Chapter 3

Callie peeled her eyes off her textbook at the sound of a knock on her door. She lifted her head to find Liam leaning against the doorframe. She smiled at him. "Hey, what's up?"

"Mom and Dad took Jude to a movie." Liam said as he strolled into the room and sat on the bed beside Callie. "It's just us home."

Callie closed her textbook and slid it onto the nightstand. Liam pulled her arm and brought her into a kiss. His hands slid up her back as he began to kiss her neck. Callie pulled away, but Liam held her back in place. "C'mon, what do you say we have a little fun? Take this to the next level?"

Callie shook her head. "No, I'm not ready."

"You'll like it. I promise." Liam said before returning to sucking the skin on her neck. His hand slid to her chest.

Callie pushed at him. "Liam, stop. I'm not ready."

Liam pushed her onto her back, pinning her arms above her head. His hand wandered towards the button on her jeans. She thrashed beneath him. "Stop it! Liam, stop!"

"C'mon you know you want it."

Suddenly it was now Vico who was on top of her, one hand touching her, while the other worked on getting his pants off.

"No, please don't do this. Stop! Stop it! Get off!"

Stef's eyes shot open at the sound of Callie's desperate cries. She jumped off the chair and moved closer to the thrashing girl. "Callie, wake up, love. It's just a dream, baby."

"No! Get off me!" Callie shouted. Her breaths were short and rapid. Her chest heaved up and down.

Lena hopped out of her chair and glanced back and forth between Stef and Callie. "Another nightmare?"

Stef nodded. She gently shook Callie, causing the girl to flinch. "Callie, it's me, Stef. Please wake up, baby."

Callie's eyes shot open and she sat up quickly. A yelp escaped her lips as her ribs protested the sudden movement.

"Easy, easy. You're okay. Take deep breaths." Lena said, gently stroking her back. "You were having a bad dream."

Callie's eyes were wide with terror and despair. "I'm sorry. I woke you up all night and…"

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't apologize. We don't care that you woke us up." Stef said, placing her hand on Callie's. "Please stop worrying about everyone else."

"When can I go home?" Callie asked meekly.

"Sweets, your doctor wants to monitor you for a few days, possibly a week." Stef said, gently stroking the brunette's chestnut colored curls.

"But I'm fine."

"Callie, you are most certainly not fine." Stef disagreed. "You almost died. You went into shock twice, your lung collapsed, and you nearly bled out to death. So no you are not fine and you need to stay here until the doctor says you can go home."

Lena shot Stef a warning glance. She knew her wife was just worried about Callie, but she didn't need to be so harsh around the fragile girl. "Callie, what Mom means is that you were really hurt. You still are and not just physically, but emotionally too. I think we need to ban the word fine from your vocabulary."

"We were supposed to get adopted on Monday." Callie whispered. She felt like she was failing Jude once again. He was counting down the hours till their adoption day and now it had to be pushed back because of her.

"You will still get adopted. We'll just push the date back a little bit."

There was a soft knock on the door before it opened. A young blonde in scrubs entered with Mike behind her. "Hi, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

She felt terrible. She was hurting physically and emotionally; possibly the worst she's ever felt. She had been hit and beat countless times during her time in foster care, but she wasn't sure any of those compared to this. She refused to admit just how awful she was feeling though. "I've been better."

"I'll see if we can get you some more medication for the pain." She said before leaving the room.

"Hey Callie, I'm sorry about what happened." Mike spoke up as he took a few steps closer to the bed.

Callie tensed as he approached her. She mentally scolded herself for being frightened by his presence. It was just Mike; he would never hurt her. "It's not your fault."

Stef peeled her eyes off Callie to look at her ex-husband. She could tell something was bothering him. "What's up, Mike?"

"I was able to hold them off last night, but the guys really need her statement."

Callie shook her head frantically. "No. No, I can't tell them. I won't."

The adults in the room all glanced at one another. Lena rested her hand on Callie's shoulder. "We can't press charges unless you tell the police what happened."

"I don't want to press charges." Callie mumbled, taking interest in her fingers.

"They arrested Vico this morning. His DNA was found all over the crime scene, your DNA was found on the pair of underwear he had, and he matched the DNA…from your kit." Mike said. "If you don't give a statement, they'll have no choice but to let him go. I was there when they were questioning him and when they arrested him. He was angry and promising some great revenge."

"Mike." Stef scolded. She knew he was trying to get Callie to talk, but he didn't need to scare her any more than she already was. "What he's trying to say is that you'll be safe if you tell the police what happened."

"Just like I was when I told about…L-Liam." Callie's voice was drenched with sarcasm. "Just like every other time I told Bill or the police or a social worker that our foster parents were hurting me and Jude."

