Lena

All her fault?

"Callie…"

"Ms. Jacob?"

I sit up as a woman walks into the room, a nurse. Callie remains curled up on her side but I see her trying to wipe away any evidence that she had been crying. The nurse sees me and raises an eyebrow, "Oh, you must be Callie's foster mother. We've notified her social worker of the situation.

My heart skips a beat, "W-what?"

The nurse waves her hand, "Nothing to worry about, just standard procedure for foster children. I'd like to discuss Callie's injuries with you. She has a concussion from when her head collided with the dashboard so we gave her some acetaminophen for the pain. We'll be monitoring her for the night. Callie also sprained her wrist. She has some scrapes and bruises—the most serious being the cut on her head but we took care of that. Like I mentioned before, we'd like to monitor her overnight because of the concussion but I don't see any reason why she can't go home tomorrow afternoon."

I let out a relieved breath, "Thank you, so much." The nurse nods and leaves the room. I look down at Callie who looks so small curled up on the bed. I put my hand on her back and as expected she flinches.

"I need to go check on your brothers and sister. Are you sure you don't want to see them?"

Callie nods weakly. I don't want to push her after what she's gone through and decide to let it be for now. "Okay," I say, "That's okay. I'll be back later on to check on you." I bend down to kiss her cheek and she shrinks away, "I love you, Cal."

Silence.

I walk out of the room and towards the reception area. I don't understand why she is so adamant about distancing herself from myself and the rest of the kids. I wish I knew what was going through her mind. And what was she apologizing for?

The second I step into the waiting room, all of the kids shoot to their feet.

"Are they okay?" Jesus asks immediately.

I nod and everyone visibly relaxes, "The worst of Callie's injuries are a sprained wrist and a concussion. They're keeping her overnight but she should be home by tomorrow afternoon." Now comes the tough part, "Mom has it a little worse because the car hit her side. She has some internal bleeding and her lung collapsed so she's going to have surgery in a few hours. The doctor just wants to make sure she's stable before taking her in. She should be just fine after that." I assure them.

"Can we see them?" Mariana asks in a small voice, her brown eyes wet with unshed tears.

I nod, "Mom can only have two people in her room so I'll take you guys one by one."

"What about Callie?" Jude asks, "Can we see her?"

I grimace, "Um, Callie isn't really up for visitors right now." Jude visibly deflates, "She's just tired and uncomfortable. I'm sure she'll want to see you guys soon." He nods, but I can tell he isn't happy about it.

"Can we see mom at least?" Brandon asks quietly.

I nod and take his hand, "Yes. I'll take you now. Some of you will have to wait in the hallway, okay? We'll take turns."

Everyone nods or mumbles—Mariana stands between Jesus and Jude. She's holding each of their hands desperately. Jesus looks mad and Jude looks so small. They shouldn't have to go through this again; we've barely just recovered from Stef getting shot and now we're basically back in the same situation.

I grip Brandon's hand tightly in my own, mostly for my own sake than for his. He squeezes my hand in response and smiles at me weakly. I give a small smile in return and lead the way to the ICU.


Callie

I need to get out of here.

The nurse already talked to Bill. It's only a matter of time before he talks to Lena and I get sent away. I sit up and immediately drop my head into my hands. The nurse gave me some medication but I still have a killer headache. Once everything stops spinning, I swing my legs over the side of the bed and place my feet on the ground. My legs won't seem to stop shaking. I use the bed as support and slowly stand up.

The entire room rocks.

I close my eyes for a moment and just try to concentrate on remaining upright. When I don't think I'm going to fall over anymore, I slowly make my way over to the wall opposite the bed. My shoes and jacket are there. I shove my feet in and don't bother to tie the laces because I'm too tired. I pull my jacket on.

I need to get out of here.

I walk to the door and take a deep breath before peeking out into the hallway. There are a few nurses and patients, but no one I recognize as having seen me earlier. I look down at my clothes. They're a little crumpled and there are a few bloodstains. I zip up my jacket to hide them. I spot an Exit sign near the end of the hallway and I know that's how I'll get out.

