Title: Dyslexic Heart
Characters: Brittany/Santana, Puck/? I did leave a few hints!, OCs
Rating: M - Puck and Santana swear like they get paid for it.
Disclaimer: Sadly, I only own the CDs, DVDs and a McKinley Football sweatshirt I got on eBay.
A/N: A huge cyberhugs for Sassy26, im2looney, theanonymousbeta, jlz_1 and shannonphenix for all their help. You all rock my mismatched socks off!
"Dyslexic Heart" by Paul Westerberg is where I got the inspiration to write this fic. The lyrics explain the relationship between Puck/Brittany/Santana better than I ever could!
Santana sat in her car glaring at the well lit fraternity house where there was a party in full swing. Without her. The Beta Theta Pi house was always busy, especially on the weekends, with pledge activities as well as the standard drunken mess that was going on at the moment. She should have been in there getting unbelievably shitfaced but... not anymore. That part of her life was done and now she was going to have to buckle down, get serious, and several other annoying phrases her parents had used to voice their massive disappointment. Thankfully, Puck had agreed to meet her after she had practically bribed him with free food. The two hadn't spoken in nearly a month and as much as she hated to admit it, she really needed her jerk of a best friend now.
After a quick text to Brittany she grabbed her keys to start the engine but halted at the sound of the passenger door opening. Seconds later the dome light turned on and someone sat beside her, a dark scowl crossed her face. "What the fuck do you want?" she asked her smirking companion. "I think you've done enough to derail my life you douche. Go back to your trust fund fratboys. I already told you I absolve you of any responsibility. Now get the fuck out of my car!" Santana snarled.
"Babe, you know you can't get enough of me!" he purred. "And as soon as you take care of our mistake we'll get back to what we're good at, fucking. Oh, and next time bring your girl Brittany back. She has certain talents I've come to appreciate."
Santana continued to glare as the boy beside her kept talking, stroking her hair then leisurely grasped her breast. She pushed his meddling hand away and slapped his face with such force her palm began to throb. He reeled back then rubbed the spot on his cheek as his upper lip curled.
Before her brain could register it, a balled fist had connected with her nose and caused her head to ricochet off her side window. As the blood started to flow down Santana's face the boy clumsily opened the car door and began to walk quickly towards the loud party.
Moments later the dark hair girl groaned as she wiped her bloody face with her shirt sleeve. When her eyes began to focus on the the scene in front of her she could see that the coward who had broken her nose was running away. A deep growl started in the back of her throat as she began to steer it toward the frat house.
After she spit out the mixture clogging her throat she found her voice and let out a garbled yell, "You better run you asshole! You better run!"
If Puck was pissed when his phone rang three hours before he had to get up for the day then he was also a few seconds from furious when it wouldn't stop ringing. He answered it, launching into a string of expletives only to hear a voice asking him to come down to Lima General as soon as possible because Santana Lopez had been admitted to the E.R.
He stormed into the hospital after breaking at least half a dozen laws trying to get there fast and demanded to know where she was. He still couldn't figure out why they called him of all people but he was more worried about his friend so he focused on scaring the nurses at the desk while he waited impatiently for information
After a security guard threatened to kick him out he paced on the well-worn carpeting until a man who identified himself as the surgeon who had operated on Santana found him. The older man explained that she had been in a severe car accident and she had listed Puck as the emergency contact on her medical ID card.
"Get to point, where the hell is she?" he demanded, "How bad is it and when the fuck can I see her?"
As the surgeon walked Puck to her room he explained the extent of the young woman's injuries, "When you see her you'll notice that she is hooked up to multiple machines that breathe for her, check her heart functions, and basically do all the work for her. We're letting them do everything so her body can focus on healing. She also received quite a few facial lacerations because of the severity of impact so don't be shocked, they honestly look much worse than they are. I'm quite optimistic for a quick recovery for the both of them."
Puck screwed up his face as he ramped up for a question but was stopped short when they walked into the stark white room. His eyes went wide when he saw her lying there motionless and damaged. The whole sight was so overwhelming that for a few minutes the only sounds he could hear were the whoosh of the ventilator and the beeping of monitors.
"Whoa. I never thought I'd fucking see Santana Lopez as anything but a force of nature," he said quietly, "She actually looks fragile and.. Shit. That is majorly fucked up."
