AN:Thank you for your feedback. It was nice to read the thoughts from so many of you.

Amy POV

Callie had managed to walk down the hall, all the way to the nurses station. She did it on her own. I barely had to help her. It was a huge improvement, considering 3 days ago, she stood up for the first time. Saying I was proud, was an understatement. I was so relieved seeing that Callie was slowly, but surely progressing with her recovery. If she keeps it up, she will be home in no time.

"Look at you go," Nurse Victoria, the one with the coal black hair, said as she was coming towards us, dressed in her usual light blue scrubs.

Callie was lucky to have her as her nurse. She was compassionate, understanding and kind. Not to mention, she was really great at her job. Victoria was good with people. Knew how to talk to them, when they were frustrated or scared, or angry. Communication is hard, especially, when one party does not hear. But Victoria seemed to have a handle of that and had formed a nice patient-medical professional bond with Callie. But what I liked the most about Victoria - Callie was comfortable around her and she seemed to trust her.

"I barely helped," I grinned back at the nurse, proud of my daughters progress

The nurse, gently touched her shoulder, to get her attention, but Callie did not react. She ignored the nurse completely, didn't acknowledge her at all. That was very strange, very unlike Callie. I had started to grow accustomed that she does not react to voice, but seeing her ignore touch was something new.

Her eyes were fixating on something else completely. Noticing that, I followed Callie's gaze, curious what had grabbed her attention like that.

Callie's attention was absorbed by the TV, that was mounted up on the wall. I hadn't even noticed it was there till now. Did not hear the sound it was emitting and the images it was flashing.

The news were on. It was covering the bombing. Even though Callie's hearing still hadn't come back yet, she could understand what was going on. There were images shown of the site, picture of the man responsible, a small video of people putting down flowers and grieving, short video of the aftermath of the bombing was shown as well. A super cut of the text that the news dictator was telling, was shown on the bottom of the screen.

"..that makes him the 11 person that has died from the bombing. There are still 23 people in hospitals. Recovering, in various conditions." The news dictator paused and looked down at the notes, before moving on to the next topic

Callie took a small step back as she processed the news and what she had just seen.

We hadn't touched on the subject, not really. Not in depth. At first, she didn't even remember what had happened. A few days later, she had said, she remembered being in a park, surrounded by a crowd. She had asked how did she get injured. I had explained to her (written down on a notepad for her to read) there was an explosion and she was caught in it. Callie hadn't asked any more questions about it. That's were the conversation had stopped and she had fallen asleep again.

It was probably for the best at that point. The injuries were all too fresh. She was having hard enough time as it was, without learning the truth of what had happened. Besides, I much rather wanted to have that conversation with her, when we could actually talk and she could hear me.

Seems that I won't be getting my wish.

I scolded myself more about the fact that she had to learn that from a news report, rather than me. She might hate me for that. I certainly did.

"Did I...?" Callie raised her burnt arm up and pointed to the screen "Was I there?" she turned to me "Is that...where..." Callie looked down to her broken and battered body

She closed her eyes, shook her head and took a step closer to her wall. Her back now touching it. Supporting her. Callie covered her eyes with her palm.

Seeing her in even more distress was exactly what I had wanted to avoid. Yet here we were. I could have prevented this, if only I had explained everything to her. In this moment, there was no way of escaping the thought - I was a bad parent and I had failed Callie. This, this was on me.

"We should probably get her back to the room," Nurse Victoria said to me after we had watched Callie react to the news feed

I agreed, nodding my head, as I would much rather us be in a more private space, than out in a hallway. There are sure to be follow up questions about it and other people, who were walking down the hallway, worried about their own family and friends, didn't need to see Callie in this fragile state.

Callie had started to mutter something to herself. Words. Phrases. She was talking to herself, thinking out loud. Piecing the puzzle of that day together, slowly. I heard words like – morning, dressed, work, Beth, Duke, heat, water, people, music, food, family. She stopped at the word ice cream and then detained a longer pause, before adding slowly and quietly "Mom." That was the final piece of the puzzle she had needed.

When I reached out to her, Callie's eyes snapped open and she glared at me. In that exact moment, I saw the realization in her eyes as the memory of it happening came flushing down on her.

"You...you were there too!"

I lowered my arm down to my side and ,after taking a breath in, nodded my head. I felt the heat of the nurse Victoria's eyes on me.

Seconds passed as Callie watched me. She tilted her head from one side, to other. I saw the pain in her eyes, I saw how she was asking, begging me to tell her that she had been wrong. But I never did. And that was, when it all came crashing down.

"You saw the bombing?" she gasped, tears welling up in her eyes. Small gaps between the words as if she's struggling to say it out loud, because if she does, I might confirm her fear. Then there would be no way of escaping the truth.

