You guys thought I was leaving you with a cliffhanger, didn't you? You thought I wouldn't have another chapter up for a while, right? Well, I'm not THAT much of an ass… yet anyway.

Before I go any further, I just wanted to say that I didn't expect this story to get as much attention as it did and I'm really grateful for that. Every view, favorite, follow and review counts. So, thank you!

I'm not going to start rambling more than Rachel Berry so enjoy!

Santana mentally smacked herself for not saying anything. How could I be so stupid?! She quickly fished her phone out of her pocket and typed out a text message to Quinn as she rushed to reach her car in the parking lot.

Quinn was pacing nervously in the choir room. If something were to happen to Rachel before she even had the chance to apologize for the way she had been treating her over the years, she would never be able to forgive herself. Her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket. In a split second, as if they could detect it was from Santana, Brittany and Puck were by Quinn's side, reading the text message.

Make up an excuse to get me out of coming back to practice. I'll explain later. – Santana.

After not even a second to think, Quinn came up with the most reasonable excuse that she hoped Brittany and Puck would just play along with.

"Mr. Schue, Santana won't be coming back today. She has to take Rachel home because she's too sick to drive."

"Why won't one of her dads come pick her up?"

"They… Well…"

"They're too busy with work!" interrupted Brittany.

"Yeah, they can't seem to get out of it." added Puck.

Brittany sent Quinn a subtle wink as Puck gave her one of his signature half smirks he thought helped him charm the ladies. Quinn asked herself what she had ever done to deserve friends like them.

Santana's heart was beating rapidly in her chest as she broke almost every rule of the law to get to Rachel's house as fast as she could. She hoped she was wrong. She wanted to be wrong. One small part of her was expecting her to arrive at the Berry household and see that everything was perfectly normal. Although, an even bigger part of her was expecting the absolute worst.

She pulled over and parked her car in the empty driveway as soon as she got there in record time. She quickly ran up to the front porch, worried that if she were a second late that it might not end so well. She was expecting to find the door closed but relief washed over her when she saw that it was slightly open.

Santana slowly pushed open the door as it let out a low creaking sound. "Rachel?" Nothing. She began walking around in the house but the only thing she could hear was the sound of her footsteps. So, she tried again. "Rachel? Are you here?" She let out a sigh in frustration. She walked into the living room and that moment, she realized spotting Rachel in a pool of her own blood was forever going to be etched into her memory.

As soon as she composed herself, Santana rushed to a battered Rachel's side before placing her body on her lap. She felt her heart drop to her stomach as she took in her appearance. She almost didn't even recognize her. Rachel's skin had sunken in tone to something so lifeless it scared the Latina. The small girl seemed to have suffered more pain than she knew a human body could bear and it broke Santana to see her hurting this way. Her entire body beared congealed blood and her clothes were an utter mess. Her black eye looked even worse than before if possible and even more bruises were already starting to take formation upon her facial features.

Santana's eyes shifted to the side and became glazed with a glassy layer of tears. As she blinked, they dripped from her eyelids and slid down her cheeks. She bit her lip tightly in attempt to hide any sound that wanted to escape from her mouth. Her lower lip quivered as words slowly made their way out of her mouth. "Rachel…" She began, yet what followed was engulfed in the tremors.

A few moments later, Rachel's eyes started to flutter open which immediately caught Santana's attention, causing the Latina to quickly wipe away her tears. The diva looked as if she could drift off into unconsciousness at any moment and it was clear as day that she was struggling to stay awake. Drowsy, dazed and confused but awake. Then she tried to say the cheerio's name, her voice cracking, failing at the first syllable.

"San…"

"It's okay, it's okay. I've got you now."

"Please don't let go… Please don't leave me…"

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere."

It was as if Santana could sense the panic already building up within Rachel. In an attempt to temporarily calm her down, she cupped her cheek in her hand before bending down and placing a kiss on the burdened girl's forehead. Rachel's lips twitched for a moment. The small girl wanted to smile until it all came back to her.

The pain throbs in her guts, it's deep and warm, but not in a nice way. It feels like someone has their hand in there and is squeezing her organs as hard as they can. When it wanes, she can move, only barely. When it returns, she can only hold still and breathe, breathe slow and deep until it has passed. There is blood everywhere, especially coming from her stomach wound, and her abdomen is purple and lumpy where it should be smooth. Even the slightest of movements feel like a nail bomb exploding in her innards. If it wasn't for Santana coming for her and holding her, she'd curl right up here on the floor and let the pain take her away to the next life.

"Everything hurts…"

Santana mentally smacked herself for the second time of the day for not doing what she should've as soon as she got there. She was so wrapped up in making sure Rachel was okay that she didn't even take a second to get help. She removed her cheerios jacket and placed it on her stomach, applying pressure to the wound in order to stop the blood. Rachel winced at that and bit her bottom lip. Santana pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed her father's number. Being one of the best doctors in Lima's daughter had its perks. He answered on the third ring.

"Hello, sweetie."

