Stef POV

I got home late, around 1AM. Everyone was already asleep or at least in their beds, when I arrived. The lights were off, house was eerie quiet.

I went to the kitchen, dropped my keys in the bowl that stood on the island table, set my bag on one of the stools and made my way to the fridge. All without turning on the lights. I needed a cold drink. Any kind of drink -water, soda, beer – they all would help with the thirst. The first thing I saw was a bottle of water, so I reached for it.

Just as I had opened the bottle and raised it up to my lips, I heard a noise coming from the nook area.

It was like a scratching noise – nails against the floorboard – and breathing. The noise made all my senses alert. I felt the hairs on my back stand. My right hand instinctively went to the gun on my right hip as I lowered my drink. Slowly, I leaned backwards to see around the opened fridge doors, but it was too dark for me see anything.

I had half pulled the gun out, when a bark filled the room, which made me halt.

"What the-?" I muttered to myself, wondering if the noise and the bark was all part of my imagination Some weird way my brain was telling me that it needs a rest or that maybe, just maybe I wasn't actually fine like I had told my Captain before leaving the station. She had given me a the next few days free and also scheduled an appointment with the stations psychologist. I had argued back about the latter saying I don't need to talk about it, even thought I knew better. It's standard procedure after traumatic events like the one today, technically yesterday, for everyone involved to see one. To make sure, we're ready to go back to work. There was no shame, if we weren't. I knew that very well, yet still I had argued. Out of habit for I did not like asking or needing help. I liked doing things on my own, deal with problems on my own.

The scratching sound started to come towards me, but as I looked towards the nook area, I did not see a thing. Until, I felt something wet touch my left hand that was holding the water bottle. And then a lick and another one. The light from the open fridge now allowed me to see the intruder.

My eyes had been searching for something my height. It never crossed my mind I had to look down.

"Duke?!" I was as excited as I was confused seeing the Scott's dog at our house. Quickly, I pushed the gun back in the holster, and crouched down his level and set the water bottle down on the ground beside me.

"What are you doing here, buddy, huh?" I asked as I petted him, while he licked my face a couple of time

"Dogs aren't allowed in hospitals, right? Cooper and Amy are probably staying at the hospital," I continued to have a conversation with him as I slowly pieced together why Duke was here instead of home "You worry about Callie, huh? " this time Duke gave out a whimper and pressed his head to my chest almost like asking for a hug "I know, I know. We are all worried," I ran my hands over his sides soothing him.

"I thought I heard you come in," I heard Lena's voice and looked up. The hallway was dark, but I saw a dark figure leaned at the doorway.

"Hi, love!" I breathed out happy to see her as I stood up

Lena came up to me and our lips met for a quick kiss, before she pulled back and grimaced "Yuck!" she ran her palm over her mouth "You taste like..." she looked down

"Oh, yeah...uh...Duke gave me kisses. Sorry, I forgot," I replied pulling her closer to me to hug her. Lena's arms wrapped around me tightly and held me in place.

"I'm so glad you're home safe and sound," Lena whispered to me as I felt her fingers press harder into my back

"Me too," I said without hesitation as I buried my head in her neck enjoying the closeness and the comfort the body, along with the heat that came from her

"We heard on the news that you caught him."

"We did. It's over." I confirmed it. It had been a long chase that had taken us all through the city. But, joining forces, we eventually we caught the guy.

"Lets go to bed. It's been a long day, you need to rest," Lena suggested, leaning out of the hug slowly, running her hands from my shoulders down to my palms

I nodded back "Will check on the kids first," I said before kissing her on the cheek. When I walked out to the hallway, I heard her close the fridge doors that I had completely forgotten about.

First, I entered the girls room. Frankie was sound asleep, Mariana stirred when I walked in. I went to Frankie first, tucked her in, kissed her on the forehead, before walking over to Mariana and sitting on her side of the bed.

"You're home," Mariana said quietly and sat up to give me a hug

I hummed back "Can't sleep?" I whispered back stroking her hair as she laid her head back down to the pillow

"Can't stop thinking about Callie,"

I nodded agreeing and understanding her, but now was the not the time to discuss it further as it was the middle of the night and we were all exhausted "We will talk more in the morning, love. Try to get some sleep."

