Regrets and Reconciliations

Chapter 4

~One Year Later~

"Feeling better honey?" Lena asked Callie as she gently stroked her hair while Callie breathed through an oxygen mask.

Callie nodded but she was still tired and fed up. Nothing seemed to be going right for her and she was beginning to believe that it never would. First she had to miss her class field trip to a chocolate factory; something she'd been looking forward to for weeks and all because she'd accidentally slipped in the shower and required bedrest for a day. Next she'd forgotten her book report at home on the day it was due and received an incomplete even though she'd begged Lena to go home and get it for her but Lena had refused stating that it was Callie's responsibility to remember these things and not every child had a parent in school to do special things for them.

The next thing to go wrong for Callie was her latest checkup with her doctor. Since she'd been living with Lena a year and a half ago she'd been to the same doctor consistently and that seemed to do really well for Callie's health. Without the constant change in Callie's treatments her heart had been given a real shot at responding to the treatment and her breathlessness, palpitations and dizziness had decreased considerably and Callie was starting to believe that maybe things would really get better now but just two days after the doctor had said that maybe they could wait a while before doing surgery since her heart seemed to be functioning well enough she collapsed because her heart was too tired to supply blood to her body. Within a day and a half the surgery was done and now Callie in the middle of exercises to see just how far her heart could go before it was pushed too far.

But all that was just an iota compared to what was really upsetting Callie and that was the fact that her adoption was taking forever. First the fact that Lena had never even fostered before meant that she had to complete a certain amount of time before she could apply for adoption and then the matter of Callie's health was a huge issue. The state had to make certain that Lena could meet Callie's needs and Callie's constant health problems often put spokes in the wheel. The first time the social worker was supposed to come over for a home inspection Callie was unwell and the second time she had to be hospitalized and so each time it was put off. Add that to the general chaos of the system and the process just kept getting pushed further and further.

"I think we can call it a day." Callie's doctor said with a smile as he noticed just how tired she was. "Go home and get your mother to make you your favorite meal okay."

Callie smiled in relief as she handed the mask back to the doctor and rested her head against the pillow. They had been doing this for forty minutes now and she just wanted to go to sleep. Even though the surgery strengthened her heart muscles she couldn't shake the feeling that she got more and more tired each time.

"Let's go home baby." Lena said, just as relieved as Callie to get her home. "Maybe if you're up for it we can have a movie marathon."

Callie nodded as she sat up and allowed Lena to help her out of Rady Children's Hospital for the first time in five days.

"Okay, I found a record of her at Mercy Hospital in San Diego from two years ago." The investigator said to Stef who looked up in anticipation. "It is a dead end because apparently she changed foster homes again but the doctor said she was doing well and only had one surgery under his care."
"Dead end?" Stef said in disappointment. "Why? Don't they have to forward records when she moves?"

"It's the foster system." The investigator reminded the woman. "We're lucky if the girls name follows her."

The investigator was trying to make a lame joke to cover up for the disappointment but Stef had just about had enough. For the last year she'd gotten just bits and pieces of her daughter's whereabouts and not even enough to imagine the whole picture.