Title: Disregard
Rating: T
Summary: Different take on 4x01. Callie disregards her safety and goes to look for Marianna. AU, Nick did stay on school grounds.
Spoilers: Up to 4x10, but takes place during the season 4 premiere.
AN: Hi, thank you to the few of you who chose to leave me a review, it is very much appreciated. To the guest who asked about Nick, I wasn't going to write it, but the comment sparked my muse, and so, it will be included (later on, I just included an update on him in here).
AN2: I get that subscribing is a form of feedback, like "hey I wanna know what happens next", but I am not a writer, and like it's written above, reviews do spark my writing. I don't know how many more chapters of this I have in store. This is the last one that was written down.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters I create.
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The kids had settled back down somewhat comfortably now that they had news about their sister. A movement caught Stef's eye, she recognized Stratos senior as she watched him walk across the waiting room to an adjacent room where a doctor and an officer were waiting for him. Anger flared in Stef, making her get up and follow.
The doctor closed the door behind Stratos after he entered, and then came back around to face him. He spoke, but Stef couldn't read his lips, then she saw him take the doctor's hand in his, and let out what seemed relief. As the doctor left the room, she saw the officer step in and speak to him, to tell him his son was under arrest, she assumed. She heard through the glass that he wanted to see his son, and she saw the officer reply negatively. She decided she saw enough and went back to Lena and the kids. She could feel Lena looking at her worriedly. She let out a tentative smile to appease her. In the corner, she caught a glimpse of Mike talking to their captain. She indicated to Lena she was going to them.
As she approached, they both stopped talking, and turned to her.
"Hey Foster, I am so sorry about your daughter. I hope she pulls through. Mike was telling me how she was doing so far. If you or Lena need anything, don't hesitate to ask, ok?" Roberts said, putting her hand on her shoulder.
"Thank you captain." Stef replied, tiredly. "Actually, can you tell me about Nick's state?"
"Stef, you know I can't actually tell you anything, that's part of an active investigation that you cannot be a part of."
"I know that, I just want to know that he's still alive."
"The kid's still alive, Stef, he'll pay." Mike cut in, venom in his voice.
"Thank you for telling me." Stef uttered, her voice monotonous.
"Stef, Callie will be fine, that kid of your is a fighter." Mike added, trying to instill confidence.
"Thank you both for your support, Lena and I appreciate it." Stef replied, her voice sounding like an automated machine. "Excuse me, I have to go back to Lena."
"Sure," Captain Roberts said, "we're here for you."
Stef thank them once more before returning to her wife.
She sat back down, set her head on Lena's shoulder. Lena put her arm around her shoulder.
After a few minutes, Stef sat back up, Lena reluctantly let her go and watched her pace in front of her. Then she stopped right in front of Lena.
"Our parents, we forgot to call them!" She uttered, franticly searching for her phone.
"Stef, calm down, I'll take care of it, just stay with the kids, I'll handle it." She commanded her wife, knowing she wouldn't leave the room until they had news about Callie. She had barely agreed to go to the restroom to wash her hands of the blood before the first update.
She looked over at her kids, trying to assess which one could help Stef and asked Jesus, the only one that seemed to be faring better than his siblings to keep an eye on her while she made calls.
She quietly exited the room, and prepared for one of the worst calls of her life. She decided to call Sharon first, knowing that after speaking to her parents, she would crumble.
She breathed in before selecting Sharon's number.
As the phone dialed the number, she brought the phone to her ears, breathing in deeply to gather herself.
The phone rang, she breathed out, another ring, she breathed in. Eventually, Sharon picked up.
"Hello?" She spoke. After the silence that answered her, she added, "Lena, darling, is everything alright?"
Lena finally found her voice again.
"Hi Sharon, I'm, I'm calling because something happened. Callie, she was hurt." She breathed out. "We're at the hospital waiting for more news. She's been taken for surgery. Stef is with the kids, and we, we think you should be here. Stef's gonna need you, and so will the kids and I." She let out.
"I'll be on the next flight out, and Lena? Callie will be fine, that kid is so resilient I doubt even a bullet could hold her down." After hearing only static, Sharon dreaded knowing more. "Lena?" She asked tentatively.
"There was a shooting at school, Callie was shot multiple times, the shooter was going after Marianna, and she put herself in between!" Lena replied, tears threatening to spill.
"I'm gonna be here soon." Sharon didn't know what else to say. "Will you send me the hospital info?"
"Yes." Lena stammered.
"I'll see you soon, ok?" Sharon said before shutting the call.
