The Sequence of Sounds

Santana and Tina become victims in a car accident that renders one of them paralyzed from the waist down.

Chapter 1: Watching the Sequence of Sounds

June, 2016

"Got me lookin' so crazy right now, your touch got me lookin' so crazy right now," I sing cheerfully, one hand gripping the steering wheel and the other holding a soda straw to my lips. I take a sip before handing it to Mike, whom is sitting in the passenger side seat.

"Got me hopin' you page me right now, your kiss got me hopin' you'll save me right now," Tina sings in the backseat, she and Sam holding a flashlight, having been found under their seats, to their mouths while belting out the lyrics. I laugh, smiling and glancing into the rearview mirror to catch a glimpse of them.

"You two are insane, I should get you a prescription, Tee," I smirk, earning me a swift knock to the back of the head. "Hey! Not cool!"

I look at Tina through the rearview mirror and see her grinning wildly, her eyes lit up the way they are when she's excited. We're on the road to Las Vegas; a trip the four of us have been planning for a little over half a year. None of us have ever been, and we thought that the summer needed a little gambling time scheduled in. Honestly, I didn't really care where we chose to go; I need this break. Work has been hectic lately, and money has been tight. Tina and I have rented a small apartment about 10 miles outside Lima, but we've been considering moving in with her parents. It's getting expensive to live these days, especially as students who still haven't paid off their loans yet.

"Young Ho, y'all know when the flow is loco, Young B and the R O C, uh oh," Tina raps, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Ol' G, big homie, the one and only," she sings again, then I see her pass the flashlight to Sam, and he presses his larger than normal lips to the tool and spits the next rhyme.

"Stick bony but the pocket is fat like Tony, Soprano," he shouts, moving his hands dramatically and swaying from side to side as if he were a heavyweight champ in a boxing match. I can hear Tina cackling behind me, I can see Mike twist back in his seat to see what all the fuss is about. I adjust my aviators as the sun glares through the windshield, also pulling down the sun visor to protect my eyes. We all finish singing the song, laughing and howling like wolves the entire way. I pick up speed as we get onto the highway, now going about 65 mph. I roll down my window and my companions do the same, Sam sticks his head out the window while Tina tries to pull him back inside. Mike is moving his hand up and down through the wind as if it were a dolphin. I rest my elbow on the open window, admiring the perfect conditions. Going at this rate, we should've been at our first hotel stop by 6pm. But things took a turn for the worst.

I roll my lips together, feeling that they're incredibly dry. I try to ignore it, but it keeps bothering me as I dart my tongue out and feel a small cut on my lip. Now this is really bothering me, so I glance up into the rearview mirror and at Sam.

"Trouty, do you have any chap stick?" I ask, pursing my wind chapped lips and waiting for an answer.

"Hold on…" the blonde man trails off, and I look back to the road as I hear him searching his pockets. "Sorry San, must be in my duffel bag." I shrug and lick my lips again, the insignificant pain still there. We drive on another mile or two down the highway, fluctuating between 65 and 70 mph. I keep licking my lips, the chapped skin under my tongue irritates me. I glance into the rearview mirror, along with the side mirrors. No one seems to be on the road.

"Tee, baby, can you grab my purse? It's in the back, I just need some chap stick," I ask, and Tina nods and unbuckles her seatbelt to reach into the trunk for my purse. I see Sam holding her waist, probably nervous.

"Got it," she says with a grunt, pulling herself back up and sitting down. I glance back for just a moment as Tina hands me my purse, one hand on the wheel, but when I turn back everything lurches forward. I feel an impact in the back of our little Rav4, which sends us all rocketing forward. I jerk against my seatbelt and the airbag comes out in a cloud of white, smashing into my face and breaking my sunglasses. I close my eyes and I hear one of the boys screaming, and then I hear Tina and myself screaming. The car slides sideways as my hands fly off the wheel, braced back by the airbag. I hear the car skid and finally stop, and I hear myself screaming but I don't know why. I fight against the airbag to deflate it, trying to see if everyone is okay.

"Mike, Sam, Tina?" I cry out, and I hear Mike moan next to me before answering.

"I'm right here Santana… Sam?"

