Chapter 8

"Callie is going to be okay. She has no internal bleeding, which was our biggest concern. She does have several cracked ribs. One of them is puncturing her lung and it is making it very difficult for her to breathe. Dr. West is going to operate on that shortly." The nurse looked down at Callie's chart dreading what he had to say next. "We have also found a hematoma on Callie's brain. It isn't very big, but it is growing slowly. We will keep an eye on it. We will most likely not have to operate."

Lena looked from Stef to the nurse with confusion filling her face. "Hematoma? What is that?"

"That means that Callie's brain is bleeding. It's like a bruise. If it gets bigger, a neurosurgeon will be called in to operate. Your daughter is very lucky. Things could have been much worse." The nurse smiled sadly and walked away from Callie's mothers.

"Lucky? He thinks she is lucky? What a load of crap!" Stef fumed.

"Honey, he is right. She could have been so much worse off. We are lucky that we got to her in time. Please, just be thankful that our daughter is going to live. I know you're upset, but we have to keep a cool head right now, for Callie." Lena pulled Stef into a tight hug. Stef relaxed into her wife, letting a few tears escape. "Dr. West is coming." Lena whispered.

"Hello ladies. I am getting ready to operate on Callie's punctured lung. It should be a fairly quick and simple operation. Luckily, her rib didn't shatter, it was a clean break. I will be out in a few hours when to procedure is over. She is going to be fine." Dr. West didn't wait for a reply, she just turned at walked briskly to the operating room.

"We should go sit. Maybe we can call the kids at home." Lena grabbed Stef's hand to walk to the waiting room, but Stef wouldn't budge. "What is it honey?"

Stef held her tears back as best she could. "My baby... my baby is going into surgery. All I want is to go hold her, but I can't. Lena, what if something goes wrong? What if she... dies?"

"No, absolutely not! We cannot think like that, okay? Callie needs us to be strong for her. Let's go sit and wait."

"Uhm, I am going to go get us some coffees from the cafeteria. You stay and call the kids. I'll be right back." Stef leaned over to Lena and pecked her on the cheek. As she rounded the corner towards the cafeteria, she pulled out her phone and dialed Mike. "Come on Mike! Pick up the damn phone!"

"Hey, how is she?" Mike sounded exhausted, but also relieved.

"Better than they thought. They had to fix her lung, but she should be fine. We are waiting now for the doctor to finish. Mike, I need you to be honest with me here. What is Robert saying? Have they gotten anywhere with him, or Jill? What about Sophia? Is she protecting her parents?" Stef rambled off question after question.

"Slow down Stef. Robert is saying Callie wanted to come with him. He is saying that Callie told him you and Lena hurt her, not him. Jill is backing up his story, and Sophia shut down. She isn't saying anything at all. Don't worry, they won't get away with this."

"What a... never mind. I have to go. I told Lena I was getting us coffee ten minutes ago. Call me with any updates, okay?"

"Got it Stef. Tell Callie I say hello. I'll be out to visit in couple days if that's okay."

"Sure Mike. Thanks again, bye." Stef hung up her phone and walked back to get the coffees.

When she returned to her wife, she was on the phone talking to Jude.

"Callie is in surgery right now. They had to fix her lung. No, she is not going to die." Lena paused for a minute and Stef could hear her son shouting on the other end. "Sweetie, calm down. Your sister is going to be fine. She is just going to be hurting for awhile." Another pause. "Jude, watch your language. I understand that you're angry but that is no excuse to talk like that. Put Brandon on please." Lena handed the phone to Stef. "I have to go to the restroom. Talk to B."

"Hey B. How is everyone doing?" Stef sat in the chair, resting her head in her hand.

"Jude is really worked up. He refuses to leave Callie's bed. Mariana is with him now. Do you and mama want some extra clothes when we come out?"

