For The Love of Callie

Hush Hush

Stef's POV

Lena's face becomes filled with concern and anxiety. "Love?" I ask again. "I don't want to..." she admits. She looks down at the driveway where hundreds of cars are parked. "I can't help it though..."
While a part of me is a little disappointed in her answer, I'd seen it from a mile away. I get it though. While I don't resent Mariana for what happened, it'd be easy to if I had been looking for someone to blame. Luckily the cop in me sees Liam as the issue, not Mariana.

"I know it's hard to see it any other way, but our current situation is not her fault Love. She couldn't have known that he would be there and do something like that."
Lena sighs "I know. I hate that I'm thinking this way but every time I look at her, I get flashbacks from last night. What if it had been something stronger and her body couldn't fight it like it did?"
"We can't think like that Lena. We were lucky that we got here when we did and the situation was handled. Mariana was just as scared as we were. She has apologized numerous times for something that isn't even wholly her fault. Yes, she did suggest the party. Yes, she did drink when she went. But she didn't drug Callie."

Lena is silent for a moment and drops her head low. "I know. You're right."
"I know this is hard and it's scary but while we have to be there for Callie now, we also have to be there for Mariana."
Lena nods and wipes a tear off of her cheek. I pull her into a hug "we have to make all of this right."
Lena nods into my shoulder.

As we make our way back into the hospital, Mariana is sat on the bed with Callie and the girls are deep into conversation. We stay outside if the room out of sight but in earshot.

"Do you think they have an idea?" Mariana asks
"I don't know...I hope not. I couldn't imagine what they'd do if they found out." Callie responds.
Lena and I look at each other and continue to listen for more hints.
"Like I said before, I think you're way overthinking this. My mom is a cop. She would do anything in her power to take that weight off of you." Mariana continues.
"I know...I just can't take the risk yet. I don't want to lose this family. It's the only one that hasn't had a negative impact on my life."
"Okay...just know when you are ready to tell them, I'll be right next to you so you don't have to bare it alone."
Callie hesitates for a moment "I have nightmares about it."
"What he did was absolutely disgraceful. It makes sense that it would live in your dreams like that."
"I can't make them go away. It's like it's happening all over again. I can feel it. I relive it everytime a nightmare strikes..."
"You can always wake me up when we are at home so you don't have to face it alone."
"Some times I can't pull myself from it until it finishes, and those are the worst ones. I feel his hands on me. My heart racing. I hear myself trying to make him stop. I feel my heart burning because I thought I could trust him. I feel all the hurt all over again."
"I'm so sorry Callie." Mariana says. Lena and I make eye contact again as the story finally clicks. What happened with Liam finally is out.
"That son of a bitch raped her." I say unintentionally throwing the swear word in there.

"Alright, here's what we are going to do." The doctor interrupts. To avoid Callie and Mariana finding out we were eavesdropping, we walk in with the doctor like we'd been with him.
"I'd like to run a test on Callie here. It's a far out shot but will help with the process of elimination. We are going to have her eat something and take images as it travels through her stomach. This test will let us know if there's an issue with the processing of food in the stomach. It'll be a series of 5 pictures over 5 hours." The doctor explains.
Callie looks to me and Lena "please don't make me eat."
"It's just going to be a little bit and it's only to try and see what's going on." Lena says moving to Callie's side.
"But it's going to make me sick again. It's going to hurt." She says anxiously.
"Look where we are Cal. These people will be able to help those symptoms in a way we can't at home." I try to comfort.
Callie sighs "okay..."