I kissed her like I had kissed Frankie, then went to to the boys room. It was no surprise that I found the other three children also awake. Jesus was playing a game on his phone, Brandon had his earphones on, Jude was looking through old pictures of Callie and the rest of the gang.

When I finally got to bed, after taking a quick shower to wash away everything from today, it was 2 AM already. I laid down, let out a long and deep breath, glad that I was finally home. But the joy of being in my bed, next to my wife was short as the memory of Callie's body being thrown through the air, flashed right in front of my eyes. I put my arm over my eyes and tried to think of something else, something happier. Nothing came to mind.

Failing to get the images out of my mind, I changed position by rolling on my right side. Lena, like sensing my struggle, rolled up to me and spooned me, kissing my shoulder softy.

Next morning, which was actually closer to noon than an actual morning, I walked in the kitchen to find all of my family already sitting at the table. It's nice having the whole gang back even if it was only for couple of weeks.

It was Brandon, who set a fresh cup of coffee in front of me and placed a kiss on my temple "How did you sleep mom?"

"Not great," I admitted as I scratched my left eyebrow. I think I fell asleep only around 5-6am. It was now almost 11, so I was functioning on about 4h of bad sleep, that was mostly filled with nightmares and flashes of what I had seen in the previous 24 hours. I was not in a great mood as you could imagine. Felt a headache coming up. Possibly even a migraine.

Lena reached over and placed her hand on my forearm. Frankie got off from her stool and came to sit in my lap.

"Any news?" I nursed the cup in hands before raising it up to my lips

"Cooper texted. Callie woke up," Jude beamed at me "It was only for a minute, but she was awake!"

"That's great news," it truly was. It was a step right direction. It brightened my day just a little bit, yet I failed to show that with my voice tone.

"Maybe you can take Jude to see her later today?" Lena suggested

"You not coming with?" I raised an eyebrow at her

"Cooper said that, at the moment it's immediate family only. So, no reason for all us to go and sit at hospital the whole day."

"You could take him, you know." I said back before taking another sip, hoping the caffeine filled drink will help me get through this day

"I know, but I think you could talk to Amy while you are there," Lena replied as she looked down to her phone, which had buzzed

"You're her friend as well."

Lena set the phone down "You are her partner, Stef. She still hasn't said a word, maybe you-"

"I'm not her mother, Lena! I can't make her talk!" I shot back and then realized the room was completely silent. Lena stared back at me in shock, felt Frankie tense up in my lap, but then slid out and walked over to stand by Mariana. All the kids stared at me in disbelief of seeing and hearing me snap like that.

"Stef," Lena said calmly after a moment "What is this really about?"

"Amy will speak when she's ready. Me being there will not change anything."

"I know that, but you are her best friend. It would still mean a lot to her if you just went to see her. She needs the support, now more than ever!" my wife shook her head as she kept her eyes on me "And no, that's not it! That s not what really is bothering you."

"Nothing is bothering me Lena," I retort in a raised voice "Can you drop it? I want to drink my coffee in peace."

"Honey, you are the only one who is speaking in that tone."

"What do you want from me?" I stood up suddenly and paced over to the sink, my back turned to them. I pressed my hands to the counter, tilted my head down.

"To say what really is bothering you," Lena coaxed gently as I heard her stood up as well.

"Nothing!" I shouted back as I spun around. Lena was unfazed by my attitude. The kids, on the other hand, well, I saw them flinch back.

"Stop lying, to yourself and to us." Lena walked closer to me

"You didn't see what I saw!"

"What did you see?" Lena asked me quickly, barely a beat had passed

"Everything!" I shouted back at her at the top of my lungs

I saw the bomb go off.

I saw Callie being swept off her feet as if she was nothing. I thought she had died. I had wanted to go search for her as well, but I couldn't. It was like that time, when Amy and I were shot. Amy had been lying on the ground, bleeding out, right in front of my eyes, but I couldn't help her, because there were still people shooting at us. We were still in danger. The chase after the explosion was just like those few minutes then, only dragged out for hours. And it absolutely killed me in the inside, that I was not there for Amy and Callie.

I saw the damage the explosion created. Destruction all around. The people groaning in agony, crying, pleading...dying. There was a severed arm. Blood everywhere.