"Where's Tina?"

I frown, panic setting in as I twist to look for her in the backseat. She's not there, and when I turn around I notice a rather monstrous hole in the windshield, blood tainting the edges of the jagged broken glass. I hear myself scream her name, and there's no answer. I hear Mike talking to someone, and I frantically claw myself out of my seatbelt. I see a man running from Mike's window, Mike shakily dialing a number on his cell phone.

"Santana, stay where you-" I don't care at all for what he says, all I care about is Tina.

"Tina? Tina!" I scream hysterically, whipping around to look for my girlfriend. And there she is, plain as day, lying on the asphalt road. The first thing I remember noticing is how pale she seems against the black tar of the highway. The next thing I remember is her name clawing its way out of my throat, my feet urging me to run to her. I see her legs twisted at horrible, unnatural angles as I bend down to brush the hair from her eyes. She doesn't respond when I touch her, or when I frantically call her name. As the tears drip down from my eyes, I feel a pair of hands rest on my shoulders before pulling me back. I struggle against them, reaching for Tina.

"Santana, Santana! Calm down!" Mike says, holding me fast to his chest as Sam cautiously bends down next to Tina's lifeless body, while I cover my noiseless cries with a hand clamped over my mouth. Sam lets out a sigh, crying and laughing at the same time.

"She's got a pulse," he laughs, his voice drowned out by the ambulance sirens.

I don't remember much, as everything happened so quickly. You know what people say, they say that your entire life flashes before your eyes as you're about to die? I didn't have that luxury as I hurtled towards Santana's windshield; it was all too quick. I must've been knocked unconscious as soon as I broke the glass, because everything went black after that, and not a moment later I opened my eyes and I felt restraints around my head, belts holding me down to a stretcher as I was lifted into what looked to me like the back of an ambulance. They had a respirator covering my mouth, filling my lungs with air. I heard Santana shouting and arguing with someone, probably wanting to be right next to me.

"Miss Lopez, I'm going to have to ask you to step back. We need to care for your friend, and we can't do that with you in the back of the ambulance."

"Sweetheart, we're going to need you to relax. I know you're… pain… calm," I heard a woman say over me in a sweeter than pie voice, her words fading in and out. I looked up into the woman's pale blue eyes and nodded slightly before I passed out again from the pain.


I drowsily open my eyes, the bright fluorescent lights blinding me for an instant. I hear a gasp and a squeeze at my hand.

"Tina, baby?" I hear Santana ask tentatively, as if I were some sort of small creature that would run away at a simple heightening of her voice. I turn my head to look at her, smiling up at my beautiful girlfriend. Crying and with tears in her eyes, Santana leans down to kiss me, her lips never tasted sweeter than at that moment.

"Hermosa, te amo, te amo, te amo," Santana whispered, kissing me again. I feel a split lip against mine as my arms are wrapping themselves around her neck.

"It's okay, I'm here Sannie. I'm never leaving you again, I promise," I laugh, kissing her frantically.

"I'm so sorry, Tee. This is all my fault, I shouldn't hav—" I press a finger to her lips as she sets me back down on the bed.

"It's not your fault. And besides, I'm fine. I probably just hit my… head…" I trail off, seeing Sam wipe his eyes as his bottom lip trembles. Mike claps his hands on the blonde man's shoulders, his lips pressed into a tight line. I look to my left and see my mother and father next to me, and my mother grabs my hand and so does my father. They all look as if someone just died. "What's wrong… Santana?" I ask, my voice frantic. She squeezes my hand tightly, tears in her eyes as she sniffs.

"You didn't just hit your head, Tin—"

"Why can't I feel… why can't I feel my legs?" I ask in a panic, my face contorting into a mask of fear. "Why can't I feel my legs, Santana?"

"Mi amor… when you flew out of the car… your legs…"

"What about my…" I stop midsentence, sitting up and throwing the blanket off my legs. I gasp and my hands fly to my mouth as I see my legs in splints, and when I try to wiggle my toes, nothing happens. All that comes out of my mouth is a soundless sob.

"You're paralyzed, from the waist down."

Santana holds me as I cry, burying my head into her shoulder and fisting her bloody t-shirt.