A/N: Italics indicate a flashback.

Stef

I think I'm dying.

Everything hurts. It's so loud. Why is it so loud? I think those are sirens. I groan.

"Ma'am? Ma'am can you hear me?"

I crack my eyes open a little bit. I see lights that alternate between red and blue. I see a firefighter's face as he continues to talk to me. I open my mouth to speak to him but I can't seem to find the words.

"We're going to get you out," the firefighter continues, "Don't you worry." He steps away from me and begins barking out orders. I try to figure out what's going on. I'm in my car. Why? I try to think about what happened but I'm in so much pain. I close my eyes for a moment and try to gather my thoughts. I open them once again and my eyes roam the car. I see something on the floor. It's gold and shiny and long.

Colleen's necklace.

"Okay, Ma'am," the firefighter is back now, "We have a stretcher ready for you—"

"Take." I whisper, not able to form a full sentence.

"Excuse me?"

Painful as it is, I lift my hand and weakly point my finger at the necklace, "Special. Safe."

The firefighter goes to the other side of the car and picks up the necklace, "I've got it Ma'am. I'm going to give it to the paramedic, alright? He'll hold on to it for you."

I nod my thanks before dozing off.

The kids, minus Callie, are still hanging out in my room. Lena has been gone for quite some time now and I'm wondering what happened to her.

"Any idea where Mama is?" I ask the kids, trying to go for a casual tone.

Mariana takes out her phone, "I'll text her."

"Dad said he'll stop by later on today," Brandon tells me, "I've been keeping him updated."

I nod, "Thank you. You wouldn't know if Lena happened to call Grandma, would you?"

Brandon shakes his head, "I don't think so."

I let out a sigh of relief, "Good." The last thing I need is her fretting over me.

"Mama texted be back," Mariana tells me, reading from her phone, "She said she's with Callie. She's looking for her necklace."

Jude's face is pulled into a troubled expression, "She lost out mom's necklace?" He asks worriedly.

The necklace…

"I know where it is," I say slowly, even though I'm not entirely sure.

Jude perks up, "You do?"

I nod lightly, "I think…a firefighter picked it up for me. It was on the floor of the car. He said he would give it to the paramedic for safe-keeping." I look at Mariana, "Can you text mama and tell her that? And tell her to bring Callie to my room, please."

Mariana's fingers are already flying over the screen, "Got it."

"Callie is leaving today," Jesus muses aloud, "Any idea when you're leaving?"

I sigh, "Hopefully in a few days. I'm so ready to go home."

Callie

How could I be so careless to lose my Mom's necklace again?

Why didn't I notice last night? Or when I took a shower? I've worn it everyday for the past six years and now…I have no clue where it is. Lena and I already went to the nurses' station and they weren't any help. There are only so many people you can ask.

We're at a dead end.

"I'm so sorry, Honey," Lena says apologetically, and I can tell she truly feels bad, "We'll keep looking. I promise." I nod silently. It's not her fault the necklace is gone.

It's mine.

"Can I go home now?" I plead quietly, "I'm tired." It's the truth. My muscles are beginning to protest my moving around so much. I just want to lie down in my bed. Lena doesn't answer me so I look at her and see she's looking at her phone. Suddenly a smile spreads over her face and she clutches the phone to her chest as if it were a precious diamond.

"Good news!" she tells me excitedly, "Mom knows where your necklace is."

My eyes widen, "Really? Where?"

"Let's go to her room and talk to her," Lena suggests, arm looped through mine as she leads me down the hall. But before we can get too far, I dig my heels and force her to stop. She turns and gives me a questioning look.

"Callie?"

I look down at my shoes, "I know where the necklace is. Can I just go home?"

Lena raises an eyebrow and then her expression softens, "Callie, Mom really wants to see you. She's been having your siblings text me non-stop to have me send you her way. She just wants to know that you're alright."

"Didn't you tell her?" I ask, "Tell her I'm okay."

Lena shakes her head, "That isn't enough. She wants to actually see you. Trust me, there's no getting out of this." I try to think of something else to argue, but my mind draws a blank.

Lena puts her hand on my shoulder, "Honey, what is it?"

I lift my eyes to meet hers and in as convincing a voice I can manage I say, "I don't want to see Stef."

"Callie—"

"Callie Jacob?"

We turn around and see two police officers in uniform. The woman who called me has dark hair pulled into a bun and tan skin. The man, standing a little ways behind her, has pale skin and strawberry blonde hair cropped short. I take a step back into Lena and she takes a step in front of me.

"I'm her mother," she introduces herself and my heart warms somewhat, "Can I help you?"

