Stef POV

"I'm not leaving!" I state back, staring back at her

"Yes you are!" Callie argued back, I saw her pull her hands into fists

"Can you tell me what I did?" I ask her back, I tilted my head sideways very lightly. Not for a second I took my eyes off her. I could see Callie was barely holding it together, she was very emotional. I had a feeling I knew what this was about, but I needed her to say it.

She took a small step back from the end of the bed and pointed to me "I don't want you here!" she said loudly

"Why? What did I do to you!?" I kept my voice calm

Callie grinned her teeth back at me. She avoided my question completely "You shouldn't be here!"

"Why not? Amy is my partner and my friend. I have a right to see her! I am just as worried about her as you are!" I reason back

"No...no, you are not! No one is as worried about her as I am!" Callie raised her voice once again

"Okay, you are right! I am not as worried about her as you are, but I am still very much concerned about her, Callie. Like I said, she is my partner...and most importantly Amy is my friend! I care about her and I care about you!" Callie stood silently, just watching me

"Why can't I be here, Callie?" I ask her once again, keeping my voice as calm and gentle as I can

"BECAUSE IT IS YOUR FAULT!" Callie shouted at me and then did her best to calm down a bit, she kept her voice lower as she continued "It is your fault what happened to her!" Callie gestured to her mom

"You are her partner! You are suppose to watch her back! You are suppose to take care of one another!" She turned her attention to her mom "But now she is..." She chocked up on her words as she watched Amy's chest move up and down as the ventilator pushed air into her lungs

Callie turned to me "She is barley alive, but you are barely injured! You barely have a scratch on! How is that fair?" Tears were falling down her cheeks as she kept talking "Why do you get to...be okay, when my mom isn't!? This is not fair!"

"You are absolutely right, Callie!" I agree with her "It is not fair. I am sorry that it turned out this way."

"I WISH THIS WAS YOU NOT MY MOM!" Callie shouted out angrily at me as she pointed to the bed. Finally she said what she wanted to say. She got it off her chest. Callie had tears streaming down her cheek, her hands were once again pulled in fists. Her lower lip was whimpering.

I glanced down to my injured arm and then, to compare me and my partner's injuries, I looked up Amy.

"If I could...I would take her place, Callie. I would take the bullets for her!" I push myself up from the wheelchair. My head spins because I stood up so fast. Thankfully the dizzy spell pass in few seconds.

"You have to believe me! I wish I could change the way things happened, Callie!" I said looking straight to the girls sad eyes "I wish we hadn't stopped at the bakery. I wish I had walked to the line up to cash register instead of her. I wish I had seen that something was wrong. I wish I could have warned her. I wish we had our vests on!"

Slowly I walked closer to her, I was keeping close to the bed, just in case my head spins again. Callie has now turned her head sideways, looking away from me. She found the floor by the right side of her mom's bed more interesting than me. Her lower lip was now sucked in between her teeth. There was a small sniff now and then as she was trying hard not to cry.

"But I can't! No matter how hard I want to...I can't change what happened."

"She's all I have" Callie cried out "I can't lose her!"

"You know that's not true! You have me and Lena, and Cooper, and Amy's parents. You have Jude and there are 4 kids, who think of you as their siblings. And we all love you, more than you could ever imagine, Callie" I spoke very slowly, to make sure she actually hears each and every word I say. My voice was firm and as earnest and serious as it could get. I meant every word I said. I was almost up to her, she was just a hand reach away.

"You are not alone Callie. You will never be alone. Your mom...she is still here. She is still fighting, so don't you give up on her!"

"I'm afraid of losing her!" Callie sobbed out taking the last step that was between us. I press my right hand to the back of her head as she buried her head in my neck and wrapped her hands around me. Her shoulder presses to my wound, it causes my shoulder to hurt a bit, but I don't care. My priority right now was Callie and she needed me, now more than ever.

Lena POV

I saw Cooper pacing back and forth in the hallway just by Amy's room, his head was down.

"Hey Cooper! Have you by any chance seen Stef? She is not in her room, nurse said she wanted to see Amy..." I asked him from afar when he hand turned to pace my direction. His head snaps up once he hears my voice.