The surgeon nodded his head, "When they brought her in she fought being put on the ventilator tooth and nail. We had to sedate her to get it done, although it did take a person on each limb to get the needle anywhere near her to insert the I.V. As a result of her prior hostilities we've had to keep her in a light coma since that point."
"Well, if it makes you feel better she broke my nose senior year," Puck retorted, "and I had only told her she looked hot. I don't even want to imagine how apeshit she went on you. In case you didn't know she hates needles and pretty much everything related to doctors."
"I'd have to agree with that assessment, Mr. Puckerman," the doctor nodded. "She did have rather good follow through on her connections despite her condition. We're going to try to wake her up tomorrow morning in the hopes that we can further assess her injuries."
Puck flinched, "Good luck with that. Also, I'd hate to see the other person if she looks this shitty."
The older man shook his head, "There was no other person involved in the accident. It was just Ms. Lopez's car hitting a student fraternity house over at OSU. The police will need to question her further since the owner of the house will likely bring charges against her."
None of that made any sense to Puck. Santana didn't just drive her car into shit for the fun of it. Brittany was always with her. Who was in that frat house that she was so pissed at? He knew way too much about her life to not remember her talking about some douchey frat boy that fucked her over. He would have totally held the dude's arms while she worked the belly just for giggles.
"Shit," he breathed, "that's pretty serious. I mean, I know she parties and all but smashing into some random house when she's trashed is fucked up even for her."
"That's one of our biggest concerns Mr. Puckerman and the main reason she's currently being watched extra carefully by our psychiatric staff." The doctor paused. "She wasn't chemically impaired when she crashed, not in the least."
Puck cocked his head to the side with a questioning look on his face. What the doctor was saying made absolutely zero sense. Santana Lopez would never drive her prized car into a house. Never. She had saved for over a year working at some greasy spoon to get it and so far only he and Brittany had been privileged enough to ride in it. She must have been fucking pissed at someone to do something that insane.
He got lost in an undertow of thoughts for a short time before he spoke again, "So is she gonna be okay? I mean she looks pretty jacked up."
"It may take a few weeks but with some physical therapy," the doctor began, "both she and the baby will be fine. We just need to take it day by day and focus on the gains they make."
When the older man saw Puck's jaw drop and remain agape he realized that he had dropped a huge revelation into the young man's lap. He immediately felt bad about it but knew it was necessary information. His patient was going to need someone stable enough to support her during her rehabilitation and convalescence but was this foul-mouthed kid the one? Only time would tell.
"I-I-I didn't know," he sputtered, "We were supposed to hang out tonight but I fuckin' bailed. We met at the diner she works at but when she started to talk about serious shit I just left. Damn it! She wouldn't have gone and done this shit if I had been with her. I went back, I did, but she had already left."
The surgeon shook his head, "Ms. Lopez is over twenty-one as well as a young woman who has never been in trouble with the police before. She made the decision to drive into that house by herself and you had nothing to do with that. Understand that young man? She is solely responsible for her current state."
Puck snarled, "Whatever. You don't fuckin' know how her twisted brain works. Half the shit she does is to get people's attention and if she gets hurt while all eyes are on her? Even better. Then they'll feel twice as bad for being an asshat to her. She pulled that shit on me more than once in high school."
"Unfortunately the fact that she's currently pregnant just added another level to her actions," he replied. "While I personally don't think she meant to do herself or the child any grievous harm she will have to undergo psychiatric counseling before she's released."
Obviously the doctors at this particular hospital had never experienced a patient like Santana fucking Lopez and were going to be shocked six ways from crazy at the shitstorm she would let loose.
The younger man smirked, "You think she'll talk to a shrink? If you do then you're the one who's crazy. No way. She won't do it. She doesn't even trust her father and he's just a regular doctor. Good fuckin' luck buddy."
"I hope for her and the child's sake that you're wrong," Dr. Gale replied. "I sincerely hope that Ms. Lopez is completely dedicated to all aspects of her recovery and that she does everything her medical caregivers ask of her. Otherwise, I see her child being taken from her and she'll end up doing some jail time."
Puck ran his hands through his close cropped hair and exhaled loudly; things were starting to weight heavy on his mind. After getting a call from the hospital a few hours ago he thought his morning would be spent waiting for Santana to sleep off a bad party but now... Fuck!
"So if she doesn't do the shit you ask and jump through your hoops you're gonna take her kid and lock her up?" Puck asked as he chewed his lip.
