Chapter 4
Brittany woke up hearing someone whispering her name. She opened her eyes and saw Maribel standing by Santana's bed. "Brittany, it's almost 9 PM so I thought I'd better wake you." Maribel motioned for Brittany to follow her out into the hallway. Brittany looked at Santana who was sound a sleep with her arm wrapped around Brittany's stomach. Brittany was afraid she would wake Santana up if she moved too quickly so she carefully unwrapped her arm from Santana shoulder and got out of bed. Santana moved a little but settled back down without waking up.
Brittany walked out into the hall were Maribel was waiting for her. "Brittany, I'm sorry to wake you up but you two have been asleep for a few hours and it's getting late so I thought you might need to head home. I'm sure you need to get up early to go to work."
"Actually I have tomorrow off because the mail carrier I worked for on Saturday is working for me to make up for me helping him out. I'm sorry I fell asleep like that I bet it was shock to walk into Santana's bedroom and see us cuddled up like that."
Maribel just smiled, "Let's go downstairs to the kitchen so we can talk."
Brittany followed Maribel downstairs to the kitchen and sitting at the kitchen table, "Brittany, you must be hungry would you like something to eat?"
"No thanks. I am really thirsty though. Some water would be great." Maribel went to the refrigerator and got a bottle of water for Brittany. She drank half the bottle before setting it down on the table. "Like I said upstairs I'm sorry fell asleep like that in Santana's bed."
Maribel smiled, "It's really ok Brittany and I wasn't shocked when I walked in and saw the two of you cuddled up. You both are grown women and I know Santana was upset and you were comforting her."
Brittany started playing with her fingers and looking at them. "Santana told me about the accident. I can't imagine how she is feeling. No wonder she freaked out tonight when that kid on the bike rode right out in front of my car."
"I don't know much detail Santana told you about the accident and I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds and if I am she will definitely let me know but I want to talk to you about it. How much did she tell you about what happened?"
Brittany told Maribel that Santana had told the boy was riding his bike and she hit him when she back up her car and that he was now in a wheelchair. She told her Santana had said the boy was her ex's son."
"Brittany, there's more to the story. Santana had been seeing Alyssa for about a year. Her son's name is Zachary he is 5 years old. Alyssa was in the process of divorcing her husband. I didn't like the whole situation especially with her having a husband and being in the middle of divorce. Santana adored Zachary and he was just as attached to her. Sometimes I got the feeling he was the only reason she was staying the relationship because she didn't seem happy with Alyssa after about 6 months of them dating. She was so proud when he started riding his bike with training wheels. He knew he wasn't supposed to ride in the driveway but that day he did and he rode behind her car and she didn't see him. Santana was devastated so Jose and I went to New York immediately to be with her. When we went to the hospital with her Alyssa screamed at her and told her to leave them alone and that she was to never come near Zachary again."
Maribel stopped talking and got up to get herself a bottle of water. She took a drink and then continued on. "Of course Santana was beside herself with fear and sadness. She kept saying over and over 'it's my fault I should've seen him.' The police had to investigate the incident and they concluded it was an accident. One of those life changing accidents that happens and we can't do a thing to stop them from happening to us. Alyssa made sure the hospital staff knew Santana wasn't allowed to see Zachary. Santana did learn from a friend that Zachary was paralyzed. He can move his arms and torso, and his kidneys work but he can't move his legs. Santana went back to work at the law firm she works for but she couldn't concentrate so her boss told her to take six weeks off so that's why she's here visiting us. Right before she came here she learned from the same friend that Alyssa and her husband had reconciled. She's been through so much. The first time I saw her happy in a long time was the day you two planned to go to the movies and dinner but then she was sad again when that didn't happen. I was confused that the two of you were together today. I assuming you two worked out your disagreement."
Brittany took a few minutes to process what Maribel had just told her. "Wow, Santana has been through so much. I don't know if I could handle all of that happening to me. By the way we just happen to run into each other today at the movies. I'm not sure why Santana went to the movie we were going to go to. I went because the air conditioning in my apartment building broke down the last night and it was so hot in my apartment I couldn't stand it any longer so I decided to go to the movies to cool off. I saw Santana there and then we went for ice cream afterwards and the whole bike situation happened when I was driving her home."
"Oh my dear, I can't imagine not having air conditioning in heat. Is it fixed yet? If it isn't you are more than welcome to stay here with us tonight."
"It was supposed to be fixed by 6 tonight but I don't know if it is or not." Brittany finished her bottle of water.
"Is there someone you can call to find out?"
"I could call my neighbor." Brittany took her cell phone from her pocket and called her neighbor. After a brief conversation she ended the call. "My neighbor said it isn't fixed yet and won't be fixed until tomorrow morning sometime."
"Brittany it's settled you are definitely staying here. You can sleep in Santana's bed because I'm sure she won't mind. I think she felt safe having you with her before or you can sleep in the guest room."
"Thanks for letting me stay here Maribel. I think I'd better sleep in the guest room just in case Santana wants to be alone. I have my gym bag in the car that has a clean pair shorts and a tank top in it so I'll just get that out of my car.
"Brittany before you do that I want to ask you something. I know it's none of m business but I only ask out of concern because I care about it. "Santana isn't the only one who seems sad. You seem sad too is everything in your life ok?"
