Scream My Name
"And the songbirds keep singing like they know the score,
I love you, I love you, I love you like never before..."
Santana had been slowly pacing her room for the past 45 minutes trying to decide what to do, "to go to Britt's, not to go to Britt's" she kept chanting to herself as she threw glances towards the clock on her desk. If she went to Brittany's house it meant appearing on that stupid chat show and declaring to the world that she Santana Lopez may in fact, possibly, sort of, maybe, kind of like girls, like LIKE them...More specifically Brittany S. Pierce, cheerleader extraordinaire and best friend ever...But still...
"You're wearing that carpet thin" shouted up her annoying older brother Nicolás from the room below. Santana, not quite feeling on top form, couldn't think of a lame retort to send in his direction so instead she threw herself on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She glanced over at her wall clock and felt her stomach drop. "Shit" she mumbled to herself. There were only 20 minutes until she was supposed to be eating fondue with the girl of her dreams. Only 30 minutes until the whole of Lima would know that she dreamt of girls. Only 31 minutes until she would die from all the taunting as the calls rolled in. She grabbed her phone and scrolled through the contact list looking for Brittany's name. She didn't need to, she had that number memorised in the fifth grade about a week after it was given to her. But she scrolled anyway, biding her time before she had to let her 'bestie' down. The name appeared on her screen and her thumb hovered over the call button for what felt like one long minute before she hit cancel and threw her phone down on the bed next to her.
"Arrrgh, stupid blonde having your stupid hold over me" she screamed as she grabbed her keys off the nightstand, kicked her room door open, and headed towards the stairs on her way to imminent doom. "See you later Dick-olás" she shouted to her brother before darting out of the house and climbing into her beat-up old school Mini. Nobody would believe it was her car to look at her, after all she looked more like a Beamer girl, but she loved that Mini! It made driving round with Britt feel much more intimate, the seats so close together that she often found her hand 'accidentally' brushing against Brittany's leg as she went to change gear. Oh and of course being able to drive stick blatantly made her bad-ass! Santana checked herself in the mirror and winked at her reflection before starting the engine. "I am fucking bad-ass, anyone talks about me and I'll go Lima Heights Adjacent on their ass" she gulped, trying to reassure herself, tears of fear rolling down her cheek, as she pulled out of her driveway.
She didn't see it coming, her sight was still blurry from the minor emotional outburst she had at the lights when she thought of how her life would forever change after she agreed to go to the prom with Brittany as her date live online. The car just pulled out on her halfway across the intersection, spinning her car headlong into the oncoming traffic on the opposite side of the road. A second car rammed her and she felt the car tip over. Her ears were buzzing furiously and there was a searing pain above her left eye. She thought she heard someone screaming just before she blacked out. When she woke up moments later she was still upside down, blood was streaming from somewhere, her head was still screaming out in pain and she was almost certain her right wrist was broken. She struggled to release herself, unstrapping her belt and slipping with a thump onto the upturned roof of the car. She sliced open her hand and grazed her left arm on the shattered window as she pulled herself out of her car and onto the ice cold tarmac before once again passing out.
She could hear faint screams, and a distant siren. Somebody was talking to her from a great distance but she was unable to respond. She wanted to tell them she was cold, she wanted to tell them her wrist was broken, but mostly she wanted to tell them she needed Brittany. Nothing escaped her mouth, and when a bright light was shone into her eyes she couldn't even control her eyelids enough to blink it away. She felt herself slipping further into darkness as the sounds around her became muffled until finally they were just a faint continual buzzing in the background of her mind and the thought of Brittany had taken over her remaining senses.
Brittany sat by her bed night and day waiting for her to come-to. She continued to sing Santana's song to her "I love you, I love you, I love you" in the vain hope that she may hear her. So far nothing had happened. Brittany looked at her again. She was sure she would never get used to how bad Santana looked, bruised and battered, bandages and plaster casts everywhere and so many wires hooked up to so many machines.
She had originally been pissed at her friend for not joining her for fondue for two, but that soon subsided as she received a call from Nicolás. The person who had called the ambulance apparently said Santana had been screaming her name repeatedly before she passed out, so Nick had felt it necessary to call her as soon as he arrived at the hospital and found his 'little princess', as he called her, laying motionless on a stretcher as it was rushed into the operating theatre.
She leant over and carefully brushed a strand of Santana's hair back into position, and tenderly kissed an unbruised part of her cheek, lingering there as another tear rolled down her own cheek. She felt guilty for thinking that Santana could stand her up, she was worried that she would never hear that soulful voice again, that those beautiful big browns would not stare into hers again and that she would never get to experience those sweet lady kisses again. "I love you Santana Maria Lopez, even with the puffed up face, now wake up biatch so we can go to prom together. I don't think Lord Tubbington is as good at dancing as you! I mean he's got swag, but he hogs the spotlight far too much!"
The room lay silent for a long while, just the sound of the machines beeping to cut the tension. Brittany dozed off in the chair, her hand firmly clasping Santana's, waking only to the sound of a monitor flat lining. Her wails filling the room as she threw her body towards the bed, burying her head in the sheets and screaming one name over and over again. "Santana".