Dr. Gale nodded. "That is the gist of it, Mr. Puckerman. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to complete my rounds. An ICU nurse will be in to check Ms. Lopez's vitals in a few minutes. If you'd like to sit with your friend there's a chair on the other side of the bed."
Puck extended his arm to shake the older man's hand. "Thanks, Doc. I'll just hang for a while and talk to her. I figure this might be the one time I don't get interrupted, right?"
Dr. Gale smiled as he shook the proffered hand, "You might be onto something, son. You'd better take advantage of that opportunity when it presents itself."
The morning shift staff arrived just as the doctor exited the room. The two groups exchanged a few pleasantries before Dr. Gale updated the incoming nurse with all of Santana's changes since her hurried admission. Puck gave a nod to the older woman as she entered the room then crossed in front off him to read her new patient's chart.
"I'm Barbara," she began. "I'll be in charge of Ms. Lopez's care for the next twelve hours." She flipped back and forth through the pages attempting to familiarize herself. "She's looking a lot better than she did last night," the nurse continued. "All her vitals are returning to a more acceptable range so they're hoping to wean her off the sedative. Fingers crossed she'll be awake and talking by dinner." After returning the clipboard to its place she gestured to the empty chair. "I suggest you sit down before you fall down. You look pretty rough, kid."
"Thanks." Puck snorted. "Been a rough night thanks to Sleeping Beauty over there." He flicked his eyes over to the bed he was trying not to look at.
He couldn't look at her because he felt guilty. Guilty because if he had been with her she wouldn't have done something so epically fucked up as crashing her car. Tool.
"It's okay to look at her, you know?" Barbara said suddenly. "You can sit down and talk to her too. You look like you have a lot to say." She continued to check the monitors while she wrote in her notepad.
"Uh yeah," Puck snorted. "We were at the diner tonight and when it got heavy I just walked out. I left her there." He stared at the machines that were helping her breathe as well as monitoring the rest of her systems. "Now she's here and she's hurt..." he trailed off.
The older woman patted Puck's back, "It's not your fault, kid," she said gently. "Ms. Lopez drove into that house on her own accord. She is lying in that bed because of decisions she made. Got it? She must have been royally pissed at someone in that house, though."
Puck finally gave up and sat down in the chair with a loud noise. "Yeah," he nodded. "Santana would never do anything that crazy unless she thought someone deserved it. But why would she fuck up her car to make a point?" Puck flinched when he realized that he had dropped the f-bomb in front of an adult, and a woman his mother's age at that! He was sure he'd have a voice mail from his all-knowing Mom when he got home. "Sorry about that."
Barbara laughed. "It's okay. I've heard a lot worse in my life, believe me. I do appreciate the thought." She playfully smacked his shoulder.
He shrugged it off with a smirk before he sunk further into the chair.
The nurse continued to take notes until she took a moment to check the time and note it as well.
"Okay," she said. "It's time for me to check on my other patients but there will be another nurse checking on Ms. Lopez in about half an hour. Just ask any questions you might have, okay?"
Puck nodded and gave her a small wave as she walked out of view. He fidgeted in the uncomfortable chair before scootching it closer to the bed and resting his head on his folded arms.
A few hours later when someone nudged his shoulder, the sleeping man woke up with a jump as well as some profanity laced yelling. He apologized almost immediately for his loudness and excessive arm waving after scaring an entire class of touring nurses. Puck stormed out of the room and continued to walk until he found the cafeteria. The nurse he had talked to earlier spotted him pouring a cup of coffee for himself and walked over to join him.
"Ms. Lopez should be waking up soon," she said in-between sips. " If you think you're up to it, I think you should be there. It's pretty disorienting when you come out of sedation."
"Well, I guess it's a good thing I got my coffee to go then huh?" he smirked. "Let's go see if the princess is ready to open her eyes."
Santana had already started moving her head as well as fluttering her eyes when Puck walked into the room. He found his way over to the bedside chair after weaving through several nurses, doctors and orderlies.
Slowly, the dark haired girl started trying to move more but the confining criss-crossed restraints halted her. Her now wide open eyes surveyed the crowded room around her then slowly crept up her body to focus on the hardware in her mouth. When Puck saw her eyes flare he immediately grabbed her hand and tried to talk her out of the crazy plan he knew she was already formulating.