Apparently, my silence and the way I had tilted my head and shifted my weight to my other leg, spoke louder than any words could.

"Oh my gosh!" Callie covered her mouth as her lip started to quiver from the emotion that was crashing all over her

"No, no, no!" she shook her head as if trying to get the thoughts and memories out of her head "You saw m-me!" Callie said in horror, right before her knees buckle, as it simply was too much for her to handle right now. Luckily, both the nurse and me, realized it was about to happen, before it actually happened and we were there to catch her, before she hit the ground.

We got her back to the room and in her bed.

"I could give her a sedative," the nurse offered as she watched, how Callie continued to cry, simply crumple inwards

"No...no sedative," Callie cried, protesting at the idea that even more drugs would be pushed into her system and shielded her hand that had the IV port in. As if that would help. The nurse could still inject the sedative in the tube that went into her bloodstream. Yet we both saw the gesture for what it was, desperate plea not to knock her out. She needed to go through those emotions. As hard as it was, she needed to feel all of it to truly deal with it.

While I did not like the idea of Callie being so worked up and seeing her in such a state, I did agree with her about not giving her even more drugs through the IV. Sometimes all you have to do is cry it out, let it out of your system. And this to me, seemed to be one of those moments. She was processing what had happened to her. To us. I believe the newfound fact that I had seen her, hit her harder than anything else. Callie has always been protective of me, especially when it came to my dead husband and son. If I knew my daughter, which I believe I do after all these years, she was undergoing the fact of what she had put me through. That I almost lost another child – her, this time. And she hated it, that she was the cause of my suffering. For her, my emotional suffering, my trauma of witnessing the bombing, was worse than her physical injuries and what she was enduring right now.

"We will manage without," I replied before returning my full attention back to my daughter. I kicked off my shoes and climbed into the bed, scooting as close to her as I possibly could without hurting her.

"Shh...it's going to be okay, baby," I soothed her, even though she could not hear me, as I gently ran my fingers over her forehead to tuck away the stray of hairs that were now in her face "Through thick and thin...remember? We will be okay."

She cried her heart out and exhausted herself, eventually falling asleep. Only when I was sure, she was sleeping, I closed my eyes as well and allowed the sleep to take over.

My eyes snapped open as I heard Callie sniffing quietly. It was still light outside, so it could be we only slept for an hour, max. Seeing that a lone tear was rolling down her temple, I prompted up on my elbow and with my other hand gently wiped the tear away.

"Hey now, love, why are you crying?" I cooed softly as I stroked her cheek all while gazing to her eyes.

There was moment, when she looked at me, and it felt like time had stopped. Her chin quivered shortly afterwards and another tear rolled down her temple.

"Am I hurting you?" I wondered worried that I had somehow hurt her by laying here next to her. My eyes scanned her body. Maybe I had probed my elbow to her ribs or kicked her accidentally, while I had slept. It could be that because the bed on my side was dipped lower, it made it uncomfortable for her to sleep.

As if on cue, the memory of my stay in hospital popped in my mind.

My parents were trying to pass the time for me. Dad was doing his word puzzle. He had his glasses on his nose, pencil in hand but the newspaper rested on his knees.

"Another word for - walk leisurely. 6 letters." Dad said out loud, tapping his pencil to the chairs armrest

I closed my eyes briefly as I thought "Stroll?"

"Yep, it fits!" Dad beamed and wrote down the word

"Anyway, as I was saying...your dad thought we should buy a lotto ticket," My mom asked, continuing her story about their cruise they took last month "He put in Callie's birth day numbers. And guess what..."

"What?" I asked glancing to mom

"We won 150 dollars!" Mom beamed. It was the first time they had bought a ticket and first time they had ever won.

"Hear that Callie. Your birthday contains the lucky numbers!" I smiled and turned to look at my daughter, to see her reaction. But my smile faded away, when I saw the way Callie was.

She looked down, like something heavy was on her mind. It definitely was influencing her mood, making her look incredibly sad and closer to tears. Seeing her like that, made my heart ache. Not to mention, I hadn't heard her speak in a very long time.

"Hey!" I called out

"What is it, Aims?" my father asked, I heard him lower the newspaper. in my peripheral vision I saw, how my mother stirred next to dad, thinking that I was in distress or something. I did not answer to my dad, now did I turn to look at my parents, who I knew, were both on high alert. It was my daughter, who had my full attention.

When Callie didn't react at first, I called out a second time, a bit louder "Hey!" This time, she slowly lifted her head up, her eyes finally met mine.

"Talk to me!"

Callie's head dipped down again "You almost died," she said in a whisper and then sniffed. The room went silent.

"Come here," I patted the hospital bed as I moved a little to my right, to make more room for her.

