Chapter 3
Lena drove herself, Stef, and Jude to the care center the next morning.
"I'm glad B is letting you borrow his guitar, but I'm confused how this will help you get Callie to
remember you?" Stef asked.
"You'll see."
They stepped off the elevator to find Callie's room empty.
"Where is she?" Jude asked, alarmed.
"Maybe she's just doing therapy," Lena said calmly.
Sure enough, one of the therapists was wheeling Callie back to her room just as Lena finished
speaking.
"She did pretty well today in PT," The therapist shared.
"That's great, Callie," Lena praised.
The therapist and aide transferred her to the bed, and Jude approached cautiously.
"Hi, Callie."
Callie stared at him blankly.
"Do..do you know who I am?"
Stef looked at Lena. But Jude didn't give up.
"I got an idea." Jude said. Jude ran to his backpack and pulled something out.
"Callie, do you remember him?" Jude held out a ratty stuffed donkey.
Suddenly, Callie had a flash of something. A younger boy was sitting in front of her with a Pooh
Bear doll, and she was holding…
"Eeyore…" She said.
"That's right!" Jude started to sing, pulling out the guitar he borrowed from Brandon.
Deep in the hundred acre wood
Where Christopher Robin plays
You will find the enchanted neighborhood
Of Christopher's childhood days
A donkey named Eeyore is his friend
And Kanga and little Roo
There's Rabbit and Piglet
And there's Owl Callie started to sing
But most of all Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh
Tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff
He's Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh
Willy nilly silly old bear
Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh
Tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff
He's Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh
Willy nilly silly old bear
"Jude, it's you. I re-re…mem…ber you."
Jude grinned. Stef and Lena had tears in their eyes.
Stef was thinking back to the day she met the Jacob siblings.
…
Stef was driving along when her radio squawked.
"Attention, all responders, we have an accident on 21st and Central."
Stef picked up the radio. "This is Officer Stefanie Foster, car 4512, responding."
Stef got to the accident scene. The first thing she saw was a young boy lying in the middle of
the road.
"Hi, honey, my name is Stef. Can you tell me your name?"
"J-Jude," He said.
"Jude, I'm here to help you, okay?"
"Okay."
She walked over to the accident scene, picking up a wallet that was thrown out. She opened it,
and her heart stopped.
Staring back at her was the high school friend she hadn't seen since the woman's daughter was
born.
Wait...the daughter….
Stef looked around and saw what appeared to be a young girl lying in a ditch. She ran over and
checked for a pulse. What was her name? Kelly…Carrie…Callie…Callie!
"Callie?! Callie, can you hear me, love?"
Callie did not respond.
"Callie, you are not dying on my watch."
Stef started CPR on the girl. An ambulance showed up.
"What do we have?"
"A double accident," Stef replied, letting the paramedics take over.
Just then, Callie took a gasp of air.
"Callie!" Jude ran over, holding his arm.
"She's okay, honey," Stef said, "but we need to get you and her to the hospital."
The paramedics loaded Callie and Jude in the ambulance.
"I'm going with those kids."
Stef hopped into the ambulance. At the hospital, Callie was rushed into emergency surgery.
Stef called Lena. "Lena, I need you to ask Brandon to watch Jesus and Mariana and meet me at
the hospital.
"Stef, are you hurt?"
"No, I'll explain everything when you get here."
"What's going on?"
"I think I met some kids that need us."
"Stef, we just adopted the twins, we don't have room."
"Please, love. You'll see when you get here."
"I'm on my way."
…
"Callie," Jude asked her, "do you remember anything about your tenth birthday?"
Callie nodded. "We…went…to see…a m-a…a…
"A movie?" Stef asked her.
Callie nodded again. "J-Jude stole some of my candy."
"Well...we got into an accident on our way home," Jude continued.
"What happened?"
"Umm…Dad was driving intoxicated. We crashed."
"Jude…where's Mom? W-w-where's Mom?!"
"She-she…she died."
Callie held on Jude tightly. "N-no! Mommy, no!"
"Callie…" Stef said gently.
"W-why-why are you t-two here?"
"You see, Stef and her ex-husband Mike were the officers at the scene," Lena said.
"I met you two right away," Stef explained. "At the hospital, when we found out you would be
asleep for a while, Lena and I decided to take Jude in."
"W-what about D-Daddy?"
"Your daddy…had to go to jail for a while," Lena explained. "Which is why we adopted Jude a
few years ago. We're his parents now."
"Oh. Th-thank you."
"You're welcome."
"W-wait...s-so if J-Jude's already a-dopt-ed...how l-long have I b-been like this?"
"6 years."
"S-Six…y-years?!"
"Yeah."
"Then…I'm n-not 10 a-any-anymore. I'm…I'm…"
"16," Stef filled in. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yes."
"We have something to ask you."
Callie nodded.
"Me and my partner Lena would like you to come live with us."
"O-o-okay."
"You'd like our house, Cal," Jude said. "I have two brothers and a sister. Their names are
Brandon, Jesus, and Mariana."
"You...you think I'll l-like it?"
"I know you will."
"Okay."
"The police station Stef works at has a pool, so sometimes she takes us there to go
swimming…."
Jude continued to tell his sister all about his life, as Callie absorbed that she was going home
with virtual strangers.
…
After meeting with Callie's doctors, Stef, Lena, and Jude took Callie home. Jude had Callie lean
on him on one side and Stef on the other side as they walked into the house.
"Loves, we're home," Stef called.
Brandon, Mariana, and Jesus came into the living room.
"Callie, this is Brandon, Jesus, and Mariana," Jude introduced.
"H-h-hi," Callie muttered.
"What's wrong with her voice?" Mariana said.
"Mariana!" Brandon scolded.
"She's having trouble speaking right now, but that'll get better," Lena explained.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Mariana said.
"It's ok Miss Thang," Stef reassured her.
"Hermanos, can I have a private conference with you?"
The four siblings went into the kitchen.
"I'm going to ask Moms if Callie can sleep in my room, and if she can't, would you please go get
my mattress?"
"Your mattress? That'd require going into your room," Jesus said. "The room you've said we
could never go into?"
"Jesus this is no time to be technical!"
The boys went upstairs.
"Moms?"
"What's up?" Stef asked her.
"Can Callie sleep in my room?"
"I don't think she could handle the stairs yet, honey."
"I had a feeling you'd say that, so I have a plan B."
Brandon, Jesus, and Jude were walking down the stairs with Mariana's mattress.
"Jesus you have to turn it the other way," Brandon said getting stuck between the wall and the
mattress.
"I asked the boys to move my mattress downstairs so Callie could sleep on it. I'll sleep on the
couch, and when she can handle the stairs, we can move back in together."
"No, Jesus, the other way!" Brandon said, getting stuck between the wall and the mattress
again.
Stef sighed. "I'd better help Larry, Curly, and Moe."
"Who's Larry, Curly, and Moe?" Callie asked, laughing at the boys.
"They're a group of comedians called the Three Stooges."
Lena thought of something. After digging around a drawer, she pulled out a DVD and placed it in
the DVD player. They watched an episode of The Three Stooges.
"I like them, they're funny," Callie said, laughing at the TV.
"Me too," Stef replied.
Callie leaned onto her shoulder. Stef immediately sensed their connection.
Later that night, Callie was in the living room sleeping on Mariana's mattress. Mariana was
sleeping on the couch.
"Mariana!" Callie called.
Mariana looked over. "Do you need Moms?"
"N-no. I was w-won-der-ing if we c-could b-be friends."
"No, we're not friends. We're best friends," Mariana said with a smile.