AN- Thank you for the reviews, comments, and likes! Thank you for putting up with the longer space between updates! I try to update one of my stories each week, I just found a lot on my plate this season... Should calm down by January?! Thanks again!

With X-rays were done and out of the way; Stef, Lena, and Callie were tucked away in a tiny room with curtain walls. Callie tried to curl herself up into the fetal position on the hospital bed, carefully cradling her injured wrist - she'd do anything to get the throbbing to stop. This break felt worse than the time she'd broken her arm. Her eyes were red and puffy, tears were involuntary, and she sniffed and pushed them back.

"I hope a doctor sees her soon" Stef shook her head "The kid is clearly in a lot of pain, and yet we just sit here! X-rays are done… They should know how to fix it"

Lena shivered as the hospital's AC came on full force. Knowing poor Callie was still in her shorts and tank top with her sunburned shoulders exposed to the cold air, Lena was aware the girl had to beyond uncomfortable. She grabbed the tote that she'd brought and pulled out a fleece blanket she'd stolen from the end of Mariana's bed. "Stef" She cleared her throat "Will, you put this over her shoulders?" She then dug around the bag again and pulled out her bear "And hand her this?"

Stef raised her eyebrow and looked between Lena and Callie before she shook her head. "No, Lena you're her mother, you give it to her."

"I don't want to upset her, not until we at least get her pain controlled."

"You're her mom," Stef repeated.

Lena exhaled as she got up from the chair and moved over to the hospital bed. "I am going, to rest this over your shoulders," she explained. "I'll be careful." Lena carefully draped the blanket over Callie's shoulders, "Are you doing alright, slug a bug?"

Callie gave a weak nod, "I've had worse"

"If that's trying to make me feel better, it doesn't," Lena said brushing a strand of hair away from Callie's face. "You know, this was an accident? You know you didn't hurt me?"

Callie cleared her throat and turned her body away from Lena wincing again looking to Stef, "It really hurts."

"I know, Love," Stef nodded and sat beside her daughter, "I know, my baby."

"Do you think Dr. Hopper is the on-call ER doctor tonight?" Lena asked brushing her fingers over Callie's forehead as she looked at Stef. "I like him."

It wasn't even two seconds later did the curtain get pushed aside to reveal a young doctor, looking like he was in a hurry and almost annoyed with the world.

"Callie?" the recent med school grad asked "Broken arm." He looked to the teenager, looked to the two adult women in the room, and raised his eyebrow slightly before shaking his head. "Really? Is an audience this big needed for a broken arm?"

Lena threw her head back slightly and suppressed a groan. This doctor's bedside manner left much to be desired, her daughter's already cranky attitude and great dislike for anything medical, and Stef's overprotective Mama tiger side, were not going to mix well at all. Assuring Lena it was going to be a very long night.

"Alright, my Love, I want you to head up to mine and Mama's bed," Stef said as she held open the door for Lena and Callie. "Quietly," she whispered, "Your brothers and sister are asleep."

"Yeah, it's five am," Callie grumbled. "And I want to sleep in my own bed."

"Callie," Stef let out an exhausted groan "Mama's exhausted, and you're on strong painkillers – painkillers that we have no idea how you're going to react to. I would prefer that you were with Mama."

"What about you?" Callie asked. "Are you going to work?"

"I am going to take a three hour nap on the couch, then I am heading into work. I am training; I have to be there."

"Stef?" Lena rubbed her face tiredly. "Are you sure?"

"Babe, I don't have a choice," she shook her head. "I'll be fine. I dozed a little while we were waiting around the ER. Now, if you two would get your lovely butts up the stairs, I could be on the couch napping already."

"Mom, I don't want you to work today, and I want to go to my own bed!" Callie's groan bordered on a whine,

"Cranky, exhausted Love Bug," Stef reached out and brushed some hair away from Callie's pale face. "Love, you broke your wrist in two places, have a sunburn, and the less than charming doctor - terrible bedside manner aside - discovered you have an ear infection going on right now . . . " She paused for a second before tilting Callie's chin up so she could see her eyes. "That's a lot of yucky going on right now," she said softly. "I just want you with Mama right now; especially because we're on new medications. I'll be fine. Okay? I promise, we'll probably just write speeding tickets. Easy day."

