They went to the kids rooms and started to get them awake for the day. Stef went into Mariana's and Callie's room to wake up Mariana. She first made her way to Callie's bed to see how she was doing. She looked less pale. And the bags under her eyes were less left her to sleep a bit longer since she didn't have to wake up for school. Her appointment wasn't till brushing some hair from her daughter's face she made her way to her youngest daughter's bed.
"Hey Miss Thing. It's time to get up." Stef rubbed her shoulder. When she saw that she opened her eyes. She said. "But be quiet, Callie is still sleeping." Then she left to her oldest sons room.
When she saw Brandon, she took her time watching him sleep. He was so big. She remembered when he was a baby. She then thought about how she didn't have those experiences with her other kids. She wished they could have gotten them earlier. Then none of this would be happening. They would have known about Callie's allergic reaction and been prepared. But then she realized that if her kids hadn't gone through all of those situations they wouldn't be who they are today.
After waking Brandon up Stef made her way to her room to get ready to take the kids to school. Lena was preparing breakfast, since she was staying with Callie, she didn't need to get dressed until later.
After everyone was done eating and Stef and the kids had left for school, Lena made her way up to Callie's room and to wake up the teen. Callie looked peaceful with her finger wrapped around her nose. She didn't look as sick and tired as she had the last couple of days. She brushed off her bangs from her forehead and brushed her fingers down her cheek. All she ever wanted was to make sure she had a childhood. That she knew what it was like to have a family and a support system.
She looked at the time and noticed that she had to get Callie up and ready if they were going to make it to the doctor's office on time. "Callie?" She rubbed her back soothingly. " Hey Bug wake up. We have to get you to your doctors appointment."
Callie's eyes fluttered open and she rolled onto her back. Lena sat beside her on the bed. "Good morning Bug."
"Morning momma" Callie smiled and sat up in bed stretching.
"How do you feel?" Lena asked while touching her daughter's forehead for a fever.
"I'm fine momma." Lena looked at her with her eyebrows raised. "Really momma I feel better. The best I've felt all week actually." Callie smiled at her mother.
"Well you look better, not as pale. And rested. You don't look as tired today." Lena said, tucking some hair behind Callie's ear.
"Soooo can I go to school after the appointment?" Callie gave Lena her puppy dog eyes.
"Oh no stop it. None of that. Those eyes don't work on me! I'm a mom and like we told you yesterday, you can go to school if Dr. C. says you can." Lena said.
Callie pouted but hugged her momma. "I love you."
"I love you too Bug." Lena pulled away from the hug and stood up from the bed. "How about you get ready and I'll go downstairs and get some breakfast started for us?"
Callie nodded and watched Lena walk out of her room to start on some breakfast. She went to the bathroom and went through herr routine. She noticed that the rash was farther down her legs. Almost at her calves. When she went to change clothes, she saw that it had also spread in her upper body. It was all over her chest, abdomen, her back and almost past her elbows on her arms. "Well I guess I'm wearing a long sleeve today." She said to herself. She got dressed and headed downstairs.
When she got to the kitchen she found both her mom's waiting for her at the table with breakfast. "Morning love. Come eat so you can take your meds and then we have to go." Stef said.
"Morning mom." Callie gave her a kiss and sat down to eat. When she was done she took her meds and they all made there way to the car.
The drive was about 30 minutes. But with the morning traffic it took almost an hour. The ride was quiet. Callie just stared out the back window.
When they got to the doctors office. Callie and Stef sat in the waiting room while Lena went to check her in. "Hey honey, is everything ok?" Stef asked her.
"Yeah mom everything is fine. Just anxious to get back to school. I don't want to fall even more behind" Callie said sighing.
"It's going to be OK. You look so much better today. I'm sure you will start school soon." Stef said.
Callie looked at her mom with the same puppy dog eyes that she tried to use on Lena earlier. "Today? Can I go to school after the appointment?"
"Oh honey. That's up to the doctor. And you know it. If She says you can go then you can but if she thinks you need to stay home another day, or even a few, then you will. Your health is very important to us." Stef said and hugged her while she just nodded.
