Better Off Alone (Adopted by Brendon and Sarah Urie)

80. Sarah

If Brendon was livid when Callie came home upset about that Melanie kid being in her classes and harassing her all day, he was practically nuclear now. As soon as Callie went to watch TV he pulled out his phone and called the school. He was pacing around the kitchen yelling into the phone and talking about pressing assault charges and suing the kid's parents and maybe the school. I cringed. Merton really was the best school for Callie, educationally anyway.

Brendon tossed his phone on the kitchen counter, though he looked like he wanted to throw it across the room.

"Bren?" I asked as he leaned against the counter and put his face in his hands.

"They expelled the little..." he said, stopping short of saying anything derogatory. "They expelled her."

"That's good, isn't it?" I asked him. He sighed.

"Yeah. I just feel like there's a shitstorm brewing and this won't be the end of things."

"What do you think is going to happen?"

"Based on some of the comments the director made, her parents may try to sue us."

"Would they even have a case? Their daughter assaulted ours. Callie has a concussion. Callie nearly died because that little... because she made those comments that sent Callie running."

"It's not that they'd have a case. I doubt any judge would hear it and I'd be surprised if any lawyer would take it. Depending on how they spin it. It's just a headache we don't need."

I leaned back against the kitchen island and sighed.

"But," Brendon said, a slight smile playing on his lips. "The important thing is that kid is out of Merton and our daughter should finally be able to get the education she deserves and feel safe."

I smiled. He was right. Finally, things were looking up.

"Well, let's go tell our daughter the good news," I smiled at Brendon.

We went into the living room and saw Callie on the couch, her eyes closed. I immediately went into panic mode.

"She's not supposed to sleep. Brendon! She can't fall asleep. We have to wake her up!"

I gently shook her shoulder. She didn't react. I shook her a little harder. Still nothing. I started patting her face. I was running on autopilot. Callie wasn't supposed to fall asleep.

After a few moments of patting her face - slightly harder after a bit, Callie's eyes fluttered open and she looked to B and then me and frowned.

"What?" She signed. "I'm tired and my head hurts."

"You have to stay awake for a little while longer. I know you're tired. But please, try, okay?" I said.

She sighed and nodded. I helped her sit up and Brendon told her about his phone call with the school's director and how Melanie had been expelled. Callie frowned.

"I feel bad she got kicked out of school, but I'm also glad. Does that make me a bad person?"

I hugged her as Brendon smiled and told her that no, that did not make her a bad person. She's allowed to be both happy and unhappy about things. We're humans with complicated emotions. She seemed okay with that.

We tried to keep Callie somewhat active and awake, but we knew her headache couldn't be helping her. We took the dogs for a walk, which Callie took as a piggy back ride on Brendon's back. We had an appointment at the hospital on Friday to reassess her foot and see if she was going to need any surgery. She'd said her foot didn't hurt much anymore and had even been putting a little weight on it around the house, sort of limping about. I was hoping we'd be able to avoid surgery and put all of this behind us soon.

By dinner time, Callie seemed alright. Tired and with a headache, which we gave her Tylenol for with permission from the doctor, and after dinner, we both put Callie to bed. She was tired and it was obvious. So even though it was only seven, she was ready for bed. We'd agreed she'd stay home the next day and we'd see how she felt later on and decide about school on Friday morning. She'd already missed so much.

In the morning, Callie complained that she was still a little dizzy and lights were bothering her. We let her stay in bed, since rest is the best thing for a concussion. We checked in on her throughout the day. She napped and at one point was just laying on her bed with Bogart.

"Why don't you read?" I asked her.

"It hurts my head," she said. I nodded. That made sense. I sat and chatted with her for a little. Eventually she asked to come downstairs.

"I love my room but I don't want to stay up here anymore," she said.

"Of course. Come downstairs. We can sit outside, or inside. Are you hungry?"

"A little," Callie said.

We went downstairs and I made her some lunch, then the two of us went outside.

"Where's Dad?" Callie asked.

"In his studio. We can go bug him when you're done," I suggested. Callie grinned and nodded.

Once she'd finished her sandwich, we put her plate and glass away and then went out to Brendon's studio. I knocked and he called out for us to come in. I saw he was streaming on his Twitch channel, so I told Callie what he was doing. She shrugged.

"Look who's here!" Brendon signed as he spoke. "My gorgeous wife and my amazing daughter!"

He motioned us over and, with my arm around Callie, we went into the studio and over to his computer console.

"Callie, want to say 'hi'?" B asked. She nodded and signed 'hello'. The fans started messaging fast. Callie tried to read some of them but said it hurt her head too much. So Brendon signed for her the ones she'd pointed at.

We spent a good hour in with Brendon as Callie answered questions and Brendon talked incessantly about her and how proud he is of her. A few people asked about the days she was missing in the hills and they both answered.

After the hour, though, Callie said she was getting nauseated, so I took her back inside and lay her down on the sofa with a blanket and some ginger ale.

She relaxed for a while, and took a nap. When I woke her up for dinner I asked her about school in the morning. She shrugged.

"Can I decide in the morning?" She asked. "Because right now I feel a little crappy."

I smiled at her and said of course.

We are in the living room so Callie could relax more, and then I sent her to bed early. I could see she was tired, and I hoped she'd feel okay to go to school.