Thank you all so much for your positive response to this story. Hope you like this next chapter.


When Callie woke up about an hour later, her first thought was how quickly she could make it to the bathroom. She jumped out of bed, running toward the bathroom as fast as she could. She made it just in time to save herself from an accident. This time, however, she grabbed the trash can as soon as she sat down, just in case. She was glad she did when déjà vu struck and she was throwing up again.

She sat there for a few minutes, too exhausted to move. Her head hurt, her throat burned, her stomach felt like it was being shaken and twisted inside out, and her whole body ached. All she wanted to do was sleep, but her resistant body wouldn't even let her move from the bathroom.

Finally, her stomach calmed enough for her to move and after brushing her teeth, she half walked, half crawled back to bed.

She was glad they were living in this new house where Jude was safe and provided for and she didn't have to worry about him getting hurt because right then, she felt so awful, she doubted she could even help him if he needed her to. She was lying in bed, freezing cold and trying not to throw up again when Lena came in.

"How are you feeling?" she asked the sick teen, running a hand over her forehead.

"Not so great," Callie said, looking up at her.

"Can I get you anything?" Lena asked, brushing Callie's hair off her sticky forehead, "Some water or anything?"

"No thanks," Callie said, knowing even water would upset her stomach, "I'm fine."

"Callie," Lena said, "You know we want to take care of you and help you right?"

Callie nodded, having sensed that about this family from the minute they arrived.

"So you would tell me if I could help you?" Lena asked, rubbing the girl's back, noting she was soaked with sweat.

Callie nodded slightly, not wanting to set her unstable stomach off again.

"Alright," Lena said, getting up, "Try to get some rest."

Callie simply closed her eyes, feeling tears well up in them. No one had bothered to help her when she was sick since her mom. There had been one other family who had made her feel safe and she knew would have done just about anything fir them, but she and Jude had only been there for about a month because the woman's mother had become ill suddenly and they had moved out of the state, leaving Callie and Jude to find a new home. She knew this home was temporary too, but she still felt safe and secure here.

Just as she was starting to drift into some form of sleep, Lena came in with a bowl of water and a wash cloth.

"I'm gonna put this on your forehead," she explained, dipping the washcloth into the bowl, "We need to lower your fever and this usually works for that."

Callie nodded, rolling onto her back as Lena swept her bangs off her forehead, applying the cloth. It was cold and Callie shivered involuntarily.

"Chills?" Lena asked, noticing the shivering. "Yeah," Callie said, shivering a little more.

"I'm sorry," Lena said, stroking her hair, "I really do need to lower you temperature though."

Callie nodded. She had done the same thing to Jude when he was sick. Normally, when she had a fever, she would take a freezing bath to try to lower it. It usually helped and would allow her to go to school. However, deep down, she really was enjoying having Lena take care of her.

After a few minutes, Lena decided Callie's fever was down enough.

"Alright," she said, "I'm gonna let you rest. Stef is going to be home in about twenty minutes and when she get back, I'm gonna run to the store to get a few things. Do you need anything?"

Callie shook her head slightly. "Alright," Lena said, "I hope you feel better."

As she listened to Lena walk down the stairs, Callie felt her stomach flip again. She grabbed the trash can, throwing up into it as she ran to the bathroom. She then proceeded to be sick into the toilet, thankful she had pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail.

When she finished, she just sat on the floor, head resting on the toilet seat as she tried to find the energy to move back to her bed. After a few minutes and several failed attempts at getting back to bed, Callie grabbed her towel from her shower earlier, wadded it up and put it under her head, falling into a restless sleep. She awoke about twenty minutes later to someone shaking her shoulder.

"Wha…?" she said, shielding her eyes from the bright light.

"Hey," Stef said, putting a hand on Callie's forehead, "How are you doing? Lena told me you're pretty sick."

"I'm alright," Callie said, sitting up. Suddenly, her stomach rebelled again, sending her over the toilet bowl in a matter of seconds. Stef rubbed her back gently as Callie continued to be sick. Once she finished, Stef handed her a cup of water.

"Just swish and spit," she directed the teen who obeyed willingly.

"Would you like to go back to bed?" Stef asked, running her hand over the top of Callie's head.

"Yeah," Callie said, getting up slowly, Stef catching her as she stumbled and almost fell. The older woman helped her back to her bed, tucking her under the covers.

"Did Lena go to the store?" she asked, closing her eyes.

"Yes," Stef said, "She'll be back soon. Do you need something?"

Callie shook her head slightly. "I'll let you sleep," Stef said, pulling the covers up a bit more and rubbing Callie's back gently, "Just call if you need something. I'll just be down the hall."

Callie nodded, thinking about how much different this was from their last placement. In the last house, she slept a maximum of two hours every night because she was afraid of what would happen to Jude or herself if she slept more. She was constantly in fear, never wanting to let Jude out of her sight for more time than it took to use the bathroom.

She had gotten sick once while she had been there. It had been a bug similar to this one. She had forced herself to go to school, having to leave most of her classes to throw up. Shockingly, no one caught on. By the time she got home, she could barely stand up, yet she still had to help Jude with his homework and fix dinner before cleaning the house. She had been so sick that she had almost collapsed while cooking, yet her foster father didn't care. He forced her to eat all of her food before cleaning the house.

She had spent most of that night curled in a ball in the bathroom, trying desperately not to wake him as she threw up. Jude had helped her as best as he had known how, which she was grateful for. The next day, she could barely move, yet he forced her to go to school again.

When she got home, she found Jude sick as well. She managed to keep her foster father from beating him, but that was the night she was sent to the detention center for beating his car with a bat.

This house with the Fosters was warm and safe. Callie found herself trusting these people, something her hadn't done in a while. As she drifted off to sleep, she thought about how grateful she was to be safe.


What should happen next? Will this bug hit someone else? Is Callie alright? What do you want to happen? Let me know either in a review or PM. Thanks so so much.