Stef wanted to take the hurt and pain away from the young girl. She had endured too much in her sixteen years and she had every reason not to have faith in the police. "Callie, I know you've been mistreated in the past and nobody has helped you, but I promise you that you will be safe once you give a statement. I am involved this time and I am going to make sure that Liam and Vico rot in prison if it's the last thing I do."

Callie searched Stef's eyes, but found nothing but honest determination and love. She had no reason not to trust Stef. She had done so much for her and Jude and had yet to betray their trust. "Okay."

Stef let out a sigh of relief.

"But I don't want anyone around when I talk to them." Callie said. She didn't want anyone to know what had happened. She couldn't let them know the details.

"Are you sure? Some of the questions they might ask can be hard and it might be easier to have support." Stef had witnessed rape victims being questioned and she had questioned them herself. She knew how hard it was on them.

"I don't want anyone around."

Stef opened her mouth, but Lena placed a hand on her arm. She knew her wife was about to insist that she stay in the room while Callie was questioned. Lena nodded her head at Callie. "If that's what you want, that's fine. If you change your mind you just tell the officer and we'll be in in a second."

Callie nodded her head. She wanted to crawl under a rock right now and hide from the world, but she knew she couldn't do that. She needed to keep her family safe and locking up Vico and Liam would do so.

"Okay, I'll get Officer Jones. She's right outside the room. She's going to ask you some questions." Mike said, opening the door and returning seconds later with a brunette whose hair was pulled back tightly.

Stef and Lena both pressed a kiss to Callie's forehead and reminded her that they were right outside the room. Mike followed them outside the room, allowing Callie the privacy that she requested.

Stef closed her eyes for a moment and pinched the bridge of her nose. She leaned against the wall and inhaled deeply. "I don't know how much more this girl can take."

Mike frowned. "How is she holding up?"

"She's trying to act strong, but we can tell she is hurting a lot." Lena replied sadly. "Last night was rough. She got sick from the emergency contraception and they couldn't give it to her again because she was becoming too dehydrated and then she finally fell asleep and woke up from nightmares every twenty minutes."

"This girl has gone through more in her sixteen years than anyone should have to go through in their life." Stef shook her head as tears welled in her eyes. "She's such an amazing girl and she can't get a break."

Mike ran a hand through his hair. "We'll make sure she gets her justice this time. We'll make sure they pay for doing this to her."

Stef slipped inside Callie's room and smiled at the brunette lying in the bed. Callie had been distant all afternoon since her interview with the police officer. Stef could only imagine how difficult rehashing the details of the attack must have been for the teenager. "Hey Callie, I picked everyone up from home. Jude and Mariana want to see you since they didn't get the chance last night. Do you feel up to some visitors?"

"Sure." Callie croaked. She didn't want anyone to see her like this, but she couldn't say no to them, especially Jude. Besides, Brandon and Jesus had already seen her like this and she couldn't hide from them forever. She watched nervously as Stef exited the room.

Lena reached over from her spot on the chair beside the bed and gently patted Callie's leg. She smiled softly. She was hopeful that Jude's visit would bring Callie some happiness. "Jude was very upset that he didn't see you last night so he'll be very happy to see you now."

The door opened again and Stef stepped back inside the room with the twins, Brandon, and Jude behind her. Jude pushed passed his siblings to run to Callie's bedside. The large smile that stretched his lips suddenly fell as his eyes settled on Callie. He had seen her bruised countless times, but never like this. The wires and monitors connected to her only embellished her state.

"Hey buddy." Callie forced a small smile at her brother. She was suddenly feeling self-conscious by her brother's reaction.

"Y-you're hurt really badly." Jude's eyes were wide as they examined Callie's bruises, scratches, and casts.

"No, no. I'm fine. I promise." Callie nodded with a forced grin.

Stef grimaced slightly. Callie's walls had gone right back up and she knew it was because the young brunette felt she needed to be strong around her siblings. She looked at Mariana, who stood nervously examining Callie, and pointed to the large shopping bag in the teenager's hand. "Why don't you tell her what you brought?"

Mariana held up the bag to show Callie. "We brought a bunch of board games if you feel up to playing?"

Callie smiled slightly. A spark of happiness ignited within her. She was extremely grateful to have the Fosters surrounding her, especially during a time like this. "I would love too."

Mariana smiled widely as she began to pull out the games to show Callie. Everyone gathered around Callie's bedside. Nothing was okay, but for the moment it seemed as though it was.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed, there is much more to come! I love hearing from you guys; feel free to give any suggestions or ideas. I'm always open to ideas and I try to fit them in if I can- especially if it's a scene between certain people or an appearance of a certain character. Review!