"Oh, um…Hi, Lena!" it looked like I startled him a bit. Cooper stops in his tracks just before Amy's room "Yeah...she's here" He points towards the room

When I was finally up to the room, I saw that Stef and Callie were both in there. They were embracing one another. Stef was holding a crying Callie, Callie was holding on to Stef, like her life depended on it. There was an empty wheelchair by Amy's bed, in which, I suppose, Stef was suppose to be sitting in.

"What's did I miss?" I ask looking inside the room to the two of them embracing, holding one another

"Callie had a minor breakdown...in front of Stef" Cooper said looking inside the room "I let Callie out by the hospital and went to park the car. When I got up to here, I heard Callie blame Stef for what happened with Amy and it went from there. I didn't go in. Stef was..is handling it" he turned to me "Callie was just upset, she didn't mean-"

I raise my right hand up briefly, stopping him "It's okay Cooper. That was expected. It was only matter of time before Callie...had a small breakdown"

I look to Cooper and then with a head nod down the hallway, further away from the room, I invite him for a little walk together. Stef and Callie need some more time alone, so were should give them some more privacy.

"How did it go? Last night I mean..." I ask him when we are 10 steps away from the room

"Uh..." Cooper shrugs at first "Normal, I guess. She went to sleep in her mom's room"

"But…?" I raise eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue

"But, she came down like 2 hours later. Said she couldn't sleep, said she couldn't get the image of Amy in hospital bed out of her mind. We watched a movie together, talked a bit...she fell asleep a moment later"

"Has she eaten anything?" I ask concerned, as we continue to just walk down the hallway, going nowhere specific

"Not when we got home last night. But she did have a big breakfast. I made scrambled eggs and bacon"

"Good" I say quietly mostly to myself

"Have you heard anything from Amy's parents?" He asks me as we continue to walk slowly back to Amy's room

"Um...I got an e-mail for them, from Amy's brother actually. He wrote that they got a flight, that lands in San Diego at 1:00 PM today"

"I should probably drive to get them" Cooper wonders out loud "If the flight comes here at 1, I should probably drive out a little before 12..." he was already calculating it all in his mind

"Did you get any sleep?" I ask as we start to walk back to the room. To me Cooper looked exhausted. Callie might have gotten some sleep, but I doubt Cooper did.

"Yeah...I'm fine. Don't worry about me!" He didn't sound too convincing

"How much?" I ask gazing to his eyes until he gave up

"2-3 hours maybe" He admits quietly

"Cooper you need to sleep"

"I will, I will…" He hung his head down, avoiding my look

"When?" I gave him another concerned look, he shrugs back at me "Maybe after you get back from the airport you should drive home to have some sleep. Just few hours"

He scratches his temple "That's probably a good idea" He says when we are almost up to the room. A nurse was coming up to the room from the other side of the hallway.

"Why is she out of her wheelchair!?" The nurse called out, once she saw inside the room. She was very upset and it didn't look like she was taking Stef disobeying the rules, getting up from the wheelchair, too well.

Cooper whispers to me in a playful way, before I hurry to the room, to stop the nurse from barging inside "Someone's in trouble!"

The nurse was not pleased at all. She was two steps away from walking in the room. The look in her eyes told me she was about to scold Stef's by reading her a 10 minute long lecture.

I hurry in front of her, I stood between her and the doors. I didn't want a nurse to ruin Stef's and Callie's moment. I also didn't want the nurse to scold my wife. If someone was going to scold her and whoop her ass, it will be me. No one else, but me!

"I-I got this..I will handle it!" I glanced down to her name tag "Nurse Lydia!"

I smile to her, but she doesn't smile back. Her face stays as blank as it was before. She was one of those grumpy nurses, every hospital has those. It is guaranteed, if you stay in hospital, you will get at least one grumpy nurse per stay.

I clear my throat before I continue "I will take my wife back to her room ASAP!" Nurse opened her mouth to probably remind about the wheelchair "And!" I call out before I add "...I will remind her that she needs to stay in her wheelchair!"

