Lena POV

I got off phone with Cooper Ellis just 5 minutes ago. He didn't give me the good news I hoped for, but at least now I know where they both are. The fact that they were both trapped, worries me in whole different way, than the not knowing at all. Now I was torn, by the two choices that were in front of me.

I wanted to go to the place where Stef and Callie were stuck. But I also thought that it was safer for my kids here, at home. I wanted to be at two places at the same time.

I knew, that if I go to the Therapy Center, there wasn't anything we could do to help. The rescue is probably working on it and I wouldn't be even allowed inside the building.

I hated the decision I was put in front. If only someone could help me decide. What I wanted was Stef's thoughts, advice. We usually decide these kind of things together.

"Mom?" Brandon walked up to me as I was standing by the dinner room window, looking out to the street. Looking at how some of our neighbors were checking their houses, to see whether there is or isn't damage done to their homes from the nearby trees or the earthquake itself.

"Yes?" I turn to look at back at the oldest of my sons

"We can't just sit here and do nothing while mom and Callie are trapped in there" he says to me, gesturing back to the living room where the others were sitting, with scared look on their faces.

"There is nothing we can do there, B. We wouldn't be even allowed inside. We would just be standing there, just as helpless as we are now" I say thinking rationally about it

"It would still be better than us sitting here!" He argues back "It is mom we are talking about! And Jude is a mess! He doesn't know anything about his sister other than – she is trapped!"

"There is nothing we can do there!" I repeat it to him, hoping he would understand it. But deep down, I was hoping that he would convince me that all of us should drive there

"Mom, we are miserable here. Look at them!" he says and turns sideways and gestures to the 4 other kids. "All we want…is to be close by. Imagine how mom would feel, when they get them out and she has no one there to hug her or kiss her. Or just say that everything is going to be okay. What if she thinks that something has happened to all of us?" he says back with a lot of emotion in his voice

I had nothing to say back to him, so I just stood silently looking at him.

"Amy is probably there already. And if she isn't, she is probably on her way! Mom we have to go! Mom would have already be there if it was you who was stuck there" Brandon continues to persuade me

I glance pass Brandon one more time to look at Jude, who was sitting at the armchair that was closer to the doors. His hand had gone up to his face, to his cheek. His hand movement suggested that he wiped away a tear

"Mom…we need to go! We need to be there, so we could see her as soon as possible. Please" He already had convinced me with his last argument

"You drive with Mariana. I will drive with the others." I said and a small smile appears on his lips as I walk pass him

Amy POV

The guy is standing right where he stood up from behind the shelf, just staring at me. At my hands to be more exact

"I know you said you are close and the shop…" I look around the damage done "is damaged, but I am willing to pay double. I just need a box of chocolate. I am sure you have at least one box—"

He shook his head, still with quite shocked look on his face. His hand slowly raised and he pointed to me "A-are you hurt? I h-have a med…box…someplace" he then looked around trying to remember where the first aid box is placed

I say confused back "I'm not hurt" I lower my hand finally down, looking at him, of how scared he know looked.

He then hurried behind the counter and crouched down, after a second he stood up and placed a first aid box down on the counter. I make my way up to the counter, stepping over everything that was on the ground.

"What are you talking about?" I ask back cautiously

"Your hands" he says digging through the box and then holds up a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a gauze

I quickly glance down to my hands. I can't believe I hadn't noticed myself. It was like my brain decided to ignored the fact that my hands were covered in blood. My eyes were deceiving me. I guess I was so concentrated on other things, on Tom, on getting to hospital, on Callie, that my brain decided to ignored this. It know it was Tom blood, from when I kept the pressure on his wound

"I'm not…it's not my" I say quickly back looking up to him "I helped this one guy, he was bleeding badly. I kept the pressure on his wound. I am not hurt. It is not my blood"

He let out a relieved sight and the he mumbles "I am not too good with blood and I get…." he breathed out a breath as he placed the stuff back in the box "I sometimes get sick" he closed the box

"How about the chocolate?" I ask him

He looked at the store "What kind you want? I think the ones in back, who are still in boxes could be better than the ones in here"