"San!" he barked. "Don't fight it! You were in a crash and you're at the hospital. Just stop fighting and they can tell you what's going on." Puck grabbed both of her fisted hands and moved his face in close to hers. "The baby is fine, San," he added, his voice now lowered to a whisper. "Now cut this shit out because it's not good for either of you."
Santana immediately stopped her thrashing to stare at him. "Yeah, I know," he continued to whisper. "So calm the fuck down and they'll take the shit out of your face and untie you. Got it?"
Huge tears started to stream down Santana's cheeks when it finally sunk in what her friend had said. When the nurses realized that the young woman was started to struggle against the tube in her throat they quickly removed it. A filled cup with a straw was immediately held in front of her to drink from. She sputtered a few times but stopped as soon as the cool water hit her dry mouth.
"C-c-can you call Britt?" she choked out. "I was going to her house when..."
Puck shook his head vigorously. "She's gonna freak, San!" he hissed. "Your face is totally fucked up and you have IVs and shit in your arms. She's. Gonna. Freak."
"Fuck you, Puckerman," she half whispered. "Call my girlfriend or I will fucking end you." Santana continued to glower at him until he threw his arms up in the air in protest.
Their conversation was interrupted by a pair of nurses unzipping the contraption that was holding Santana down. "Sir, you're going to need to leave for a few minutes while we assess Ms. Lopez's current condition. She also needs to remain as calm as possible. Do you understand?" one said curtly.
"Fine. Whatever," he grunted. He looked back to the still glaring girl. "San, I'll go call her but you owe me. Big time." He turned to leave but spun around again to address the nurse. "And ma'am, if she needs to be slapped I'm just the asshole to do it." Puck fished his phone out of his back pocket and began to dial his phone as he walked out of the room.
It only took a ring and a half before Brittany answered her phone in a panic. She started talking full tilt until Puck interrupted her and utilized his most effective distraction technique when it came to dealing with the blonde; he started singing one of her favorite Disney songs. It wasn't long before Brittany joined in and she continued to sing another verse until she stopped mid chorus.
"Where is San?" she asked quietly. "She said she was coming home last night and she never did. Did she sleep over at your apartment?"
Puck flinched when he heard the sadness in his friend's voice. He knew that the pair had an open relationship, but there had been a few jealous spats because of past liaisons and it was clear from the hurt in her tone that Brittany thought they had deliberately excluded her.
"B," he said gently. "You know there's nothing going on between me and your girl. I got my own girl to drive me batshit crazy. And she didn't stay at my house because you weren't there, and that's the deal the three of us had, right?"
Brittany paused for a moment, "You don't know where she is? Puck! She didn't come home and..."
"Britt," he interrupted. "I'm here with her at the hospital and she was asking for you. But before you come down here I need you to promise something."
Brittany began to make soft snuffling noises as tears welled up in her eyes. "I-i-is she okay?" she stuttered.
"Yeah, Britt," he said as he exhaled. "Her face is pretty jacked and she feels like shit but she's good." He struggled to think of something to make the mood lighter. "I hear she clocked an EMT when they loaded her in the ambulance. Even when she's down for the count she's the same hard-ass we love."
He could hear the blonde let out a small giggle in between her tapering sobs. "San hates needles. Hates them so much." Brittany murmured.
"Believe me, I know that," he laughed. "So Britt? I need to you to get down here. San needs you. You just gotta promise you won't freak when you see her, okay?"
Brittany gasped loudly, "Is the baby okay? Please say the baby is okay!"
Puck blinked a few times then exhaled loudly before he answered. "You knew that Santana was pregnant and you didn't tell me? What the fuck Britt!"
For the next few minutes the only sounds he could hear from the girl on the other side of phone were apologetic words in between gasps and sobs. He attempted to apologize to her but his nerves were so frayed that nothing seemed to come out right. It finally got to a point where he knew he couldn't take anymore and he was starting to feel guilty. He decided that he might be forced to play his trump card and bribe her.
Puck clenched his jaw. "Britt," he growled lowly. "I'm sorry. The baby is fine." When she kept crying he changed tactics and he began to plead. "Please, Britt. Please don't cry. Just come down here to see San and I'll buy you all the candy you want. Okay?"
"You'll even pick out the red M&M's for me?" she asked meekly. "San always eats the red ones 'cause they're her favorite."
Arguing with the normally bubbly blonde was giving him the beginnings of a headache. He rubbed his temple a few times before he quietly replied to her request.