Lena made her way back to where Stef and Callie were sitting down, but before she could sit properly, Callie's name was being called by the nurse to start getting her vitals and stats.
Callie, followed by her mom's and they made their way towards the nurse and followed her into an exam room. She was measured, they checked her temperature and her pukes. They checked her blood pressure and took blood. A while later, the nurse brought in a hospital robe and told Callie to change into it because the doctor was on her way to do the full exam.
Callie looked at the robe and just knew that she wasn't going to be able to hide the rash any longer. "Momma… do I really have to wear this thing? I mean she doesn't need to see my whole body just to make sure my reaction is gone."
Both women looked at her. "Yes. You have to change into the robe. She's going to do a full physical today as well as checking how you're doing." Stef said.
Callie looked at Stef and narrowed her eyes. "I was talking to momma. Not you!"
Lena and Stef were taken aback by that outburst. They looked at each other and Lena answered. "Yes you have to change into the robe and please do it now."
"And I don't want to ever see you being so disrespectful towards me and momma again. We will be talking about you trying to put momma and me against each other when we get home." Stef said very calmly.
Callie narrowed her eyes at her moms but stood up to change. "I'll be in the bathroom changing." She said, then before anyone could say anything, she locked herself in the bathroom. What was she going to do? If She put on the robe they were going to see the rash. She lifted up her shirt and looked at her belly. It had hives all over and if she was being honest it was starting to itch a little. She caught herself absentmindedly scratching at a particularly itchy spot and stopped herself.
After standing in the bathroom for a while there was a knock on the door. "Hey Cal, the doctor is here. Can you please hurry and come out?" Stef said through the door.
Callie sighed. She had no other choice… She changed into the robe and slowly cracked open the door. She hid behind it for a moment.
"Come on sweets. Let's get this over with so we can get an early lunch. You never know. Maybe Dr. C. will let you go to school today." Stef said trying to coax her daughter out of the bathroom.
Dr. Carlson saw that she was hidding behind the door and tried to encourage her percent to come out. "Come out Callie. Your mom's tell me that you have been doing a lot better than the last time I saw you. The sooner you let me examine you the sooner your out of here."
Callie sighed and started to walk out of the bathroom. When she did. both mom's inhaled sharply at the sight. Callie was almost covered in hives. Her skin was red and they could see the hive all over her arms and legs. Stef and Lena rushed to her side to check on her. When they got there, Callie flinched a little and took half a step back. It was just a reflex but the mom's noticed it and slowed their pace down.
"CALLIE! What happened? Baby are you ok?" Both Stef and Lena said at the same time.
"I'm fine…" Callie said while looking at the floor.
"Cal this is not fine!" Stef said worriedly. She turned the girl around only to find her back covered in the rash as well.
"How do you feel bug?" Lena asked with concern in her eyes.
"Like you said, I'm fine. It doesn't even itch that much." Callie said shrugging her sholders.
"Callie could you please come and sit on the exam table?" Dr. Carlson said interrupting the mother's questions.
Callie just nodded and made her way to the table. When she was seated Dr. C. asked her to lay down so she could look at the rash better.
"When did you notice this rash Callie?" Dr. Carlson asked the teen.
"I don't know… Saturday night maybe?" Callie said unsure.
"Callie! Why did you tell us you had that rash when you noticed it?" Stef said.
"Because I knew you guys were going to freak out. I didn't want to worry you guys anymore than you already were. Plus I want to go to school today. I don't want to fall behind."Callie explained in a low voice.
Dr. C. looked at Callie's rash, checked her vitals again and checked to see how she was doing from the bee sting. "Well the bee sting seems to be doing better. But not to the point of you going to school. And because of the rash I have to do some tests to see what it is. Has anything changed in your environment? Any new foods or anything like that?" She asked looking between Callie and her mom's.
The mom's shook their heads. "Besides the medication she's taking we haven't changed anything. Not her foods, the laundry detergent or any household cleaners. She's been at home all weekend." Lena answered.