Callie let out a frustrated sigh before turning and heading for the stairs, "Fine! Whatever! Enjoy your nap," She mumbled before she was gone.

Lena put her hand on Stef's arm, "She's on pain meds, she's tired and cranky and a little bit traumatized… Just let it go."

"Oh, Love," Stef yawned, "I am too tired to fight with her right now. I do need to squeeze that nap in."

"What time do you have to be there?"

"Nine."

"Three and a half hour nap?"

Stef leaned in and kissed Lena's cheek, "It'll do. I'll be okay. I promise. I've worked on less sleep before. It's one night."

"Can I call you when we wake up?" Lena asked as she started up the stairs.

"You better," Stef smiled. "It's going to be fine. Just make sure Cal's in bed, and her arm is elevated."

"It's not her wrist I am worried about," Lena shook her head and began grumbling. "It's the antibiotics the doctor in the ER insisted she take for her ear infection. That lovely doctor wouldn't even listen to us. He insisted he was right, like we were idiots!" She became angry again just thinking about it. "I don't think it's going to work and in a few days we're going to have a child in a lot of pain on our hands. One – who by the way - really wants nothing to do with me," She sighed "Her walls are up sky high towards me, Stef. Sky high."

"I know; and we'll get her into her regular doctor soon. That'll help us out," Stef reasoned. "And Callie's walls is something we can work with. We've done it before. We'll get them down."

"It's because of the shooting," Lena said quietly.

"What? How?" Stef asked yawning.

"Sweetheart, go lay down. I'll explain my thoughts to you later," She said coming back down the stairs and kissing her wife's cheek. "We'll talk tonight."

"Call me, if you need anything," Stef said softly. "I don't care if I am working with the biggest jerk known to man; I will be there for you."

"Nap, Stef," Lena smiled sadly, "I want you to get some rest. All of this we can talk about later."

Lena entered her room carrying some pillows from Callie's bed, some boxers, and a tank top. "Hey, I brought you something to change into," She spoke softly announcing her presence. Finding Callie was sitting on Stef's side of the bed, just looking at her legs, Lena's concern grew. "Are you okay?" she asked. "Are you in pain?"

Callie shrugged slightly, "Not really. My arm feels funny in this cast," she grumbled. "And the sling they want me to wear is dumb. At this point I don't have anything down and the thought of changing into what you brought me frustrates me to no end, because I know I can't do it right now! And I want to go to bed in my own bed!"

"It's just one night, or morning; depending on how you look at it." Lena said softly as she came and knelt in front of Callie. "And I know that right now I am the last person you want to be around. But the fact is, I am your mom and I am not going anywhere. No matter how hard or how far you push."

Callie sighed slightly as she rubbed her eyes with her left hand. "I had a hard time brushing my teeth…" She grumbled.

"It's an adjustment," Lena nodded "How about you let me help you change? You're going to spend most of the day in bed, you're going to want to be comfy, yes?"

Callie commenced with more rubbing of her eyes, and then her nose before she nodded, "Yeah, I guess so."

Lena smiled as she stood up, "You'll get this down; it's just the first night. We can take your arm out of the sling when you're resting as long as we put it back on when you're up and moving."

"'K," Callie grumbled tiredly. "Does Jude know I am alright?"

Lena nodded as she helped the girl up and the two began working together as quickly as they could to get her clothes changed. "All the kids know, I called them after your x-rays, just before the doctor set your arm."

"Is Jesus okay?" She asked as she sat back down on the bed now that her boxers were on.

"I am going to be really careful," Lena promised her, as she took the sling off and helped Callie get her shirt off. Callie winced slightly and did her best to help Lena get her shirt off and the new one on. "Jesus was in his room, I didn't get to talk to him," Lena answered honestly as she helped Callie stand up so Lena could pull the blankets back.

Callie crawled in and Lena helped her get her arm elevated, before leaning in and kissing her forehead, "I love you"

Callie let out a little sigh, and her eyes filled with tears that threatened to spill out as her finger ran over the bridge of her nose. "I love you too," She added quietly.