"Yes, Britt." he said deliberately. "I'll take the red ones out so San can eat them. So now will you come down here?"
She sniffed a few times as she listened. "First you have to promise you won't be mad at me, or San. Promise."
Puck exhaled loudly. He was furious with the both of them for keeping a secret this huge from him. In addition to being Santana's best friend, he was Brittany's motocross coach as well as her head mechanic, so trust was vital. She was ridiculously talented at racing so he left that side of the job up to her while he took care of the money and rest of the technical things.
"Ugh. Fine. You win." he conceded. "Just get your ass down here before she kicks mine."
"Yay!" Brittany cheered as she fumbled her phone. "I'll grab my helmet and be there super quick."
"Be careful with that construction over on Elm," he ordered. "I just fixed your goddamn bike again! I don't need to have that shit on my mind plus Santana."
"Puck, I'm awesome. You don't need to worry about me," she giggled.
"Whatever," he replied. "I'll meet you in the lobby in ten. Bye Britt."
"Bye Puck. Don't forget my candy!"
Before he could give her a clever reply he heard only silence on his phone. "Damn," he mumbled to himself. "I'm losing my touch."
He turned his phone to silent and trudged back to Santana's room to let her know he had done what she had asked. No more threats and a simple "thank you" would be nice but Puck wasn't holding his breath. He knew the girl better than anyone on the planet so when he heard yelling as he got closer to his destination he also knew it had to be her.
Fuck. Me.
"Why do you have to take blood?" she boomed. "I told you that I'm fine. I feel fine! Get that shit away from me now!"
He quickly rounded the corner and crossed the threshold to see Santana struggling with several nurses, one with a syringe in particular.
"Ms. Lopez," replied the nurse. "We need to get a blood sample so we can check for any infection. We also need to do vaginal exam with an ultrasound to see how the fetus is responding to the care you've received."
"Puck!" Santana pleaded. "You gotta get these bitches off me!"
Puck shook his head, "I know for a fact you don't wanna get buckled into that straight-jacket shit again so..." He leaned in close so only she could hear him. "Suck it up and don't be such a little bitch, Lopez. Your girl is on her way and you don't want her to see you strapped to the bed, do you?"
"So did you call your girl, Puck?" she shot back. "You know she's got your balls hidden somewhere in a tastefully bedazzled box. Who's the little bitch now Noah?"
Santana had gone for the jugular and mentioned his girlfriend. The two girls were far from best friends so when the couple became "official" he had told her that his girl was off limits.
Puck stood up then threw his arms in the air in disgust. As he began to walk away from her he stopped a moment and turned back towards her.
"So because you're down your gonna fuckin' try to drag me down with you?" he seethed. "I don't fuckin' think so. I sat with you all night you ungrateful bitch. I called your girlfriend. Now you're gonna pull this shit? Whatever. I can't deal with you when you're like this. You call me when you pull your head out of your stupid ass."
An unnoticed Brittany stood in the doorway with her jaw nearly touching the floor.
"Puck! You go back over there and apologize for yelling at poor, hurt Santana!" she commanded. "And Santana you apologize for breaking your promise. Do it,you two!"
She glared at both of them intently with her hands on her hips as she walked closer. When she stood next to the bed one hand automatically went to calm herself as well as her girlfriend. When Santana saw the small gesture, she reached out her hand so she could lace their fingers together.
"I thought I was meeting you downstairs, Britt?" Puck asked.
The blonde growled while she gestured with her head between Santana and Puck to reaffirm that she was serious about her earlier statement.
Santana curled her upper lip and groaned. In part because everything still hurt but mostly because she knew that look; the look when her girlfriend would not back down until she got what she wanted and make her feel guilty all at the same time.
"Fine. I'm sorry Puck." Santana grumbled.
"Sorry San." he replied quickly.
The nurse who had been impatiently waiting for the conversation to wrap up decided it was a good time to interrupt.
"Excellent." she said in a sing-song voice. "Now that everyone has made up it's time for Ms. Lopez's examination. You two are going to have to leave now. Thirty minutes as least. Thank you."
Brittany nodded solemnly. She peppered Santana's face with gentle kisses while she whispered soothing words,then grabbed Puck's hand and led him out into the hallway.
"Okay. Now let's go get my candy while we wait for Santana." she chirped.
A/N 2: This is the first time I've written Brittana and I would appreciate any concrit regarding their characterization. Please take a moment to comment/review. It's what writers live for!