Lena closed her eyes and placed the phone in her left hand so that she could dial her parents' number with the right.
A lone tear fell as she waited for her dad to pick up.
"Daddy!" She sobbed into the phone.
"Lena? What's wrong?" Stuart said on the other end of the phone, clueless as to what was making his daughter that upset.
"There's been a shooting at school, Callie was hurt!" Lena stuttered through her tears. "She's in surgery right now, Stef is with the kids and we need you."
"Listen, we're gonna get her as soon as possible, we're in LA right now, we'll be here soon. Callie will be ok." Stuart said forcefully, trying to believe in own words. "We'll be here soon, ok?"
"Ok, daddy, thank you." Lena murmured into the phone before ending the call.
She looked at her phone and realized there were more people to call. She breathed in deeply, trying to recompose herself, and then dialed the next person.
.oO° °Oo. .oO° °Oo. .oO° °Oo.
Marianna inched closer to her Mom as Lena left the room. She tugged on Stef's arm, wrapping her arms around her left one as if it were a lifeline. Stef looked down at her daughter, and with her right hand, she stroked her daughter's face soothingly. She stayed like that for a few minutes. Marianna breathed in and then turned to face her Mom.
"I'm sorry, Mom." She whispered, almost inaudibly, but Stef heard it.
"What?" Stef turned to fully face her. "What are you talking about, Sweets?"
"Callie's hurt because of me, she's in surgery because of me!"
"No, no, no!" Stef cut her before she could say more. "What happened is not your fault, if you want to blame someone, blame Nick, he brought a gun to school, and shot her! Hell, you can even blame his dad for having a gun in the first place, what you cannot do is blame yourself!" She took her daughter's hands in hers. "Listen to me, I am so glad you are ok, if we had lost you, I would've been devastated, we all would have."
"But Nick was upset because he thought I had cheated on him!" At this point, Jesus had moved closer to his sister and was holding her.
"Love, even if you had, that in no way gave him the right to enter school with a gun and try to shoot you!" Stef interrupted her. "You hear me? Nothing you did made you deserve what happened." She nodded softly, tears running down on her face. Stef wiped them before continuing. "What your sister did, it was brave, it was stupid but brave, she protected you." She stopped before uttering the next words. "if," she stammered, "if we lose Callie, it won't be your fault." She said wiping a tear from her own face. "But it won't come to that, your sister is a tough cookie." She added, trying to reassure her daughter.
"Mom's right, you know?" Jude chimed in. "It's not your fault Callie does stupid things!" He said angrily.
Stef looked at him with wide eyes. "Jude!" But she couldn't berate him, for she knew he was right. She took her hands off of Marianna's and moved them to hug Jude. "Now, I don't agree with how she went about it, but your sister thought what she was doing was right." Stef sighed. "We will talk about that to her once she gets better." She nudged Jude to see if he had calmed down, he looked at her with tears brimming eyes.
"Is she really going to be better?" He asked in the tiniest voice.
"Oh my love, I believe she will." She let out. "And whatever happens, we will learn to deal with it, ok?" She asked him and he nodded slowly. She turned to her other kids and asked them the same. They nodded in return, aching to believe their mom's words.
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The clock on the wall indicated half past one pm. Stef and Lena had tried to send their kids home with Mike, but neither of them wanted to leave the hospital. Seeing their kids so upset at the thought of leaving, Stef hadn't pressed on. She looked at the time. They'd been waiting on news on Callie for three hours now. Just before noon, Lena's parents had arrived, anxiously looking around for their daughter and her family. They had welcomed the support and the help. After explaining most of the situation, they had all sat back down and went back to waiting. The waiting was excruciating for all of them, but they knew that as long as Callie was still in surgery, it meant that she was still alive. Looking back at the clock on the wall, she realised none of them had eaten anything since breakfast.
Stef went over to her in laws, and asked them if they could take the kids to the cafeteria and make them eat something. Stuart nodded and they headed towards the kids, as they reached Lena's level, Dana turned to Stef.
"Do you want me to bring you something?" Stef shook her head no and turned to her wife.
"Do you want to eat, Love?" Imitating her wife, she declined. Stef turned back to them. "We're fine, thank you, just get the kids to eat something, even if just a candy bar." They both nodded before making their way towards their grandkids. She could see their refusal at first, so she gestured at them, pleading with them to go with their grandparents. Brandon nodded at his mom, and led his siblings out.