Lena smiled down at her before she got off the bed and went through the motions of getting ready for bed herself. By the time she was done and crawling into bed Callie was already sound asleep.

An hour later - after Lena had finally managed to get her brain to shut off and fall asleep - she was woken, by a gentle brushing on the side of the bed. She opened one eye and saw Mariana standing beside the bed. "Hey, Baby," she whispered glancing behind her to see where Callie was in the bed, to avoid bumping the sixteen-year-old as she moved over. Once she was repositioned, she held up the blankets, and Mariana slipped in.

"What time did you get home?" the younger girl asked softly

"Five. What time did you go to bed?" She asked running her fingers through Mariana's hair.

"Three-thirty."

Lena leaned in and kissed her younger daughter's temple. "You've got some more sleeping to do," she whispered, "Sleep with us?"

Mariana nodded rubbing her eyes "Mama, I am really worried about Jesus. He's taking this super hard."

Lena nodded, "I know. I saw the look in his eyes. Is he sleeping?"

Mariana nodded "I went to bed after he fell asleep."

"As soon as we get up, I'll talk with him okay?"

"Mama, do you remember reading in our medical records that Jesus had broken ribs, once?"

Lena cringed and nodded "I do."

"Ana stole drugs from her boyfriend, he got mad at her and he snapped her arm on purpose in front of us," she whispered. "Probably the last time we were placed with her… um . . . Jesus tried to stop him but he threw Jesus to the ground and started kicking him… The next door neighbor - Mrs. Glenberg - knew my brother and I were fresh back in Ana's care; she heard screaming and came over. Thankfully, she brought her gun. It stopped him from probably killing Jesus and Ana, who stood there screaming instead of trying to protect her kid," Mariana grumbled.

Lena pulled Mariana closer and kissed her, "I am sorry Baby. I am sorry you have that memory."

"It's just, with Callie breaking her arm, and the sound - it triggered something inside of my brother, and he thinks he's as bad as the guy that hurt Ana."

Lena's heart broke at the thought of her son thinking of himself like that. "Don't worry Honey. Mom and I will be there for him. We're going to get him through."

Mariana nodded as she curled in close to Lena "I know mama, that's why I told you."

FB

Ana was screaming. Juan had thrown Jesus and was now kicking him; the little boy was trying to be brave for his sister, but since he was - in fact - a little boy, he began to cry.

Mariana stood frozen in the room, her ears plugged with her fingertips. Fat silent tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know who to help.

"BACK AWAY FROM THE BOY!"

Mariana jumped a foot when the door opened and her elderly neighbor stepped in, gun in her hand - aimed at Juan.

"Come here, Sweetheart," She motioned to Mariana who found herself moving quickly to stand behind the lady. She just knew she was going to help.

Juan held up his hands and stepped away from Jesus "Look Lady, this is between me and my girlfriend."

"Not when you're hurting a small child," Mrs. Goldberg shook her head bravely. "So it's not between you, and your girlfriend! Now it's between you and me," She said as her finger wrapped around the trigger. Juan was high enough to believe that she would shoot him in front of a child and quickly moved away from the boy; before holding up his hands. "You're crazy," He said stepping towards Ana who - at this point - was still screaming.

Once he was away from Jesus, Mariana ran back across the room dropping to her knees, she stroked Jesus's hair and wiped some tears away. "Help's coming," she promised. "You saved us."

Jesus sniffed. "I wasn't strong enough," he whimpered. "I was. I bad . . . I failed."

It wasn't much later before cops barged into the apartment arresting Juan onsite, and whisking Ana off in an ambulance.

Jesus sat curled up in a ball with one hand wrapped around his middle while the other one held Mariana's hand. "Sorry," he whispered to her knowing they would be going back in to the foster care system. "Sorry, I couldn't protect Mama and you; and I am sorry we won't get to be here long."

Mrs. Goldberg sat across from them, waiting for the social worker to show up, so she could insist the boy get medical attention, since he was so far overlooked. "You're a good boy Jesus," she corrected. "You saved your sister, your heart for your sister and mother is admirable. You're a good boy," She tried to assure him.

Mariana rested her head on his shoulder, "I hope we get a good new home, where bad people aren't around. I don't want anymore bad people."