep thinking about Callie.
"Callie, sweets, do you want to go back to sleep."
"I don't feel very good."
Lena and steff both looked at her, realizing for the first time how pail she looked
. "Do you want something to drink Callie"?
Callie lifted her head of steff's shoulder and jolted up running to the bathroom. She didn't have time to close the door before emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Steff ran into the bathroom after her, holding her hair and rubbing her back soothingly. "Oh, sweetie" Callie continued to dry heaving as tears started falling down her face.
When she was done, she once again curled up into Steff's side practically sitting in her lap.
"I'm sorry, please don't send me and Jude away. I'm so.. s. sorry, sorry, sorry" Callie sat in her lap repeating sorry over and over again.
"What Callie what are you talking about"?
"I'm sorry, I didnt mean to get sick. I'm sorry for all of the trouble I'm causing you."
"Callie, you and Jude will not be leaving anytime soon. Don't worry about it. It's not a problem at all."
"Really?"
"Yeah, baby, why do you think we would send you away for being sick?"
"Well, I usually hide it and I go on with my school and chores so that way, I don't get kicked out. I can handel getting kicked out but Jude deserves better then that."
"No, Callie, we are never going to kick you out, ok sweets? You deserve everything that Jude deserves. You are not worthless. You matter, and you are loved"
Callie closed her eyes and shook her head gently laying it back on Steff's shoulder. Steff lifted Callie and carried her into her and Lena's bed room and laid her on the bed. Lena came up to the room with a glass of water, a thermometer, and a bottle of Tylenol.
"Callie, sweetie, can you sit up for a minute to take some medicine?"
Callie sat up and grabbed her stomach in pain. Steff rubbed her back soothingly as Lena handed her two Tylanols. Callie took the medicine and laid back down on her side as Lena took her temperature.
"She is burning up! Her temperature is 102.8"
Callie was half asleep already as Lena and steff put a trash can next to the bed, took her hoodie off to cool her down, and laid down next to her, softly playing with her hair and rubbing her back.
Callie fell asleep getting the love and comfort that she was craving for so long. It had been so long since she had been held and comforted that she almost forgot what it felt like. Lying in bed with Lena and Steff she fell asleep, Steff's words running through her head.
"You deserve everything that Jude deserves. You are not worthless. You are wanted and you are loved. "