"That's not even half honey." Stef said as she pushed Callie's lunch tray closer to her. "Have a few more bites." She encouraged.

"No, I don't want it." Callie groaned in a bad mood as she pushed it away again.

"Love, you need to eat. You're on so many medications right now." Stef reminded her gently.

"I don't want to." Callie said, annoyed. "Stop forcing me." She had never argued like this before but she was just so frustrated with being stuck in bed all day for weeks and she felt safe enough with Stef to push a little.

Stef remained calm as she took a step back but picked up a carrot stick off of Callie's tray and handed it to her. "Go on, it's not much." She encouraged while trying not to crowd Callie.

But Callie was too worked up and irritable to listen. She pushed Stef's hand away, knocking the carrot out of her hand. "God, just stop okay. You're not my mom so quit acting like it." She hissed before falling back against the bed and closing her eyes, letting Stef know that this conversation was over.

Stef sighed as she watched Callie for a few moments before quietly heading back to her own room, her own lunch left half untouched on a table in Callie's room where she ate most of her meals.

Just as Stef entered her own room she turned once again to find Callie reaching for the book beside her bed. She smiled to herself, glad that at least Lena's book was there to keep her company. She knew Lena had chosen that book for a reason and she honestly couldn't wait for Callie to get to the parts that could so easily have been about her.


"Clif-Bars?" Lena asked in surprised as she walked towards her car with her phone trapped between her shoulder and her ear, one hand carrying her purse and a file and the other trying frantically to dig out her car keys from her bag.

"Callie." Stef explained it all in that one name.

"Okay." Lena smiled as she unlocked the car and dumped the stuff onto the seat. "I'll pick up a couple of boxes on the way."

"Thanks love." Stef smiled, leaning back in bed and adjusting the pillows as she waited for Lena. "What about the paperwork?" She questioned.

"I have it with me right now." Lena said. "We have quite a few things to go over."

Stef frowned. "I hate legal work." She groaned but then turned towards Callie's room again, remembering why they were doing this in the first place.

"Really, I always find it a joy." Lena said sarcastically, navigating through the cluster of students leaving the parking lot.

"Very funny." Stef groaned back, though the truth was she couldn't wait to see her wife. She missed her and longed to hold her and kiss her again. "Just get her soon okay." She said, waiting impatiently for the twenty or so minutes it would take Lena to stop at the store and then come to the hospital.


Stef hung up and then looked back towards Callie who was still engrossed in the book. She'd been watching Callie on and off all afternoon. At first she'd thought that Callie was only pretending to read to avoid her but when a nurse dropped a file in the hallway and Callie still didn't look up at the sound she knew the girl was hooked.

With a sigh Stef decided to try and make amends. She'd gotten used to spending the days with Callie and this afternoon she'd been unbelievably bored. She had plenty to do but the thought that the girl was annoyed and frustrated make her constantly think about her. She got up and headed back to Callie's room, wondering what mood the teen would be in.

"Hey." Stef said tentatively from the doorway.

Callie looked up, a rather surprised expression on her face. "You came." She said in bewilderment.

"Why wouldn't I?" Stef asked, wondering if Callie really thought their relationship was over because of one snappy comment.

"The things I said." Callie felt the need to remind her, still uncertain about what was happening.

"All forgotten." Stef said with a shrug as she took a seat in her usual spot beside Callie's bed.

Callie sat silent for a few minutes, thinking about what was happening and Stef gave her the time to process. They were friends and they had their ups and downs but this was the first time that Callie had ever been outright rude to Stef, especially since she's opened up to her so much and told her the truth about her past. She'd expected Stef to run each and every time but she never had. She'd come back each time she'd drawn Callie more and more into her happy world and Callie was beginning to realize that the more she became a part of the older woman the more she was tainting her world.

"I'm sorry." Callie finally said, not looking directly at Stef.

"It's already forgotten love." Stef said again, thinking that Callie was talking about the afternoon.

"For all of it." Callie explained. "For bringing my mess into your perfect world." She said, shaking her head at the very thought of what she'd done.

"Perfect?" Stef raised her eyebrow but smiled. "It's far from perfect love." She said kindly.

Callie finally looked up at Stef wondering how the woman could think that. She had everything that Callie could ever dream of and she didn't think it was perfect.

"I'm in a hospital, after being shot, by my kids' birthmother's boyfriend." Stef reminded her in a somewhat teasing tone to keep the morose topic light.

Callie looked away again when she realized she couldn't argue with that part. It definitely was a black spot on what seemed like a fairytale life. But apart from that, it seemed, life for Stef just had to be perfect.

"No one is perfect Callie." Stef said seriously when she realized that Callie truly meant what she was saying. "and no one's life is either." She confirmed.

Once again Callie looked up at Stef, waiting for an explanation because she truly couldn't believe what the woman was telling her. Sure, there were always little hitches and glitches but what more could Stef want? She had a wife who clearly adored her, children that were obviously unable to lose her, friends and family that put aside their plans to come and visit her and do things for her. Heck, even an ex-husband that still loves her enough to be friends. And what did Callie have in comparison - a shattered knee, a broken arm, an injured jaw, a brother she no longer had contact with and a past that would outshine even a Stephen King novel.

"My life may look great from the outside but it's not perfect and it certainly wasn't like this all my life."

Callie's face instantly took on a look of interest as she waited for Stef to go on and Stef realized that she was going to have to truly open up to Callie if she had any hope of getting Callie to believe that even her life could turn around.