Stef didn't know how she'd managed it but she'd made it to the hospital in record time. Luckily for her not a single cop caught her speeding or running at least three lights. She'd been sitting on the couch with a glass of wine and some music playing, just relaxing and think about Callie and Lena when the hotel phone rang. Answering it she fully expected it to be the front desk informing her of some mail she'd received from Max or perhaps to give her some information on an event they were hosting which they often did since she was basically a permanent resident there. But when a completely panicked child began to ramble on about Callie and drowning and ambulance Stef was practically out the door before she could even finish talking.
Entering Sacred Cross ER, the closest hospital in the area, Stef rushed to the nurse's desk to ask if a Callie Jacob had been brought in within the last twenty minutes. When the nurse confirmed that Callie had infant been brought to this hospital Stef heaved a sigh of relief and began asking about her condition.
"Her airway's cleared and she's being given fluids but until we get the test results we just won't know for sure." The nurse replied.
"What about her heart." Stef enquired. "She has a condition, it's um…" She paused, trying to think of the term Lena had said."
"I'm sorry, you are?" The nurse asked, realizing that this obviously wasn't Callie's mother, if she didn't even know the name of her condition."
"I'm her…" Once again she paused, unsure of what to say. But she quickly made her decision for she wanted some answers. "I'm her biological mother, I just haven't been in her life very long." She replied. "I can't get a hold of her other mother right now. That's why I was called."
"Okay." The nurse said somewhat skeptically, unsure if she believed this woman or not. "Well right now we really don't have many answers except that she's stable for now. We'll let you know when we do the tests but until then please see if you can get in touch with someone who knows her history and can make medical decision for her."
With that the nurse was gone and Stef wanted to stop her and ask if she could see Callie but she was sure they would say 'no'. Wandering towards the open door Stef once again tried to call Lena but after about seven or eight rings there was still no answer. Stef sighed wondering what she should do. Should she leave Callie and go to Lena's house to get her or should she stay here in case Callie did need something. Deciding to wait a few more minutes until she could ask the nurse she headed into the waiting area and there she found two girls and a boy sitting and looking very worried.
"Hey, are you Callie's friends?" Stef asked as she walked up to them and sat down beside them.
"Yes, are you Stef?" One of the girls asked.
"I am." Stef replied. "What happened?" She asked, finally hoping to get the real story.
"We were just playing chicken fight." The girl answered. "Callie got knocked off Toby's shoulders and she must have swallowed some water because she came up coughing really, really hard and couldn't stop. We had to call nine-one-one."
"You did the right thing." Stef assured the terrified children. "You guys did great."
"Ms. Foster." The nurse suddenly interrupted as she suck her head into the waiting room. "Callie's asking for you."
Stef quickly got up and followed the nurse to Callie's room. "Callie had an IV hooked up to her arm, heart monitoring pads stuck to her chest, a blood pressure gauge on her left index finger and an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose. She looked so tiny in the small bed, even smaller than she had the last time she was in hospital and Stef felt sick at the sight.
I'm sorry." Callie said laboriously, her face looking pale the moment the mask was off.
"Hey, shh." Stef cooed as she gently but firmly placed the mask back on. "Don't talk love, it's gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay." She assured as she gently combed her fingers through Callie's tangled hair in an attempt to sooth her. She once again tried to call Lena as Callie drifted off to sleep, the events of the evening having taken it's toll on her.
Once Callie was completely asleep Stef headed back to the waiting area where two adults had now joined the three young children. She walked straight to them and smiled.
"She's okay." She assured them all. "She's sleeping right now and we are waiting on the test results but she was alert and talking."
"I'm Bryan, Zoey's father. This is my wife Karen." The man said as she reached out his hand to shake Stef's.
"Stef Foster." Stef smiled warmly.
"We had no idea the kids were at a party. Zoey was supposed to be at a sleepover at a friend's house." He explained, giving all three kids a rather disapproving look. "After what happened last week with the smoking it's suffices to say that there will be severe consequences to follow."