"Yes, that would be lovely. Bring enough for a few days. I'm not sure how long Callie is going to need to be here. Bring some stuff for her too. Books, pictures, homework. She is going to be bored out of her brains. And, B, have Mariana pick out our outfits. No offense, I mean..." Stef joked with her son, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, I don't blame you. You would end up looking homeless if I picked it out." Brandon gave a small laugh, but it soon disappeared. "Mom? Please tell me Callie is going to make it. I mean, first you get shot, then mama lost Frankie. I just... we just can't handle anymore bad stuff."

"Don't worry baby. Callie is going to pull through, it's just going to take her some time. I need to go now. I'll see you soon B. I love you. Tell your brothers and sister that we love and miss them too."

"I will. Bye mom, I love you too.

"Mariana, Jude, Jesus! Let's go! It's almost midnight. I wanted to leave an hour ago!" Brandon yelled up the stairs to his siblings, angry that they were so late.

"It's Mariana and Jude's fault dude. Mariana won't stop fixing her make-up and Jude won't get out of Callie's bed. I was just waiting for you to say we were leaving, so don't get all pissy with me." Jesus walked into the kitchen and packed some snacks for the road.

"Whatever. I'll just get them myself." Brandon stomped up the stairs and decided to get Mariana first. "Hey, we need to go! You're just going to be sleeping in the car anyway so don't worry about how you look."

"I don't want to look gross when I walk into the hospital. You never know who you are going to run into, Brandon." Mariana smirked at her brother.

"Well, you look good... or whatever. Just go downstairs and wait for us okay? We really need to get going." Brandon ushered Mariana out of the bathroom and headed for his sister's room. He found Jude asleep on Callie's bed, tucked in under the covers. Brandon smiled at the site. "Jude, buddy, we need to go now. We are going to go see Callie and moms now."

Jude rolled over and looked at his older brother with sad eyes. "I'm scared. I know that moms say she is going to be okay, but what if something goes wrong?" Jude sat up and put his head in his hands. "Nothing ever goes right for her." He muttered.

"Well, I can't promise you that nothing is going to go wrong. Stuff like that just... happens. But we need to go see her. I'm sure she just wants to see you and make sure you are going to be okay. Did you pack a bag? We are going to be there for a few days."

"Jesus packed one for me. I need to go to the bathroom, I'll be down in a minute." Jude crawled out of the bed and stumbled into the bathroom.

Brandon walked quickly to the kitchen to find his brother and sister at the table, waiting patiently. "Can you guys do me a favor? Keep Jude occupied during the ride. I don't want him mulling over everything for six hours. It will drive him insane."

"Sure. Mariana, you can have the front. I'll sit in the back with Jude." Jesus said to his sister.

"Thanks Jesus. I put all of our stuff in the car, so we are ready to go." Mariana was more than ready to go. She needed to be with her sister.

"I'm ready! Can we bring some snacks?" Jude bounded down the stairs.

"I already packed some! We're ready so let's hit the road!" Jesus opened the door, only to be met with rain pelting him. "What the! Of course it decides to storm tonight!"

"Well, this is going to be a fun drive!" Brandon said sarcastically.

Four hours later Callie was out of surgery. Dr. West walked quickly down the corridor to her patient's nervous mothers. "Callie did great. She is heading up to recovery now. I'll take you to see her if you would like."

"Yes, please do!" Stef stood, taking Lena's hand. All three women walked quickly down the hall, but stopped before entering Callie's room.

"I'm going to warn you before you go in: Callie looks really bad. She is bruised and cut up. Everything will heal, it will just take some time. Just... prepare yourselves. It's always scary to see one of your children in such bad condition.

"Okay. Can we see her now?" Lena squeezed Stef's hand because she knew horrible thoughts were running through her wife's mind.

Dr. West opened the door to reveal a girl that looked nothing like Stef and Lena's lively daughter. Callie looked small and weak. Her skin was pale, her eyes sunken in, and her face was more blue and black than anything else.

"Oh Callie! We're here baby. Don't worry. Your mommies are here love." Stef ran to her daughter's bed side and gently grabbed her hand.

"She will be waking up any time now. Don't be afraid to page if you need anything." Dr. West hung Callie's chart on the end of her bed and shut the door behind her as she walked out of the room. A nurse walked in almost immediately after the doctor left.