I shot Cooper a look, when I see his face. He was standing behind the nurse, Cooper was biting his lip, holding his laughter in. He was enjoying this grumpy nurse, who was few seconds away of whooping Stef's ass, too much. But my look doesn't do anything on him. He just keeps giggling by himself.

"If she is not in her bed in 5 minutes-" nurse said in threatening voice as she pointed her finger up to my face

"She will!" I assure her quickly "I promise, she will!"

Nurse gave me a look. I think she was trying to read my face, to see if I was trustworthy. If I would keep my word. I offered her a nice, warm smile to help her decide.

Stef POV

"I guess you just saved my ass!" I said chuckling as Lena pushed me down the hallway to the elevators

"Mm-hmm. Your ass owe me!" Lena replies laughing softly, when she pushes me inside the elevator

"You already own my ass, Mrs. Adams Foster" I joke back when I look up to her "I don't know what else could you possible want from it. It has nothing else to give, my love" I enjoyed where where this conversation is going

"I do, indeed, own it..." Lena smirks back, she leans down to give me a kiss "Your ass is mine! I have full access to it. I can do whatever I want with it..."

"Naughty you" I say back between kisses. We have to end our kisses and naughtiness when the elevator stops at 2nd floor and two more people step in it. A man, just like me, was in wheelchair, a woman was behind him. When the elevator stops, Lena allows the other couple to leave it first.

"So, nurse Lydia…how did you manage to upset her so much?" Lena asked as she slowly pushed me towards my room, where all of the kids were waiting to see me

"Hey, I didn't do anything! She barged into my room and woke me up!"

"What did you tell her, Stef?" Lena asked knowing me too well

"…Nothing" I bite my lower lip

"Stef!" Lena coaxed further

"…That she might need better bedside manners and a smile wouldn't be so bad...especially if she wakes people up at 6 AM" I can picture in my head, how Lena rolls her eyes at me and shakes her head "Plus I told her that her hands were cold..."

Lena laughs softly the next moment. She leans down to my ear and whispers, while she keeps pushing me down the hallway "I have good bedside manners, right? And good...warm hands..."

"Oh, yes...magical hands" I turn my head to look up to my wife, who was now just teasing me

"Get that naughty smile off your lips Mrs. Adams Foster" Lena chuckle as we are five steps away from my room "The kids don't want to see that"

"Please tell me, we will continue this later?" I ask right before we enter the room

"You bet" Lena said before I heard Frankie's voice

"Mommy!" Frankie called out and jumped down from the bed. She hurried up to me and jumped in my lap.

"Careful, Frankie!" Lena reminds her "Mommy is still hurt. We need to be extra careful and gentle around her, sweetie"

"I'm fine love" I say back to Lena, when Frankie leaned to give me hug. I get a kiss and hug from all of them. Brandon picks her up and lifts her back up to the bed, where she sat before.

Jesus helps me get from the the wheelchair to the bed. Mariana fluffs up the pillow, while I travel the short distance. Jude pulls back the blanket aside, he holds it up, ready to place it over my legs.

"Guys, guy...I'm okay, Seriously...you don't have to baby-me! I am as good as new!" I say to all of them when I sit down on the bed. I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

"We are just worried, mom!" Jude says back to me "Let us be worried!" I have never felt more loved than I do right now.

"You need anything mom?" Brandon asks concerned

"I feel kind of thirsty" I say honestly. B quickly walks to the end of the bed, where the small table stood. It had a bottle with water on. He poured a glass of water for me and even added a straw. Then carried it to me.

I glance to Lena, who was just quietly observing everything from the chair. She had a big smile on her face as she looked around the kids, but when our eyes met, I saw something in them. Something I can't really explain. But in that that moment, I realized that Lena knew that I had killed someone. In that moment, I also knew that there wasn't going to be an option - not talking about it.

The boys must have told her, even though I ask them not to. They did the right thing, by telling them. I asked of them too much, it was wrong of me to ask it of them. I should have done the right thing and told her myself.

Cooper POV

I knocked on the partly opened doors. Callie looked over her shoulder to me once I take a step inside the room.