Dr. Carlson thought for a minute. "I think it might be her medication. But which one i dont know. We are going to have to take her off the meds and wait for the rash to clear up. Then, we need to introduce them back into her system one by one so we can see which one she's allergic to.
"Wait what? You're taking her off the meds? The only one she's still taking is the antibiotic. What if she starts to get an infection again?" Lena said.
"She's recovered enough that with supervision she should be fine. And if the bee sting starts to react again, we can give her something over the counter just in case. Now for the infeccion. since she is still taking that medication it's the one we will start with. And if it's that one then we will discontinue and start her on something else." Dr. Carlson explained.
"Is that safe?" Stef asked uncertain.
"She should be fine. We're going to make sure nothing happens and she will have to follow all my instructions." She then looked at Callie. "Callie you said that it doesn't itch?"
"No, not really. Well…. It did start to itch a little today. But it's not bad at all." Callie said. She felt tired but she wasn't going to volunteer any more information than what the doctor asks.
Dr. Carlson took notes of everything that Callie said and of what she observed. Then she addressed the three women. "Ok ladies. This is what's going to happen. Like I said I'm going to take Callie off of all her meds and then introduce them one by one to see which one is the one she's allergic to. Since I want all of this to happen in a controlled environment." She liked at Callie. "I'm sorry Callie, but we are going to have to admit you into pediatrics until we can identify what's going on."
"But…" Callie tryed to say, but was silenced by Stef.
"No. No buts. You are doing this. And of discussion." her mom said.
"But…" Callie tryed again.
"Callie Quinn Adams-Foster!
What did we just say?" Lena said.
Callie nodded her head and stared at the ceiling. She hated hospitals. Why did she have to get admitted? Couldn't they do this at home? Now she's going to lose more school and fall even more behind...
"Mom's?" Callie said.
"Yeah bug?" Lena said.
"I don't want to stay at the hospital." Callie said with a little anger in her voice.
"Watch it Callie. I know you don't want to stay, but we are just trying to get you feeling better. We have to find out what you're allergic to." Lena said while brushing some hair out of her forehead.
"Yeah sweets. This is just to help you feel better. Once they do all the tests you will see that with the treatment they give you, you will feel so much better." Stef said
"Your mom's are right Callie. This can be very dangerous. You just finished taking the prednisone and antihistamine meds last night. And you still have to finish the antibiotic. But we don't know which of the three is causing this reaction. So we are going to have to give them back one at a time. Plus you have to remember you were taking an antihistamine, and you still got a rash. Imagine what's going to happen without it. That's why I need you here. So we can monitor you and make sure nothing goes wrong." The Doctor said.
Callie just sighed and nodded. She had no say in this. She hated hospitals, she hated doctors and she hated needles. "How long am I going to have to stay?"
"Well, you took your last dose of steroids and the antihistamine last night. So it usually takes about 24 hours for all of that to clear out of your system. After the 24 hours we will wait to make sure it's not the antibiotic that your allergic to." Dr. Carlson looked at Callie and her moms. "If nothing happens, we will give you the prednisone and wait to see if you have any reaction to it. The same with the antihistamine if nothing happens with the steroid. It could also be a combination of the medications that is causing the reaction. So it will most likely be a few days." She saw Callie's face sadden and even though she didn't know the girl for that long she could see her closing herself up. This was not good. They needed her to tell them how she was feeling and any changes she felt.
The mom's nodded and looked at Callie. She looked exhausted and upset. They knew she didn't like anything to do with medical treatments. They weren't even sure she would be able to inject herself with the Epipen when she needed it. "Cal, are you ok?" Stef asked.
Callie just nodded. She needed air. "Um, can I get dressed? Or… um … will I be admitted right now?" She asked.
The mom's looked at each other and then to Dr. Carlson. They wanted this to go as smoothly as possible. And not make this any more traumatic for their daughter.
"I would prefer that we get you admitted as soon as possible." Leslie glaced at the moms while saying this. "Especially taking into consideration that you are no longer taking the antihistamine. Your allergic reaction could get worst."