"I'm sorry, I just need to look at her levels really quick. And I'm sorry we had to put her in the pediatric wing. There was a train wreck today so the general wing is full. If a spot opens, we will move her so she is more comfortable." The nurse checked Callie's levels and walked out.

"Hmm, I think Callie would love the butterflies and princesses on her walls, don't you?" Stef smirked at her wife, who smiled back.

"Oh yes! Callie is definitely our girly girl."

"I think you are mistaking me for Mariana." Callie said weakly as she smiled at her mothers.

"Callie! You're awake. How are you feeling? Do you need anything? I can get you some water. Are you IVs okay? I can call the nurse and have her readjust them." Stef rambled off questions, trying to find the right thing to say.

Callie smiled but began to cry. "Everything hurts. My head is pounding and I feel like someone dropped a boulder on my ribs. Please, make it stop mommy. I just want it to stop." Callie whimpered as her mothers took her hands.

"I will go get the doctor to see if she will raise your medication. I'm so happy you are okay sweetie. I'll be right back." Lena leaned down and kissed her daughter on top of her head. As she did so, Callie winced.

Once Lena was out of the room, Callie looked up at Stef and started crying again. "What happened? Why am I in the hospital? Was I in a car accident?"

Stef stared dumbfounded at her daughter, not knowing how to answer her questions. "What is the last thing you remember?" She asked inquisitively.

"I remember talking to you this morning. After that... nothing." Callie began to shake. "Why can't I remember? What happened to me?"

Stef sat on the edge of Callie's bed and sandwiched one of her daughter's hands in between her own. "This is going to be hard for you to hear, so if you want me to stop, just tell me. Robert texted you and told you that Sophia was talking about killing herself again. He tricked you into coming with you to see her at the hospital, but everything was a lie. He... he kidnapped you and was going to force you to live with him in the mountains. I don't know what happened while you were there, but he did... beat you." Callie gasped and began to sob at the words her mother was speaking. "I'm so sorry Callie. I know this isn't who you wanted him to be, but don't you worry. We are going to put his ass in prison for a long time."

"Why? Why would he do this? I wasn't going to cut him out of my life! I was still going to talk to him and Sophia! I can't believe this!"

Stef climbed into the bed next to Callie and wrapped her into her arms. "I know baby, I know." Stef hummed to Callie trying to calm her sobs. Eventually Callie's breaths evened out and she fell asleep cuddled up to her mom.

Twenty minutes later Lena returned with Dr. West.

"I have raised her pain medication some. I don't want to raise it too high because it is easily addictive. I see she has fallen asleep, which is good she needs to rest a lot to heal quickly. If she wakes and is still in a considerable amount of pain, call me back in and I will see what I can do. I assume one or both of you will be staying?"

"Yes, Stef is staying. I am going to go check into a hotel." Lena answered quickly.

"Okay, well then I will have a bed set up for you shortly. Do you have any questions?"

"Callie can't remember anything. What's wrong with her? Is it the brain bleed?" Stef asked worriedly.

"No no. This is a common reaction after a traumatic injury. This is Callie's brain trying to protect her from what just happened. Once she is healed a little more she should start to remember what happened exactly." Dr. West smiled at Stef and Lena trying to reassure them that their daughter would be fine.

"Okay, thank you." Stef returned Dr. West's smile and waited for her to leave before she spoke to Lena. "Are you sure you don't want to stay too? We could wait to check in until tomorrow."

"No, I want to get settled before the kids get here. Plus, I don't want to overwhelm Callie if she wakes up again tonight. It would probably be better if you were just here with her. Actually, I'm going to go now. Call me if anything happens okay?" Lena leaned over to her wife and kissed her quickly on the cheek. She moved to the other side of the bed so she could reach Callie. "Mama loves you baby. Stay strong." Lena planted a kiss on Callie's head and turned before Stef could see her crying. Lena didn't want to leave, but she needed too. She couldn't stand looking at Callie, knowing that if she had just went with her daughter nothing would have happened.