My ears were ringing from the gunfire that was happening, what seemed to be, a few feet from the Medical barracks.

"Fucking Afghanistan," I mumbled as more bodies of injured soldiers were being carried in.

"GSW to the left and right deltoids and to the chest. Nothing major has nightstand but he's losing a lot of blood!" My lifelong friend, Kurt Hummel, shouted as he took off the soldier's top body gear and threw it over to a corner.

"What's your name Soldier?" I yelled at the GSW victim.

"Puckerman, Noah Puckerman," He said in pain.

"Well Noah, I'm Santana Lopez and I'm taking this bullet out of your chest today," I shouted. Kurt put the anesthesia mask over his face, so we could start. He grabbed the mask and pulled it down a little and took his bloody hand and grabbed mine.

"Where's my brother Jake?" He asked. I was dumbfounded.

"I-I don't know," I looked around and saw more bodies being brought in, "I don't know but I do know is that you are losing too much blood and we need to get those bullets out," I said putting the mask back up. I put thumbs up telling Kurt to up the anesthesia. In thirty seconds Noah's breathing stabilized and I rushed to take the bullets out. I started on the left deltoid.

"Scalpel," I rushed to make an elliptical incision around the gunshot wound. The gunshot sounds sounded like they were getting closer.

"Santana we need to get those bullets out fast," Kurt yelled.

"Fuck I know," I said, "We need to start a blood bag. Marley! Blood fast. Kurt, I need suction, there's too much blood to see where the bullet is lodged."

"The wound to his chest seems to be sucking in air," Kurt said, "His lung is going to collapse anytime soon!"

"Well do something about it, Kurt! You're a surgeon too. Fuck this bullet is implanted if I try to remove it, it's going to jack up his whole arm," I said. Kurt started to work on the chest GSW.

"Lopez, I'm not so sure what I'm doing here!" Someone yelled. I turned around and saw another one of my doctors trying to stitch up a leg that was mangled.

"Evans, you can't salvage that leg," I yelled, "Tina take care of the GSW to the right and left deltoids. The left one is implanted, clean the wound as good as you can," I instructed as my surgical assistant took my blood-drenched gloves off and replaced them with clean ones.

"Thanks, Emma," I said walking over to Dan.

"Fuck, Dan. We're going to have to amputate. Get Marley and tell her to do a clean cut three inches above the knee," I said. I closed my eyes for three seconds and opened them. Everything was quiet and it seemed like everything was moving in slow motion. I walked back over to Noah and checked on him. He was losing more blood than he was before.

"Fucking shit, Santana, I don't know what happened. I tried to extract the bullet from the right deltoids but I don't know what happened. He is losing so much blood," Marley said crying.

"Fucking shit. You're useless! Get out of my sight," I said pushing her away from Noah, "I need more gauze. Fucking shit." Someone handed me some gauze and tried to stop the bleeding but it wasn't working.

"Need some suction over here!" I yelled.

"Santana, the bullet in his chest is fragmented," Kurt said sadly.

"We can't just let him fucking die, Hummel," I yelled snatching the suction tube from a nurse's hand. I grabbed more gauze and tried to stop the bleeding. Kurt had stopped working on his chest.

"What the fuck are you doing Kurt? Keep fucking working. His lunge is going to collapse if you stop," I said frantically trying to stop the bleeding in his arms and his chest, now. Kurt tried to pull me away from his body.

"Santana," He said. I pushed him away and continued to work on Noah.

"Santana, He's gone," Kurt said, "The fragmented bullet made a small hole in his heart, small enough for his heart to fill with blood."

"No, we can still fucking save him," I said going back over to his body to check his pulse. I grabbed his wrist and checked for a pulse. No pulse.

"Santana, I need some help over here!" Marley yelled. I dropped Noah's wrist and rushed over to Kitty. I feel Kurt's eyes following me.

"Bag him," Kurt said. Tears welled in my eyes. I wiped them away. I need to be strong.

"What do you need?" I said with a strong voice. Marley was talking but everything sounded like I was underwater. The floor started to shake.

"Did you feel that?" I asked Marley. She looked at me with a strange look.

"Wha-Look Santana, his BP is 180/100, I don't know what to do," She said pleadingly. The floor shook again. What the fuck is going on?

"Did you feel that this time?" I asked her.

"Dr. Lopez, I don't have time for your shit. I'm dealing with this patient with extreme hypertension that just got his leg amputated," She screamed. My name was being called from every which way. The floor shook again. I felt like people were screaming my name in my ear. They brought in more bodies. This one soldier was going crazy still had his army-issued handgun in his hand.

"Someone please take that gun away from him," I yelled. The soldier continued to thrash around and he starts pulling the trigger. I ducked behind a table but I felt a searing pain in my right leg. I've been shot. I was already losing a lot of blood. I started to get light headed. I closed my eyes for three seconds and then opened them. I was in a pool that gunfire with blood and the closer I got to the edge of the pool, the farther it seemed. Bodies of deceased soldiers floated to the surface of the bloody pool. I pushed the bodies aside and kept swimming. Suddenly, Noah Puckerman's body flew to the surface and grabbed onto me.

"Where's my brother? Where's my brother, Doc?" He repeated over and over. I grabbed his hand, threw him onto my back and continued to swim for the edge of the pool.

"I don't know but I'm going to save you," I said. My body was drenched in blood. The weight on my back started to get lighter.

"I need to find my brother, Doctor. I need to find him." He said. I stopped swimming and turned around to see Noah sinking back into the blood.

