Lena sat down in the chair next to Callie's bed. She looked at her daughter and what she saw broke her heart. She looked like a little kid. Not the mature, held together, teenager she appears to be. She's always so closed off and reserved. Lena just wanted her to have a good childhood. Emphasis on the child part.
She had to grow up so fast in the six years she spent in the foster system. She protected Jude but left herself vulnerable to all the abuse.
She then looks at her wife. She was fast asleep. She looked peaceful, strong, yet vulnerable too. It was like seeing Callie in the future. If she didn't know better she would think Callie was Stef biologically. They may not have gone through the same things but they reacted the same way. They both had this protective nature about them. And the need to be strong all the time.
After a while Lena started to get tired. And she dozed off in the chair, still holding her eldest daughter's hand.
Callie woke up slowly. Something wasn't right… She didn't feel right. She was hot and cold at the same time. She felt uncomfortable. Callie could feel this burning sensation coming from the back of her neck. "Momma?"
Lena heard someone calling her. She was so tired but something was wrong..."Callie? What's wrong Bug?" Lena asked after she noticed that it was Callie that had called to her.
"Momma, I don't feel good." Callie said in a whimper. She sounded in pain and tired.
"What's wrong Bug what do you feel?" Lena was now fully awake and alert.
"I feel hot and cold at the same time and my neck hurts… momma somthing is wrong…" Callie didn't know how to explain it but she just didn't feel right.
Lena reached over and felt her forehead then her cheek. "Oh my goodness Bug, you're burning up baby. Let me call the nurse." Lena reached over and hit the call button next to Callie's bed.
Five minutes passed and no one came, so she pushed the button again. Minutes went by and still nothing. "Bug, I'm going to look for a nurse. I'll be right back."
"No! Momma, please don't leave me!" Callie pleaded.
Lena looked at her daughter. She had flushed cheeks and she was almost crying. She looked like she was about to panic. She decided to wake up Stef "Stef honey, wake up! Quick wake up something is wrong with Callie…"
"Hmm? What?" Stef murmured she was still in that inbetween state.
"Honey wake up, Callie has a fever." Lena tried again.
"What? What do you mean she has a fever?" Stef asked starting to sit up in the cot.
"She's burning up. I pushed the nurse call button but no one has answered yet." Lena sounded frantic. she was touching Callie's forehead and cheeks.
Stef made her way over to her daughter and saw that she was paler than earlier and she had a layer of sweat over her forehead. Her cheeks we're flushed and she was shivering. She looked like she was about to cry. When she went to wipe the sweat away, she pulled back her hand from the sheer heat she felt when she touched her skin. She really was burning up. "This is ridiculous, I'm going to go and get a nurse or a doctor in here now!" Stef said, and then left the room.
Callie was just shivering and moaning in her bed. She looked absolutely miserable. Lena kept talking to her. Telling her that everything was going to be ok..
"Momma what's wrong? I felt fine earlier…" Callie couldn't understand it.
"I know honey. Mom went to get the doctor, she'll be back soon and we're going to figure out what's going on. Just hold on sweetheart." As Lena was saying this Stef walked in the room followed by Dr. Stevens.
"Hey, what seems to be the problem? I heard you're not feeling well Callie?" Dr. Stevens said.
"I don't feel right and I have a burning pain in the back of my neck." Callie told him.
The doctor started to check Callies vitals and looked at the sting sight on the back of her neck. Then he took her temperature. "Well it looks like it's infected. And it happened rather quickly too." He stated as he finished his examination.
"What does this mean?" Stef asked
"Well we are going to have to give her some antibiotics and monitor her closely. The fact that the infection happened so fast worries me a little. I want to check how her immune system is working and if there might be anything that would have helped the infection to start." Then he looked at Callie. "And I'm afraid that she most likely won't be going home tomorrow. She'll have to stay here, at least until her fever breaks, at least." At this Callie's face fell. She was desperate to go home.
"So you think that she might have something else?" Stef asked.
"I'm don't think so, but I don't want to take any chances. I'm going to send a nurse in to take some blood samples so we can treat the infection correctly" The doctor said.
"Is it normal for the sting site to get infected?" Lena asked
"No not really, it's actually very rare for that to happen. Do you have anymore questions?" The doctor replied.
"No. Thank you Dr. Stevens." Stef said.
"You're welcome. The nurse should be here shortly." And with that, Dr. Stevens left her room.
"Mom, momma, I want to go home. I don't like it here…" Callie said in a whiney voice.
"We know Bug, we know, just try to relax and everything will be fine." Stef told her.
Moments later a nurse came in and check Callie's temperature and get the blood samples. "Hey I hear you're not feeling well. I'm sorry to hear that. Let me just take your temp really quick. 102.8°. Yep, you have a high fever. Ok Callie this is going to pinch a little." She started to put the tourniquet around Callies arm. At this Callie started to shake. When Callie saw the needle going straight to her arm she started to panic. The girl look exhausted and just done with the whole situation.
Lena started to rub soothing circles on the back of Callies hand and Stef was trying to comfort her by whispering that everything was ok and to breathe. That she was safe. The nurse looked a little stunned and Lena mouthed needle phobia to her. The nurse nodded her head and waited for the moms to giver her the go ahead.
After about 5 minutes Callie calmed down and Lena had an idea. "Stef, can you sit on the bed with Callie? I'll hold her hands and keep her calm." Stef nodded at her and moved to the bed. She situated Callie between her legs and hugged her. While Lena held her hands and kissed her fingers. "Bug everything is fine. Do you trust me?" Callie nodded " Good. I love that you trust me. You know i would never let anyone hurt you, right?" Again she nodded. "Callie do you understand what i'm saying? And yet again the girl nodded her head. " I need you to talk to me."
Callie looked at her with unshed tears in her eyes, swallowed and said, "I understand momma." at this Stef gave the nurse the signal and she began her work while the two women worked their magic with the teen.
Callie winced as she felt the nurse stick her with the needle. But she was ok. Stef hugging her and Lena saying gentle and soothing words, Callie was ok. After the nurse was done, she labeled the tubes and looked at the moms. "I'm going to talk to the doctor about bringing in cold compresses to help bring down her temperature. After we get the results from the lab we will be able to determine what type of antibiotics she needs." Then she made her way out of the room.
Lena went back to the side of Callie's bed and took her hand. " Just try to sleep honey. We're right here with you."
"Close your eyes sweats. I know you're exhausted, yes?" Stef said while moving a stray hair from Callie's forehead.
Both mom's could see how tired their daughter was. She kept rubbing the bridge of her nose, but the pain and fever we're keeping her from relaxing enough to fall asleep. "Mom? Momma? I want to go home… I want to sleep in my own bed." She said in a whiney voice.
This just broke her mom's heart. They knew that she wanted to go home. Actually they wanted nothing more than to whisk her away and take her home with them. But her health came first and even though they we're having a hard time saying no they knew she needed to stay at the hospital.
Lena looked at Stef with pleading eyes. "I know Bug, but don't worry, ok? Everything will be ok. It's just till you're fever breaks. All you have to do is take your meds and try and rest. If you close your eyes time will go by faster and before you know it you'll be home with the rest of your siblings." She just wanted her baby to get better. Callie had been through so much already and now this…
The nurse walked back in with some cold compresses for Callie. They needed to bring down her temperature. "Do you ladies want me to do it or do you want to do it.?" The nurse asked the moms.
They just looked at Callie's face and they new. "It's ok you probably have a lot to do. We'll do it." Stef said as she took the compresses and other supplies from the nurse.
The nurse smiled in understanding and handed everything over to the mom's. And left the room.