"I'm Officer DiLorenzo and this is my partner Officer O' Leary," the woman introduces herself, shaking Lena's hand, "We need to interview Callie about the car accident she was in last night."

Lena glances at the hallway leading to Stef's room and then back to the officers, "Right now?"

"The sooner the better, Ma'am." O'Leary replies.

"Okay," she acquiesces with a reluctant lilt to her voice, "Alright. Let's find somewhere to do this."

"What do you remember from the night of the accident?"

We're sitting in an empty conference room. Lena and I are on one side and the officers are on the other. Lena's hand holds mine underneath the table. She squeezes it to remind me she's there.

"We were on our way back from the pharmacy," I begin, speaking slowly so that they can copy down what I say, "I had to print a project and Stef was picking up some things. When we got back into the car it had begun raining. Stef started driving home. We were talking…" I take a deep breath, "The car got really bright. The headlights from the other car, I guess? I saw it coming and I told Stef to look out, but it was too late. He hit us." I shake my head, "I woke up and Stef was unconscious. She was bleeding. Everything hurt. A firefighter told me he was going to help us. And then I woke in the hospital."

O'Leary is scribbling onto a notepad and DiLorenzo nods sympathetically, "Alright, Callie. And do you remember if you had the right of way?"

"Yeah," I answer, "The light was green."

"Did you see the other driver at all that night?"

I shake my head.

Lena rubs my back, "Is she done?"

DiLorenzo glances at her partner he gives her an almost imperceptible nod. She turns back to us, "Yes, that's all. Thank you very much. We just need to talk to Officer Foster and we'll be on our way."

"Wait," I interject before they can leave, "The man who hit us? Does he have a family?"

DiLorenzo nods sadly, "He has a wife and son." She stands up along with her partner, "Please excuse us." They stalk off towards the hallway.

That poor kid.

"Callie," Lena begins in a cautious tone, "Why don't you want to see Stef?"

I lower my gaze and remain silent.

"Because you were fighting tooth and nail to see her last night," Lena continues, undeterred by my lack of response, "And this morning, too. What happened?"

I sigh dejectedly, "Please, Lena. I want to go home. Let me go home."

"Not until you see Mom," she answers firmly.

"She's not my mom!" I finally snap. I roughly push back from the table and stand up. The legs of my chair screech on the floor. My body burns in pain with the sudden movements, "I want to go home." I repeat, "Now."

Lena looks like the picture definition of calm. Her hands are folded on the table and her legs are crossed at the ankle. Her eyes show no sign of malice or annoyance at my words or actions.

"You need to calm down," she requests evenly, her eyes never leaving me, "And then we'll talk."

I plop back down into my chair, suddenly exhausted. I rest my head in my hands and close my eyes. My eyes are stinging and it feels as though there's a rock lodged in my throat.

"We may not be your moms on paper," Lena speaks lightly, "But we're your mothers in every sense of the word. You already lost a mom, Colleen and yesterday you thought you were going to lose another. But you didn't. Stef is alive. Her eyes are open and she's breathing. She woke up. And you don't know what to do with yourself because last time, your mom didn't wake up."

I take a shuddering breath as more tears fill my eyes.

"I'm so sorry you lost your mommy," Lena continues, "Our intention is not to replace her. It's to carry on what she started—raising two beautiful, amazing kids. I know you don't understand why you and Stef survived while your mom had to die. It doesn't make sense. It's not fair. But avoiding Stef isn't going to change anything; it's not going to bring your mom back."

I begin to sob, unable to hold it in any longer. I drop my head to the table, bury it in the nest of my arms and cry like the day I found out my mom died. Lena's right: it's not fair. She was a good person. She didn't do anything wrong but she had to die. I was alone. I was scared and hurt and angry, but I had to suck it up and move on because Jude needed me and I couldn't let him down.

I lift my head, barely able to make out Lena with all the tears in my eyes, "Lena," I choke out, "I can't…I want…" I can't even get the words out. She gathers me into her arms and I melt into her embrace. I press my face into the curvature of her neck and continue to cry.

"I know, Baby," she soothes as she holds me to her, "I know what you want and what you need. I'm your Mama, Callie."

"I want my mom," I tell her, "Stef. I want to see my mom."

I feel Lena's hand come up to hold my head, "Okay, honey. Let's go see Mom."

So Callie is FINALLY going to see Stef. She's going through a bout of survivor's guilt, poor thing. I need to go study for my skeleton quiz now. I don't need to know all 206 bones—just the major ones. I'm going to ace it (I hope)!

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Happy Mardis Gras and Lunar New Year!

-Liv