The moms saw the look of despair that their daughter had. They noticed that she was starting to shut them out and they didn't want that to happen. "Does it have to be now? Do you think maybe we could take Callie out for an early lunch?" Lena asked.
She saw hope spark in Callie's eyes. She new the teen wanted nothing to do with hospitals and doctors. But they had her health to think about.
"Leslie, what if we will take her to lunch? I'll drop them off here after and go get Callie a bag with her stuff and some stuff for us." Stef said. She looked at Lena to see if she was ok with this idea. At her nod she continued. "By the time I get back she should be admitted and everything."
Dr. Carlson thought about it. A few hours wouldn't hurt. She took the last dose late evening. And it's late morning. After doing the math, she decided it would be OK. "Ok. You guys can go, but I want her back no later than 3pm. I'm really concerned about this allergic reaction she's having to the meds. Like I said, this happened while she was on allergy medication. What would have happened if she wasn't on any? It could have been severe."
Callie sighed in relief and the moms smiled. "I promise we will have her back in time." The mom's looked at Callie. "And she will cooperate completely with any tests and analysis you might have." Stef said while Lena agreed.
Callie nodded. "I promise." She said while getting up from the exam table. She absent mindlessly started to scratch her side.
Lena saw this and grabbed her hand to stop her. "Don't scratch honey. It will just irritate them more."
"Go ahead and get dressed Bug, so we can go to lunch." Stef said.
Callie nodded, grabbed her stuff and went to the bathroom to change back into her cloths. As she took off her gown she looked at herself in the mirror. The hives were red and a little puffy. The started to itch more and when she touched her abdomen it felt a little warm. She should have known that she wouldn't have been able to hide it for the exam and that she was going to miss school. Now she's going to miss more than just today. This wasn't normal. It wasn't supposed to happen. Not from what she could remember.
Back in the exam room the moms were talking to dr. Carlson.
"Leslie, is she going to be ok?" Lena asked with worry evident in her tone of voice.
"As long as we find out what is going on, yes." Dr. Carlson said.
"How could she have gone her whole life and nothing like this ever happened?" Stef asked to no one in particular.
"I was going through her medical records." Dr. Carlson looked at both moms when she said this. "And I found that before she entered the foster system there is not a lot of info. I found gaps in her medical records as big as 2 years. And not just before she entered the foster system. From what I can tell a few foster parents did care enough to keep up with check ups and suck. So, for all we know this might have happened but she might not remember it."
As she said this, Callie came out of the bathroom fully dressed. She looked at her moms and said; "I'm done." She then looked at her doctor. "Thanks a lot Dr. C., this really means a lot to me. I promise to try my best to cooperate with you, but I have to give you fair warning, I hate needles and I hate hospitals. Even so I will try my best to stay calm and cooperate."
"Thank you Callie. I really appreciate your honesty and I also promise that we will be very mindful about your dislike of needles and hospitals." Dr. Carlson said to the girl. Then she turned to the moms. "Well, I will see you in a couple of hours. While you guys are at lunch I will start with the admissions process and getting her room ready."
"Thank you again Leslie. Have a good morning." Stef and Lena said at the same time.
"Your welcome have a good lunch." The doctor said as she left the room.
"Well Bug let's go have lunch so we can come back and get you on the road to healthy." Lena said while putting her arm around her daughter's shoulders. They all exited the hospital and made their way to the car.
"Well Cal, where do you want to eat? Just name the place. Whatever you want." Stef asked Callie.
"Um… how about tacos? But not the fast food kind. Real tacos." Callie said.
"I think that's a great idea Bug." Lena said.
"Yeah, I could eat some tacos." Stef added. They all made it to the car and buckled up.
Well at this point I am writing and posting as soon as I finish a chapter. I want to thank all of you that are following my story and thank you for all the very encouraging reviews. Callie is going to be spending a few days in the hospital. So there will be a lot more Jude, Stef and Lena. The rest of the family will be making appearances and lets not forget that the allergy test still has to happen. The other 4 siblings will get the test done first. Callie will be the last and we will also find out what info is missing from her file and why...
Please keep the comments coming and if you have any ideas you would like to see in the story feel free to PM me any time...