I saw the hideout of the man who had created the chaos. I saw the bombs her had created and the blueprints for the ones he was still planning. They were different sizes. Starting from size of a knuckle, going as big that would only fit in a backpack. I had never seen so many C4 in one place before. There were nails, glass shard and other small, sharp objects that would cause more damage to human's body. He wanted to cause pain...to harm people...to watch them suffer.

I saw the man. The devil himself. He promoted himself as a genius, bragged about how smart he is, how he was above all, how the 'lesser' people ruin this county and he needed to eradicate them. I had other words that came to mind to describe him - maniac, psychopath, sociopath, crazy – but not a genius. He was unfazed by what he did. With a wicked smile. His eyes, I had never seen so dark and evil eyes. And his laugh…

"I got you. I'm right here, love!" I heard Lena sooth me as I found myself crying in her arms

Callie POV

The next time I woke up, I was greeted by mom.

Mom was smiling down at me, but there were tears in her eyes. They looked like happy tears. Even thought worry and fear was written in every pore of her face, the joy and relief in her eyes, when I met her gaze and managed a tiny, one sided smile back, trumped it all.

I felt a tug at my heart, when I realized that I was responsible for causing her the pain. Guilt washed over me, knowing that she had already been through too much already and I should not be adding to it.

Her lips moved in the very familiar pattern. She has said those words so many times to me, I could hear her say it "I love you!"

She cupped my face gently and leaned down to place a tender kiss on my forehead. Her lips lingered a bit longer than they normally do. I closed my eyes to savior every second of the affection.

When I felt her lean away and no longer felt her touch, I opened my eyes, to see why was she leaving me. I managed to brush my fingers against her palm as moms back was turned to me. It was my desperate plea for her not to leave me. I didn't want to be alone. In my dream, she said she needed me. So why was she leaving me so fast?

Moms fingers gripped my palm without her looking. She didn't leave me, just turned away from me.

Another figure appeared somewhere behind her. She must be talking to whoever that person was. All I saw was a side of a white coat. The doctor without a doubt. I turned my head a little to my left as I tried to get a better glance to the person, who was probably the main reason why I was still alive. But turning my head didn't do anything, beside once again making my head spin. When I tried to move my whole body, stir in the bed, that caused a sharp pain especially through my ribs.

Mom spun around instantly, probably at the sound of me wince in pain.

Pair of gloved hands carefully touched both of my shoulders to keep me still. As I looked to the other side of the bed, I saw the same nurse I had seen the first time I woke up. Strange how I only see her now. She must have been standing there the whole time. Her mouth moved, I did not hear a thing, did not understand what she was saying. As I stilled, the nurse smiled at me and took her hands off my shoulders.

But the damage was done. The room and everyone in it was spinning around me, making me feel like I was about to throw up. Had a feeling like my whole body was gravitating to one side. I closed my eyes and tried to swallow the saliva that had rapidly gathered in my mouth. With my eyes closed, the spinning sensation didn't stop. In fact it had only gotten worse. Trying to to fight the urge to vomit, in my experience had always a losing battle. Seemed like this was no exception.

I tried my best to prepare myself for the pain, right before my stomach clenched, causing my upper body to lean a bit forward as my stomach content was coming up.

My eyes flew open as I threw up, ribs and every other injuries part of body screaming in agony. Someone had managed to place a tray right under my chin. It hadn't caught all of it, but at least part of it. Some of it was on the blanket, on the nurses hand, even felt some on my chin as well. The taste in my mouth was horrible, I think some of the vomit was still there, which just made me sick all over again.

Felt someone gathering my hair so that it wasn't in my face and and a hand on my shoulder.

It had hurt so bad I wanted to cry. That's when I saw the blood in the tray. That can't be good, I thought to myself. Seeing blood outside your body was never good. There was blood in my stomach. With that thought I passed out from the pain.

As my eyes slowly fluttered open, I felt a hand stroking my hair. The touch was so light, so careful, yet the gesture spoke loudly. This time, I knew better than to make any sudden moves.

I took my time to fully wake and adjust to the lights in the room. I stared up to the ceiling for a good minute or so. With no thoughts in my mind at all. I could still taste it, the vomit. Gosh, my breath must smell.

As I looked to my side, by only moving my eyes, I saw mom staring lovingly at me.

"Hey-" I said weakly. So weakly, I didn't even hear my own voice. Again. So I swallowed back, tried to clear my throat and say it again. Louder, this time.