While Stef felt sorry for the kids who were clearly now in trouble she also agreed with the man. Irrespective of Callie's health, these kids needed to learn boundaries. They were at an age where they wanted to try everything but were still too young to really understand the consequences and without proper parenting and guidance they could easily follow a dangerous path. "I think you kids can go home now." Stef said. "It was nice of you to come in with her but there's nothing more you can do. Go get some sleep." All three kids looked exhausted and worried and she hoped that this really was a wakeup call for all of them including Callie.
Trying Lena for the umpteenth time Stef headed back to Callie's room and sat beside her watching her labored breathing as she slept while the monitors gently beeped rhythmically in the background. She couldn't figure out how to contact Lena for the woman wasn't answering her cellphone or the home phone and Stef was beginning to realizing that Lena hadn't stayed home after all. Callie had obviously sent those texts in order to get away.
About ten minutes later a nurse came to check Callie's vitals and while she was there a doctor entered too.
"We got the test results back, the coughing took a toll on her heart but there doesn't seem to be any serious damage. After what happened last week we do want to keep an extra close eye on her but by the looks of it, she got lucky again." The doctor explained.
Stef all but hugged the man as she felt she could finally breath again. She didn't know what she would have done if something worse happened to Callie and she couldn't even begin to imagine how Lena went through this so many times before. Nothing in Stef's entire life worried her more than Callie and besides the day she actually gave Callie away, nothing
Another fifteen minutes passed when Stef's phone began to buzz. She quickly got up and headed out to answer Lena's call, not wanting to risk waking Callie who needed all the rest she could get.
"Hey." Stef said, not wanting to worry Lena too much until she got there.
"What happened?" Lena jumped to the chase. There had been a total of thirty-seven unanswered calls on her phone - a majority of those from Stef but a few from Callie's friends and some unknown numbers as well.
"There was an accident." Stef said gently. "Callie's at Sacred Cross. She's okay…"
"What happened?" Lena asked again, desperately needing the details.
Stef gave her the gist of what had happened and assured Lena that Callie was okay and so drive safely. They hung up and Stef went back to Callie's room to wait for Lena but this time Callie was awake again.
"Hey love, how are you feeling?" Stef asked affectionately as she walked over to the girl.
"Tired." Callie answered honestly, more easily than she'd spoken before. "Is my mom here yet?" She asked, sounding far younger than she was."
"She's on her way." Stef promised as she handed Callie a glass of water with a straw in it. "Here, the doctor said you need to keep hydrated."
Callie drank the water slowly and found that it soothed her dry and scratchy throat. She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid. She had gotten lucky once just a week ago and here she was risking everything once again.
"I'm sorry." She finally said to Stef. "I was stupid. My mom is gonna kill me."
Stef sighed for what Callie said was true - she had been stupid and reckless and it could have cost her her life. "You sent me those texts?" She confirmed instead and watched Callie nod. "Was this really worth it?" She asked curiously.
"No." Callie replied immediately, having realized that fact herself. "I don't know why it suddenly bothers me so much but I'm just sick of being the sick kid."
There was so much that Stef wanted to say to Callie right now, now that she was seeing things more clearly for herself. But the girl looked so tired that she decided to wait a while. Later she would put her two cents in - she'd remind Callie of what she was feeling in this moment and then use it help her learn from all this.
"I'm still so sleepy." Callie said, feeling uncomfortable about that.
"They've given you something to keep your heart relaxed." Stef informed her. "Drowsiness is a side effect. Don't worry about it, just sleep."
Callie nodded in understand, feeling relieved that it was safe to close her eyes and let the sleep take over. But before she fell asleep she reached out her hand to Stef. "Stay with me okay, please." She requested.
Stef was almost in tears as she took Callie's hand and held it firmly in her own - there was nowhere she would rather be and if all this drama had to happen then she was thankful that it was at least lowering Callie's walls against her. Perhaps this really was going to be a turning point their all their lives.