"Hey, um...I'm going to pick up Amy's family from the airport" I inform her

"Okay" Callie said back casually

"Any chance you wanna come with? Just asking..." I asked taking one step closer to her

Callie looked back to her mom as she thought about it "If you don't mind, I want to stay with her"

"Sure, okay. I just wanted to make sure" I said rubbing my palms together "I think I should be back around 3. I'm not really sure how long will it take for them to get their luggage and stuff. I talked to Lena, she said that she will come up in 15 minutes."

"Okay" Callie replied keeping her eyes on Amy. I was by the doors, one foot out of the room, when Callie called after me.

"Don't you want to talk to her?" Callie was turned in the chair, facing me "You haven't really been in here to talk to her. Don't you want to?"

"You are with her, so I know she's okay"

"That's not what I asked" Callie said back with pretty blank facial expressions. I step back in the room and glance down to the floor before I reply to her.

"Of course I want to talk to her, Callie. But I just...I...I'm not...family. And this is ICU – visitors are suppose to be family only, so I'm just thankful that I get to see her!" I gesture to the bed "Plus, I don't want to keep you away from your mom, just so I could talk to her. I think you should be by her side, not me..."

"But I already told you, I told the doctor...you are family. Just like Stef and Lena are!" Callie stated back with a certainty in her voice that I have never heard before "I think you should talk to her. I think mom needs to know you are here!" Callie stood up from the chair

"I will go to the cafeteria" Callie says as she walks pass me "You should talk to her, Cooper!"

I watch Callie leave, before I turn back to Amy. After I close the doors to the room, I walk up to her bed side. She looked better than yesterday, her skin color was slowly coming back. But other than that, nothing had really changed.

I sit down in the same chair, Callie sat minute ago. I place her palm in my hand and hold it as gently as I can.

"Hey..." I say quietly as with my other hand I reach up to her face to caress her cheek "I'm here, Amy. I'm sorry I wasn't here to see you sooner...but I'm here now."

I take in a breath as I watch her face. Softly, I run my fingers over her hair, around her ear.

"Callie said I should talk to you. There is only one thing that I want to talk about. It is something that I have been meaning to tell you for a while now. I was...too scared to say it"

I run my fingertips over her forehead. If there was one thing I wished for, it was that we had this talk with both of us conscious. Also, I wanted to see her eyes.

"When Lena called me, to inform you that you were shot...I was afraid that I missed my chance. I was afraid that I will never be able to tell you, how I really feel. I was afraid that you could die, without knowing…that I love you"

I had to take a small pause, so I could keep my emotions in place. This was harder than I thought it would be.

"I love you. I have loved you for a while now. I am completely and utterly in love with you. I love your perfume. I love the way your hair smells after shower. I love your smile and your laugh. I love the way you look at me, I could look into those beautiful eyes forever and never get bored. I love how passionate you are about your job and how much you love Callie. I love when you cuddle up to my side and then always say that I was the one, who wanted to cuddle. I love making breakfast together, I love having dinner together. I love how comfortable and free I feel around you. And that daughter of yours...I love her as well!" Tears whelmed up in my eyes. I tilt my head up and look away from her for a brief moment "I love everything about you!"

I swallow a lump in my throat that formed just now, when I thought about what else I needed to say

"I know...that you may not feel the same way as I do. I know you still love Aaron. And it's okay. I understand. I don't expect you to say it back when you wake up, because I know how hard this is for you. Part of the reason why I didn't tell you sooner, was because I remember that we agreed at the beginning – to take it slow. I didn't want to scare you, to pressure you. I waited for you to say it first."

I looked around the room "But this situation...we are now in. I thought you should know...I needed you to know!"

I run my right hand over my face and lean back in the chair. After taking a deep breath in, I stand up, still holding on to her hand "I have to go now. I need to pick your family from the airport, so I will be back in few hours. Don't worry, I'm not leaving you...I will be by your side through all of this. You can trust me on that. I promise you, I won't leave you!"

I lean down and place a kiss on her forehead "I love you, Amy Scott"