A/N
The Legal stuff first I don't own The Fosters or its characters.
Thank you for reading and reviewing
This has turned into a heavy story that has sensitive topics.
Child Abuse is described in this chapter please read with care.
Learning Lessons
Lena
"Thank you for coming here, I know it's not normal" I tell Dr. Kodema as I walk her out, we began to discuss her thoughts on Callie.
She says with a smile "No Thanks, necessary I go where my patients are. You have one tough hurt little girl in there. The good news is she seems to feel safe and attached to the family especially her brother. I'm concerned that she will accidentally cut too deep, if the emotions get too much, I am hoping the meds will help her control the emotional turmoil"
I nod my understanding.
She continues "Keeping her safe, from herself and her thoughts is going to get harder as she comes out of this episode and before she has enough coping skills. I need to stress the importance of keeping a very close eye on her. She needs to feel secure enough that she will let herself talk to you Stef or both." I nod my understanding.
"Bill called and would like a copy of my preliminary assessment report."
When I start to voice a concern on this she puts up a finger stopping me and continues
"No concerns, I know the game. It will have what I have told you today. When we have a better grasp on the situation, you, Stef and I will sit down and come up with a more solid plan that we can take in front of Callie's treatment team. I just want to be very cautions until we know more."
I nod in agreement.
"Keep doing what you are doing, I like the plan that you have in place. I would like to see her Friday; I understand she has a doctor appointment with Dr. Smith tomorrow afternoon?"
"Yes, Karen is a friend of ours; Callie has met her, a couple of times. I thought it she would be the best one to try to get Callie through an medical exam. With Callie history of defiant behavior toward male authority figures, which I wonder could be explained or at least partial by her being branded and where it is located at. I knew she would never be comfortable with a male doctor doing any kind of exam of her"
"Good thinking, I can't stress enough, the importance of Callie feeling supported during this appointment. It is going to bring up a lot of emotions. Callie is not going to know how to deal with. She will need to be watched very carefully; if you need me please call." She tells me then she continues "I have reached out to Dr. Smith to work with her we might have to adjust Callie's meds depending on how well they work, meds are not a cure-all we just need to get her emotions more in control and not so extreme."
I nod my agreement.
As we make our way to her car she hands me her card "My home and cell numbers are on the back please call me anytime, this is not going to be easy for any of you including you and Stef. I am always available even if it is nothing more than to listen…Please don't hesitate. If I don't receive a call from you or Stef,I will call to check in with you late tomorrow afternoon on how well her day went including the Dr. appointment. We can then set the time for her appointment for Fri." She explains as she gets into her car.
I watch her drive away and release a breath I hadn't realize I was holding. Before I can contemplate the afternoon or what the Doctor has told me. Mike pulls up with B and Jude, before the car is fully stop Jude has jumped out the car running and is running toward the door. I don't have time stop him from throwing the door open.
By the time I reach the entry way he is coming back down the stairs with a frighten concerned face
"Where is Callie? You promised you all would take care of her!" he says with panic in his voice and tears threaten to fall.
"Shh Buddy she is sleeping right here with Mom, she is fine" I tell him as I bring him into a side hug and guide him into the entry way of the living room. I feel the all the tension going out of him once he spotted Callie still asleep on the couch with Stef.
These two kids were so devoted to each other; it was almost like they didn't know how to make a decision without thinking of the other one first. I always knew this about Callie, but with her being like she was it was showing in Jude. Stef and I make eye contact and agree we were going to have to keep reminding both of them that we was here to help the other when the other one couldn't.
"Got any homework?" I asked the boy.
"No, Mike helped me while we waited on B" came his reply.
"Ok, than you can help me in the garden, then with supper" I tell him as I turn him around and push him towards the garden leaving him no choice but to walk with me out to the garden.
After a few minutes working in garden, the boy quietly asks "Is she ok?"
I nod my head "Well Buddy she's okay, just not well. We need to keep a very close eye on her and help out she is going through a very rough spot."
"I know it's bad because she is sucking her thumb and she hasn't done that since…"
When he doesn't finish his sentence I look up and he has a look on his face like he just told something he shouldn't have.
"Since when Buddy, it's ok you can tell me" I encouraged trying to get the boy to talk to me. When he does not continue I take him by the hand and walk to the grass. I make my legs criss-cross sitting down bringing him down into my lap and bring him into a loose hug, I don't know if he is a runner like Callie. But I know he is a lot like Callie in being very astute to non-verbal communication so I move him to the side a little so that he can glance at my eyes when he needs to. I remind myself to stay calm and my body relaxed.
"Hey Buddy, you know you can tell me right?" I say in a soothing voice.
"I can't" come the boy's weak response. After a few minutes he continues "I am not supposed to talk about it, Callie says that we never talk about the foster homes"
"Why is that?" I prod
"Because" he says with a deep sigh;
I can tell the boy is deeply troubled by not being able to elaborate on the explanation. I can tell Callie has trained him well in the vague one word answers to adults to scope out the landmines that could be hidden.
"You know that now we are all on the same team, it's not just you and Callie anymore" I remind him as I hug him tighter. "And part of being on that team is that we trust each other and we talk about what is on our minds including the scary stuff from the past"
The boy thinks it over a few minutes and then says "So does that mean I can talk to you and Stef?
