Santana shivered as she walked through the park, the cold weather really wasn't doing anything to improve the mood she was in. After getting a voicemail from her parents when she arrived home from cheerios training that they were going to be gone for another 6 months due to an 'emergency situation' that had come up at their work, she'd thought that maybe escaping to her happy place, a spot hidden between bushes that had the best view of the small lake in the local park, would help her calm down. It hadn't. Snow had started to fall just as she had arrived, and she really hadn't thought about putting on winter suitable clothes before storming out of the house.
Just as the pissed off Latina started to head back to her house, a small whimpering sound made her stop. Silence followed. 'What the fuck was that' she muttered to herself, shaking it off as a trick of the mind, or some animal, she continued home. Another whimper. Convinced she wasn't alone, and slightly scared at the thought of who else might be at the park at this time of night, in this weather, she started to head in the direction of the noise.
As Santana got closer to the noise, the whimpering and sobbing got louder and more consistent, until she was stood right in front of the small playground that she and Brittany used to play at when they were younger.
Climbing onto the tarmac and ducking under the slide, she finally found the origin of the desperate yet so meek sounds, lying shaking, curled up in a ball in the corner of the shelter provided by the platform above. "What the fuck", Santana whispered to herself at the sight of a blue lipped Rachel Berry sleeping fitfully. Rachel tossed in her sleep, letting out a particularly loud sob as she closed in on herself, desperately searching for warmth in her sleep. "Oh shit", Santana leaned down, holding her hand to the smaller girls forehead to gage her temperature, gasping at the heat she found there. Followed by a loud "FUCK" when she observed the large bruise covering Rachel's face, spending from her eye all the way down her left cheek. She needed to find out what happened to Berry, but first she needed to get the girl out of the cold, and fast. She had a fever that was getting worse by the minute, indicating a severe cold or flu, and Santana wouldn't be surprised if she was suffering from hypothermia too.
Knowing that she had to act fast, Santana scooped the small girl up, not faltering when her eyes snapped open in fear at the sensation of someone suddenly picking her up.
"S- s-s-ss- santana?" she questioned in confusion and fear, not knowing how she should feel at the sight of one of her main tormentors at school, "shhh, Rachel, we'll talk later". "You- y-y- you called me Rachel?" the freezing girl stuttered out only to be shhhh'd again by the cheerleader.
The rest of the thankfully short walk was filled with a tense silence, as Rachel awkwardly curled into Santana, seeking any heat that she could find, but feeling vulnerable, an emotion she didn't like having around those she believed would take advantage of it. They soon arrived at Santana's house, which in the back of Rachel's mind she registered was quite fancy for someone supposedly from Lima Heights Adjacent. If she was being honest it was more of a mansion than a house. Santana continued to carry the freezing girl until they reached a large bedroom, where she played Rachel down on the queen sized bed and walked through a door to the right side of the room, promising she would be back soon. She started filling a bath, making sure that water was perfect, while Rachel lay, still shivering, as her body had yet to recognise the change temperatures.
The cheerleader walked back into the room and proceeded to start to undress Rachel, much to the singers distress. Rachel grumbled but had no strength ti fight back, and just closed her eyes tightly, wishing she was somewhere else as she heard Santana's audible gasp at the sight of her body. Choosing not to mention bruises, scars and cuts, that littered the diva's body, as well as how under weight the already small girl was, Santana pushed her questions and worries to the back of her mid and carried the no naked, shivering girl into the adjoining bathroom, setting her in the luxurious bathtub that had already been filled with warm water. The two of them sat in silence, Rachel fighting to keep her eyes open and to sit up, while Santana washed away the dirt that lingered on the girls body. After a few minutes, Rachel still had a fever, but the shivering had all but stopped. Santana helped her out of the bath and into her bedroom, getting the diva dressed into some of her old clothes she never got around to throwing out. "Had Rachel always been this small?" she thought to herself, before finally asking the question that had been running through her mind since she discovered the small diva.
"What happened Rachel?"