"Do you have anything with hazel-nuts?" I ask back

"Yeah, I do. I will go get some. Why don't you head in the back and wash up?" he says and glances to my hands once more

"Good idea. Thank you. I appreciate your help" I say as he waves me to follow him to the back

"Whoever you are buying the chocolate for, must be important…" He says as he points to the bathroom and then heads to the storage room down the hall

Stef POV

We both looked up to the elevator doors that lead to the 3rd floor. Someone was prying them open. When the doors were opened up enough, a man peaked down at me and Callie. Both of us saw the surprised looked on his face once he did, I guess, he wasn't expecting anyone to be on top of the elevator

"Mrs. Ellis!" Callie called out as she recognized him. My best guess is that he is her physical therapist.

"Callie? How-" He stuttered out, still surprised "Are you…um…Stef? Are either of you hurt" he asked, he had to think for a second before he said my name. But I was just surprised how he knew my name.

"We are not hurt. And yes, I am her! Can you hold the doors open till we climb up?" I called up to him

"Yeah, I think so! Just hurry! I don't think I can hold them open for too long" He said as he now turned his back to the one of the doors and with his hands he was pressing against the others, keeping the doors open

I usher Callie to go first "Okay, you go first. Just be careful and don't look down"

"I'm not afraid of height" Callie smiles back and walks to the ladder that lead up the shaft.

"Good. Remember, be careful. I will be right behind you" I said as she places her hand on the ladder and then starts to climb up.

I don't know how good her grip on her right hand was, so I just stood under the ladder and watched her climb up slowly. Just in case if she slips or she loses her grip with right, I could maybe catch her. Or at least soften the fall for her.

When Callie had climbed halfway up, she places her right foot on a step, but once she had pressed against it to climb up, the step that she pressed up against broke, causing Callie to kick out her right leg.

"CALLIE!" I called out afraid of the worst, my heart that moment, felt like it did a flip inside my chest. I raised my hands up, afraid that she is going to fall, but thankfully she doesn't.

"I'm okay!" she said as she held herself up. She finds another step with her right foot and for a moment she doesn't move. She repeats as she calls out, this time I think it was to just calm herself down, not me "I'm okay…I'm fine"

I breathe out a shaky breathe as she continues to climb up. Once she continued the climb, it was much slower, and it seemed that Callie was holding more tightly with her hands.

Soon she was up to the floor level and very carefully she moved from the ladder, that went right pass the doors, to the floor. The man, that was holding the doors open, held tightly with his right hand on her shirt as she made the move from ladder to the safe zone. That was all he could do, as he also needed to hold the doors open for her to get to the floor.

Once she was in safe zone, the man called down "Your turn!"

I started the climb, holding to every step tightly just in case the footing under me breaks too. Luckily it doesn't and I am to the same level as the doors in just few seconds. Same as Callie I carefully get to the safe zone.

I crawl to the floor and once I do the man asks "Is there anyone else down there?"

"No" I say as I stand up and brush off some dust off my pants "Only us"

With that he jumps out of the doorway and the elevator doors shut close. I walk up to Callie who was standing by the wall in the hallway.

"You okay? You scared me quite a bit, kiddo" I said rubbing softly her upper arm

"Wasn't intentional. I scared myself too" she admits and that is when I pull her in a hug. But she wiggles her way out quickly after few seconds

"I need to go to bathroom!" she says and with quick move she takes her bag off my shoulders and runs down the hall.

I look back to the man that was standing just by the elevator doors.

"Thank you…you came just at the right time" I say and hold my hand out

"Of course. Glad I could be of help" he shakes my hand back "I'm Cooper Ellis. Callie's physical therapist" he then introduces himself to me

"Stef Adams Foster" I shake his hand one last time and then let go

Cooper Ellis was a man I think around my age. Either late 30 or early 40. He was an average height, I would say around 1,85m. He was very fit. He has brow, straight, short length hair, that was a just a bit longer on the top of his head. He had a stubble. He was dressed in white and blue Nike running shoes. Black socks over to his ankles. Red, freely shorts with pockets and a black Nike T-shirt. When I had shaken his hand, I noticed a scar on his right hand, that went from around his thumb to little over his wrist. He had almost crystal blue eyes. He looked like he had been running a lot, he was a bit sweaty. Maybe it was just from holding the doors open for us.