As the kids left, Stef sat back down on the bench, taking Lena's hand in hers, and Lena placed her head back on Stef's shoulder. They sat there in silence, trying to comfort each other, knowing exactly what the other was feeling. They watched the time pass by, wondering if they were ever going to see Callie smile again, holding onto each other for support all the while trying to give the other strength.
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When Lena's parents came back with the kids, more than half an hour had gone by. They noticed the fresh tear tracks on the younger couple's face, but didn't say anything, they knew that nothing they'd say could comfort any of them right now. They had tried to console the kids the best they could and failed miserably for they knew that nothing short of Callie being actually ok would make them ok. They felt useless as they sat next to Rita.
It was nearing 3pm when a doctor wearing scrubs came in asking for them. Stef and Lena ran to her. She was much older than the first doctor they'd spoken to, Lena thought. She introduced herself.
"I am Dr Porter, I am the lead surgeon on your daughter Callie's case. Callie is out of surgery, it went mostly well. We've repaired her lung, removed the chest tube and saved her liver by removing the rib fragment. Her liver will regenerate." She breathed in. "She coded while on the table, but we were able to bring her back after about 3 minutes. We got a sinus rhythm and she has been stable ever since. We won't know if there will be consequences until she wakes up. As for her shoulder injury, the orthopedic surgeon was able to retrieve all the fragment, and she will regain all mobility in her arm. She's in recovery now, but will be moved to the ICU shortly. We will need to monitor the rest of her injuries closely and she will be staying in the hospital for the foreseeable future, but barring any complications, she should make a full recovery." The doctor smiled, for once, she was able to give good news.
"So, she's gonna be fine?" Lena stammered.
"If she wakes up, she will." The doctor still wanted to be cautious for she knew sometimes a patient waking up was up to more than just the medicine.
"But, she's gonna wake up, right" Stef pressed.
"There's a very good chance she will, I just wanted you to be aware that there's a slim possibility she might not." Dr Porter clarified.
"Thank you doctor!" Both moms exclaimed, relieved.
"I will get someone to fetch you when you can visit."
They thanked her one more time and as she exited the waiting room, the kids ran up to their moms.
"Callie's gonna be ok!" Lena breathed out, finally feeling like everything was going to turn out fine.
They all breathed a sigh of relief and hugged each other, sporting smiles and tears of joy on their faces.
.oO° °Oo. .oO° °Oo. .oO° °Oo.
They waited impatiently for someone to take them to their daughter. Roughly 25 minutes of waiting later, a nurse came and asked for them. She explained that since Callie was in the ICU, it was immediate family only and only two persons at the same time. They turned to Dana and Stuart and asked them to watch over the rest of the kids while they went to see Callie. They both knew each of their kids also wanted to see her, but they wanted to see her first so they'd be able to prepare them for what awaited them.
The nurse led them to the upper floor where the ICU was. As she stepped to Callie's room, she stopped.
"Callie has a tube down her throat to help her breathe, she has multiple IV, she is on a blood transfusion, antibiotics, and dialysis. She has probes monitoring her heart activity as well as probes monitoring her brain activity. Her left arm is bandaged to her torso so that she can't move it, even involuntarily." The nurse paused and looked at them sympathetically. "I know it's hard to see your kid in that state, I just wanted to warn you."
Stef was taken aback briefly. With all the relief with knowing Callie would be ok, she had forgotten she had a long road ahead of her and was nowhere near fine now. She remembered her own recovery and how hurt she was by just one bullet. She took Lena's hand in hers and entered the room. In spite of the nurse's warning, they couldn't help the gasp that escaped their lips as they took in the sight of their daughter on a hospital bed, unmoving.
They approached the bed, sat on the chair at the right side of the bed. Stef leaned in, put her hand on her shoulder, and kissed her forehead.
"We're here, Love," she whispered into her ear, "we're right here, please come back to us." She repressed a sob as she sat back down, and let Lena sit on her leg.
Lena put her other hand in Callie's and pressed it slightly so she'd know she wasn't alone.
"We love you, Callie, we love you so much, just come back to us. Everybody's downstairs waiting to see you well." A sob escaped and Stef pulled her wife closer to her, embracing her, resting her head in the crook of her neck.
"She's gonna be fine, Love, she's gonna be fine."
Lena calmed down as she listened to Callie's steady heartbeat on the monitor.
They stayed like that for what seemed hours, but in reality, time had barely moved. It was around half past 4 when Stef spoke.
"Do you think we should let the kids see her like that?"
"I think they want to see her, to see for themselves that she's still here, and if we don't let them, they'll think something is wrong." Lena looked up at her wife.
