Summary: Santana is diagnosed with a serious genetic condition that changes her life and leads to Brittany needing to be the one to make some important decisions. Kind of sad, kind of angsty.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I've tried to be as realistic as possible in describing the condition, but if you guys have any suggestions, please please please let me know.
Brittany and Santana are both twenty-nine when Santana starts having symptoms. Brittany has just opened a dance studio, and Santana has worked her ass off to be the youngest junior partner in the history of Delham and Sons Law Firm. They're so busy between work and spending time together that Santana almost doesn't notice what's slowly starting to happen. It doesn't seem like anything serious at first- she just loses her balance every once in a while, and she writes it off as being too tired. But she finds herself becoming more and more tired, even when she sleeps in. Then Brittany notices that she grimaces sometimes, even when she doesn't mean to. Brittany thinks that it's because Santana spent so much time glaring at people in high school that her face just goes that way, but Santana has a bad feeling that it's something else. It's like she can't control her goddamn face, and it scares the hell out of her.
She goes to her dad first, who calls a friend who specializes in neurology. She gets tested over and over again, and nobody can tell her what's wrong. She's given her family history to three different neurologists before one finally breaks down and asks her.
"Is there any possible way that your father…isn't your father?" he asks bluntly, and Santana about tears his head off.
"Just because my family is Latino doesn't mean my mother is a whore, jackass. Fuck you. Come on, Britt, let's get out of here."
But Brittany looks at her like something just clicked for her. "You know, you don't look anything like your dad."
Santana's jaw drops. "No, Brittany, my mom would have told me. She would have." With that, she grabs Brittany's hand and drags her from the office. But that night in bed, her hand jerks involuntarily as she holds Brittany, and she realizes she has to try everything to find out what's wrong with her because she has someone that needs her. So she calls her mom at three in the morning and demands to know if there is any chance that her dad isn't her biological father. Her mother denies it vehemently until Santana tells her how fucking terrified she is and then she breaks down and starts crying.
Two days later, Santana and Brittany are sitting in the same doctor's office as before, and Santana is apologizing.
"Sorry I called you a jackass. Turns out my mother was a whore. My bad," Santana says flippantly, as if the knowledge doesn't bother her.
Brittany sees through it. "I'm sorry, San," she whispers, taking her hand.
"Why are you sorry? You were right."
Brittany shrugs. "I'm never right."
Dr. Hess clears his throat. "I'd like to run a genetic test panel on you, Ms. Lopez. I think that you most likely have a genetic condition called Huntington's disease."
"Genetic? Like…uncurable genetic?" Santana stutters out. Brittany's eyes widen because uncurable is a word she understands.
"Look, there's no reason to get upset until we know for sure. Let's get started on the tests, and we'll go from there."
Two weeks later, Santana gets the bad news. She has Huntington's.
I'm working on the next chapter right now, so I should have it up pretty soon. I know this wasn't much of an intro, but I want you guys to kind of get to understand what Huntington's is as Santana goes through it. The next part will explain more about the condition and how it affects people, including Santana. Please review