"The rescue is on its way, we were told they have many other emergencies and they will be here as soon as one of the teams is free" He informs me and then nods to the other elevator

"The other elevator is stuck too. I opened the outer doors, but I couldn't open the inside elevator doors. They were jammed completely…no idea what's wrong with them" he said and looked over to his shoulder where the emergency exit was "We should probably get out of the building ASAP"

"I will…wait for Callie" I point with my right thumb over my shoulder

"Oh, yeah, yeah...sure. I wasn't saying we should just leave her. I just thought as soon as possible when she comes back" he quickly adds back.

There was an awkward silence, but I decided to put a stop to it "Um, how did you know my name?"

"Oh, this woman called Lila...or something on L…" he said trying to remember her name

"Lena" I help him out

"Yes! Lena…said that she and Amy were looking for both of you. That you haven't picked up and no one knows where you and Callie are" He rocks back on forth on his feet. There was once again awkward silence

"Did Lena by any chance said anything about where is Amy?" I ask worried about her. I knew when I left she was still in precinct, with the lawyer.

"Well, if I remember correctly, Lisa, the receptionist Lena talked with first, said that she was in some sort of….emergency. Dealing with something else?" he didn't seem sure of that information himself.

I lean a little closer to her "Do me a favor, if Callie asks, don't tell her that. You don't seem certain of that information and I don't want her to worry when there could be no reason to worry her"

"Sure. I won't." He nods back. He looked like that kind of man to keep his word.

There was a small moment of silence once again. It seemed more like 5 minutes has passed and she was still not back. It probably wasn't that long, but that's how it felt.

"Where is that kid!?" I turn to look over my shoulder. I was ready to go look for her. But thankfully that is when Callie was finally coming back. She tossed her bag over one of her shoulder

"Pick up the pace, kid" Cooper clapped his hands and turned to walk to the staircase. Callie run up to me and then we both made our way out of the building, with Callie going in front of me.

When we run out to the lobby, to first floor we saw some fireman walking in. That is when Copper called out to them "The second elevator" he said and pointed to it

"What about the other elevator" One of the fireman walked up to us as the 3 other rescuers headed straight to the elevators

Cooper looked to us "They got themselves out. Only the second one has people in. Two kids in there. Betty and Marshal…brother and sister. I talked to them like 10 minutes ago. They said they were not hurt, but they sounded very scared"

"Okay, we got this from here. Evacuate the building" the fireman said just when the other fireman had walked up to the elevator doors.

We made our way out. Cooper walks up to what looked like his co-worker, who was also dressed in sportswear. There is a big crowd of people standing there. I heard a voice calling me, I knew the voice too well

"Mommy!" Frankie was running towards me. When she was up to me I scooped her up to my hands and hugged her tightly.

"Hi, my princess" I kissed her cheek. In the corner of my eye I saw how Callie smiled at that

"I was scared mommy! You were gone a long time. Too long. The earth shook, mommy. It was scary. Mama told me to hide under the kitchen table" Frankie hugged me and pressed her head to my neck

"Mommy is here. I am okay sweetheart. I know that earth shaking is scary, but you are safe now. Mama did the right thing by hiding under the table with you. You are safe baby. You don't have to be scared anymore" I run my hand softly over her back, soothing her.

Then the rest of the family walked up to us. Lena went to hug Callie first as I was occupied with the 4 other kids hugging me. Jude's hug was the quickest and then went over to Callie and he wrapped his hands around tightly, squeezing her.

Still holding Frankie up in my arms, I finally got a kiss and hug from Lena. Once in the hug I whispered to her "Where is Amy?"

"She texted that she was on her way 5 minutes ago" Lena whispers back and then both, me and Lena, get a big hug from Frankie.