"Fuck," I said splashing through the bloody water looking for Noah, to pull him back to the surface. My hand caught onto something and I instantly pulled up. It was Kurt's bloodied body.

"His heart filled with blood Santana, there was nothing I could do," He said. I heard my name being called. I looked over to the edge of the pool and see Noah Puckerman standing there in his Class B Uniform waving at me. I turn to Kurt.

"See we saved him. We are surgeons, we save people and we saved a soldier. That counts for something," I said. I felt sharp pains on my shoulders and my chest.

"Santana, he's dead. We couldn't save anyone. The injuries they endured were too extreme. The soldier's bodies that were hit with an IED came in and they were body parts everywhere," he said. Hands came rushing up from the blood pool and grabbed onto me. I thrashed around and screamed at the top of my lungs. The hands started to pull me under. Everything turned black.

I jumped out of my seat and looked around bewildered. Other Army Personnel were staring at me.

"Santana, you okay?" Kurt asked. I looked over at Kurt, who was staring at me.

"Um, yeah, just a bad dream," I said clearing my throat awkwardly. I sat back down and took deep breaths.

"Never thought we'll be going back to Lima, so soon," Kurt said looking back at his magazine.

"Yeah. I'm going back as the Head of Trauma Surgery and you as a Resident," I said sighing. Kurt chuckled.

"Are you more nervous about being the Head of Trauma or being the Head of Trauma at a hospital your parents own?" Kurt said. I sighed.

"Possibly the second one," I said playing with my ACU jacket, "My parents were both bad ass Neurosurgeons and now they own some of the best Hospitals in the USA and I just feel like people are going to expect me to be a badass Trauma surgeon." Kurt put his magazine down.

"Santana, we're coming back from Afghanistan. Where we were fucking bad-ass Trauma Surgeons. We lost some lives but we saved some lives too. We're bad-ass Trauma surgeons that kicked ass in Afghanistan. No one can tell us differently," Kurt said with a smug smile, "And we got scars to prove it." I smiled a little.

"You're right," I said chuckling.

"Like always," Kurt said. Sergeant Tanaka walked over to us.

"We're gonna land in Columbus soon. You guys got a ride to Lima?" He asked.

"My dad has a car waiting," I told him. It's been 9 years since I've been in Lima. Wonder if anything has changed? Tanaka went back to talk to other soldiers.

"I heard they have a new restaurant chain in Lima called Breadstix," Kurt said, "Maybe you can treat me to dinner tonight." I chuckled.

"I doubt it. My mom planned this big dinner so we can get acquainted with the other surgeons from the hospital," I said.

"Your mother was always the one to throw big get together for everything. I remember the party she threw for us right before we were deployed," Kurt said, "I had the best sex that night with that guy with the bushy eyebrows." I made fake gagging sounds. Kurt was so excited when the 'Don't ask, Don't tell' policy was repealed. So was I because I could stop hiding who I am to my co-workers. "Have you spoken to Quinn lately?' He asked.

"The last time I talked to Quinn she was in Harvard Med becoming a Pediatric Surgeon," I said. That was 8 years ago.

"That long? Damn, you guys were inseparable," He said, "And the cutest couple." He whispered the last part. I rolled my eyes. Quinn didn't like that I was going into the Army to become a Trauma Surgeon. We argued a lot which ultimately led up to our break but we stayed friends for a year after I was deployed out.

"Do you think she works at William McKinley Memorial hospital?" Kurt asked. Out of nowhere, the plane landed, scaring me shitless. I gripped the armrest till my knuckles turned white.

"Are you sure you're ready to go back to work? I know they cleared you and everything but are you sure you're better?" Kurt questioned as we walked out of the terminal towards baggage claim. I have a slight limp when I walk from the gunshot wound I sustained.

"Kurt, I'm not suffering from PTSD. I'm cleared. I'm good," I said with a smile. We walked the rest of the way to the conveyor belts to get our luggage in silence. We walked outside and the crisp November air hit us. A limo pulled up beside us and the driver got out and walked over to us.

"Are you Dr. Santana Lopez?" The man in the chauffeur outfit asked.

"Yes," I answered. He squealed with excitement and opened the door for us. He grabbed our luggage and place it neatly in the trunk and ran back to the driver's seat.

"Did he actually squeal?" Kurt whispered to me. I held in my laugh and shook my head yes. I took off my ACU jacket and my hat and tried to get comfortable in my seat.

"I can't wait to go home and take a long hot shower," I said running a hand through my hair. I knocked on the partition.

"Hey driver guy," I said. He rolled the partition down.

"The name's Ryder Lynn, Santana," He said eagerly.

"Okay, don't call me Santana. When we're in Lima can we make a pit stop at Rhodes Smoke Shop?" I asked. He shook his head 'no'.

"Sorry, Dr. Lopez, your father told me specifically not to stop anywhere," He said. I was three seconds away from cussing his ass out when Kurt grabbed my shoulder.

"Look, Ryder, it's going to be a quick in and out stop. You don't even have to turn off the car," Kurt said.

"But, Mr. Lopez said..." I cut him off.

"If I don't get my cigars today from Rhodes, I will cut your balls off. She's holding 9 years worth of cigars for me. I either get them today or you will nut-less tomorrow," I threatened. I haven't had a good cigar in 9 years, I've been smoking cigarettes and I hate cigarettes with a passion.

"O-okay," He said. I sat back in my seat and relaxed.

"I guess you're over smoking cigarettes," Kurt said laughing. I laughed


A/N: Man, do people even read Glee fanfics anymore?