"Yup, about anything you want to or feel you need to no limits" I tell him
He thinks on this a few minutes before speaking. "Because the last time I talked about what a foster dad did, we were split up. I had to go to an emergency placement home because Callie was in the hospital. It took weeks before we could be back together, I don't want to talk if it's going to break the PROMISE."
I nod my head "You can talk about anything you want to, anytime with Stef or myself, neither you nor Callie need to worry about being split up, you both are staying here with us. We know you and Callie are a package Hun and we wouldn't want it any other way. We are now One Team Baby"
In a very quiet voice he begins to speak "Callie hasn't sucked her thumb since foster dad number two caught her. She didn't mean to disobey, we were sick. She had been up with me most the night even when she was puking herself. He had told she was too old, he said she would learn to not listen to him."
When the boy takes in a deep ragged breath I know I am not going to like what I hear.
"He was so angry! He thought she was being disrespectful, I think he had been drinking again. He grabbed her by her arm and drug her down to the cellar. He slammed and locked the door so I couldn't get to her, I could bang and kick the door but I couldn't get in." Jude has a couple of tears rolling down his cheeks. His eyes are full of them threatening to fall at any moment.
He scoots over into my lap more, placing his cheek to my shoulder and whispers. "She kept screaming and screaming, when he finally opened the door I went to check on her. She had a busted lip and an almost black eye. She was screaming and crying so hard, but the worst part was she couldn't get to the zip tie to break it. He had tied her to the clamp thingy. Her hand was squeezed in the clamp with her thumb sticking up but it was crooked, bruised and bloody. It hurt her every time we tried to turn the lever. We were finally able to get turned enough to get to the tie and to cut it off. She just fell down clutching her hurt hand; she wouldn't let me get near it. When she got up she left the house" Jude took a moment before going on.
"She hid for in the woods behind the house. I tried to find her every chance I got. I brought her water and food and left it by the tree. The third day she was at the tree, I couldn't wake her. I was so scared I didn't know what to do; I ran to the corner store and begged the clerk to let me use the phone. I called Bob who was our Social Worker the one before Bill for him to come get us. He really didn't want to come he was mad that he would have to find us a new home." He sighed "That's when we got split up, even after Callie was out of the hospital. Because I had told what had happened that night. Bob knew it wasn't the first time something had happen to Callie in that house. He got fired and no one wanted to take our files, until Bill was forced to. When we got back together we promised we would never talk about what happens in a house. We don't want to be split up again ever"
I just sat there rocking and letting him cry, it broke my heart how someone could be so cruel to a child. I believe that is the most I've heard the boy talk; he is usually very shy and timid and quiet. It crosses my mind that this must be how they have survived through the years. Callie carried them most of the time but Jude stepped up when they needed him to.
When the boy had calmed down a little I know it's my turn to talk. "You were very brave in taking care of Callie and using your smarts to get both of you out and safe… Thank you for sharing I can promise you that nothing like that is EVER going to happen in this house to anyone."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to cry" he mumbles
"Jude you can cry anytime, I don't mind at all…you heard what I just told you correct?" I ask the boy, who gives me a nod.
I let us sit there until he is under control again and ask "Dinner?' to which I get a nod from him.
Stef
I wake up to the door opening and the Twins bounding in arguing over something, I am real sure I don't want to know what it is about. "Knock it off, both of you" I say in a firm hushed voice.
The looks on the Twins faces as they turn and stood in the living room entry way was one of shock and curiosity. They have never seen Callie this close space wise to anyone much less snuggled up looking hung over or very sick laying against me on the couch.
I give them the move on now we will talk later look, they both quickly and quietly go up the stairs to their rooms. Speaking of being hung over I need to mention to Lena about the Vodka I found, we do have 3 other teens in the house that it could belong to.
When I look down I can tell Callie is starting to wake up, she's in dozing state. She's s lying very still against me, except her left hand is again rubbing her nose and every now and again she would half-heartily try to move her right hand away from mine so that she could ball it up again to squeeze her nails into her palm, now that I know what she wants I will not let go of it.
She looks very pale but that doesn't surprise me after all that she has struggled with especially today. What did worry me is that she didn't even acknowledge that the twins had passed thru. The Callie of the past three months would not have let anyone see her in this state, especially her siblings.
Another thing to mention when Lena and I meet with Dr. Kodema, to get her thoughts on what Callie is going through and how we need to handle this. I am curious about what the Doctor said to Lena when they walked outside after the visit. I was surprised that Callie admitted as much as she did during the visit but I am hopeful that it will help her in the long run.
I look up and see Jude is the doorway, swaying with anticipation. I nod my head giving him permission to come on in and to get closer. The minute he comes into Callie's view she pulls from me and I let her sit up. Before she is fully up Jude has jumped into her arms and they are holding each other tight.
"Are you ok?" I hear Jude whisper into her ear.
"Yeah, just tired and a little fuzzy Buddy" Callie replies in the strongest voice I have a heard since she was fighting with Lena and I over the meds.
"I was so scared they would send you away today, while I was at school" the boy says "but they didn't…Lena says we are a package deal on their team now" he finishes with a huge smile on his face.
To which Callie holds on to Jude tighter and says "We will always be a package deal, JJBear"
A/N Thank you Lacorra for the edit :)
