Chapter 7

The ride to the hospital was only fifteen minutes, but to Stef it lasted an eternity. Once the ambulance came to a halt, Stef leaped out followed by two EMTs who pulled an unconscious Callie out.

"We called ahead. We came from Flagstaff. She needs help immediately." The female paramedic ran along side Callie on the stretcher with a team of doctors following behind.

"Get her into trauma room two. Dammit! I lost her heartbeat. PADDLES!" The doctor quickly cut Callie's shirt away from her chest and shocked her.

"Callie! Don't you dare give up on me! Again. Clear!" The doctor pushed medicine through an IV a nurse placed.

Stef maneuvered her way through a swarm of medical personnel to be by her daughter's side. "Callie, love, I need you to come back to me. Please, I'm not ready for you to go. Please, Callie, please!" Stef was crying freely, something she rarely did, but she couldn't help herself.

"We have a rhythm. It's weak, but it's definitely there. Okay, we need to get her to CT." The doctor turned her attention to Stef. "I'm pretty sure she has internal bleeding. Her abdomen is very rigid and distended. It is beginning to become discolored which is another indicator of internal injury. What happened to her? Any details would be helpful."

"Stef! Where is she? Is she okay? What's happening?" Lena came flying through the ER doors.

"They just took her to get some scans. Dr. West just asked what happened to her." Stef hugged her wife. "Sorry, this is my wife, Lena. We are adopting Callie. Her biological father kidnapped her today and from what we can tell he beat the hell out of her."

"Okay, did Callie say anything to you when you found her?" Dr. West questioned.

Lena smirked as she looked at her wife. "Yes, uh... she said 'Robert... bastard'."

"Well it is good to see that she still has a sense of humor. I'm glad to hear that she was talking, that is a very good sign." The doctor's pager began to beep. "Callie's scans are ready. I am going to go review them. I will have a nurse come update you. Do I have your permission to operate if necessary? You will need to sign some forms, but just in case, may I? Also, what is your daughter's blood type?"

"Yes, of course you can operate. And I don't know her blood type. She has only been with us for eight months. Her medical records were lost years ago." Stef shook her head, mad at herself for knowing so little about her daughter.

"Not a problem. A nurse will be out shortly to update you." And with that, the doctor turned and walked away.

"I'm going to fill out the forms. Will you call the kids?" Stef asked her wife.

"Sure. What do I tell them?"

"I'm not sure... the truth?" Stef smiled weakly.

Lena returned the smile. "I'll figure something out." She pulled out her phone and slowly dialed, dreading the conversation she was about to have. The phone rang several times but eventually Mariana picked up.

"Hello?" Lena could tell he daughter had been crying.

"Hey baby, its mama. Is everyone home? Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're all here. What's going on? Is Callie okay?" Mariana became more and more worried with each passing minute.

"Um, no. She isn't okay." Lena sighed and mentally prepared herself. "Robert tricked her into coming with him to see Sophia. He told her that Sophia was threatening to kill herself. Callie thought she was going to see her sister in the hospital, but it was a lie. He kidnapped Callie. He was trying to force her to live with him. I'm not sure what made him do it, other than him being insane, but he beat her up pretty good. We are at the hospital now. Mom and I are waiting to get an update from the nurse. We will be staying the night here. Brandon is in charge, do you hear me? You can skip school tomorrow and drive up here if you want."

"Oh my God! What a bastard! Sorry. I didn't mean that. Actually, I did! He's such a bastard. We will definitely be up there tomorrow. What town are you in? And how do we explain this to Jude?" Mariana questioned her mother. Her heart shattered into a million pieces for her sister.

"We are in Flagstaff. And don't give Jude any details. Just tell him she was hurt. I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow sweetie. Be careful tomorrow. Have B call us later tonight."

"I will. I love you. Bye mama."

Mariana hung up the phone and sunk to the floor.

"Hey, are you okay?" Brandon entered the kitchen and sat next to his sister.

"Robert kidnapped Callie and beat her up. Moms have her now at the hospital. They said you are in charge and we can skip school tomorrow to go up there. They're in Flagstaff. Can we go? Please, Brandon?" Mariana's eyes filled with tears as she pleaded with Brandon.

"Flagstaff? That's like... six hours away. Damn... Yes, of course we will go. Let's leave late tonight, like eleven. We will get there early tomorrow." Brandon leaned over to Mariana and hugged her tightly.

"Thanks. Moms want you to call them tonight. I need to go find Jude and try to gently explain this to him. He is going to be so worried." Mariana got up slowly to go find her little brother.

Jude was in his room, but on Jesus' bed. Jesus was sitting with him, his arms around his younger brother. Mariana smiled, but it quickly disappeared when she saw her brothers crying.

"Hey guys." Mariana was crying now too. She joined them on the bed and sat on Jude's other side. "Moms called a couple minutes ago. They are in Flagstaff with Callie. She got hurt. But they said we can go see her tomorrow. B wants to leave at eleven tonight so we can get there early tomorrow morning. You okay buddy?" Mariana wiped a tear off of Jude's cheek, and then Jesus'.

"How did she get hurt? Was it Robert?" Jude was angry, and rightfully so.

"I'm not sure. Moms didn't give me any details. You should pack a bag in case we stay for a couple days. And maybe you could bring some stuff for Callie. Maybe some books and magazines?"

"Okay, I'll go do that." Jude climbed off the bed and disappeared into his sister's room.

"Jesus, she is in bad shape. Robert beat the crap out of her. But, don't tell Jude. Moms don't want him panicked."

"I knew it. I'm gonna give that creep a piece of my mind. And by mind, I mean fist. Let's see how he likes it." Jesus was fuming. No one messed with his family.

"Cool it. I need to go pack some stuff and get clothes for moms. Be ready to go, we are leaving soon.

Jesus nodded, but he was secretly planning his revenge on his sister's attacker.

"I told you already, I don't know her blood type! I don't know her medical history! She has only been with us for a little while. Her records got lost long before she came to us!" Stef was screaming at the receptionist.

"Some mother you are." The nurse muttered.

"Excuse me?! What in the hell did you just say to me? I outta..." Stef snatched the forms off the counter and stormed to the waiting room. "Lena, I am going to kill that woman. She just accused me of being a bad mother for not knowing Callie's medical history. How could we know? Lena?" Stef looked at her wife who was staring off into space.

"I should have gone with her. I should have drove her myself. This is all my fault." Lena kept repeating the same three sentences over and over.

"No, Lena. Don't do this to yourself. Listen, you are not to blame. Robert is the one who did something wrong, not you, love! Please believe me Lena."

Lena turned to her wife with tears pouring out of her eyes. "I'm so sorry Stef. I'm so sorry." Lena collapsed into Stef, sobbing uncontrollably. Stef took her wife in her arms and rocked her like she rocked her children.

"It's okay. I'm not mad. I promise." Stef stroked Lena's hair until her sobs disolved to sniffles.

"Adams-Foster?" A young nurse walked out of a set of double doors, calling their name.

"That's us." Stef and Lena shot up and ran to the nurse. "How is she? How is our daughter?"