"You have a point there. Maybe just let them in one by one? So at least one of us can stay with Callie?"
"I think we should let Jude see her first, he's been a mess." Before Stef could reply anything, Lena added, "you stay, I'll go get him."
Lena squeezed her hand as she stood up and left the room. As hard as it was for her, she knew her wife was taking it harder. It was her job to protect people, a job she was trained for, and knowing their daughter had put herself in harm's way to protect her sister as if her life didn't matter just about broke Stef's heart further. Lena had seen how they'd gotten so much closer, and so much faster than she and Callie. She had tried, time and time again, to show Callie she no longer needed to act as a protector, that she could be just a kid and enjoy life without having to care too much of others.
She was still lost in her thoughts when she reached her kids. The blank stare on her face made them fear something had happened.
"Mama, is Callie ok?" Jesus asked, being the only one able to voice what they were thinking.
This broke Lena out of her trance as she took Jesus' hand in hers.
"She's stable and out of surgery, she's still unconscious but if you want to visit her, I'll take you."
"I want to see her!" They all replied at the same time.
"Ok, but there can be only two in with her, and Mom and I will take turns to stay, so I can take one, and come back for to take another." Lena said.
"You should take Jude." Marianna spoke, mindful of her little brother's emotional state of mind. The rest of the kids agreed.
Jude acquiesced and took Lena's hand as she turned to her parents, silently thanking them for being here and taking care of her kids and noticed Sharon standing with them. By the way she was holding herself, she knew they had filled her in on what happened. Sharon nodded at her as she guided Jude toward the elevator. She explained Callie's injuries and current state to lessen the shock.
As they entered the room, Stef got up and extended her arms towards Jude inviting her youngest son into a hug.
He approached Callie's bed slowly, still wrapped in Stef's embrace, took her hand in his and felt for himself that she was still alive. He turned to his Mom.
"When will she wake up?" He asked, anguish written all over his face.
"I don't know, Sweets, it could be a few hours or it could be a few days. Her body needs to rest in order to heal.
"Can I stay with her, just me?"
"Sure, Baby, we'll be right outside." Stef replied, stroking his head and kissing his temple, before joining Lena outside.
This time, Stef stepped into Lena's inviting arms. Lena seemed to know her wife needed it. Then Stef broke down, sobbing into Lena's shirt. Lena guided them out of the ICU towards a supply closet to give them privacy. Stef took a step back from Lena and started talking.
"I thought she was dead!" She let out, blubbering. "When I got to her, she was so bloody and unmoving, I thought she was dead! And then in the ambulance, she was dead! She died! They had to bring her back! Twice! There was no heartbeat!" She hiccupped.
Tears ran freely on Stef's face as she came to terms with the events of the morning. Lena had felt the same, only with more uncertainty, she hadn't seen Callie's state up close, she had known it was bad from the look on her wife's face, but not to what extent. Hearing her wife recount what she felt then broke her heart. She gathered Stef in her arms, rubbing soothingly her back, whispering in her ear.
"She's gonna be fine, she's going to make it through, and then it'll only be a bad memory. You told me to have faith she's going to be ok, we're all going to be ok." She added, bringing her wife's face close to hers, kissing away the tears.
They stayed forehead to forehead a while longer before Lena spoke again.
"You feel better?"
"I don't know, I mean, I don't feel worse." Stef cracked, her voice hoarse.
"You ok to go back?" She asked softly and Stef nodded.
They exited the room and walked back to Callie's ICU room and watched from the doorway as Jude whispered to Callie.
Lena walked in, put her hands on his shoulder.
"She's going to be fine, bubba, it may take a while, but she is going to be ok, and this will be a distant memory."
He looked up at her, his eyes brimming with tears and nodded.
"Is it ok if we let the rest of your siblings see her?" Lena questioned and Jude nodded again. "Alright, go to Mom, she'll bring you down, ok?" Jude nodded once more before joining Stef outside.
Lena turned back to Callie, placed her hand over hers.
"You have to be ok, Callie." She leaned in, much like her wife had done earlier, and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "You have to be ok, come back to us."
.oO° °Oo. .oO° °Oo. .oO° °Oo.
End of Chapter 3.
So, is Callie really going to be ok, or is something going to happen, while she's in the ICU?
Also, I have no more material written down for future chapters, so bear with me.
It's well past 1 am here, I am knackered, got work in the morning, please do tell me what you think of it with feedback by way of reviews! (so that I didn't deprive myself of sleep over nothing ;))
I didn't read over, so if you do find something, please tell so that I fix it quickly. Thanks!