"Dad, I need you to get an ambulance out to the Berry house now."

Antonio furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as soon as he heard his daughter's voice trembling which he was clearly unfamiliar with. Then again, who wasn't?

"Santana, what's wrong?"

"Just… Do it."

Santana hung up and zoned out for a moment. Santana and Rachel haven't always seen eye to eye but then the Latina thought back to what Brittany said; Santana likes Rachel. It wasn't all that crazy. She had liked Rachel for a while now but was too afraid to admit it out of rejection. What was she supposed to say? "I really like you even though I've made your life hell because I'm too afraid to deal with my own feelings." It didn't make any sense. But then again, you can't help who you fall in love with.

After processing the whole complicity of the situation, Santana looked down at Rachel who was still clearly struggling to stay awake and was slowly dozing off. She knew the small girl wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and go to sleep but she could not, under any circumstances, risk losing her. So, she shook her.

"Rachel, you have to stay awake."

"I can't…"

"You have to. The ambulance is on its way."

"I… I'm so tired."

As Rachel's head lolled onto Santana's lap, her eyelids finally slipped closed. The rest of her slowly leaned into the cheerio, the rest of her body going limp. Without the complex workings of her conscious mind, she looked so vulnerable and childlike. The expression on her face no longer stressed but relaxed. Her eyelids fluttered, but she seemed too out of it to notice.

Santana's eyes widened at the sight. Her nerves were frayed to the quick. In her building anxiety, she constructed elaborate rationalizations for why everything would turn out alright, something Rachel would do, but still, the nagging voice in the back of her mind spoke of nothing but doom ahead. She checked for a pulse. She found one but it was at an incredibly slow pace and it seemed to be slowly fading away.

She sobbed into the weak girl's chest unceasingly, hands clutching at her sweater. She held her in silence, rocking her slowly as her tears soaked her chest. A tiny lapse let her pull away, blinking lashes heavy with tears, before she collapsed again, her howls of misery worsening. The pain must have come in waves; minutes of sobbing broken apart by short pauses for recovering breaths, before hurling him back into the outstretched arms of her soon to be grief. This was it. She was never going to have the chance to admit to Rachel her feelings. Well, not exactly. She knew the small girl wouldn't hear her but she still went for it. Better too late than never, right?

"I… I l-love you."

The sound of the ambulance's siren jolted her out of her mopping. Her heart jumped into her throat as her brain registered the meaning of the jarring racket. She hesitated at first but she released the hold she had on Rachel as she slowly but eventually reached her feet and head outside.

Santana couldn't hear the ambulance anymore. She could only make out its blurred shape through her blood shot, puffy, crying eyes. She stared at it before looking back at Rachel to see the life drain out of her. She was pale and limp. As a pair of strong hands pulled the Latina back into the blinding light of the ambulance, she barely moved. Rachel's body was channeled onto a stretcher and into the ambulance with Santana. The van stank slightly like chemicals. It numbed her nose and choked her, as her eyes never left Rachel's body, lying on the crisp white sheets that crinkled beneath her, Santana clung to them like she would to the lifeless body before her. The drips and beds rattled as the van sped off to the hospital. The cheerio shook in her seat as she watched Rachel's feet float across the speckled ambulance floor, her body illuminated by the blue lights… Hurry.

The paramedics quickly parked the truck in the employee parking lot and took Rachel out. They hurried through the double doors, the wheels of the stretcher and her own pounding footsteps the only thing Santana could hear.

"Santana, you cannot follow them." said her father as he stopped her. Her heart sank into her chest as the stretcher disappeared from view.

"Why?" was all she could choke out, as her mind filled with a succession of horrible outcomes, each worse than the last.

"You must wait in the waiting room like everybody else." answered her father. "Don't worry. We'll take care of her." added Antonia after sensing his daughter's distress and uncertainty.

Santana gave her father a hesitant nod before sitting dejectedly in one of the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room. She grabbed her phone out of her pocket and shakily typed out a brief text message to Quinn.

Practice had just ended when Quinn felt her phone vibrate. She was so tired that she had completely forgotten about recent events. Her eyes widened in horror as she read and re-read the text message multiple times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. Brittany and Puck were just about to leave the room when Quinn walked up to them with an alarmed face.

"What's up with you? You look like you've seen a ghost." said Puck in a confused tone.

"We have to go to the hospital. Now." answered Quinn in a voice as alarmed as her facial expression.

"Why?" asked a still confused Brittany.

Quinn showed Brittany and Puck the text message Santana had sent her. They had a similar reaction to the other blonde cheerleader as they read…

Get your asses to the hospital. Now. – Santana.

That was hard to write but I'm assuming the fact that I ended it there makes you want to kill me. Especially since I'm not sure when I'll be able to write again because of exams… Oops? Oh, well. I'd love to hear your feedback and even your suggestions. Reviews are highly appreciated and my PM box is always open when it comes to anything. Oh, and thank you to everyone wishing me luck on my exams. Until next time!