Santana was stressed and pissed off which wasn't a very good combination when it came to her. Her boss was driving her up the wall with her crazy demands and short deadlines and she was this close to introducing her to her right hook.
It was late, almost eleven at night and she was walking the lonely street from her office building to her car. She always thought it was so stupid that the office garage was so far from the office itself but she couldn't do anything about it and nether could her boss. She walked at a fast pace, not wanting to be a victim of the creeps who tended to lurk the streets this late at night.
She had almost reached her destination when she heard a small whimper coming from one of the alleys. She stopped for a second but figured it was her imagination after a while and started walking again. That is until she heard an outright sob. She stopped longer this time.
"Hello?" She called out. But there was no answer. "Great. Stress is making me go insane." She muttered to herself and no sooner did she say it than another sob was heard from the alleyway a few paces from her. She took slow, tentative steps until she reached the entrance of the alleyway. She gasped at what she saw.
Sitting in the alleyway was a girl. No, a woman. But what made her gasp was the woman's state. She was pregnant. Very pregnant. Only in New York. She looked like she was in a lot of pain and that sight made Santana forget her fears and rush over to the woman. It was super dark and she couldn't really see the woman's features but she could hear the whimpers and small sobs coming from her and she could see her eyes, her blonde hair and the hand that was resting protectively on her pregnant belly. Santana knelt before her and the woman tried to scoot back, fear evident in her eyes, but she couldn't because her back was already pressed up against the brick wall.
"It's okay. I'm here to help." Santana tried to reassure the woman but she made sure she kept her hands to herself. The woman looked at Santana intensely for a moment but it was all she could manage before she bent forward and her whimpers grew louder. It took a moment but Santana's brain finally caught up with her and she realized exactly what was happening. "Oh God, you're in labor."
Santana tried to think of what to do. She wasn't cut out for stuff like this. Pregnant women in alleyways were not her forte. But she had to do something. This woman was in pain and about to have a baby. She couldn't just leave her there. She'd take her to the hospital. Yes, her brain was finally coming up with ideas.
"Can you stand?" She asked the woman whose name she realized she did not know. The woman looked up at her, not answering. "I just want to help you, I promise. I have a car. I can take you to the hospital." Santana tried to persuade the woman. Finally, the woman nodded and Santana let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. "Okay. I'm gonna help you to stand." The woman nodded again and Santana took that as her queue. She got to her feet and bent back down to help the woman up. It took a moment but they were both now standing, the pregnant woman leaning heavily on her.
She was about to walk off, out of the alleyway and into the street but the woman stopped her with a slight tug on her jacket. "What is it?" She asked, trying not to be irritated with a pregnant, helpless woman.
The woman ignored her and instead turned around, facing the alley once more. She let go of Santana and started walking towards the back of the alley, slowly and most likely painfully.
"What are you doing?" Santana asked but the woman ignored her and kept walking. Santana didn't try to stop her, she just watched curiously as the woman walked farther into the dark alley. The woman stopped suddenly, bending down at the knees apparently looking for something. Santana figured she must have hid her purse in the alley when she heard someone coming and now she was going back to get it. She took a few steps closer to the woman to see what she was doing and boy was she shocked to see what had been hiding under the darkness of the alleyway.
Well not what, but who.
Santana hesitated before she took a few steps closer to get a better view. It was a kid. A toddler by the looks of it. She had shoulder length hair and she was wearing a dress from what Santana could see. The woman was hugging her close and whispering into her ear, words that Santana couldn't hear. So the woman had a kid and one on the way. Great.
Santana didn't hesitate this time. She walked towards the two strangers and bent down beside the woman. Luckily she did as another contraction moved through the stranger's body. She grabbed a hold of Santana's jacket tightly out of reflex, trying but evidently failing to ease the pain.
The little girl-, who now that Santana was close enough, didn't seem to be more than 3, looked up at her with big beady eyes and Santana could see the tear streaks on her cheeks. She had been crying and her lips were trembling like she was about to start crying again. Santana's heart broke a little.