"Hey," I knew i said it this tome. Heard it loud and clear in my mind. I moved my lips. I thought about saying it. But i didn't hear it.

"Hey!" I repeated myself, but still. Complete silence. It scared me and I guess, mom saw that.

Mom got up from the chair and reached for something on the small table next to the bed. She lifted some sort of paper. Paper that had multiple papers together. I could not think of the word for it.

Mom showed me the paper. She had written something in black marker in the middle with big letters "temp hearing loss" i read with my eyes.

That explained the pain in my ears and why had everything seemed so eerie the two times I woke up before. I was missing a huge part of the World, sound.

"How?" I asked back and now mom looked surprised

Amy POV

The 4th floor had better coffee machine than the first floor. More drink choices. Coffee was stronger and it didn't taste like sewage water. Bigger cups. I took the large one this time, felt like I needed it.

I was nursing the cup in my hand, walking back to Callie's room. Callie had been taken to a CT scan some while back, so I was in no hurry to get back. Cooper drove back to the house to get some clothes and other stuff. For the time being I was on my own.

Now that I had seen Callie awake, talked to her, made sure that she knows I'm going to be right by her side through all of it, I finally felt like my old self. Like I could finally breathe. The road in front suddenly didn't look so insuperable and impossible. Hope had returned. Without it, everything had seem so somber and bleak.

"Amy!" I heard my name being called from the elevator. Turning around, I saw Jude, Lena and Stef stepping out. We met in the middle. I received a quick hug from all of them, in return I could only give one arm hug as I was still holding my drink in other.

"How is she?" Jude questioned. He was no doubt just as worried about her as I was.

I glanced down to my dink, swirled the plastic stick in it as I tried to find words to describe the current situation, without sounding too scary.

"Is Cooper around?" Lena asked, probably thinking that I was still staying silent

"Drove back to house," my reply came as a surprise to all of them as they had. Lena looked to be the most glad to hear my voice.

"I don't even know where to start," I told them "I'm not going to lie, she looks pretty bad. Whole body..." I gestured from my head down to my toes "covered in bruises, bandages and bigger and smaller gashes. She gets dizzy very easily. Bight light hurts her eyes. Lost her hearing from the blast, but once her eardrums heal, it should come back. She remembered her name, what year it is, what city we are in, knows who I am, recognized the doctor..."

"I sense a but," Lena said tentatively

"Callie does not recall what happened. Last memory she has is of that morning, how she got ready to head out to work. Next thing, how she woke up this morning. She has trouble finding the right word for some objects or places. Couldn't remember the word for hospital or smartphone or pen. But had no problem with simple math: 2+2 or 4x5."

"That's the TBI," Lena's face dropped a little, Stef became paler, Jude swallowed back looking scared but trying to stay brave "What did the doctor say?"

"It's quite common to have some memory or speech problems. They took her to do another CT-scan. Time will tell," I added a shrug at the end

"What room she is in?" Jude asked

"108," I said pointing down the hallway "4th door on the right. But she's at the-"

"I know, you told us already." Jude offered me a small smile "I'm going to go wait for her there."

"Check in with the nurse at the desk before you do," I told him as he was walking off

"Um...I'm going to go to bathroom," Lena said taking off as well

I observed Stef who still hadn't really made eye contact with me. She looked shaken up. Not her real self. Yesterday must have been rough for her as well.

"Hey, you good?" I reached out and tapped her arm with my index finger

Stef sucked in a deep breath and gazed back to me "I feel like a really shitty friend. I'm so sorry Amy. I'm sorry...about everything. About not going to help you look for her. About not being here sooner. About not knowing how to help you know or what to tell you. About...being so pathetic right now while you are..." Stef looked around the hospital hall "...here. Dealing with all of this. You have other things to worry about and..."

"Hey-" I reached out to rest my hand on her forearm "Don't do that. Just because my life is a complete shit hole right now, doesn't mean your troubles do not matter. You matter. And you have nothing to apologize about. You haven't done anything wrong. You are here now. Thank you for that."

Stef slowly nodded back and offered a small smile "Is there anything I can do? Anything at all?"

"A proper hug be nice," I replied gingerly

"That I can do," Stef said decreasing the distance with her arms open the next moment and pulling me in a tight hug after that