Lena felt like she had been waiting for the doctor forever. She stayed seated next to Brandon, completely ignoring the rest of her family. Being next to Brandon was as close as she could possibly be to Stef right now and she needed that. She smiled to herself when she thought about the first time she had met Brandon and Stef. Brandon was almost five years old and Stef and him were touring the school before he started kindergarten in the fall. He was such a sweet kid and when Lena had moved in with the two of them, he had treated her like a mother instantly.

"Family of Stefanie Foster?"

Lena stood up followed closely by Brandon and Mike. The twins and Calli stayed in the back. "Is my mom okay?" Brandon asked and Lena wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"Your mom is going to be okay. Thankfully the only organ the bullet hit was the lung, which we will keep inflated using a chest tube. Unfortunately, the bullet is lying extremely close to the spine which itself is not a concern, but the bullet fragments are and we are going to have to go in surgically and remove them." The doctor explained.

"She could be paralyzed?" Lena asked.

"The sooner we get in there the better. I do want to wait until some of the swelling goes down and her lung get a little better. I'm going to schedule her for surgery in the morning. We are going to keep her sedated and intubated however, just in case we have to go back in early."

"I can stay with her?"

"Of course you can, so can they. She's being transferred to the intensive care unit."

"Thank you." Lena turned to everyone. "Lets go see mom, but I have to warn you guys, she has a tube in her mouth to help her breathe and she might not wake up while we are there okay?" Everyone nodded. "Callie?"

"I'll wait here."

Lena smiled at the girl and led her family towards the ICU. Mariana gasped when she saw her mom in the hospital bed. Lena would have too had she not already seen Stef earlier in the trauma room. Everyone was so used to the strong Stef and seeing her in this bed was terrifying for everyone. Lena let the kids have some time with Stef, all talking to her hoping that she would hear them.

"I'm so sorry." Lena heard Mariana whisper.

"Brandon, I think that you should take everyone home. I'll call you if anything happens."

"What about you?"

"I'm gonna stay with mom, can you bring me some clothes in the morning? Jesus, Mariana, Brandon is in charge."

Everyone left Lena alone with Stef. "Brandon is going to take everyone home. Don't worry love, I'm not going anywhere." She took her hand and kissed it. "Stef, I'm having a lot of trouble comforting the twins. It's their fault your here. I don't know what to do. I need you here."

SLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLS

Lena stayed in the uncomfortable chair next to Stef's bed all night long and in the morning her doctor had come in to say that they would be able to take her to surgery soon. She called Brandon to let him know and the kids would be coming back shortly to wait together.

"Stef, before they take you in I just want you to know how much I love you. You are the strongest, most beautiful woman I have ever met and I am the happiest I've ever been." She kissed her temple, "please come back to me love."

"I'm sorry but we are going to have to take Mrs. Foster to surgery now."

Lena wiped her eyes and looked over at the nurse who was smiling at her with sympathy. "Of course. I should go and see if my children are here anyways." She held onto Stef's hand for as long as she could until they wheeled her down the hallway and through a door marked STAFF ONLY.

She stood there as long as she could before finally heading to the familiar waiting room to meet her family. "Have they taken her in yet?"

Lena smiled at Brandon, "they just did." She took her sons hand and led him to the waiting room chairs.

"I umm, I need to get some air." Lena looked over in time to see Mariana run out of the waiting room.

Jesus got up to go after his sister but Lena stopped him, "I'll get her." She walked outside of the hospital to find Mariana crying on a bench nearby. She felt horrible. She should have been comforting all of her children, not just Brandon. Of course this whole thing was not either of the twins fault. Why couldn't she see that from the beginning? She had just been so scared that Stef had been hurt.

"Sweetheart, mom is going to be okay. I promise." She sat down next to her daughter and brought her close.

"I am so sorry. Please don't get rid of us." Mariana cried. Lena's heart broke. Was that what the twins had been thinking?

"Oh baby, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making you think that. There is nothing you or your brother could do that would ever, ever make us not want you. You are my children."

"Mom could have died because of us."

"Not because of you. Because of the man who shot her."

"But-"

"No buts. Mom is going to be okay. You will always be her 'Miss Thing', and you will always be my little girl." Mariana smiled and wiped her tears. "I am so sorry that I made you feel less than a part of this family." She kissed the side of her daughters head.

"Sometimes I wish that you had given birth to me. Things would be a lot less complicated."

"Oh sweetie, things would still be complicated. But I would be lying if I said that I didn't wish the same thing some times. But you know that I love you as much as I would any child I would have given birth to right?"

Mariana nodded.

"Okay. What do you say we pick up ice cream for everyone while we wait for the doctor?"

"Mama, its nine in the morning."

"So? Are you saying no to ice cream?"

"No way."

END CHAPTER