"It's ok, chiquitita. I'm here to help." She heard herself saying. It was something that kids did to her, brought out her soft, caring side.
She hated it.
But at this moment, she was grateful for it.
She got up from her stooping position, carrying the girl's mother (she was her mother right?) with her and then bending down to pick the little girl up. These were the days where she thanked her boss for making her work extra shifts and demanding that she go to the gym everyday.
She walked, slowly but surely out of the alleyway and into the dimly lit street.
She was pretty sure if she told anybody this story tomorrow, they'd say she was delusional and needed more sleep because even she herself didn't know if this was real.
They made it to her car. It took a while, but they were there. Santana had strapped them both in and quickly took to the driver's seat and sped off- at an appropriate speed of course. She kept glancing back at the two people in her backseat through the rear view mirror. The little girl was staring right back at her with wide beady eyes that she now realized were brown. Just like her mother's. Her hair was the same light blonde as her mother's too and it was how Santana had came to the definite conclusion that they were most definitely related.
The woman- Santana stopped. She really needed to stop calling her that.
"What's your name?" She asked. Both blonde's stared at her. The older blonde staring intensely and the younger blonde looking curious as any toddler would be in this situation.
But neither answered. Santana sighed and continued driving.
They were at the nearest hospital within a few more minutes and Santana could tell the woman's contractions were coming more and more often. She quickly stepped out of the car, opening the passenger side and unbuckling both passengers as quickly as possible. She didn't want a baby to be born in the backseat of her car. That would no doubt be expensive to clean out.
Just like in the alley, she had one blonde in one arm and the next resting heavily on the other one. They reached the entrance to the hospital and as soon as they stepped through the door, Santana cried out for assistance.
"I need some help over here!" And before she could open her mouth again, two female nurses were by her side and a male nurse was coming with a gurney. One of the nurses asked her to debrief them. "Isn't it obvious?! She's in labor!" Santana shouted, irritated with the staff already.
The male nurse helped the woman unto the gurney and they were rolling it away not soon afterwards without another word to Santana. The woman looked like she was ready to up and bolt off the gurney and toward Santana. It took her a moment to realize why. Santana was still holding the woman's kid. Before she could shout out 'wait' or tell the people pushing the gurney to stop, one of the female nurses had come up to her with some papers and a pen.
"I'm gonna need you to fill out a form for the patient." The nurse said.
"What? I don't know anything about her. I don't even know her name." Santana almost shouted until she realized she was holding a child.
A child who was sound asleep, head resting on her shoulder.
"I thought- You don't know her?" The nurse asked, confused.
"No. I found her and her kid in an alley on my way from work. I don't know how long she was there for and she won't tell me her name let alone all this information you want." Santana explained. Her head was starting to ache and her heels were definitely not made for this shit.
The nurse looked at her with… understanding and what looked like pride. It was understandable. Many New Yorkers would have just walked on by like they had heard nothing.
Santana might be a bitch but she had limits. She cared even when it seemed to be the exact opposite and she listened even when it seemed her mind was somewhere else. She couldn't just leave the woman to have her baby in that dirty alley and it's a lucky thing she didn't because the woman had a kid with her.
"Well, I suggest you just have a seat." The nurse said.
"What?! Why?" Santana asked incredulously. She wanted to go home. Now.
"I'm sorry Ms…?" The nurse looked at her.
"Lopez." She finished.
"Ms. Lopez I'm sorry but the child can't be left unattended." The nurse saw Santana's face drop and decided to add, "You did such a good thing today. What's one more?" and walked away.
Santana sighed heavily. She craned her head to look on the child who was clutching her jacket, just like her mother had done when she was having a contraction.
She was adorable. But she was dirty, Santana could see. Where in the hell did they come from? It was the first time she'd ever seen them and she walked that street everyday. Santana didn't bother thinking about it right now. She was tired and her arms and feet felt like they were about to fall off.
She might as well take a seat because it had already turned out to be a long day and it didn't look to be ending soon.