Callie stayed put, lifted her head and looked to me. Running her palm under her eyes she replied "I don't want to hurt you."

"The only way you will hurt me, is by not coming over here!" I insisted as I was now holding my palm out to her, waiting for her to come over and lay down next to me

Callie sat still for a few seconds, considering the offer, then got up and came over to the bed. I smiled at her. She kicked off her shoes and climbed on the bed. Callie laid on her side and put her head carefully on my shoulder, then scooted her body a bit closer to mine.

I kissed the top of her head "I'm sorry I scared you so much."

"I can't lose you, too. I need you!" Callie admitted quietly

"You are not going to lose me. I'm right here...I'm going to be okay!"

I remembered my parents were in the room was well, only when I heard the doors close behind them as they had left. Glancing towards the exit, I saw them standing outside of my hospital room. Dad had his arm wrapped around moms shoulder. Mom mouthed – we love you – to me, before they turned and walked down the hallway.

Callie and I had fallen asleep, cuddled up. I was briefly woken up, when Callie had unknowingly, in her sleep, swung her arm over my chest. Usually, it would not bother me - the weight of her limb pressing on my body. But this time, it rested over the fresh incision on my chest and, while I hated to admit it, it hurt. It wasn't unbearable pain, but I definitely felt it. Could be a sign that the pain medication were wearing off as well.

Despite the fact that it hurt, I did not want to move her arm. Moving her arm, probably, meant I would wake her up as well. I didn't want that. I loved cuddling with my daughter. She was sleeping so peacefully.

I was told by my friends and family that Callie wasn't sleeping well since the shooting took place. She could not fall asleep at decent hours, was restless when she was asleep and was waking up too early. This might be the first time, she actually is getting some good night sleep since I was shot. I couldn't and wouldn't take it away from her. Even if it hurt me a little.

"You are not hurting me," Callie assured me, pulling me out of my memory and back to the reality. I looked back to her. She ran her palm to wipe her nose and smiled a lopsided smile at me.

"Did you hear me?" I asked, excited, my eyes glowing of joy

"Loud and clear," Callie grinned back, but then corrected herself "Not loud and clear, but...I hear you."

"Oh, honey!" her smile reached from ear to ear. I leaned down and kissed my forehead. Once our eyes met again, I said "I love you so, so much!" Now she was having tears rolling down her cheeks. But those were happy tears, that much I could tell. I was fine with those. There were tears in my eyes as well.

"I love you, mom."

"I'm sorry," she added after a while

"What for?" I frowned not understanding

"That you had to see me...like that," she said slowly, I could tell she was putting in a lot of thought to each word " That I -" she paused, squinted her eyes shut for a moment, thinking, trying to find the right words to express what she was feeling. I waited patiently, for her to form the sentence by herself, without putting words in her mouth

She cleared her throat and opened her eyes "-for putting you..through that."

"It was not your fault, love!" I caressed her cheek "It was out of your control. You don't have to apologize...for anything!"

"Still..." Callie whispered

"Mom?" she said after a moment

"Hmm?" I was continued to caress her cheek tenderly with my thumb

"You stayed with me...the whole time." It didn't sound like a question, but I knew, Callie was asking me if she was remembering the fact correctly

"I did," I gave a single, firm head nod

"That must have been-" Callie paused again, trying to find the right word "-horrifying?"

"It was. Seeing you like that..." I shook my head as I had no words to describe how I felt that entire time "Parents worst nightmare. But at the same time, I did not want to be anywhere else than by your side."

Tears welled up in her eyes again as she smiled up to me.

"Mom," she said again

The way she kept saying that, reminded me of the time, when Markus and I went to a playground. He was on a merry go round. I stayed in the same exact place, the whole time. And yet, each time I had gone out of his sight and then reappeared after the marry go round did a 360, he needed to wave and call out to me, to make sure I was still there.

And each time, I waved and called back, smiling at him.

"Yes?" I asked without hesitation

"I need to pee."

I chuckled before I jumped out of the bed "Lets get you to bathroom then!"

Stef POV

I was woken up from my nap by the commotion happening right outside the bedroom. There were so many footsteps, going back and forth. Doors closing and opening. Duke, who was once again staying with us for company while Cooper and Amy were at the hospital with Callie, was barking from the downstairs. I heard Lena's voice as well.

Rubbing my eyes, I sat up in the bed "What the hell is going on?" I muttered to myself, before I swung my legs over the bed side and got up.

I was walking towards the doors, when they swung open and Lena appeared in the open doorway "Hey, I was just about to come and wake you up."

"No need for that. I'm up," I said stiffing a yawn "What's going on?" I asked peaking pass her to the hallway, where I saw Jude disappeared in his room, while Jesus came out of it going somewhere

"Cooper called. We can all go visit Callie."