After an hour or so of talking, Sophia goes home, and Stef and Lena come back with a backpack full of my stuff.

"Here, sweetie." Stef hands me my phone. "Give Jason a call and let him know you're okay, he came by the house."

"Oh, thanks." I take the phone. I can barely think about Jason and Rae right now, I can't take my mind off of what the Fosters and Sophia said.

"But you're still grounded, we'll take it back once you're done," Lena says. I turn my phone on and I have a million missed calls from him, and a few from Rachel and Taylor too. I text Jason, telling him I passed out and I'm sure I'll be back at home soon. I can't face calling him, hearing his voice, I still feel guilty about Rachel. I contemplate texting her too, but I decide not to, I don't want her to worry. Lena takes the phone back, switching it off.

"So, listen, love, I have to go back to work and Lena has a meeting tomorrow morning so neither of us can stay with you, do you think you'll be okay alone?" Stef asks.

"I can stay, I don't mind," Callie says.

"I don't know sweetie-"

"No honestly, it's better than leaving her alone," Callie advocates for me.

"Please," I say. Stef and Lena look at each other, it's like they always know what the other one's thinking. That's the kind of relationship I want for myself one day, and I think I could have it with Rae.

"Okay, but Callie, be back home first thing tomorrow and Gracie, I'll be back to see you in the morning." Stef hugs me. I say my goodbyes to everyone, and Callie makes herself comfortable in the armchair next to my bed.

"What do you think is wrong with me?" I ask her.

"I don't know, maybe food poisoning? I doubt it's anything serious, otherwise, they would have like rushed all your tests and we'd know by now." A million possibilities run through my mind, the most prominent one being death. "Are you scared?"

"No, I mean, not about this, Robert and Jill want to adopt me." I open up.

"Really?" She doesn't seem happy. "Do you want them to?"

"I don't know, I love living with you guys, but I can't help but feel like I could be yanked out of the home at any moment. It happens, I've been in foster homes where they just take me away without any rhyme or reason."

"Yeah it happens, but with Stef and Lena, it was different, they always got me back. We're a family, that's how it works. We fight for our own." She squeezes my hand. "We were gonna ask them tomorrow if you still want us to?"

"Yeah, it can't hurt to ask them. It makes sense to go live at Sophia's, I take up so much space in your house. but I don't know I feel like there's just too much space in Sophia's house, that must sound crazy."

"No, it's not crazy, and you don't take up too much space. I mean look at you, you're tiny!" I've always been small for my age; I think my dad said I was born prematurely. "Besides, Brandon said he wants to move back into his dad's if it means you get the family you deserve."

"I can't ask him to do that, you've all done so much for me already."

"He wants you to have a home, Gracie. We all do. And either me or Mariana would take his room and then there's more space for you and your stuff."

"Why are you all so nice to me? And I can't believe Jesus is cool with someone other than him getting Brandon's room," I laugh. I start to swing more towards the idea of staying with the Fosters, it's clear they all want me there. For some reason. "I better get some sleep; sorry again, that you have to stay with me." I get into the new pajamas Stef and Lena bought me for my birthday.

"Don't be stupid, I want to stay." She gets up to turn the lights off and I settle down to go to sleep.

The night is restless, the nurse comes in to check my pulse and temperature every hour. She tries not to wake me but after the first couple of times, I can't get back to sleep. I throw up a few times and I got that same sharp pain in my stomach in the middle of the night. I didn't wake Callie though; I went out into the hall to find the nurse and she gave me some painkillers through the IV in my hand. It seems Callie had a pretty long night too; she wakes up stretching out of the uncomfortable position she's got herself in to on that armchair.

"Morning." She rubs her eyes. "How did you sleep?"

"I didn't, I got sick again and then I had a weird pain in my stomach and got some painkillers. They made me a little drowsy, but I couldn't get any real sleep. How about you?"

"I was so exhausted that I blacked out. Do you feel okay now? Still in any pain?"

"A little, it comes in bursts." I shift uncomfortably, trying to find a way to sit that doesn't hurt.

"Hey girls." Stef comes in, closing the door behind her. She's still in her cop uniform, she must not have even gone home yet, "Are you alright Gracie? The nurse told me you were sick in the night, and you were in pain?" She fusses over me.

"Yeah, but I'm okay now." I have to put up a good front, I don't need her worrying about me. I'm already adding more medical bills to the already huge pile of finances I've brought into her life.

"Hopefully we'll get this all fixed today." She squeezes my hand reassuringly. "Callie, Brandon parked out front to take you home, keep working on your project."

"Okay, when can we come back?" She gets up. I wouldn't want to come back here if I had the choice.

"I'll call Mama and let her know what's going on, if Gracie still needs to be here then you can all come after dinner."

"Cool, see you later Gracie, hope it all works out." She hugs Stef and me and lazily trails out of the room. A man in a white coat arrives with my chart in his hand and a cheery look on his face. I don't know how anyone can be cheery in this place.

"Gracie, I'm Doctor Graves."

"Hi." I shake his hand.

"Morning," He sits on the end of my bed, "How are you feeling today?" He flips through my chart. It's pretty hefty, I'm sure all the self-harm and suicide attempts make for a compelling read.

"I'm okay, just tired." I don't mention the pain, it may mean I have to stay for longer.

"She was vomiting in the night," Stef interjects.

"I see, so we have the results of all your tests and scans, and you have a stomach ulcer."

"Is that serious?" I panic slightly.

"It's very easily treated, and it's not too bad, you're lucky you came in so early otherwise things could have gotten worse."

"What caused it?" Stef asks as she takes my hand.

"It can be due to stress; would you say your life is stressful Gracie?" Stef and I give each other a look.

"Yes," We say in unison.

"Right, we won't rule that out. other causes can be an infection caused by the bacteria Helicobacter Pylori or taking specific types of painkillers for a prolonged amount of time. Do you take any medication?"

"No, not painkillers anyway."

"So, it's down to infection most likely?" Stef's grasp on my hand gets tighter.

"Yes, now uh, you said you're not on painkillers, but do you take any other meds? We don't have you on file here, so you'll have to help me out a bit."

"I take pills for my PTSD; the government pays for those. They're like an anxiety drug, a beta-blocker I think."

"Okay, I'll prescribe you some strong antibiotics that will kill all the bad cells causing the ulcer, should take about three weeks, any longer, then you or your mom can call my office." He hands Stef his little card and a piece of paper with my prescription on it.

"Oh, she's not my mom," I say.

"I see, well you can pick them up at the pharmacy on your way out. Gracie, you take it easy, no school for at least a week, and not too much exercise for about a month. If something's stressing you out, cut that thing out of your life okay?"

"Okay." My throat is dry. Cut the stressful things out of my life? So, everything then?

"So, she's can come home?"

"Yes, she's doing well. She may still be nauseous for a few days, but you'll notice the difference when the antibiotics start to kick in."

"Thank you," I say.

"Thanks, Doctor." Stef shakes his hand and he leaves.

"This is good news, right?" I ask her.

"Yeah, it is, come on let's get you home." Stef helps me out of bed. I'm a little wobbly so she has to help me walk, we thank my nurse on our way out. It just seems that nothing good can happen without something bad happening.