I just need to get to the house, grab a few things, and then I'll be on my way.

I pause and collect myself for a minute before walking into the hallway and straight for the exit. I walk as fast as I can considering how dizzy and sore I am. I try to appear as someone who isn't a patient.

"Hey!"

I continue to walk towards the exit, ignoring the call from behind me even though a gnawing feeling in my stomach tells me they're talking to me.

"Ms. Jacob!"

I pick up the pace even though my entire body protests it. I need to get out of here; I need to.

"Ms. Jacob, stop!"

I feel someone grab my upper arm and I try to pull away but I'm not exactly at my strongest, "Get off of me!" I recognize the woman as one of the nurses who treated me earlier.

"You can't leave the hospital. You need to go back to your room."

I pull at her wrist and try to tug my arm away, "Get off!"

"Callie…"

"No!"

I can tell the nurse is getting frustrated. There are a couple of nurses in the vicinity who have stopped and one nurse in particular is standing only a few feet away. He grabs something off a cart and walks towards us.

He has a syringe.

"No! No!" I scream, trying desperately to get away. I don't want to hurt the nurse, but I don't want whatever's in that needle and I'll do everything to make sure I don't get injected, "Get away from me!"

The nurse who's holding me turns around to see what I'm looking at and shakes her head, "We can't sedate her; she has a concussion." The nurse with the syringe nods and puts it back. I relax a little, but I'm still trying to get away.

"Would you like me to go get your mom?" the woman nurse asks sympathetically.

I still, "Stef?"

She shakes her head apologetically, "No, your mama. If you come back to your room, she can take you to see your mom before her surgery."

I bite my lip. I want to make sure Stef is okay, but I don't want to see Lena. She must have realized by now. My concern out weighs my fear and I look the nurse in the eyes, "I want to see Stef."

She nods, "Okay. Let's go back to your room and we can make that happen." She loosens her grip on my arm and waits for me to make a move. I take a step in the direction of my room and begin to walk. The nurse lets go of my arm and walks besides me.

She tenderly rubs my back, "Good girl."


Callie

Ouch.

I blink. At first all I see is black. I blink again. My face feels wet. I think it's water. I try to move my hand to wipe it off, but I can't. It hurts too much.

What happened?

I try to move and I find that I can't. I look down and see that I'm strapped in by my seatbelt. Wait, seatbelt…?

Stef!

I turn to look at her and she's unconscious. Her face is red and slick with blood. Oh God. I press the button on my seatbelt but it's jammed. I begin to tug with my good hand. It takes about a minute but I finally get it free. I push the seatbelt off and scoot closer to Stef.

"Stef," I say, and my voice comes out in no more than a whisper. I swallow hard and try again, but louder, "Stef, wake up."

She's not moving.

I reach out my hand and rest it gently on her shoulder, "Stef." Knowing she's not going to wake up any time soon, I figure my best bet is to get some help. What happened to the car that hit us? Are the people in there okay?

I pull on the door handle but it won't budge. I push against the door with all my weight but I'm not making much headway. All of a sudden, different colored lights invade my vision and I have to squint.

Red and blue and white.

I hear the blares of sirens and the engines of trucks. There's a knocking at the window and I startle. There's a firefighter right outside my window.

"Can you get out?" he asks in a loud voice so that I can hear through the glass. I shake my head, "Don't worry. We're going to help you."

"My mom," I tell him frantically, "She's not moving. You have to get her out. "

He nods, "We will, don't you worry." He moves away from the window and I vaguely hear him barking out orders. I scoot closer to Stef and put my hand on her cheek.

"It's going to be okay," I whisper to her, "We're getting some help." I rest lean my forehead on her shoulder and let my eyes slip closed. Whatever energy I had upon waking up has been spent up and I'm finding it hard to stay awake.

"Hold on, Mom."

Happy Thanksgiving guys! It's good to be home and to sleep in and to have some alone time. Sorry I can't update as often but finals are upon us. Don't worry, soon I'll be off from school for a month and then I can write as much as I want!

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and your support. They make me so happy :) If it's snowing by you stay warm!

Until next time,

-Liv