"Has anyone heard from my mom?" Callie finally asked when she had ended hugging the other kids. Jude stayed very close to her side,Mariana was close to her other side

"I spoke to her, Callie" Lena turned to Callie and reassured her "She texted me not too long ago. Your mom said that she is on her way to here."

"She isn't hurt, is she?" Callie asked back, her voice tone was very concerned

"I don't think so. She sounded okay to me when I spoke to her some 25 minutes ago. She should be here soon, try not to worry okay?" Lena said back to her calmly and placed her hand on her shoulder to comfort her

"Can I call her?" Callie asked back to Lena, looking at her with her big brown puppy eyes "I know I am still like very much grounded and all that, but I just need to hear her voice. I need to hear that she is okay on my own."

"Of course honey" Lena said back taking her phone out and handing it to Callie. She quickly looked up the number and dialed her.

A second later we hear a phone ringing not far from us. Amy had a very specific ring tone to her phone. It was a song from Bernhoft and the song was called -Cmon talk.

As soon as we heard the song in the distance, we all turn to look where the sound was coming from. Amy was standing on the other side of the parking lot, with her phone out

She still picked up as she was looking back at us – at Callie.

"You are late. You missed our grand exit/escape from the building" Callie says in the phone with a smirk looking over to the other side of parking lot where Amy was standing

We don't hear the other part of the conversation, but Callie, after a 3 seconds of pause, asks back "What kind of errand?"

All we see is that Amy speaks back, then she raises her hand up. She is holding what looks like some sort of box in her hand. It could be a chocolate box, but I was not sure. Callie was having a big smile on her lips. She hung up the phone and then run towards Amy.

They both embraces in a hug as soon as Callie is up to Amy. That is when Lena said, watching as the two woman hug "She has my phone"

"I think you will get it back, love" I said and we started walking towards them. Frankie was still in my hands. When we got up to them, they both finally ended the hug with Amy placing a kiss to Callie's forehead

"You good?" I ask Amy as I see that she looked exhausted and had some dust and blood on her clothes

"Yeah…all good. Not a scratch on me" She says back and looks back to Callie

"What happened to you?" Amy asks her as noticed the small cut on her cheekbone

"It's nothing, mom" Callie said back "I'm good. Really" Callie hands Lena's phone back

"I saw the rescue drive pass me. Didn't they just got here?" Amy asks and puts her left hand around Callie's shoulder, with her left she was holding chocolate box.

"Yeah…just some 3 minutes ago" Jesus answers that "Mom and Callie got out right after they walked in the building"

"How did you two got out…exactly?" Amy asks looking between me and Callie. We share a look and a smile.

"How about first we get out of here." Lena speaks up first looking around all of us "Then both of you can share your escape story and Amy you could tell us what happened to you."

"What happened to me was the longest hour of my entire life" Amy said back and pulled Callie a bit closer to her side "How about we head to our place? I could use a cup of coffee or tea and some sandwich. It's a bit closer than your place and—"

"DIBS ON HOT SHOWER FIRST!" Callie calls out interrupting Amy speaking.

"There goes my hot shower" She sights and looks to me "Well…shall we?"

"Better than our place. We don't have electricity for now" Brandon commented

"Yeah, one of the electric pole is down and the wires were all hanging" Jesus adds

"I am not guaranteeing that our place has electricity" Amy chips in, but no one seems to care about that right now. There is a 50/50 chance of that.

"Let's go" Lena says and takes Frankie from my arms, because she has the car seat "Stef you need to call your mom, she was worried sick, probably has few new grey hair"

"I will" I nod back "Once we get to Amy's place"

I bet really soon my phone will buzz with the many texts she has sent me

"Anyone driving with me or am I going to be the lone wolf?" I ask as Amy and Callie turned to walk to Amy's car, but all of my kids walked after Lena, I saw that Brandon was holding his set of car keys

"I will drive with you, mom" Jude said as he walked back to me with a small skip in his walk

"I knew there was a reason you are my favorite" I said tussling his hair "Don't tell the others" I whisper to him

"Don't worry. I won't. They still don't know that I am mama's favorite too" He said with a big smile on his face, his eyes shining back at me.