Brittany felt her eyes starting to tear, "It's getting better but I've still got some things I'm dealing with from my previous relationship. This may sound crazy since I've only known Santana for a couple of weeks but I wish we could've met when we both weren't so broken. I'm not sure two broken people are good for another."
Maribel reached across and the table and took Brittany's hand. "You know what I think. I think two broken people who are meant to be together can help fix one another. You go get your bag and then I'll take you to the guest room."
Brittany took a shower and got into bed but she couldn't sleep. Her talk with Maribel kept playing over and over in her mind. Especially the words, 'I think two broken people who are meant to be together can help fix one another'. Were she and Santana meant to be together? Could they really fix one another? Brittany had no idea if Santana felt the same strong attraction for her that she felt for Santana. Probably not Santana had just had her heart broken. How could they be together anyway when Santana lived in New York City and she lived in Lima? Brittany couldn't take it any longer so she decided to go downstairs to the living room and watch TV.
Brittany was sitting on the couch watching some stupid show she wasn't really interested in but at least it kept her mind occupied. She was started when she felt the couch cushion beside dip down. She looked and saw Santana sitting there. Santana had changed into her sleepwear which consisted of a silky pair of short shorts and tight fitting while tank top. "Hey, I didn't mean to startle you."
Brittany suddenly felt nervous with Santana sitting there beside her. "Um…no you didn't startle me, well not much anyway. I'm sorry if I had the TV too loud. I couldn't sleep so I decided to come down and watch TV I hope that was ok. You are probably wondering why I'm even here. Well you see…." Brittany's rambling was cut off when Santana gently put her hand over Brittany's mouth.
"No the TV wasn't too loud and yes it's ok that you came down to watch it. And my mother told me you were staying when she came to check on me before she went to bed. So all is good ok?"
Brittany swallowed hard and nodded her head. She turned the TV off. "I wanted to tell you Santana how sorry I am about the accident. I know you blame yourself but from what you told me and what your mother told me it was an accident. It wasn't your fault."
Santana's mood changed and Brittany was kicking herself from bringing up the accident but to her surprised Santana started talking about it. "Thanks for comforting me earlier. You know I woke up once when we were sleeping and it felt so good to be close to you like that and then when I woke up later and you were gone I was sad. My mind knows that what happened with Zachary was an accident but my heart doesn't. My heart blames me for what happened and how he will be in wheelchair for the rest of his life because of me."
"San, if I were in your shoes I'm sure I'd blame myself too. I think it's just going to take time for you to learn to forgive yourself. Your mom told me about Alyssa going back to her husband. I'm sorry."
"Don't be because I'm not. Alyssa is a good person and great mother but we weren't meant to be together. I think I knew that after about 6 months of us dating but I got attached to Zachary. If it hadn't been for him I know I would've ended our relationship. Sometimes I think if I had ended our relationship when I knew it wasn't going anywhere he would still be able to walk now because I wouldn't have been there that day in the driveway."
Brittany put her hand on Santana's knee to comfort here, "We can't predict the future and what will happen. All we can do is live each day and take what life hands us."
"Britt, you mentioned when we were eating our ice cream that you moved to Lima 3 years ago to be with your girlfriend. If you ever want to tell me what happened I'm here for you."
Brittany could tell by Santana's tone of voice she was being sincere. Brittany hadn't told anyone what happened with Lisa. "There's not much to tell. I met Lisa at a party in Columbus through mutual friends. We hit it off right away. Only problem was she lived in Lima. After about 6 months of dating she talked me into moving to Lima. I had hesitated because in Columbus I had my dream job of teaching dance to kids and adults of all ages. I looked for a job in Lima teaching dance but there just weren't any jobs here. So I moved anyway and got a job as a receptionist at a travel agency. I took the civil service test to be a mail carrier but it was almost 3 years before a job became available. When I moved here it was only a few months later that Lisa changed. She became verbally abusive. Telling me I was a dumb blonde and that it was a good thing I had her to take care of me because I could never make it on my own. The thing was I was on my own in Columbus and I did fine but for some reason I let her get into my head. I guess if hear something long enough you start to believe it yourself."
Santana grabbed Brittany's hand and squeezed it. Brittany continued on, "The last year of our relationship she would stay out to late in the morning at the bars with her friends from work. She told me she wasn't cheating on me she was just out having fun. She said she deserved it because she was the one with the good job taking care of me. When I got the mail carrier job in January I decided to leave her and I did a couple of months later. I'm ashamed to say I still hear her words over and over in my head and a part of me believes they are true."
Santana moved closer to Brittany and hugged her. "Britt, everything she said is not true. You are a smart, young woman. I know it's difficult but don't let her get inside you head anymore. She's gone."
The two sat there in the embrace for a several moments before they both pulled away. Brittany put her head down and stared at her hand that Santana was still holding. "I told your mom earlier that I wish you and I had met when we both weren't so broken. Do you know what she said to me?"
"I can only imagine what she said to you and I think she is probably right. She said something like if it's our destiny to be together so we can fix each other, right?"
Brittany looked up finally and into Santana's eyes. "That's close to what she said. She actually said 'She thinks two broken people who are meant to be together can help fix one another'. I wish she was right."
Santana leaned into close to Brittany. "Maybe she is right." Santana closed the gap and kissed Brittany gently on the lips. She pulled away and looked into Brittany's tear filled eyes and pulled her into a hug.
TBC
